Qinghai Pan bet out on fifth street, and Andrey Zhigalov called. Zhigalov made an open pair of aces on sixth street, prompting him to lead out. Pan called to seventh street, where he tanked a bit before calling a final bet by Zhigalov.
Zhigalov showed three aces, and Pan nodded his head as he saw some of his chips move over to Zhigalov.
Tomasz Gluszko: XxXx/8♦7♥Q♦A♣/Xx
Paul Zappulla: 7♠7♦6♠/3♠8♣4♣5♠
Paul Zappulla and Tomasz Gluszko were the two remaining players on sixth street after a multi-way pot. Gluszko checked to Zappulla before calling his bet.
Gluszko also check-called on seventh street, but he mucked his cards when Zappulla tabled a straight and a seven-low.
Phil Hellmuth: 6♠6♣5♣/2♠5♥Q♥6♥
Alex Livingston: XxXx/A♥Q♣- folded on fourth street
Jordan Siegel: XxXx/4♥8♠10♦Q♦/Xx
Phil Hellmuth was the bring-in, Alex Livingston completed, and Jordan Siegel called. Hellmuth defended, and Livingston checked to Siegel on fourth street. Siegel bet, Hellmuth called, and Livingston got out of the way.
Fifth street check through to sixth street, where Siegel checked before calling a bet by Hellmuth. The same occurred on seventh street to force a showdown.
"Full house!" Hellmuth triumphantly declared as he tabled his cards. Siegel scooped up his cards and tossed them into the muck, seeing the pot shipped to the "Poker Brat."
David Lin: XxXx/4♥6♦K♦Q♠/Xx
Paul Zappulla: K♥J♥6♥/K♣A♠J♠7♥
After a few minutes of chops and third-street action, David Lin completed, Paul Zappulla two-bet, and Lin called. Lin called Zappulla's bet on fourth street, and Zappulla bet again on fifth street.
Lin raised, and Zappulla called. Sixth and seventh street were checked to showdown, where Zappulla tabled two pair to win the entire pot.
Phil Hellmuth: XxXx/6♣8♦7♣7♦/Xx
Viktor Blom: XxXx/6♥7♠J♦A♠/Xx
Andrey Zhigalov: XxXx/10♠4♥ - folded on fourth street
Jordan Siegel: XxXx/3♣6♠Q♣J♠ - folded on sixth street
"Burrito time, Phil?" Jordan Siegel asked Phil Hellmuth, who had his lunch wrapped up in front of him.
"I think this is a cheesesteak. Were you at the gym half an hour ago like I was? Thirty minutes of cardio," Hellmuth replied.
"We're in trouble," Alex Livingston replied.
Viktor Blom then completed and Andrey Zhigalov, Siegel, and Hellmuth called. Blom bet again on fourth street and Siegel and Hellmuth called, while Zhigalov folded.
Hellmuth then bet on fifth and Blom and Siegel called. Hellmuth bet again on sixth, Blom raised, and Siegel folded. Hellmuth called and opened the betting again on seventh. Blom called with 9♦8♥4♠, while Hellmuth had 5♠5♣3♦ for two pair to chop the pot.
A couple of weeks ago, Phil Hellmuth came agonizingly close to capturing his record-extending 18th lifetime bracelet at the 2025 World Series of Poker in the $2,500 Omaha Hi-Lo / Stud Hi-Lo mix, but ultimately fell short in third place.
Today, the "Poker Brat" may get a shot at split-pot redemption, as he is one of only 15 players returning to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas at 1 p.m. local time for the third and final day of Event #77: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, an event which attracted a record-breaking 186 entries to create a prize pool of $1,729,800 and a first-place prize of $411,051.
With 906,000 chips in his possession, Hellmuth sits in fourth on the leaderboard, having 18 big bets to play with at the start of Day 3. The Hall of Famer is still some ways away from chipleader Qinghai Pan, whose strong performance on Day 2 provided him with 1,581,000 in his bag, hunting a live bracelet to add to his two online ones. Jordan Siegel and Andrey Zhigalov round out the podium, while Luke Schwartz, Viktor Blom, and Alex Livingston also secured a spot in the top ten.
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
Qinghai Pan
Tomasz Gluszko (590,000) and Christopher Claassen (421,000) find themselves in the bottom third of the field, but with absolute short-stack Jose Paz-Gutierrez's 302,000 being worth six big bets, there is plenty of room to maneuver for everyone.
The remaining 15 players have already locked up a payday of $24,393. Making the official final table of eight players will net them a minimum of $42,421, with six-figure payouts being reserved for the top four spots.
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
All remaining levels in the Stud Hi-Lo Championship will be 90 minutes long, with a short break scheduled after every level. Play will resume in Level 19, which has limits of 25,000/50,000, with a 5,000 ante and 7,000 bring-in. It is looking like a marathon day will be needed to crown a winner, but details regarding a dinner break have yet to be confirmed.
PokerNews will be on the floor to provide live updates from the very start until a champion has been crowned, so stay tuned to find out how the WSOP G.O.A.T. fares on his quest to capture bracelet 18.
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