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Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em
Day 1 Completed
2025 World Series of Poker
Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em
Day: 1
Event Info
2025 World Series of Poker
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1
Buy-in
$2,500
Prize Pool
$3,321,925
Total Entries
1,493
Level
36
Blinds
300,000 / 600,000
Ante
600,000
Entries
1,493
Players Left
225
Players Left 1 / 1,493
Filter
Level 17
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Another busy day at the 2025 World Series of Poker saw a total of 1,493 entrants take their shot in Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em, with just 225 returning to action on Tuesday.
Play will resume at 12:00 p.m. local time at Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas, where hand-for-hand will be in order right from the start. The top 224 spots are set to earn a minimum of $5,020, meaning the day will begin on the stone bubble as players will look to grab their share of the $3,321,925 prize pool.
Leading the way through Day 1 is Sheldon Gross, who battled his way to bag up 761,000 chips. That was good for a slight lead over Daniel Lee, while Gregory Brown rounds out the top three spots.
Lurking behind that trio is Bin Weng, who will return to the felt with more than 90 big blinds in his bag.
Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sheldon Gross | United States | 761,000 | 95 |
| 2 | Daniel Lee | United States | 755,000 | 94 |
| 3 | Gregory Brown | United States | 743,000 | 93 |
| 4 | Bin Weng | United States | 724,000 | 91 |
| 5 | Kevin Andriamahefa | United States | 721,000 | 90 |
| 6 | Mans Montgomery | United States | 713,000 | 89 |
| 7 | Seunghyun Nam | United States | 679,000 | 85 |
| 8 | Ian O'Hara | United States | 674,000 | 84 |
| 9 | Ryan Wolfson | United States | 664,000 | 83 |
| 10 | Steven Forman | United States | 660,000 | 83 |
Other notable names to collect a sizeable amount of chips on the opening day include Christian Roberts (520,000), Faraz Jaka (446,000), David Coleman (426,000), Dong Chen(409,000), and John Juanda (153,000).
Among the familiar faces to come up short were Stephen Song, Jonathan Tamayo, Alex Foxen and Justin Saliba.
As time ticked down on Day 1, the field inched closer to the money bubble, finishing just one elimination away. Several players will take their seats with some work to do, including Ethan Yau (73,000) and PokerNews Podcast host Mike Holtz, who sits as the short stack with 11,000 chips in his bag.
Event 29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $496,826 | 18-26 | $17,693 |
| 2 | $331,163 | 27-35 | $14,678 |
| 3 | $238,204 | 36-44 | $12,349 |
| 4 | $173,435 | 45-53 | $10,539 |
| 5 | $127,841 | 54-62 | $9,125 |
| 6 | $95,415 | 63-71 | $8,017 |
| 7 | $72,119 | 72-80 | $7,149 |
| 8 | $55,212 | 81-89 | $6,472 |
| 9 | $42,819 | 90-98 | $5,950 |
| 10-11 | $33,646 | 99-125 | $5,556 |
| 12-13 | $26,793 | 126-152 | $5,271 |
| 14-17 | $21,624 | 153-224 | $5,020 |
Play will resume at 12:00 p.m. local time on Level 18, with blinds of 5,000-10,000 and a 10,000 big blind ante. The Day 2 schedule calls for players to navigate 10 more levels, with a 15-minute break after every pair of levels.
The schedule also calls for a 60-minute dinner break after level 23, which should fall just after 6:30 p.m. in Las Vegas.
As always, the PokerNews live reporting team will have all of the action covered, as we move closer to crowning the next WSOP champion this week.
Level 17
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Level 17
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Level 17
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Players have started bagging as Day 1 has come to an end.
Stay tuned for full chip counts and a recap of the day.
Level 17
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Action was picked up with Michael Smith and Timothy Su in an all-in showdown.
Michael Smith: A♠K♠ 
Timothy Su: K♦10♦
Smith had Su dominated but that changed when the flop came 3♠J♣10♥ which gave Su a pair. The runout 5♦3♦ didn't change anything sending Smith to hit the rails as Su scooped the pot.
Level 17
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
The tournament director has announced that two more hands will be played before bagging for the night.
Level 17
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Guan Huang opened to 18,000 from the cutoff, with Sean Lee making the call in the big blind.
Lee checked the 3♣7♦10♥ flop, with Huang slowing down and checking back. Another pair of checks followed the 6♠ turn.
The 10♠ river produced one last check from Lee, with Huang taking some time before tapping the table.
"Jack-high," said Huang as he flashed the J♣. Lee showed K♥Q♦, good enough to claim the pot and Huang mucked his second card.
Level 17
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Joseph Carden opened for 16,000 and got a caller in Daniyal Gheba in the big blind to see the flop.
The flop came 8♥9♦9♠ and Gheba checked. Carden fired 10,000 but Gheba decided to raise to 28,000. After a few seconds, Carden surrendered his hand and the pot to Gheba.
Level 17
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
