Medina Trails Couden Entering Day 3 of $500 SALUTE to Warriors No-Limit Hold'em
Action continues at the 2025 World Series of Poker with the third and final day of Event #45: $500 SALUTE to Warriors No-Limit Hold'em kicking off at 11 a.m. local time inside the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas.
Only 32 players are returning from a field that started with 3,937 entries, all of whom have their eyes set on the first-place prize of $187,937, as well as the coveted gold bracelet.
The event generated a prize pool of $1,614,170 with $40 of each entry being donated to the United Service Organizations and other veteran organizations.
Joey Couden is the one leading the pack with 14,375,000 as Day 3 gets underway. He is the only player with over 30 big blinds, and will be looking to continue his momentum as he searches for bracelet number two.
Right on his heels is Sebastian Medina of Columbia, sitting in second with a respectable 11,650,000. Medina final tabled Event #68: $1,111 Little One for One Drop at the 2021 WSOP for a career-best score of $143,399. Already having locked up his third cash of the series, he will look to use his prior final table experience to make another deep run towards his first bracelet.
Rounding out the top three is Luciano Melo of Brazil with 10,800,000. He cashed the Salute to Warriors event in 2023 and has another shot at WSOP glory here today.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joey Couden | United States | 14,375,000 | 36 |
| 2 | Sebastian Medina | Colombia | 11,650,000 | 29 |
| 3 | Luciano Melo | Brazil | 10,800,000 | 27 |
| 4 | Richard Buckingham | United States | 10,150,000 | 25 |
| 5 | Joseph Hernon | United States | 10,150,000 | 25 |
| 6 | Yu Hsiang Huang | Taiwan | 9,600,000 | 24 |
| 7 | Kimon Fountoukidis | Poland | 9,400,000 | 24 |
| 8 | Alexander Savchenko | Cyprus | 8,350,000 | 21 |
| 9 | Abraham Barbarian | United States | 8,150,000 | 20 |
| 10 | Jaehyun Park | Korea, Republic of | 7,775,000 | 19 |
Veteran Robert Gingher, who served in the U.S. Navy, is also still in contention, and enters the final day just outside the top ten with 5,750,000.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize (USD) | Place | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $187,937 | 8 | $22,998 |
| 2 | $125,034 | 9 | $17,901 |
| 3 | $92,221 | 10-11 | $14,063 |
| 4 | $68,619 | 12-13 | $11,152 |
| 5 | $51,511 | 14-17 | $8,927 |
| 6 | $39,015 | 18-26 | $7,214 |
| 7 | $29,818 | 27-32 | $5,887 |
Cards will be in the air at 11 a.m. local time at the Horseshoe, where the event will play down to a winner. The tournament will resume in Level 33 with blinds at 200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 big blind ante. Levels will be 40-minutes in length and there will be a 15-minute break every three levels.
Be sure to follow PokerNews for the remainder of this event, as well as future coverage throughout the summer.