Day 1 of Event #83: $2,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em wrapped up after 15 levels of intense action at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas during the 2025 World Series of Poker.
One of the chip leaders is bracelet winner Vitor Dzivielevski, from Brazil, who is a force to be reckoned with on the felt. A hand that earned him some chips near the end of the night was versus Romain Locquet, where he held the better two pair.
Noel Rodriguez is also listed at the top of the chip leaders, with over $3 million in career poker earnings, according to The Hendon Mob. Rodriguez is undoubtedly one of the top contenders to watch as the event continues, and he earns more points in the 25K Fantasy Draft. PokerNews.
Yu Zhang from China was listed as third in chips and will be looking to break the one-million-dollar mark in his poker earnings with a deep finish.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Noel Rodriguez | United States | 840,000 | 140 |
| 2 | Vitor Dzivielevski | Brazil | 568,000 | 95 |
| 3 | Yu Zhang | China | 558,000 | 93 |
| 4 | Bijan Shapouri | United States | 535,000 | 89 |
| 5 | Graeme Newman | United Kingdom | 481,000 | 80 |
| 6 | Tamao Kobayashi | Japan | 480,000 | 80 |
| 7 | Ben Fan | China | 470,000 | 78 |
| 8 | Filipp Khavin | United States | 467,000 | 78 |
| 9 | Dohyeok Kim | South Korea | 464,000 | 77 |
| 10 | Congya Zhang | China | 449,000 | 75 |
This year’s event attracted 1,299 entries, surpassing last year’s total of 1,267, and created a generous prize pool of $2,890,275. The winner will take home $449,245 and the coveted WSOP gold bracelet. A total of 195 players will make the money, with a minimum payout of $5,010. The remaining 247 players will return to battle Friday, July 4, at 1 p.m. until the bubble bursts and beyond. The final 195 players will be in the money.
The tournament attracted a star-studded field packed with big names and WSOP bracelet winners. Among them are two-time bracelet champions Boris Kolev, who ended the day with 289,000 chips, and Dong Meng, who bagged 254,000, both well-positioned for a deep run. Also in the mix is 2020 Main Event Champion Stoyan Madanzhiev, who matched Meng's stack with 254,000 and will return to Day 2 with plenty of big blinds to maneuver.
Plenty of names from the 25K Fantasy Draft are still in the running, including Phillip Hui (370,000), Cary Katz (134,000), Danny Wong (120,000), Renan Bruschi (109,000), [Removed:548] (109,000), and PokerNews podcaster Mike Holtz (59,000).
Day 2 is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in the Horseshoe Ballroom Blue section. They will play ten 60-minute levels with a 15-minute break after every two levels. A one-hour dinner break is scheduled after Level 21, at approximately 7:30 p.m. The blinds will start at Level 16, at 3,000/6,000/6,000.
The PokerNews team will be on site, providing live updates and chip counts as the field continues to be whittled down on Day 2.
