button in SafariHossein Ensan on the Cusp of the Impossible Going to Day 7 of the WSOP Main Event
Winning the World Series of Poker Main Event is like buying a lottery ticket. To do it twice, with the massive fields that have become the event’s trademark, defies all rational ideas of probability.
Hossein Ensan has a chance to beat those impossible odds. The 2019 champion is one of just 62 players who return for Day 7 at 11 a.m. local time, the final table that once seemed like a faraway dream at the start of the event beginning to loom like a real possibility.
Ensan begins the day inside the top five on the leaderboard with 17,775,000. He beat out a field of 8,569 to win seven years ago and has already navigated through another 9,208 to make it this far. Only four players have won the Main Event twice, but that was earlier in the event’s history when fields paled in comparison to what they are now. Johnny Chan is the only one of the four to do it twice in fields exceeding even 100 players.
Day 7 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tyler Gaston | United States | 21,000,000 | 105 |
| 2 | Zhao Liu | United States | 19,470,000 | 97 |
| 3 | Blake Barousse | United States | 19,375,000 | 97 |
| 4 | Mario Boos | France | 17,950,000 | 90 |
| 5 | Hossein Ensan | Germany | 17,775,000 | 89 |
| 6 | Rami Hammoud | Canada | 17,400,000 | 87 |
| 7 | Junjie Tang | China | 17,300,000 | 87 |
| 8 | Malcolm Trayner | Australia | 17,200,000 | 86 |
| 9 | Todd Brunson | United States | 17,000,000 | 85 |
| 10 | Carlos Chadha Villamarin | United States | 16,825,000 | 84 |
He and the rest of the returning players are looking up at Tyler Gaston. The Clark County public defender is the chip leader entering the day with 21,000,000. Gaston has nearly $800,000 in live tournament earnings, according to The Hendon Mob, the majority of which came from a third-place finish in the Millionaire Maker in 2022.
Zhao Liu (19,470,000), Blake Barousse (19,375,000), and Mario Boos (17,950,000) round out the top five. In a field filled with amateurs and home game heroes chasing a dream and taking a once-in-a-lifetime shot at poker glory, several top pros have managed to navigate the pitfalls and obstacles to make it to Day 7. They include Malcolm Trayner, the 2024 Mystery Millions champion and reigning Aussie Millions champion, with 17,200,000. Todd Brunson (17,000,000) is making his deepest Main Event run since 1992, and he and his legendary father Doyle would become only the second father-son duo to each make the final table if he could survive another two days.
Further down the leaderboard are two-time WSOP bracelet winner Antonio Galiana (15,600,000), Giuseppe Pantaleo (14,450,000), Romain Lewis (13,900,000), 2024 Mid-Major Player of the Year Han Feng (12,850,000), Brock Wilson (12,650,000), the loud and combustible Will Givens (10,175,000), and Greg Mueller (10,000,000). Besides Ensan, Ralph Perry (13,775,000) is the only other remaining player who’s made the Main Event final table before, finishing in third place in 2002.
Others returning for Day 7 include Shaun Deeb (8,725,000), UK Player of the Year Thomas Clack (8,475,000), Patrick Leonard (6,100,000), and Dylan Smith (4,350,000). Two players who have made recent deep Main Event runs are back for another shot, including Japan’s Kyosuke Nagami (7,300,000), who finished 21st two years ago, and 2023 13th-place finisher Sachin Joshi (7,050,000). Akihiro Konishi has made a WSOP Main Event final table already this year, just not in Las Vegas. The WSOP Europe runner-up has some work to do to equal that performance, as he comes into Day 7 as a short stack with 2,450,000.
The action on Day 7 picks up on Level 30 with blinds of 100,000/200,000 and a 200,000 big blind ante. The plan is to play an additional five two-hour levels today before the final table is reached tomorrow. The nine finalists then return for poker’s biggest stage on August 3.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000,000 | 10-11 | $750,000 |
| 2 | $6,000,000 | 12-13 | $510,000 |
| 3 | $3,750,000 | 14-17 | $410,475 |
| 4 | $2,750,000 | 18-26 | $325,000 |
| 5 | $2,250,000 | 27-35 | $265,000 |
| 6 | $1,750,000 | 36-44 | $215,000 |
| 7 | $1,500,000 | 45-53 | $180,000 |
| 8 | $1,250,000 | 54-62 | $150,000 |
| 9 | $1,000,000 |
The 62 remaining players have all locked up at least $150,000. The next pay jump to $180,000 comes at 53rd place. A spot at the final table is worth at least $1,000,000, with the eventual world champion taking home the $10,000,000 top prize.
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The final table is in sight. Poker immortality awaits one lucky player, but there is still a long way to go for the remaining 62 players. Stay tuned as PokerNews follows all the action and provides live updates throughout the day.