Stephane Gabarre was all in, in the big blind for his last 3,000 in chips. Florian Bordet limped the button when it goe to him but Chunhui Ji responded with a raise to 25,000 and Bordet folded.
Stephane Gabarre: K♣2♠
Chunhui Ji: J♠J♦
Ji was rooting for his short-stacked opponent for Gabarre, chanting "King, king!" and his wish came true when the flop spread A♠K♠3♠ and it appeared Gabarre would at least put a few chips in the bag when the 8♦ fell but it wasn't meant to be when Ji made a set with the J♣, eliminating Gabarre.
After 15 levels of play, the first day of Event #52: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em at the 2025 World Series of Poker hosted by Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas came to a close with only 354 players remaining from the original 2,318 runners. Of those who advanced to Day 2, just 348 of them will make the money and compete for a share of the $3,077,145 prize pool.
The champion will take home an iconic World Series of Poker gold bracelet along with an impressive $410,426 top prize.
Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Liran Betito
Israel
555,900
93
2
Bing Li
China
540,000
90
3
Pedro Fernandes
Portugal
524,000
87
4
Amir Minagar
Australia
509,000
85
5
Asher Conniff
United States
502,000
84
6
David Daneshgar
United States
493,000
82
7
Frank Lagodich
United States
489,000
82
8
Jose Rendon
Mexico
474,000
79
9
Michael Wasserman
United States
471,000
79
10
Zachary Hall
United States
438,000
73
Liran Betito sits at the top of the counts heading into Day 2. Betito stayed under the radar throughout the day and emerged as the chip leader only during the last level of the day. Bing Li sits in second place, thanks to his late-night knockout of Connor Rash.
A number of notables entered the field, but only a handful made it through to Day 2. WSOP bracelet winner Asher Conniff made it to the top five of the counts going into Day 2, closely followed by fellow bracelet winner and recent Life Outside Poker podcast guest David Daneshgar. Jason Wheeler is also among the top of the pack along with Faraz Jaka and Bryan Piccioli.
Many 25K Fantasy players came and left, with a lot jumping in at the end of late registration. Only a handful remain: Nicholas Palma, Georgios Sotiropoulos, Dong Chen, David Coleman, Felipe Ramos, Renji Mao, Jake Schwartz and Joe Cada.
Kristen Foxen
Kristen Foxen was among those still in the 25K Fantasy draft list and a four-time WSOP bracelet winner. Foxen came to play as she took down a number of pots, including one against Anthony Merlo where she opened 4♦5♦. Foxen returns with just 45,500 chips, putting her near the bottom of the pack. She will be looking to hold her ground and gain those all-important fantasy league points by securing a cash, as the bubble is likely to burst within the first few hands of the day.
Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
$410,426
27-35
$12,762
2
$273,545
36-44
$10,603
3
$200,173
45-53
$8,910
4
$147,952
54-62
$7,574
5
$110,463
63-71
$6,513
6
$83,318
72-80
$5,667
7
$63,494
81-89
$4,990
8
$48,892
90-98
$4,447
9
$38,047
99-125
$4,012
10
$29,923
126-161
$3,664
11
$29,923
162-197
$3,388
12-13
$23,788
198-233
$3,173
14-17
$19,117
234-348
$3,022
18-26
$15,533
Play resumes at 1 p.m. local time on June 18 at Level 16 with 3,000/6,000 blinds and 6,000 big blind ante. Ten one-hour levels will be played through, with 15-minute breaks every two levels. The dinner break will take place at the end of Level 23 (at approximately 7.30 p.m.).
Stay tuned to PokerNews to follow all the Day 2 action as we follow this event until a winner is crowned.
