2026 World Series of Poker
George Yutuc raised to 2,200 under the gun. Takafumi Oga responded with a three-bet to 7,000 in the hijack, which Yutuc quickly called.
The 3♣5♦J♥10♠3♠ board was then quickly checked through. Oga tabled A♥Q♥ for ace-high, but Yutuc had the better kicker with A♠K♦ to take the pot.
Over at another table, Michael Souza, Weiran Pu, and Ivar Walstra had all been eliminated, seemingly by Jeff Fenster, being replaced by, among others, James Obst.
Joseph Watts pushed all-in for the last 15,000 from under the gun and was called only by Son Nguyen in the very next seat.
Joseph Watts: K♥Q♦
Son Nguyen: A♣K♠
Watts already grabbed his belongings and vaulted out of his chair even before the 6♥4♦2♣ flop. Neither the 8♠ turn nor the 8♣ river changed anything and that spelled the end for Watts.
Justin Gardenhire in middle position faced off with Julian Parmann in the cutoff on a flop of 6♥4♣J♥ with 34,500 in the pot. Gardenhire moved all-in for 27,100 and Parmann called.
Justin Gardenhire: K♥K♠
Julian Parmann: J♦10♦
Gardenhire with kings saw Parmann hit two pair with the 10♠ turn. The A♥ river changed nothing and Gardenhire was eliminated.
Blake Whittington raised it up to 2,200 and then instantly called the shove by Nick Schulman in the very next seat for 11,600 from the small blind.
Nick Schulman: 7♦7♠
Blake Whittington: Q♠Q♥
The K♥K♦5♠A♥Q♣ board only improved Whittington to queens full and Schulman quickly left the Horseshoe Grand Ballroom.
Naixuan Shi raised to 2,200 from late position only to face a three-bet from Joseph Hebert in the hijack to 5,200. Action came back to Shi who made the call.
On the Q♠J♠3♦ flop Shi check-called Hebert's 4,000 continuation-bet for the 9♥ to peel off on the turn.
The action went check check and the dealer flipped over the 4♣ as the river. Shi lead out for 15,000 and Hebert raised to 30,000. Shi thought for a while and moved all in. Hebert didn't take long and made the call to table 4♥4♦ for a rivered set but was unfortunate to have Shi table K♥10♣ for the turned nuts and Hebert was sent to the rail.
Harry Sandford made it 2,000 to play from early position only for short stacked Ronald Jensen to three-bet all in for 8,600. Action came back to Sandford who snap-called.
Ronald Jensen: A♥9♠
Harry Sandford: K♠K♥
No help for Jensen on the 3♣7♣J♣2♥9♥ runout and he was sent to the rail.
Andrew Watson raised to 1,400 on the button. Brent Roberts three-bet to 6,600 in the big blind, which Watson four-bet to 16,200. Roberts swiftly moved all in for 32,000, and Roberts snapped him off.
Brent Roberts: Q♠Q♦
Andrew Watson: K♠K♣
Roberts could not find a queen on the 4♦10♣A♣8♥8♦ runout, eliminating him from the Main Event.
"I've been here since May 22nd and that is the second all-in I've won," Watson stated after Roberts had departed the table. "I was kind of expecting to lose."
With 12,500 in the pot on the A♠Q♠J♣ flop, Ryan Fair checked from early position, and Takuya Shinoda bet from middle position. Fair check-raised to 16,500, which Shinoda called.
The 9♥ joined the turn, and Fair led out for 22,500. After taking inventory of his stack, which totaled around 60,000, Shinoda jammed and was snapped off by Fair.
Takuya Shinoda: Q♦J♦
Ryan Fair: A♣Q♣
Both players had flopped two pair, although it was Fair's top two that left Shinoda needing one of the two remaining jacks in the deck to survive.
The 5♥ wasn't one of them, completing the board and bringing Shinoda's Main Event run to an end. He wished the table good luck before his chips were pushed across to Fair.