The floor has paused the clock with 10 minutes remaining in Level 12 and announced that five more hands will be played at each table before play concludes for the night.
Kevin Gerhart raised first to act and was called by Robert Wells in the cutoff, Brian Kirschner on the button, and Jeff Madsen in the big blind for a four-way pot.
Madsen drew one and everyone else drew two on the first draw. Madsen then led out for a bet and Gerhart raised all in for his last 4,800. Robert Wells raised, Kirschner called cold, and Madsen folded.
On the second draw, Gerhart and Kirschner drew one while Wells stood pat. Kirschner then called a bet from Wells.
The same drawing action occurred on the final round and Wells check-called a bet from Kirschner, who tabled 8x6x5x3x2x for an eight-six.
It was best against Wells' 8x7x4x3x2x and Gerhart's 7x6x6x4x2x — sending Gerhart to the rail just as it was announced five more hands will be dealt before play concludes for the day.
The Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas was populated by the best mixed game players in the world today for the opening day of Event $58: Nine Game Mix here at the 2025 World Series of Poker.
A total of 409 entries were tallied for this event, which has created a prize pool of $1,132,521, with the eventual champion set to receive $228,115. The turnout for this year’s edition of the event bested last year’s mark of 379, but fell short of the 456 recorded runners in 2022.
After ten hours of play, just 144 players have survived and will advance to Sunday’s Day 2. Of those returning, only 62 will be in the money and guaranteed a minimum cash of $6,029.
Finishing the day with the chip lead is Slovakia’s Oliver Tot. Despite losing a massive pot limit Omaha hand early in the day, Tot fought his way back as he utilized a late-night heater to find a bag of 356,000.
Just behind Tot in second place is Fu Wong, better known as "Grasshopper" in the mixed game world. He cashed this event last year and will be trying to beat his 25th-place finish from 2024. After holding the chip lead for the majority of the day, he ended with 355,000.
Fu Wong
End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Oliver Tot
Slovakia
356,000
2
Fu Wong
United States
355,000
3
Sean Akhavi
United States
331,500
4
Matthew Woodward
United States
307,000
5
Yuri Dzivielevski
Brazil
296,000
6
Andrey Zaichenko
Russian Federation
270,000
7
Nicolas Milgrom
France
254,500
8
Nicolas Barthe
France
248,500
9
Fabrice Soulier
France
244,500
10
Gus Hansen
Denmark
238,000
This event is one of the most popular events of the year for mixed game enthusiasts, as the combination of big bet and limit games creates the need for a varied skill set to survive. Those who tried their luck today rotated through all five H.O.R.S.E. games plus no limit hold’em, pot limit Omaha, 2-7 triple draw, and no limit 2-7 single draw: the same nine games that are played in the upcoming $50,000 Poker Players Championship.
Many notables still in contention include Gus Hansen (238,000), Philip Sternheimer (151,500), Chad Eveslage (145,000), Brian Rast (134,000), Nick Schulman (122,000), Phil Hellmuth (87,500), Huck Seed (63,500), and Viktor Blom (55,500).
Not everyone was fortunate enough to advance to Day 2. Previous champions of this event, Nicholas Julia and Ryutaro Suzuki both bowed out during today’s proceedings, but last year’s champion Yuri Dzivielevski was able to advance as he won several big hands late in the night on his way to a bag of 296,000.
Yuri Dzivielevski
Day 2 kicks off Sunday, June 22 at 1 p.m. in the Horseshoe Convention Center. Play will resume in Level 13 with blinds at 1,000/2,000 and limits at 4,000/8,000. Levels will be 60 minutes long and the plan is to play a full ten levels. The average stack for those returning is 113,500.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for updates on Event #58: $3,000 Nine Game Mix and all the other events here at the 2025 World Series of Poker.
