Fahredin Mustafov Leads the Pack Going into Day 2
Day 1 of Event #26: $25,000 High Roller 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em at the 2025 World Series of Poker has ended here at The Horseshoe and Paris Casino, Las Vegas. The event so far has attracted 300 entries, generating a prize pool of over $7,000,000. The prize pool is expected to swell even further tomorrow, as late registration will still be open through the first level of play on Day 2.
Of the 98 players who bagged up for Day 1, Fahredin Mustafov holds the chip lead going into Day 2 with 1,360,000 chips. He picked up the majority of those chips when his pocket jacks held against Dan Smith’s big slick to eliminate Smith. Mustafov has over $7,000,000 in live earnings and is chasing his first WSOP bracelet.
Among those chasing down Mustafov are Cherish Andrews (1,140,000) and David Peters (1,137,000) who round out the top three. Andrews was named 2022 Global Poker Index (GPI) Female Player of the Year and has over $3,000,000 in live earnings, and is also chasing her first WSOP bracelet. Peters has two WSOP bracelets and over $47,000,000 in live earnings.
Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fahredin Mustafov | Bulgaria | 1,360,000 | 136 |
| 2 | Cherish Andrews | United States | 1,140,000 | 114 |
| 3 | David Peters | United States | 1,137,000 | 114 |
| 4 | Joey Weissman | United States | 1,107,000 | 111 |
| 5 | Mitchell Hynam | United Kingdom | 1,001,000 | 100 |
| 6 | Alex Foxen | United States | 958,000 | 96 |
| 7 | Sergey Lebedev | United Kingdom | 945,000 | 95 |
| 8 | Punnat Punsri | Thailand | 850,000 | 85 |
| 9 | Ognyan Dimov | Bulgaria | 807,000 | 81 |
| 10 | Vitalijs Zavorotnijs | Latvia | 792,000 | 79 |
Other notable names that bagged up for Day 1 include John Juanda, Stephen Chidwick, Joao Simao and Mustapha Kanit. One of poker’s most famous married couple The Foxens both bagged up for Day 2 with Alex Foxen slightly pipping his wife Kristen Foxen in the chip counts.
The star-studded field was littered with plenty of the game's elite, but many of them did not make it through the day. Alongside the aforementioned Smith, names such as Faraz Jaka, Ren Lin, Nick Schulman, Phil Ivey and Santhosh Suvarna were among those who busted out before the end of the day.
For those who did not play today, late registration will still be available during the first level of play on Day 2.
The tournament will resume for Day 2 at noon local time on June 8 and is scheduled for ten 60-minute levels. Play will begin at Level 9, and the blinds will be 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 big blind ante. Players will get a 15-minute break after every two levels, and there will also be an hour-long dinner break at the end of Level 14 at approximately 6:30 p.m. local time.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews to get all the latest updates as they happen here at the 2025 World Series of Poker.