Colby Covington limped in, and Talal Shakerchi raised to 15,000 in the cutoff. Nino Pansier called from the small blind, and Covington came along as well.
On the K♦J♦5♠ flop, Pansier led out for 27,000. Covington folded, but Shakerchi made a pot-sized raise. The amount was 134,000. Pansier paused for a moment, before making the call.
The 7♥ fell on the turn, and Pansier checked. Shakerchi now fired out a chunky bet of 300,000. Pansier thought, and then folded.
After the hand, Pansier revealed he didn't have a draw. "Did I have little hope or no hope?", he asked Shakerchi. "No hope", Shakerchi stated.
Shakerchi is likely one of the largest stacks in the room as play winds down here on Day 1.
Play has concluded for Day 1 of Event #51 $25,000 High Roller Pot Limit Omaha. A total of 160 players have bagged for the day. Play will resume at 12 p.m. local time.
After ten levels of four-card action, Day 1 of Event #51: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha here at the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas, during the 2025 World Series of Poker has concluded. From the 370 players that took to the baize, only 160 managed to find a bag at the end of the night.
Topping the chip counts is the United Kingdom’s Talal Shakerchi, who bagged a stack of 1,456,000. Richard Gryko follows closely behind in second with 1,212,000, while Aaron Kupin rounds out the podium positions with 1,136,000 chips to work with on Day 2.
Shakerchi went into the dinner break near the top of the counts, but a key hand late in the day where he double-barreled in a multi-way pot and got folds from both opponents helped him climb to the top, a position he held through to the end of the night.
End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Talal Shakerchi
United Kingdom
1,456,000
291
2
Richard Gryko
United Kingdom
1,212,000
242
3
Aaron Kupin
United States
1,136,000
227
4
Michael Duek
United States
1,026,000
205
5
Bruno Furth
United States
1,025,000
205
6
Gergo Nagy
Hungary
1,000,000
200
7
Laszlo Bujtas
Hungary
885,000
177
8
Petko Tsakov
United States
866,000
173
9
Dylan Smith
United States
760,000
152
10
Nino Pansier
Netherlands
746,000
149
Also advancing through to tomorrow’s proceedings is Alex Foxen, who bagged a better-than-average stack of 428,000. Foxen wasted no time jumping into this event, having just finished runner-up in Event #46: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em for a massive $3,060,314 payday. He had the perfect start, after virtually doubling his stack in one of his first hands when he rivered a full house to bust Philip Marsico.
Alex Foxen
With this being one of the premier Pot-Limit Omaha events of the series, a number of notables have navigated their way into Day 2. Among them are Bruno Furth (1,025,000), who won Event #5: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha, Jesse Lonis (668,000), six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus (474,000), Jason Koon (425,000), and 2013 Main Event champion Ryan Riess (424,000).
A few notables who were unable to secure a bag at the end of the night include Stephen Chidwick, David Benyamine, and Poker Hall of Famer and eleven-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey. Also hitting the rail were Dylan Weisman, 2025 WSOP Heads-Up Champion Artur Martirosian, and seven-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser. However, with this tournament allowing a maximum of two reentries, all of these players will have the opportunity to jump back in on Day 2.
Benny Glaser
Day 2 gets underway at 12 p.m. on Level 11 with blinds starting at 3,000/5,000 and a big blind ante of 5,000. Blinds will continue to be an hour in length, and late registration remains open until the start of Level 13, which will be at approximately 2:15 p.m.
Remaining Schedule
Day
Date
Time
Blind Levels
Day 2
June 18
12 p.m.
60 minutes (Play ten levels)
Day 3
June 19
12 p.m.
60 minutes (Play down to five)
Day 4
June 20
TBD
60 minutes (Play down to a winner)
Be sure to tune back in to PokerNews on Wednesday, June 18, as we bring you all the latest updates from Day 2, as well as comprehensive summer-long coverage of the 2025 WSOP.
