Punnat Punsri Bags Top Ten Stack on Day 1a of the $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Mystery Bounty
Day 1a of Event #86: $1,000 Mystery Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha attracted 2,171 players to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, but only 325 of those starters bagged chips after the completion of 12 levels. A whole host of stars decided to enter this event deep into the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) schedule, including some of the game's heavy hitters.
Washington State's Casey Wassell (1,135,000) was one of only two players to bag up a seven-figure stack. Igor Zektser (1,087,000), who recently won the $1,500 Big O event, was the other.
Thailand's all-time leader in the money listings, Punnat Punsri (760,000), finished in the top ten of the overnight chip counts. Punsri has more than $25 million in live poker tournament earnings. The 25K Fantasy Draft pick has six cashes this summer, including third-place finishes in both the $1,500 Shootout No-Limit Hold'em and the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha events.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Casey Wassell | United States | 1,135,000 | 227 |
| 2 | Igor Zektser | United States | 1,087,000 | 217 |
| 3 | Nelson Chelini | United States | 917,000 | 183 |
| 4 | James Cheung | United Kingdom | 831,000 | 166 |
| 5 | Shen Liang | United States | 813,000 | 163 |
| 6 | Jack Moore | United Kingdom | 791,000 | 158 |
| 7 | Mykyta Pohorielov | United States | 774,000 | 155 |
| 8 | Punnat Punsri | Thailand | 760,000 | 152 |
| 9 | George Medrano | United States | 729,000 | 146 |
| 10 | Luis Vargas | Mexico | 713,000 | 143 |
Several high-profile grinders punched their Day 2 tickets and will be looking to add to the collection of bracelets. Michael Moncek (655,000), Brandon Shack-Harris (648,000), Craig Varnell (630,000), Jason Daly (612,000), Mark Radoja (547,000), Richard Alsup (533,000), Sascha Wilhelm (520,000), and Thomas Skaggs (520,000) all finished with a top 40 stack.
Lower down the counts, but by no means out of contention, are such luminaries as Xixiang Luo (401,000), Ryan Hughes (375,000), David Funkhouser (535,000), Yuval Bronshtein (320,000), Shawn Buchanan (262,000), Jason Somerville (234,000), five-time bracelet winner Robert Mizrachi (230,000), Andrew Kelsall (205,000), Patrick Leonard (181,000), and Adam Owen (47,000).
Day 1b shuffles up and deals at 10 a.m. local time on July 9, with those entrants also playing 12 levels. Day 2 combines the survivors of both starting flights and begins at 11 a.m. local time on Thursday, July 10.
PokerNews traditional coverage of this event gets underway on Day 2, so stay tuned!