The latest exciting championship event at the 2025 World Series of Poker brought out 323 entries at Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas. With registration still open, that number will continue to grow into the second day of Event #44: $10,000 Big O Championship.
Through the first 10 levels of action, Matthew Woodward is leading the way after collecting 422,500 chips on Day 1. That paces the field of 126 players who bagged and remain in contention.
Not far behind is Nick Schulman, fresh off his seventh WSOP bracelet win just days ago in Event #30: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship. Schulman sits third in chips with 372,500, just behind Andrew Yeh (405,000).
Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthew Woodward | United States | 422,500 | 169 |
| 2 | Andrew Yeh | United States | 405,000 | 162 |
| 3 | Nick Schulman | United States | 372,500 | 149 |
| 4 | James Chen (US) | United States | 351,500 | 141 |
| 5 | Evgeni Tourevski | United States | 349,500 | 140 |
| 6 | Matthew Wantman | United States | 327,000 | 131 |
| 7 | Alex Tchong | Australia | 310,000 | 124 |
| 8 | Tyler Phillips | United States | 308,000 | 123 |
| 9 | Veerachai Vongxaiburana | United States | 291,500 | 117 |
| 10 | Lucas Zwingmann-Gocht | Germany | 289,000 | 116 |
Also firmly among the chip leaders is James Chen (US), who built his stack steadily before taking out Robert Cowen in the last level of the night.
Viktor Blom came straight over to the Paris Ballroom after his runner-up finish in Event #41: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship. Blom scored a quick double shortly after entering and finished with 209,500, ready for another deep WSOP run.
One of the highlights of Day 1 was Chino Rheem, who thought he was scooped and left the room, only to be called back as he had chopped. Rheem managed to survive and build from there, finishing with more than double his starting stack (127,500).
Defending champ John Fauver saw both bullets come up empty, losing the first against recent WSOP bracelet winner Ryan Hoenig.
Hoenig did not find a bag, relegated to watching on the sidelines for Day 2. Other notable names who will return are 25K Fantasy standouts Sam Soverel (288,000), Xixiang Luo (277,700), Aaron Kupin (128,000), and Nick Guagenti (100,000).
Action will resume Sunday, June 15 at 1:00 p.m. local time, where players will return to Level 11 with blinds of 1,000/2,500 with a 2,500 big blind ante. The Day 2 schedule calls for another 10 levels to be played, each remaining 60 minutes in length. The schedule also includes 15-minute breaks after every two hours of play, plus a dinner break at the end of Level 16.
Day 2 Schedule
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1,000 | 2,500 | 2,500 |
| 12 | 1,500 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 15-Minute Break / End of Late Registration | |||
| 13 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| 14 | 3,000 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 15-Minute Break | |||
| 15 | 3,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| 16 | 4,000 | 8,000 | 8,000 |
| 60-Minute Dinner Break | |||
| 17 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 18 | 6,000 | 12,000 | 12,000 |
| 15-Minute Break | |||
| 19 | 8,000 | 16,000 | 16,000 |
| 20 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 |
Last year’s total of 332 entries is well within reach, as late registration remains open for the first two levels on Sunday. Players can also take advantage of the single reentry, with registration closing before the start of Level 13.
Day 2 of this event is sure to provide some dramatic moments, so don’t miss any of the action as PokerNews live reporting continues from the 2025 WSOP in Las Vegas.
