The second day of Event #44: $10,000 Big O Championship at the 2025 World Series of Poker has wrapped up, with 26 players set to return and battle tomorrow for the $784,353 top prize and the coveted WSOP bracelet, inside the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas.
An additional 79 entries were added before late registration closed, bringing the field size to a total of 402 and generating a prize pool of $3,738,600. After ten 60-minute levels, Veerachai Vongxaiburana soared to the top of the counts with a stack of 2,350,000, and is the only player to cross the two-million-chip mark.
A large majority of Vongxaiburana's chips came towards the end of the day when he flopped a straight against James Chen and Nathaniel Wiesner. Vongxaiburana managed to get three streets of value from Chen in the hand, who apparently had turned a set of tens. After this pot, Vongxaiburana remained at the top of the counts until play concluded.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veerachai Vongxaiburana | United States | 2,330,000 | 93 |
| 2 | Phil Hui | United States | 1,970,000 | 79 |
| 3 | Viktor Blom | Sweden | 1,570,000 | 63 |
| 4 | Matthew Woodward | United States | 1,535,000 | 61 |
| 5 | Justin Liberto | United States | 1,450,000 | 58 |
| 6 | Tomasz Gluszko | Poland | 1,330,000 | 53 |
| 7 | Calvin Anderson | United States | 1,110,000 | 44 |
| 8 | Erik Seidel | United States | 1,100,000 | 44 |
| 9 | Dylan Wilkerson | United States | 985,000 | 39 |
| 10 | Brian Battistone | United States | 980,000 | 39 |
Entering Day 3's proceedings second in the chip counts is Phil Hui with 1,970,000, while poker legend Viktor Blom rounds out the podium position with a stack of 1,570,000. Just yesterday, Blom finished second in Event #41: $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship for $188,295, after which he immediately hopped in this event and ran up a stack. Now, sitting third in the counts, the Swedish player has put himself in another promising position to give himself a chance at winning his first WSOP bracelet.
Once registration closed after the second level of the day, the payouts were confirmed with the top 61 players making the money and a min-cash worth $20,049. Four levels later, hand-for-hand play began as the next player out would be the last to leave empty-handed. In the end, Joseph Genova became the bubble boy after being forced all in from the big blind and was drawing dead on the turn to George Alexander’s Broadway straight.
After the bubble burst, eliminations came fast. Among those who cashed but won’t be returning for Day 3 is six-time bracelet winner Brad Ruben, who lost a three-way all-in where Sam Soverel made a flush. Also hitting the rail were Patrick Leonard, Allen Kessler, Alex Livingston, and 1989 Main Event champ Phil Hellmuth, who was stacked by Dylan Weisman’s quads.
Still in contention for the title and returning tomorrow are five-time bracelet winner Calvin Anderson (1,110,000), Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel (1,100,000), Sean Troha (655,000), 2004 Main Event runner-up David Williams (620,000), and Nick Shulman (615,000), who’s chasing his second bracelet of the series after winning Event #30: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw Championship just a few days ago.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $784,353 |
| 2 | $522,878 |
| 3 | $360,711 |
| 4 | $253,276 |
| 5 | $181,069 |
| 6 | $131,841 |
| 7 | $97,806 |
| 8 | $73,950 |
| 9 | $57,008 |
| 10–11 | $44,825 |
| 12–15 | $35,963 |
| 16–23 | $29,454 |
| 24–26 | $24,635 |
The penultimate day of this four-day affair kicks off at 1 p.m. local time on Monday, June 16, with players returning to blinds of 10,000/25,000 and a big blind ante of 25,000. Levels will remain 60 minutes long, and everyone coming back has secured at least $24,635 for their efforts. All eyes will be on the $784,353 top prize and the coveted gold bracelet that awaits the winner.
Be sure to tune back in to PokerNews tomorrow for all the latest updates, chip counts, eliminations, and drama direct from the tournament floor.
