Third-Largest WSOP Main Event to Award $10 Million Top Prize
Thousands of poker enthusiasts returned to their seats across the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas for Day 2 of the 2025 World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event. This included all 3,776 survivors of the final starting flight, and they were joined by hundreds of last-minute contenders, who provided a significant boost to the attendance. Once the late registration had closed, a five-figure figure for the third year in a row was missed, but the 9,735 entry strong turnout represents the third-largest attendance in the history of the WSOP. The number of Day 2 entries was significantly higher than one year ago, but another record was a tall task with a significantly lower turnout for Day 1c.
Upon completion of another five levels of two hours each, the 4,553 participants for Day 2d were reduced by more than half, and the 2,133 survivors will join their 1,320 compatriots of the previous day to battle for the gargantuan $90,535,500 prize pool. Only the top 1,461 spots will get paid at least $15,000 for their efforts, and in more than a week from now, all eyes will be firmly set on the $10 million top prize that awaits the eventual champion on July 16, 2025. All finalists will have locked up a seven-figure payday, and the following final table payouts have been announced.
2025 WSOP Main Event Final Table Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1st | $10,000,000 |
| 2nd | $6,000,000 |
| 3rd | $4,000,000 |
| 4th | $3,000,000 |
| 5th | $2,400,000 |
| 6th | $1,900,000 |
| 7th | $1,500,000 |
| 8th | $1,250,000 |
| 9th | $1,000,000 |
When the dust had settled at the end of the night in Sin City, San Kim topped the leaderboard with a stack of 799,000 and will be second in chips for Day 3 when the field combines all of the survivors across the Day 2 heats in pursuit of cash prizes. Fernando Rodriguez followed not far behind with 749,000 to his name, and French pro Romain Locquet retained his run-good of Day 1 with a very healthy stack of 673,500. Start-of-the-day chip leader Riva Arthur was also near the top of the leaderboard for most of the day and advanced with 607,000 in chips.
Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship Day 2d Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Kim | United States | 799,000 | 320 |
| 2 | Fernando Rodriguez | United States | 749,000 | 300 |
| 3 | Romain Locquet | France | 673,500 | 269 |
| 4 | Nazar Buhaiov | Ukraine | 633,500 | 253 |
| 6 | Ibrahim Senoussi | France | 625,000 | 250 |
| 5 | Daniyal Gheba | United States | 625,000 | 250 |
| 7 | Kevin Javier | Canada | 620,000 | 248 |
| 8 | Kotaro Shoda | Japan | 619,500 | 248 |
| 9 | Kyle Grupp | United States | 618,000 | 247 |
| 10 | Riva Arthur | United States | 607,000 | 243 |
Other big stacks to end the night were Nazar Buhaiov (633,500), Daniyal Gheba (625,000), Ibrahim Senoussi (625,000), Pot-Limit Omaha specialist Miltiadis Kyriakides (547,500), the "world-famous" Pat Lyons (467,500) and former WSOP Player of the year Josh Arieh (448,500).
For the former WSOP Main Event champions in contention, it was a rough day at the tables as defending champion Jonathan Tamayo was the only one to survive. He bagged up a below-average stack of 158,500 but still has a chance to retain his title and unlock another eight-figure payday. Not as fortunate were the likes of Joe McKeehen, Hossein Ensan, Huck Seed, WSOP Online champion Stoyan Madanzhiev, and Ryan Riess. As recalled by the other players at the tables, McKeehen had his pocket aces cracked by the flopped set of queens of Brett Feder in the penultimate level of the night.
An exit via bad beat was also reserved for popular vlogger Alexander "Wolfgang Poker" Seibt when his pocket queens were cracked by ace-queen. Doug Polk was more fortunate and survived the day with a short stack of 85,000 while another showman in Randall Emmett entered alongside boxer Ryan Garcia and could not be knocked out en route to bagging up 180,000 in chips.
The always talkative Will Kassouf may take over the speech play once again, nine years after his deep run in the 2016 WSOP Main Event, in which he finished in 17th place for $338,288. His stack of 430,000 is certainly in the higher echelons of the finishers tonight, and he will be back at noon local time on July 8, 2025, when the race towards the money bubble commences.
In previous years, the money bubble was reached towards the end of Day 3 or early on Day 4, and the same can also be expected in the 2025 edition as well. With 3,453 hopefuls still in the mix - nearly one-third of the field - it will still be a journey to reach the money stages. Another five levels of two hours each are scheduled on July 8, with a 20-minute break every level and an extended dinner break of 75 minutes after completion of level 13. Recommencing blinds will be 1,000-2,500 with a big blind ante of 2,500 in level 11.
As usual, the PokerNews live reporting team will be back on the floor to provide as much of the action as possible, and PokerGO will also live-stream cards-up coverage and commentary for the entire 2025 WSOP Main Event until a winner has been crowned in eight days from now.