Jakob Miegel Bags Top Five Stack on Day 1a of The Closer
The 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is almost over, and many players have returned home, yet that did not prevent Day 1a of Event #97: $1,500 The Closer from attracting 1,793 entrants. Of those starters, only 128 survived the fast-paced opening flight's structure. As is always the case in poker tournaments, some fared better than others.
Frenchman Julien Vanpelt (2,765,000) bagged up the largest stack. He was one of four players who turned their 50,000 starting stack into more than two million chips. Leo Lombardozzi (2,545,000), Zhen Cai (2,300,000), and Najeeb Elkamand (2,165,000) were the others.
Jakob Miegel (1,655,000) progressed in fifth place. Miegel busted from the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed championship in 13th place and decided to almost immediately hop into this event. The German's dedication to the grind could reap the rewards because he has put himself in a decent position for another deep run and his 12th cash of an impressive summer.
Event #97: $1,500 The Closer Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julien Vanpelt | France | 2,765,000 | 92 |
| 2 | Leo Lombardozzi | France | 2,545,000 | 85 |
| 3 | Zhen Cai | United States | 2,300,000 | 77 |
| 4 | Najeeb Elkamand | United Kingdom | 2,165,000 | 72 |
| 5 | Jakob Miegel | Germany | 1,655,000 | 55 |
| 6 | Chad Lipton | United States | 1,420,000 | 47 |
| 7 | Frank Stepuchin | United States | 1,350,000 | 45 |
| 8 | Lukas Zaskodny | Czech Republic | 1,335,000 | 45 |
| 9 | Dylan Lambe | United States | 1,330,000 | 44 |
| 10 | Nicholas Funaro | United States | 1,240,000 | 41 |
Big blinds based on players returning on Day 2 on Level 23
A dozen bracelet-winners navigated their way through the choppy Day 1a waters and will take their seats on Day 2. Czech star Lukas Zaskodny (1,335,000) is the best-placed of them; he finished the night in eighth place.
Safiya Umerova (1,145,000), Kyle Julius (1,115,000), and Upeshka De Silva (1,045,000) will return with seven-figure stacks while Anthony Zinno (840,000), Jason Wheeler (600,000), Howard Mash (575,000), Dimitar Danchev (410,000), Brett Shaffer (395,000), Aram Zobian (362,000), Kenneth Kim (305,000), and Axel Bayout (249,000) will add some star quality to Day 2's proceedings.
Before we can see these heroes in action again, Day 1b needs to take place. Day 1b shuffles up and deals at 10 a.m. local time on July 15, with a crowd of more than 2,000 grinders expected to take their seats. Although PokerNews' traditional coverage of this event starts on Day 2, we will have a recap of the action for you shortly after the close of play.
Planning on playing Day 1b of this event? PokerNews activates MyStack for every WSOP event, regardless of that tournament's buy-in, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting.
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