The floor have announced the final entrants and payout structure.
A total of 2,338 entrants generated a massive prize pool of $6,242,460. A total of 351 players will get paid with a minimum cash payout of $6,010, but all remaining players will be eyeing up the first place prize of a cool $830,685 and, of course, the coveted WSOP Gold Bracelet.
Action was folded to Martin Kabrhel, who raised to 20,000 from middle position, leaving himself just 1,000 behind. Michael Leib three-bet from the big blind to 40,000.
"How much is it?" asked Kabrhel before waiting out his time and pushing out his final 1,000-chip.
Martin Kabrhel: K♥3♥
Michael Leib: K♣Q♦
"Don't write it down, please," requested Kabrhel as PokerNews was noting the hand as the flop came 6♥J♥3♠. "Now you can write it down," squawked Kabrhel, "I have a flush".
The J♦ on the turn didn't help Leib, and the 2♥ on the river indeed made Kabrhel his flush, and he was pushed the pot for a double up.
Arthur Morris raised to 16,000 in late position and Nick Schulman flatted on the button.
The flop came K♣A♥Q♠, Morris continued with a bet of 25,000 and Schulman called.
On the A♦ turn, Morris bet 55,000 and Schulman called again, bringing the 2♣ river.
Morris fired out a bet of 190,000, representing most of Schulman's stack, prompting Schulman to go into the tank.
After counting out his chips and looking over to the clock, Schulman reluctantly made the call only to see the bad news when Morris tabled A♣K♥ for a full house, aces full of kings.
Action picked up with Nick Schulman all in preflop and at risk for 38,000 in middle position against the Spencer Champlin who was under the gun.
Nick Schulman: J♣J♠
Spencer Champlin: A♦10♦
Noah Schwartz mentioned to PokerNews that right before this hand happened, Schulman had mentioned to the table that if he woke up with pocket jacks, he wasn't folding them on the money bubble.
The flop came 5♥5♣A♥ with Champlin pulling ahead in the hand by pairing his ace. Schulman was all but out, until the J♦ saved him on the turn. The K♥ rolled off on the river and Schulman earned the double up.
Action was folded to Ren Lin in the cutoff, who raised to 16,000, and action was then folded to Koray Korkmaz in the big blind. Korkmaz had only 2,000 behind, so would be forced all in next hand in the small blind. He went into the tank for a good 3-4 minutes and then called.
Koray Korkmaz: 4♠4♥
Ren Lin: K♥9♠
The flop came 5♣J♠J♣, and it was looking like a double up for Korkmaz, but then the 10♥ came on the turn, giving some danger. The Q♦ then peeled off on the river to make Lin a straight and sent Korkmaz home as the bubble boy.
Christopher Da Silva raised from middle position to 25,000 only to see Robertson Yap three-bet all from late position for 200,000. Martin Zamani in the big blind then four-bet 500,000, which was enough to put Da Silva all in, Da Silva snap folded.
Robertson Yap: 7♠7♣
Martin Zamani: A♠Q♠
Not a great flop for Yap of 5♥3♣Q♦, but the 4♥ on the turn gave him additional straight outs. However, none came when the 3♥ fell on the river, and Yap was sent packing, whilst Zamani raked in a massive pot to creep over the one million mark.
After nine levels of play, Day 2 action has come to a close here in Event #68: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em at the 2025 World Series of Poker, hosted by the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas.
Of the 1,097 runners who started the day, only 127 players will return for Day 3 on Friday. All eyes will be on the first-place prize of $830,685 and the coveted WSOP Gold Bracelet.
Hamid Toghyan sits atop of the field going into Day 3 with 2,545,000. Toghyan cruised through the day and went relatively under the radar, but was continuously building up his stack. Toghyan has just over $100,000 in lifetime winnings and will eagerly be chasing down his first WSOP bracelet. Following Toghyan in second spot is Kunal Patni (2,125,000). Rounding out the top three spots is Ilan Cukrowicz (2,055,000).
Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Hamid Toghyan
United Kingdom
2,545,000
127
2
Kunal Patni
India
2,125,000
106
3
Ilan Cukrowicz
France
2,055,000
103
4
Yuliyan Kolev
Bulgaria
1,920,000
96
5
Alexander Greenblatt
United States
1,855,000
93
6
Yuriy Boyko
Ireland
1,815,000
91
7
Ehsan Amiri
Australia
1,695,000
85
8
Jerry Yang
United States
1,680,000
84
9
Romain Lewis
France
1,660,000
83
10
[Removed:546]
Austria
1,530,000
77
Players to Keep an Eye On
Many big-name players will be returning for Day 3 and trying to add to their resumes. Some of poker’s top name players still in the hunt for the bracelet include Jerry Yang (1,680,000), Dylan Linde (680,000) fresh off his win in the $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller, Adrian Mateos (740,000), Martin Zamani (1,095,000), and Ari Engel (390,000).
Yang, the 2007 WSOP Main Event Champion, will be hoping to add to his bracelet collection. Yang has been relatively quiet on the poker scene in recent years, but is starting to reappear, and this is his first cash of the 2025 WSOP.
Dylan Linde
Notable Eliminations
Many top-name players put in an appearance, with most firing the two bullets that the structure allowed. Among some of the notable players who fell by the wayside on Day 2 were Phil Ivey, Martin Kabrhel, John Juanda, Chance Kornuth, Juha Helppi, Nick Schulman and Kenny Hallaert.
Phil Ivey
All 127 remaining players are guaranteed a payout of $7,343, but will be eager to reach the final table where a ninth-place finish locks up a minimum of $77,760, with all of the top seven finishers guaranteed a six-figure payday.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
$830,685
14-17
$39,091
2
$553,692
27-35
$26,069
3
$406,016
36-44
$21,640
4
$300,649
45-53
$18,163
5
$224,833
54-62
$15,416
6
$169,818
63-71
$13,234
7
$129,563
72-80
$11,491
8
$99,859
81-89
$10,094
9
$77,760
90-98
$8,971
10-11
$61,183
99-125
$8,068
12-13
$48,647
126-127
$7,343
18-26
$31,751
Day 3 will start at 12 p.m. local time on Friday, June 27, where it is scheduled to play down to five players. The tournament will resume in Level 20 with blinds at 10,000/20,000/20,000, and there will be a 15-minute break every two levels. A one-hour dinner break will take place after the completion of Level 26, at approximately 6:30 p.m.
Be sure to follow PokerNews for the remainder of this event, as well as future coverage throughout the summer.
