The 2025 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas, continued today with Day 2 of Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship No-Limit Hold'em. The event attracted 3,797 players to create a prize pool of $10,137,990, and only 219 players remain after two days of play.
Javier Zarco bagged the chip lead with a solid stack of 2,180,000 — good for 100 big blinds when play resumes. He’s securing his first-ever cash in a WSOP event in Las Vegas and hopes it will end with gold. Close behind is Andres Fajardo, who finished the day with 2,075,000. They are the only two players to have crossed the two-million mark so far.
As expected, the event attracted plenty of notables, many of whom bagged hefty stacks. Two-time bracelet winner David Jackson (1,680,000) and Australian pro Ehsan Amiri (1,565,000) both emerged in the top ten. They were joined by the likes of Alex Foxen (1,490,000), Fausto Valdez (1,450,000), Nick Maimone (1,370,000), Ankit Ahuja (1,200,000), and Chino Rheem (1,085,000) — just to name a few.
Alex Keating (590,000), who doubled up via Davidi Kitai (545,000) in the last 20 minutes of Day 2, is also among those who bagged for Day 3.
The remaining players are guaranteed $8,357 when they return, but all eyes will be on the $1,189,406 first-place prize, which comes with the bracelet and the glory.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Javier Zarco | Spain | 2,180,000 | 136 |
| 2 | Andres Fajardo | Colombia | 2,075,000 | 130 |
| 3 | Joaquin Pacha | Argentina | 1,903,500 | 119 |
| 4 | Hang Xu | China | 1,685,000 | 105 |
| 5 | David Jackson | United States | 1,680,000 | 105 |
| 6 | Peter Brown | United States | 1,665,000 | 104 |
| 7 | George Tomescu | Romania | 1,640,000 | 103 |
| 8 | Inigo Naveiro | Spain | 1,640,000 | 103 |
| 9 | Chunhui Ji | China | 1,575,000 | 98 |
| 10 | Ehsan Amiri | Australia | 1,565,000 | 98 |
Action of the Day
There were 1,041 players returning to the felt today, and with late registration still open, plenty of familiar faces joined the field. Defending champion Clément Richez was among them, but he busted before reaching the money. Once the official prize pool was announced, it was confirmed that only 570 players would cash.
The bubble took place in Level 15, and Yasheel Doddanavar was on the wrong side of a bad beat as his pocket jack got cracked by queen-jack on the stone bubble before the remaining players secured a min-cash of $6,004.
From there, players fell at a brisk pace as the field was whittled down; three-time WSOP champion Anson Tsang (551st place), 2024 Main Event Winner Jonathan Tamayo (506th place), 25K Fantasy picks David "ODB" Baker (467th), Patrick Leonard (450th), Jesse Lonis (430th) and John Riordan (390th) all min-cashed.
Felix Rabas, the Day 1b chip leader, couldn’t maintain his momentum and exited the event in 357th place for $6,304. He was followed by 2020 Main Event Champion Stoyan Madanzhiev (311th – $6,859), Adrian Mateos (308th – $6,859), and Nick Palma (255th – $7,535). Six-time bracelet winner Brian Hastings also hit the rail during the level (241st -$7,535).
The 219 survivors will return on Saturday, July 12, at 1 p.m. local time to Level 20 with blinds of 10,000/ 20,000 and 20,000 big blind ante. They are expected to play ten more 60-minute levels, with a 60-minute dinner break at around 7:30 p.m.
Stay tuned as PokerNews continues to provide coverage until a champion is crowned on Sunday.
