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Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship
Day 1b Completed
2025 World Series of Poker
Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship
Day: 1b
Event Info
2025 World Series of Poker
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1b
Buy-in
$10,000
Prize Pool
$90,535,500
Total Entries
9,735
Level
41
Blinds
1,000,000 / 2,500,000
Ante
2,500,000
Entries
1,096
Players Left
798
Players Left 1 / 9,735
Filter
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
In 2010, Michael Mizrachi pulled off the incredible double of winning the $50,000 Poker Players Championship and making it to the World Series of Poker Main Event final table. Fast forward 15 years later, and Mizrachi again is the owner of the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy for a record fourth time and is already poised to challenge that magical summer’s deep Main Event run
Mizrachi ended topping the counts with 297,000 as 798 players bagged up at the end of the night. It’s already been a triumphant summer for “the Grinder,” whose 11 cashes include the $50,000 PPC title for his seventh career bracelet, putting him on a direct path to making it to the Poker Hall of Fame. He’s followed by Dakota Baggett (270,400), Raoul Kanme (270,000), Ladies Event finalist Juliet Hegedus (267,000), and Adrien Guyader (259,700).
Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Mizrachi | United States | 297,000 | 371 |
| 2 | Dakota Baggett | United States | 270,400 | 338 |
| 3 | Raoul Kanme | Netherlands | 270,000 | 338 |
| 4 | Juliet Hegedus | United States | 267,000 | 334 |
| 5 | Joseph Ozimok | United States | 265,000 | 331 |
| 6 | Eric Thompkins | United States | 264,000 | 330 |
| 7 | Adrien Guyader | France | 259,700 | 325 |
| 8 | Michael Hager | United States | 254,800 | 319 |
| 9 | Kestutis Jungevicius | Lithuania | 248,600 | 311 |
| 10 | Brian Tolley | United States | 247,400 | 309 |
A total of 1,096 players came out on the second of four starting flights, but only one of them was accompanied by a rock ‘n roll band (featuring Dan “Jungleman” Cates on guitar). Phil Hellmuth, whose will-he-or-won’t-he participation in the Main Event has been a topic of discussion for months, finally settled the matter when he showed at 5 p.m. local time to the tune of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” remixed to “Highway to Hellmuth.” Hellmuth took his seat at the main feature table, complete with an ‘80s hair band wig, and ended the day with 85,000.
While Hellmuth arrived late, Daniel Negreanu made it a point to show up for the first hand as he’s done every year since 1998. Negreanu more than doubled his starting stack on Day 1b, finishing with 122,500. Other players to bag big today included Espen Sandvik (240,000), Jeremy Wien (221,300), 2019 finalist Nick Marchington (217,300), 2023 WSOP Europe champion Max Neugebauer (193,300), and 2015 November Niner Max Steinberg (180,000).
Further down the leaderboard are Yuri Dzivielevski (161,300), Kevin Rabichow (119,600), UFC fighter Colby Covington (94,500), Nick Rigby (92,900), Jason Mercier (78,700), and Eric Baldwin (69,200). Those who ended up with less than a starting stack included Olga Iermolcheva (59,700), John Hennigan (53,200), and Stephen Chidwick (51,600).
In addition to Hellmuth, three past Main Event champions took to the felt today, and all three made it through to Day 2. Qui Nguyen leads the trio with 94,500, followed by Johnny Chan (57,800) and Greg Merson (51,600).
"This is The Biggest Stack I've Had After Day 1 in Almost 15 Years"
Mike Matusow’s record in the Main Event is almost without parallel. Twice he’s made it to the final table, including a ninth-place finish at the height of the poker boom in 2005. He’s also cashed twice in the last four years. Matusow understands that the event is a grind and a long marathon. He shot out of the blocks today, bagging up 158,200.
“This is the biggest stack I’ve had after Day 1 in almost 15 years,” he said at the end of the day. “I’m very mentally balanced this year, and I’m really in a good mental frame. I know in this tournament that Day 1 means nothing. Day 2 means nothing, and Day 3 means nothing. You have to get through the minefields.”
Matusow got a late-night boost when he was on the right side of a massive cooler. Thomas Lee had bet 9,000 on the river and Matusow moved all in. Lee called for 25,000 more with a king-high flush, but Matusow had the nut flush to score the knockout. He was just happy to grind through what he described as a slow table where big pots were seldom seen. That hand was a nice little bonus.
“I had a table today that wasn’t tough, but nobody was putting chips in the pot. So you were going to have to earn them and pick your spots. I thought I did that really well to chip up to about 65K at dinner. Nobody was playing hands. You could only pick up 1,200 in blinds so often,” he said. “So I came back from dinner and I made some good hands with bad hands. Defended five-deuce of spades and made a full house. Defended five-six suited and made a full house. And then the big pot when I just called with ace-five of hearts and flopped the world. To finish with 160,000, almost a 3X stack on Day 1, knowing how deep this is and knowing how, if you can get some good table draws, how you can chip up.”
With several deep runs already on his career record, Matusow has fine-tuned a strategy that seems to work perfectly in this event. “You’re never pressed for chips. You just have to be patient. He who’s patient wins. This is the only tournament where you could fold for two and a half hours and your chip stack goes down this much. If I have the patience, and I’m focused, you just have to give yourself a chance,” he said.
“Listen, I’ve been playing with confidence the whole summer. I really thought I was going to win the 50K, I’m not going to lie. I was locked in. I didn’t make any mistakes. But everything happens for a reason, I keep telling myself. I had three or four days off, and maybe I’ll have a deep run. You never know."
The Main Event Dream Dies For Some Notable Names
The poker world gathers anew every year for the most prestigious title in the game, and each year is always different than the last. George Dolofan found that out the hard way today.
Dolofan ended Day 1b as chip leader last year on his way to cashing in 1,084th place. Today, he was the first player out when he hit a set of eights, but James Gorham turned a straight. Shane Martin was also eliminated on one of the first few hands when he flopped the nut straight, but Eben Kurtzman rivered a full house.
Other notables to have their dream end too soon include Nick Schulman, Artur Martirosian, Chino Rheem, and Felipe Ramos. Swedish online legend Niklas Astedt made it all the way to third place last year, but he won’t be repeating that run in 2025 after running kings into Luka Bojovic’s aces in the closing moments of the day.
The 1,096 entries recorded today far exceeded the 831 from last year. Combined with Day 1a yesterday, the field currently stands at 2,019 with two more starting flights to go. Late registration also remains open for the first two levels of Day 2. The survivors from the first three opening flights will return on Sunday, July 6 for Day 2abc.
A new crop of hopefuls will gather inside the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas, for Day 1c tomorrow at noon, and PokerNews will be back providing live updates throughout the day.
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
297,000
29,000
|
29,000 |
|
||
|
270,400
39,400
|
39,400 |
|
270,000
153,000
|
153,000 |
|
267,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
265,000
265,000
|
265,000 |
|
264,000
264,000
|
264,000 |
|
259,700
9,700
|
9,700 |
|
254,800
42,700
|
42,700 |
|
248,600
40,100
|
40,100 |
|
247,400
47,400
|
47,400 |
|
240,000
66,000
|
66,000 |
|
||
|
236,700
210,700
|
210,700 |
|
236,100
3,900
|
3,900 |
|
232,300
232,300
|
232,300 |
|
230,000
38,000
|
38,000 |
|
228,800
228,800
|
228,800 |
|
225,200
200
|
200 |
|
222,000
222,000
|
222,000 |
|
221,300
2,700
|
2,700 |
|
|
||
|
217,700
12,300
|
12,300 |
|
217,300
2,700
|
2,700 |
|
215,900
80,900
|
80,900 |
|
213,200
16,700
|
16,700 |
|
208,200
208,200
|
208,200 |
|
205,400
205,400
|
205,400 |
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
The curtains have closed on Day 1b of the 2025 World Series of Poker Main Event.
A total of 1,096 players entered the flight, and 799 have survived to bag chips and secure their seat on Day 2.
Stay tuned for a full recap of today's action.
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
With play drawing to a close, Max Neugebauer opened the action to 1,400 under the gun. Edward Ross called on the button, and João De Olivera defended his big blind.
The 9♥8♠A♣ flop was met with a check from De Olivera, and a bet from Neugebauer, to the tune of 1,500. Ross then raised it up to 3,500, and Neugebauer made the call. The J♥ peeled off on the turn, prompting Neugebauer to check over to the last aggressor. Ross fired out for 3,500 a second time, before Neugebauer cut out some raising chips, announcing "Sixteen." The 16,000 bet put Ross in a spot, as he sat back in his chair, then sat forward, head in hands. He stayed that way for around a minute, before letting go of his cards.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
200,000
40,500
|
40,500 |
|
|
||
|
88,000 | |
|
|
80,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Natalie Ferguson opened to 2,500 from the cutoff and My Nguyen three-bet to 6,700. Ferguson moved all in for around 30,000 and Nguyen didn't take long before folding KxKx. Ferguson flipped over her A♦A♥.
A player at the table commented, "He can dodge bullets" as Nguyen found himself in the next hand.
Matheus Grazziotin opened the cutoff for 1,200 and Nguyen called.
The 5♦10♣J♦ flop saw Grazziotin check-call Nguyen's 3,000 bet.
The 5♠ was turned and Grazziotin check-called after Nguyen bet 5,000.
Nguyen bet 10,000 which was enough for Grazziotin to check-fold the 9♠ river, and regained some chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
63,000
25,900
|
25,900 |
|
58,000
58,000
|
58,000 |
|
36,500
19,100
|
19,100 |
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Niklas Astedt busted in the closing moments of Day 1b, and his vanquisher Luka Bojovic filled in the details.
According to Bojovic, Astedt had three-bet to 6,000 in the big blind before Bojovic four-bet to 16,000. Astedt moved all in for around 50,000 and Bojovic called.
Astedt showed two kings, but Bojovic had two aces and the board provided no help to the Swedish online legend as he was sent to the rail.
"He played incredible. He folded kings against aces and queens. I had quads against him and he folded," tablemate Katie Berens added.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
170,000
39,000
|
39,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Jordan Siegel was in the big blind and bet 5,200 into a pot of 12,000 on the 8♦6♦3♥ flop. Alessandro Pagliuso called in late position, after which Silas Sneed folded in the hijack.
The Q♥ turn checked through to the 6♥ river, where Siegel fired 11,000. Pagliuso snap-folded, sending the chips Siegel's way.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
225,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
88,000
17,000
|
17,000 |
|
|
40,000 |
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
As play was wrapping up for the day, Anthony Hughes manoeuvred the remainder of his stack, roughly 14,000, into the middle versus Benjamin Ane.
Anthony Hughes: A♥K♠ 
Benjamin Ane: 7♠7♣
The ace in the window was great news for Hughes, but trouble followed. The full flop revealed A♣7♥4♣, leaving Hughes requiring running cards to stay alive.
The turn 3♣ sealed his fate, and by the time the 9♦ river was flipped over, Hughes was already out of his seat and on his way to the exit.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
91,000
62,800
|
62,800 |
|
Busted |
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Ryan Mandara opened up the action with a raise to 1,300 from middle position. Paul Zappulla then reraised to 6,000 from the small blind, and Zappulla called.
Zappulla put out a continuation-bet of 4,500 on the monotone 6♠2♠5♠ flop, and Mandara called again. The 9♠ turn checked through, bringing in the A♦ on the river. Here, Zappulla thought for a while before checking his option, and Mandara snap-checked it back. His 6♣6♦ took home the pot, beating Zappulla's A♣Q♥.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
124,000
18,500
|
18,500 |
|
||
|
|
116,000
12,800
|
12,800 |
