2025 World Series of Poker

Event #97: $1,500 The Closer
Day: 1a
1a1b2
Event Info
2025 World Series of Poker
Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a10
Prize
$648,130
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$4,687,273
Entries
4,297
Level Info
Level
43
Blinds
1,500,000 / 3,000,000
Ante
3,000,000
Players Info - Day 1a
Entries
1,793
Players Left
128
Players Left 1 / 4,297
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End of Day 1a Chip Counts (full)

Here are the chip counts of the 128 surviving players, according to the WSOP+ App.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Julien Vanpelt fr
Julien Vanpelt
2,765,000
2,765,000
2,765,000
Day 1A Chip Leader
Profile photo of Leo Lombardozzi fr
Leo Lombardozzi
2,545,000
2,545,000
2,545,000
Profile photo of Zhen Cai us
Zhen Cai
2,300,000
2,300,000
2,300,000
Profile photo of Najeeb Elkamand gb
Najeeb Elkamand
2,165,000
2,165,000
2,165,000
Profile photo of Jakob Miegel de
Jakob Miegel
1,655,000
1,655,000
1,655,000
Profile photo of Chad Lipton us
Chad Lipton
1,420,000
1,420,000
1,420,000
Profile photo of Frank Stepuchin us
Frank Stepuchin
1,350,000
1,350,000
1,350,000
Profile photo of Lukas Zaskodny cz
Lukas Zaskodny
1,335,000
1,335,000
1,335,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Profile photo of Dylan Lambe us
Dylan Lambe
1,330,000
1,330,000
1,330,000
Profile photo of Nicholas Funaro us
Nicholas Funaro
1,240,000
1,240,000
1,240,000
Profile photo of Kevin Schulz us
Kevin Schulz
1,225,000
1,225,000
1,225,000
Profile photo of Nikolai Tulin ru
Nikolai Tulin
1,200,000
1,200,000
1,200,000
Profile photo of Hitesh Patel us
Hitesh Patel
1,190,000
1,190,000
1,190,000
Profile photo of Dragana Mackelprang us
Dragana Mackelprang
1,170,000
1,170,000
1,170,000
Profile photo of Safiya Umerova us
Safiya Umerova
1,145,000
1,145,000
1,145,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Kyle Julius us
Kyle Julius
1,115,000
1,115,000
1,115,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Justin Arnwine us
Justin Arnwine
1,100,000
1,100,000
1,100,000
Profile photo of Upeshka De Silva us
Upeshka De Silva
1,045,000
1,045,000
1,045,000
WSOP 3X Winner
Profile photo of Matthew Land us
Matthew Land
1,045,000
1,045,000
1,045,000
Profile photo of Jaegeol Cho kr
Jaegeol Cho
1,035,000
1,035,000
1,035,000
Profile photo of Kyle Riley us
Kyle Riley
1,035,000
1,035,000
1,035,000
Profile photo of Devon Sturges us
Devon Sturges
1,035,000
1,035,000
1,035,000
Profile photo of Jason Bral us
Jason Bral
1,030,000
1,030,000
1,030,000
Profile photo of Suresh Doshi us
Suresh Doshi
970,000
970,000
970,000
Profile photo of Lukas Hafner at
Lukas Hafner
945,000
945,000
945,000

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Jakob Miegel Bags Top Five Stack on Day 1a of The Closer

Jakob Miegel
Jakob Miegel

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

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Julien VanpeltFrance2,765,00092
2Leo LombardozziFrance2,545,00085
3Zhen CaiUnited States2,300,00077
4Najeeb ElkamandUnited Kingdom2,165,00072
5Jakob MiegelGermany1,655,00055
6Chad LiptonUnited States1,420,00047
7Frank StepuchinUnited States1,350,00045
8Lukas ZaskodnyCzech Republic1,335,00045
9Dylan LambeUnited States1,330,00044
10Nicholas FunaroUnited States1,240,00041

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.

MyStack is a free poker tool that puts you in control of your chip counts on our live reporting pages. Once you have created a free PokerNews account, you can use MyStack to update your chip counts in real time; hopefully, your stack will continue increasing throughout the event!

Tags: Anthony ZinnoAram ZobianAxel BayoutBrett ShafferChad LiptonDimitar DanchevDylan LambeFrank StepuchinHoward MashJakob MiegelJason WheelerJulien VanpeltKenneth KimKyle JuliusLeo LombardozziLukas ZaskodnyNajeeb ElkamandNicholas FunaroSafiya UmerovaUpeshka De SilvaZhen Cai

Event #97: $1,500 The Closer

Day 1a Completed

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