After 12 levels in the four-card streets, Day 1 of Event #57: $50,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha at the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP), held at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, has wrapped up. Out of the 148 entrants who took their shot, only 62 players made it through to bag chips for Day 2.
Leading the way in the chip counts is Ka Kwan Lau, who bagged an impressive stack of 2,700,000. Behind in second place is Biao Ding with 1,765,000, while Oliver Weis rounds out the top three with 1,740,000 heading into Day 2.
Lau, who entered the field from the very first level, steadily built his stack throughout the day. Late in the evening, he scored a notable knockout, eliminating Daniel Negreanu with just ace-high. In contrast, his closest competitor, Ding, didn’t join the tournament until the final hours but quickly surged up the leaderboard by winning several key all-ins in a short span.
Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ka Kwan Lau | United Kingdom | 2,700,000 | 180 |
| 2 | Biao Ding | China | 1,765,000 | 118 |
| 3 | Oliver Weis | Germany | 1,740,000 | 116 |
| 4 | Christopher Frank | Germany | 1,665,000 | 111 |
| 5 | Farid Jattin | Colombia | 1,564,000 | 104 |
| 6 | Alex Foxen | United States | 1,525,000 | 102 |
| 7 | Eelis Parssinen | Finland | 1,250,000 | 83 |
| 8 | Sean Winter | United States | 1,175,000 | 78 |
| 9 | Youness Barakat | Italy | 1,170,000 | 78 |
| 10 | Isaac Haxton | United States | 1,130,000 | 75 |
With this being the second largest buy-in event of Pot-Limit Omaha of the WSOP, several high-profile names have made it through to Day 2. Among them are the iconic Phil Ivey (525,000), the all-time tournament earnings leader Bryn Kenney (395,000), Swedish superstar and internet legend Viktor Blom (380,000), ten-time bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel (365,000), and online phenom Laszlo Bujtas (300,000).
Also advancing to Day 2 is Artur Martirosian, who ended the night with a well above-average stack of 950,000. Riding strong momentum after taking down Event #7 for a $500,000 payday earlier this series, Martirosian built much of his stack late in the day, including a dramatic runner-runner finish to eliminate Samuli Sipila.
Several big names were unable to find a bag by the end of Day 1, including recent $1,500 Monster Stack champion Klemens Roiter, seven-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu, and Brazilian mixed game standout Yuri Dzivielevski, who owns four bracelets. High roller regular and recent bracelet winner Jason Koon also fell short, along with Poker Hall of Famer Brian Rast. With up to two reentries allowed in this event, each of them will still have a chance to return to the action on Day 2.
Day 2 gets underway at 1 p.m. on Level 13 with blinds starting at 10,000/15,000 and a big blind ante of 15,000. Blind levels will increase to one hour in length, and late registration remains open until the start of Level 14, which will be at approximately 2:15 p.m.
Be sure to tune back in to PokerNews on Saturday, June 21, as we bring you all the latest updates from Day 2, as well as comprehensive summer-long coverage of the 2025 WSOP.
