Day 1b of $1,500 The Closer No-Limit Hold'em Shuffles Up and Deals at 10 a.m.
Welcome back to PokerNews, the official media partner of the 2025 World Series of Poker, bringing you live updates from every bracelet event.
Today marks the start of Day 1b of Event #97: $1,500 The Closer No-Limit Hold'em, a two-day tournament that allows unlimited reentries. Day 1b starts at 10 a.m. local time on July 15. Players sit down armed with 50,000 chips and play 30-minute levels throughout. Twenty-minute breaks are scheduled every four levels, and a 75-minute dinner break is pencilled in after the 12th level (around 4:40 p.m. local time). Late registration remains open until the end of the dinner break.
Payouts begin on Day 1 when the field is down to about 15 percent, so all players returning for Day 2 will be in the money. Day 2 begins at 11 a.m. local time on July 16 and continues until only one player remains. Breaks will be every two hours, and they'll take a dinner break before the final table begins. Traditional PokerNews coverage begins on Day 2.
Ching Da Wu, a software engineer, outlasted 3,214 opponents in the 2024 edition of this fast-paced event. The Taiwanese grinder banked $525,500 and his first WSOP bracelet.
On Day 1a, 1,793 players bought in, but only 128 had chips requiring bagging and tagging after 22 levels. Julien Vanpelt (2,765,000) bagged up the largest stack, followed by Leo Lombardozzi (2,545,000) and Zhen Cai (2,300,000).
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 |
Become a Bigger Part of the Action With MyStack
Never Miss a Moment with MyPlayers on PokerNews
Stay closer than ever to the action with MyPlayers. This brand new, free feature on PokerNews puts your favorite poker players front and center. Whether you're keeping tabs on legends like Daniel Negreanu or following a friend grinding their way through a Day 2, MyPlayers delivers real-time updates tailored just for you. No subscriptions, no paywalls - just the hands, chip counts, and bustouts that matter most.
It’s simple: log in, search for any player in our live coverage, hit the star, and they’ll be added to your personalized MyPlayers list. You’ll see their progress across all live-reported events, with chip counts and updates pinned right where you need them at the top.
From railbirds to backers, MyPlayers is the smarter way to stay connected to the game.