Marcel Vonk: 8♠7♦/5♣2♠6♣Q♥/9♥
Travis Kubota: A♥9♠4♣/A♣10♣J♦4♥
Nicolas Milgrom: XxXx/7♠Q♦K♦10♥/Xx
Marcel Vonk was already all in by fifth street, and Travis Kubota and Nicolas Milgrom had built a pot on the side. Kubota then bet, and Milgrom called.
The two active players checked it to showdown on sixth and seventh street. Kubota showed two pair, and Milgrom's cards quickly disappeared into the muck.
Vonk showed he had already locked up the low half of the pot, and he received the high half as well when he peeled a straight as his last card.
Tal Avivi led out with a bet on the 6♦J♥9♠ flop and David Christ called.
Avivi bet again on the 5♦ turn, Christ raised all in, and Avivi called.
Christ showed A♠5♣ for a pair of fives, but Avivi had A♣9♦ for two nines. The river was the 6♠ and Christ went around the table to shake his tablemates' hands before making his exit in 20th place.
"That's a true gentleman, there. Never out of line," Joseph Villela said.
Clarence Judkins: A♣6♣4♥/K♣10♦J♥3♣
Stanislav Ivanov: K♥10♥2♥/K♦6♦A♥6♥
Dennis Axel: Q♣7♥4♠/2♣8♥J♠5♥
Stanislav Ivanov completed and was raised by Clarence Judkins. Dennis Axel called cold and Ivanov called as well.
Axel and Ivanov called a bet from Judkins on fourth street and then Ivanov led out for a bet after catching an ace on fifth. Judkins called all in and Axel called as well.
Axel called bets from Ivanov on sixth and seventh and Ivanov tabled three hearts in the hole for a flush and the high. Axel showed a low and they chopped up Judkins chips — eliminating him in 19th place.
Heads-up on a flop of J♥10♥Q♠, Blaz Zerjav bet from the hijack and Sachin Bhargava called on the button.
Zerjav bet again on the 6♦ turn and Bhargava called. The river was the 9♦ and Zerjav bet. Bhargava then raised and Zerjav snap-folded, leaving himself with just one big bet left.
Nicolas Milgrom raised under the gun, after which the action folded to Ryan Parsa in the big blind. He tossed in a call, after which both players checked the 7♠5♦7♦ flop.
Parsa check-called Milgrom's bet on the K♣ turn before the 6♠ river was knuckled by both again.
Parsa showed A♠K♠Q♠3♣ for two pair and the second-nut low. Milgrom groaned and flung his cards into the muck.
Joseph Villella: XxXx/2x5xJx7x/Xx
Alex Livingston: XxXx/6xQx7xQx/Xx
Alex Livingston completed before Joseph Villella raised. "This time you don't have anything. I don't either," Livingston said as he called.
Both players checked on fourth street before Villella bet on fifth. Livingston called and Villella continued betting on sixth. Livingston again called.
Villella bet on seventh and this time Livingston folded.
"Just give up already," Ari Engel told Livingston and Blaz Zerjav from another table. "When I was your age, I would've given up a long time ago," Engel added.
A few hands later, Livingston got his last chips in against Sachin Bhargava. Livingston made a wheel with 3x2x5xAx4x9xQx, while Bhargava's board read Ax4x6x4x as he was already mucking his cards.
"You're a monster," Villella told Livingston.
"I always seem to catch what I need in Stud games," Livingston replied.
Over the course of ten hours of limit poker, the record-breaking field of 867 has been whittled down to just 18 contenders on Day 2 of the Event #39: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. of the 2025 World Series of Poker. At the end of the night, Russian native Andrey Zhigalov had the most chips in his possession, 2,455,000 of them to be exact, good for 20 big bets at the start of Day 3.
Zhigalov has long proven himself to be a formidable mixed game player, both online under the moniker "Gigaloff" and in live tournaments. Zhigalov won his only bracelet in this very event back in 2018, and is making another deep run seven years later. This time, the potential win will come with $197,923, the largest share of the $1,150,943 prize pool.
Many other hard-hitting contenders can be found in the upper half of the chip counts, with 25K Fantasy picks Thomas Taylor, Nicolas Milgrom, and Ari Engel all bagging a top ten stack when play ended late in the night at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Bets
1
Andrey Zhigalov
Russian Federation
2,455,000
20
2
Joe Jeffery
United States
2,320,000
19
3
Dzmitry Malets
Belarus
2,200,000
18
4
Sachin Bhargava
United States
1,805,000
15
5
Thomas Taylor
Canada
1,730,000
14
6
Nicolas Milgrom
France
1,455,000
12
7
Ryan Parsa
United States
1,350,000
11
8
Ari Engel
Canada
1,340,000
11
9
Joseph Villella
United States
1,170,000
10
10
Joseph Santagata
United States
1,095,000
9
Ari Engel
Hall of Famer Linda Johnson is the last lady standing in the field. Johnson won her bracelet in 1997, and with 785,000 in chips, she has a decent shot at obtaining her second one 28 years later. Meanwhile, two-time bracelet winner Alex Livingston and recently crowned $25,000 6-Handed High Roller champion Blaz Zerjav are at the bottom of the leaderboard, with stacks of 340,000 and 115,000 respectively.
Day 2 Action
The day started with 195 players returning, and with only 131 spots paid, some big names would have to say goodbye before cash could be distributed. Esther Taylor, Jon Turner, Ted Forrest, Brian Yoon, and Todd Brunson all booked a quick exit at the start of the day. The rapid pace of eliminations during the early phase of Day 2 saw half a dozen players being busted just before the money would be reached, eliminating the need for hand-for-hand.
Eugene Katchalov was among the players picking up the min-cash of $3,017, while start-of-day chipleader Michael Solheim finished in what must have felt as a disappointing 70th place for $3,453. 2009 Player of the Year Jeffrey Lisandro also made an appearance in this event, adding $4,118 to his WSOP resume for his 51st place.
Eventually, mixed game legend Calvin Anderson went from chipleading to finishing in 25th place for $6,229, and Tony Ma was eliminated in 22nd for $7,562, just after the three-table redraw. Clarence Judkins received the same amount for his 19th-place finish, ending up as the final elimination of the night.
Calvin Anderson
The 18 survivors have locked up the same payout of $7,562, with five-figure payouts starting from 11th place onward. The eventual heads-up opponents will each walk away with six figures, with the lion's share of $197,932 being reserved for the champion.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
$197,923
10-11
$11,561
2
$131,916
12-15
$9,260
3
$91,545
16-18
$7,562
4
$64,607
5
$46,384
6
$33,885
7
$25,198
8
$19,078
9
$14,713
The tournament will resume Friday, June 13, at 1 p.m. local time. The blind will start at 30,000/60,000, with 60,000/120,000 limits. All levels will remain 60 minutes long, with a break after every two levels. Another long day may be in the cards for Day 3, as the tournament will play down to a winner. Details regarding a dinner break have yet to be determined.
PokerNews will be back on the floor for Day 3, so tune back in Friday to not miss any of the WSOP H.O.R.S.E. action.
