Brandon Shack-Harris opened to 5,000 from under the gun and was called by Ismael Bojang in the cutoff and Mark Rubbathan on the button. In the big blind, George Broome jammed for 5,600 total and all three opponents called as over 25,000 was in the middle already.
On the K♥10♦7♠ flop, Shack-Harris led for 10,000 before Bojang raised to 50,000 with 37,000 behind. Rubbathan quickly got out of the way. After a minute or so, Shack-Harris would jam as the covering stack and Bojang called off the rest of his stack.
George Broome: A♣J♦J♣6♣
Ismael Bojang: K♠J♥9♠8♥
Brandon Shack-Harris: A♥10♥10♣7♥
Broome had a gutter for broadway and Bojang had top pair and wrap, but both were well behind the middle set of Shack-Harris. Nothing changed on the 3♣4♥ runout as Shack-Harris held on to collect a pot worth 199,400.
Frank Visser was already stacking his chips, having doubled up against Carl Bellis.
According to Visser, Ken Okada raised to 6,000 on the button and was called by Bellis in the small blind and Visser in the big blind.
It was checked to Okada, who continued for 7,500 on the A♣9♦8♦ flop. Bellis called and Visser shoved for 23,000 total. Okada let his hand go, but Bellis called to put Visser at risk.
Visser held 10♦9♣9♠8♥ for a set of nines, and the 2♦9♥ runout improved him to quads, which was best againsat Bellis's holding for the double-up.
The 2025 World Series of Poker is already more than halfway over, but players show no sign of fatigue as 789 mixed-game enthusiasts made their way to Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas to take their shot in Event #73: $1,500 Eight Game Mix — tying the previous attendance record set in 2023.
A steady day of action saw the field get cut by nearly 80 percent as just 167 players remained by the time the last card was dealt. Standing tall at the end of the day was John Cressend — who bagged up a dominating stack worth 497,000. Sitting close behind him is two-time bracelet winner Xixiang Luo with 357,700. Rounding out the top three is five-time WSOP bracelet winner Brad Ruben, who managed to end with 347,000 and is coming fresh off his victory in Event #12: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw. Rounding out the top three is two-time bracelet winner Xixiang Luo with 357,700.
Cressend appears to be primarily a mid-stakes grinder and has yet to win a bracelet. However, he has nearly $400,000 in reported live-tournament earnings with a career-best score of $62,144 from placing fourth in a WSOP Circuit Main Event in 2019.
End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
John Cressend
United States
497,000
2
Xixiang Luo
China
357,700
3
Brad Ruben
United States
347,000
4
Demetrius Campbell
United States
328,000
5
Jon Turner
United States
323,000
6
Scott Abrams
United States
290,000
7
Andrew Kelsall
United States
274,500
8
Brandon Shack-Harris
United States
266,500
9
Gennady Shimelfarb
United States
240,500
10
Schuyler Thornton
United States
229,500
Defending champion Garth Yettick was a no-show this year, which means a new champion will be crowned. Some notables moving on to Day 2 who will be looking to capture his title include Jon Turner (323,000), Chad Eveslage (196,000), Yueqi Zhu (180,000), Phillip Hui (173,000), Jake Schwartz (141,500), Matt Glantz (126,000), Brian Hastings (110,500), Daniel Negreanu (55,000), and Brandon Shack-Harris (266,500) — who soared up the leaderboard after scoring a double knockout late in the day.
The record-tying field generated a $1,047,398 prize pool that will be dispersed among the 119 players who make the money. Everyone who cashes will secure a minimum $3,007 payout, while the eventual champ will take home $184,683 in addition to the gold bracelet.
Among those who entered but will not be returning for Day 2 are Allen Kessler, Jared Jaffee, Robert Wells, Chino Rheem, Tyler Brown, Chris Vitch, Anthony Zinno, Greg Mueller, Josh Arieh, Sean Troha, and Scott Seiver — who was eliminated by Kessler after Kessler made a pair of kings against Seiver's ace-high in Seven Card Stud.
Allen Kessler
The remaining 167 hopefuls will return on Saturday, June 28 at 1 p.m. for Day 2. Play will resume on Level 16, which features 6,000/12,000 blinds for limit games, 6,000/12,000 limits for stud games, and 1,500/3,000 blinds for no-limit and pot-limit games. Levels will be increased to 60-minutes each for the duration of the tournament and players will be sent on break after every two hours of play. A 60-minute dinner break will take place at the end of Level 21 and Day 2 will conclude at the end of Level 25.
Be sure to stick with PokerNews as we continue to bring you all the action from the floor leading to the money bubble, final table, and eventual next Eight Game Mix champion!
