Five players saw the flop come out 3♥2♠9♦. After three checks, Daemon Richardson bet 1,000 from middle position, and only Refael Dahan called out of the small blind.
Both players checked the J♦ turn to see the 9♣ roll off on the river. Dahan led out for 2,200, and was met by a raise to 6,000 from Richardson. Dahan mulled it over briefly before folding and relinquishing the pot to Richardson.
Paul Vulpis raised to 500 from the cutoff, and both Tam Ho and Zack Marshak made the call from the small and big blind.
The dealer revealed the 7♥5♣8♦ flop, and things were about to escalate quickly.
Ho and Marshak both started with a check, and Vulpis continued with a bet of 2,000. Ho called before Marshak opted to put in a check-raise to 7,000. Vulpis made the call before Ho responded with a three-bet back-raise all in for roughly 60,000.
Marshak took some time to consider but ultimately chose to fold. Action was then back on Vulpis, who made the call.
A serious three-way cooler as the players revealed their hands.
Tam Ho: 8♠8♥
Paul Vulpis: 7♠7♣
Before any further action took place, Marshak showed the table that he had flopped a straight with six-four, which he had subsequently folded.
The deck hadn't finished dishing out the drama, though, as the dealer flipped over the 7♦ turn, improving Vulpis to four-of-a-kind.
There was no one-out miracle for Ho, as the river came the 3♣, requiring him to leave his seat in the Main Event with nothing but a bad beat story to tell.
As recounted by the players at the table, Yueqi Zhu opened to 600 from the button, Michael Niegsch called from the small blind and Thomas Henshaw three-bet to 2,200 from the big blind. Zhu four-bet to 8,200 and only Henshaw called.
The flop came 2♥6♥Q♣ and Henshaw check-called an 8,200 bet from Zhu.
Henshaw led with a 16,000 bet on the 2♣ turn and Zhu called. On the 6♦ river Henshaw shoved and Zhu called to put him at risk.
Henshaw's KxKx were bested by Zhu's AxAx and he become the first casualty of the day while Zhu dragged in a double up worth 600 big blinds.
Mikki Mase and Ismael Grijalva arrived on the 9♥10♥Q♣3♦3♥ river when Mase shoved all his chips in the middle. The pot amounted to 20,900, and Grijalva was put at risk for his 34,800 remaining chips.
"Really, first hand, Mikki?" Grijalva asked his opponent. "This is the worst river when I flopped the nuts, he continued.
He then showed Mase K♣J♦, which got him a stern warning from the floor, as that is against the rules.
"Nice bluff," Grijalva eventually said as he folded his hand. Mase showed Q♠Q♦ for a rivered full house.
"Is bluffing even allowed in this game?" he asked as he dragged in the chips.
Welcome back to the 2025 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas. Today, Day 1c, the third of four starting flights of Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event No-Limit Hold'em World Championship is set to get underway at 12 p.m. local time.
With today being July 4th, the tournament tables are expected to be buzzing as more poker superstars and first-timers alike join the field. Independence Day might be about fireworks, but on the felt, players will be hoping to make some noise of their own as they chase Main Event glory.
An additional 1,096 players took their shot on Day 1b, bringing the total number of entries so far to 2,019, which includes the 923 from Day 1a. Of those, a total of 1,433 players managed to bag chips and will return for Day 2abc on Sunday, July 6. Currently, Victor Vo sits at the top of the leaderboard after bagging a stack of 352,000 on Day 1a.
Overall Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Victor Vo
United States
352,000
440
2
Justin Yaker
United States
348,000
435
3
Miguel Coussement
Belgium
320,200
400
4
Marc Spitaleri
United States
309,500
387
5
Michael Mizrachi
United States
297,000
371
6
Jeremy Dan
United States
282,000
353
7
Dakota Baggett
United States
270,400
338
8
Raoul Kanme
Netherlands
270,000
338
9
Juliet Hegedus
United States
267,000
334
10
Joseph Ozimok
United States
265,000
331
Max Neugebauer
With this being the pinnacle of poker tournaments worldwide, a long list of notable names have already secured their spots for Day 2, including the chip leader from Day 1b, Michael Mizrachi (297,000). In addition, the 2023 WSOP Europe Main Event champion Max Neugebauer (193,300), Roman Hrabec (162,500), five-time bracelet winner Yuri Dzivielevski (161,300), and high-stakes crusher Leon Sturm (157,600) have all punched their tickets to Day 2abc.
Plenty of big names are also returning with shorter stacks, including Stephen Chidwick (51,600), the 2012 Main Event winner Greg Merson (47,300), and seven-time bracelet winner Billy Baxter (39,900), who had the honor of delivering Day 1a’s “Shuffle Up and Deal!” announcement. Also advancing to Day 2 are Adrian Mateos (31,200), Jonathan Little (18,100), and Allan Le (18,000), all looking to spin it up when play resumes.
Greg Merson
Everyone begins with 60,000 chips, with the plan to play through five 120-minute levels before the surviving players bag up their stacks for the night. Breaks are scheduled after every level, including a 75-minute dinner break following Level 3 at around 6:40 p.m. Players who make it through Day 1c will return on Sunday, July 6, for Day 2abc alongside the survivors from Days 1a and 1b.
Day 1c Schedule
Level
Start
Duration
Small Blind
Big Blind
Big Blind Ante
1
12:00 p.m.
120 minutes
100
200
200
2:00 p.m.
20-minute break
2
2:20 p.m.
120 minutes
200
300
300
4:20 p.m.
20-minute break
3
4:40 p.m.
120 minutes
200
400
400
6:40 p.m.
75-minute break
4
7:55 p.m.
120 minutes
300
500
500
9:55 p.m.
20-minute break
5
10:15 p.m.
120 minutes
300
600
600
Registration will remain open through the first two levels of Day 2, with no reentries allowed in this freezeout event. The tournament runs over two weeks and will conclude with the final day of play on Wednesday, July 16.
Selected feature tables will be streamed throughout the day and are available to watch on PokerGO and YouTube.
Keep it locked on PokerNews for live updates all day long from the tournament floor of the 2025 WSOP Main Event, coming to you from the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas.
