Tomasz Gluszko: XxXx/9♠9♥K♦J♣- folded on sixth street
Sachin Bhargava: A♦J♠5♦/9♦4♥J♦7♦
Christopher Claassen: XxXx/6♣8♠- folded on fourth street
Timothy Frazin: 7♥7♣2♥/4♣4♦3♠A♥
David Lin: XxXx/2♣10♣- folded on fourth street
Five players wanted to see a fourth street, where Tomasz Gluszko bet out with a pair of nines. Sachin Bhargava called, Christopher Claassen folded, Timothy Frazin called, and David Lin folded.
Fifth street checked through to sixth, where Gluszko checked again. Bhargave then bet, Frazin called, and Gluszko mucked.
Frazin check-raised Bhargava on seventh street, with the latter calling off. Frazin took the low part of the pot with his seven-low, and Bhargava's flush awarded him the high half.
"I thought maybe you'd fold a flush," Frazin told Bhargava as the pot was being chopped.
Phil Hellmuth: XxXx/2♠5♠10♠9♠/Xx
Alex Livingston: XxXx/6♠A♣8♦2♣/Xx
Alex Livingston bet on fourth street and Phil Hellmuth called.
Livingston bet again on fifth and sixth as Hellmuth called down to seventh. "I didn't get a bet in with this hand. Here it is," Hellmuth declared as he put in a bet. Livingston called and Hellmuth excitedly turned over A♥4♦3♣ for a wheel to scoop the pot.
Viktor Blom: XxXx/6♣3♦5♠4♥/Xx
Qinghai Pan: XxXx/3♠4♦9♣9♠/Xx
Viktor Blom got bets in on fifth, sixth, and seventh streets as Qinghai Pan called him down. Blom turned over 7♣6♦6♥ for a straight and Pan mucked.
The next hand, Blom went three-handed against Luke Schwartz and Andrey Zhigalov.
Viktor Blom: XxXx/3♥2♥3♦8♥/Xx
Andrey Zhigalov: XxXx/6♠9♦Q♦K♦/Xx
Luke Schwartz: XxXx/A♥Q♥J♣A♣/Xx
Blom bet on fourth street and both opponents called.
Blom bet again on fifth and Zhigalov and Schwartz called once more. Zhigalov then bet on sixth and Schwartz and Blom called.
Zhigalov bet again on seventh and Schwartz called. Blom then raised and Zhigalov called, causing Schwartz to shoot out of his seat as he considered his decision.
"Just wasting time," he muttered to himself as he took several minutes before calling. Blom ended up with A♦6♣2♠ for 8-6-3-2-A, while Zhigalov had 6♦5♠2♦ for a flush to chop up Schwartz's chips on the last hand of the night.
When the late registration of Event #77: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship closed after the first level of Day 2, another record had been set at the 2025 World Series of Poker. A total of 186 players had taken a shot at glory, besting the previous high of 167 set in 2024 and creating a prize pool of $1,729,800. After 12 hours of pot-splitting action, only 15 remained at the Horsehoe and Paris Las Vegas, and they are led by Qinghai Pan.
Pan spent the vast majority of Day 2 at or near the top of the counts, and he was eventually dubbed "The Terminator" by his late-night opponents as he secured a chip lead with 1,581,000 chips in his bag. Pan has two bracelets, both of which were acquired in online events. If Pan continues his hot run and captures the $411,051 top prize, that would be by far his largest recorded cash.
The other chip millionaires at the end of the night were Jordan Siegel and Andrey Zhigalov, but most eyes will be on the person who ended as fourth in chips, the legendary Phil Hellmuth. Hellmuth was one of the late registrants today, and he ended the night with a stack of 906,000, putting him in a decent position as he continues to hunt for a record-extending 18th WSOP bracelet. Other notable names in the top ten include Luke Schwartz, and 25K Fantasy picks Viktor "Isildur1" Blom
and Alex Livingston.
End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Day 3 Big Bets
1
Qinghai Pan
United States
1,581,000
32
2
Jordan Siegel
United States
1,245,000
25
3
Andrey Zhigalov
Russian Federation
1,135,000
23
4
Phil Hellmuth
United States
906,000
18
5
Luke Schwartz
United Kingdom
774,000
15
6
Timothy Frazin
United States
766,000
15
7
Paul Zappulla
United States
754,000
15
8
David Lin
United States
703,000
14
9
Viktor Blom
Sweden
674,000
13
10
Alex Livingston
Canada
594,000
12
Phil Hellmuth
Day 2 Action
With over 90 players seated after late registration closed, and only 28 spots being paid, many poker powerhouses fell before the prize pool started to be distributed. Among those lost along the way were recent four-time PPC champion Michael Mizrachi, all-time money leader Bryn Kenney, and Hall of Famers Todd Brunson and Brian Rast.
Benny Glaser did not acquire his fourth bracelet of the summer in this event as he fell a dozen or so spots before the money, and Walter Chambers could not turn his Day 1 chip lead profitable. Many onlookers saw as Phil Ivey exited in 32nd place, and shortly after hand-for-hand play began. After about an hour, Ryutaro Suzukibecame the unfortunate bubble boy.
Ryutaro Suzuki
Nikolay Fal, Jake Schwartz, and Scott Bohlman were all awarded the min-cash of $20,552 for their finish at the final three tables, while Esther Taylor made the pay jump to $21,580. Richard Bai received the same amount for 16th place, and he was the final elimination of the night, meaning all remaining players have locked up $24,393 for their efforts.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
$411,051
9
$34,233
2
$274,023
10-11
$28,458
3
$188,105
12-15
$24,393
4
$132,423
5
$95,665
6
$70,970
7
$54,105
8
$42,421
The 15 survivors will return Wednesday, June 2, at 1 p.m. local time for the third and final day of the tournament. Level 19 will be the first of many 90-minute levels of Day 3, and has limits of 25,000/50,000, with a 5,000 ante and a 7,000 bring-in. A short break will be held after every level, while details regarding a dinner break have yet to be confirmed.
If a winner is to be crowned on Day 3, a marathon session seems to be in the cards. Check back in with PokerNews regularly as our live reporting team will be on the floor from start to finish to provide continuous updates.
