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It's starting to feel real for the players still standing in the 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event.
For the first time, poker's most famous final table is within touching distance. Whether any of them manage much sleep before returning to Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas is another question entirely.
The field was trimmed from 62 players to just 21 after another five levels of play, leaving every remaining contender one session away from locking up at least $1 million and a return to Las Vegas in August for the Main Event finale.
2024 WSOP Mystery Millions champion and 2026 Aussie Millions winner Malcolm Trayner bagged the chip lead with 63,200,000. He'll return with a healthy advantage over Rami Hammoud (41,500,000), Lucas Jumalon (40,800,000), Evagoras Evagorou (38,200,000) and Will Givens (31,700,000), who round out the top five.
End-of-Day 7 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Malcolm Trayner | Australia | 63,200,000 | 105 |
| 2 | Rami Hammoud | Canada | 41,500,000 | 69 |
| 3 | Lucas Jumalon | Canada | 40,800,000 | 68 |
| 4 | Evagoras Evagorou | Cyprus | 38,200,000 | 64 |
| 5 | Will Givens | United States | 31,700,000 | 53 |
| 6 | Shaun Deeb | United States | 31,300,000 | 52 |
| 7 | Tolga Karakaya | Germany | 30,000,000 | 50 |
| 8 | Hossein Ensan | Germany | 29,700,000 | 50 |
| 9 | Thomas Clack | United Kingdom | 27,500,000 | 46 |
| 10 | Antonio Galiana | Spain | 27,200,000 | 45 |
Final Table Dreams Still Alive
Trayner may lead the way, but plenty of compelling storylines remain heading into Day 8.
Reigning WSOP Player of the Year Shaun Deeb sits sixth in chips with 31,300,000 as he continues the deepest Main Event run of his career. There's 2019 champion Hossein Ensan (29,700,000), who is just one day away from another Main Event final table as he chases history.
A victory for Ensan would make him the first player since Johnny Chan (1987, 1988) to win the WSOP Main Event twice.
For the German, returning to the business end of the Main Event has brought back memories of his victory in 2019.
"I feel great. Tomorrow is Day 8, and I've been here before. It brings back a lot of memories from seven years ago, and I'm enjoying every moment of it."
Ensan believes he's an even better player than he was during that championship run.
"I have much more experience than before, for sure. My table today felt like a final table with so many strong players."
There's also plenty of history on the line for Todd Brunson. Returning with 7,800,000 chips, Brunson remains in contention to win poker's biggest tournament exactly 50 years after his late father Doyle Brunson captured his second Main Event title.
Trayner Continues Dream 2026
Already the winner of the Aussie Millions Main Event earlier this year, Trayner now has a chance to do something truly unique in poker.
"It's a dream come true," Trayner told PokerNews. "I thought I was running hot already. I thought I'd used up all my run good for the year, maybe two years. But the poker gods have shined on me again.
"Hopefully I'll be the first player to bink the Aussie Millions and the Main Event in the same year."
Despite leading the field by more than 20 million chips, Trayner insists he's keeping his focus on the next decision rather than the seven-figure payouts.
"I don't think about the money at all. I just think about every hand individually and try to solve it like a puzzle. Hopefully I can solve that puzzle better than my opponent."
Deeb Staying True to Himself
Deeb, meanwhile, continues to treat poker's biggest tournament like it's just another day at the office.
"It's a spot where, to them, it's everything, and to me, I am apathetic," the reigning WSOP Player of the Year said. "It's part of the thing that makes me play so well. I'm not super excited and my adrenaline's not pumping. It's just another day at the office for me."
And while many players will spend Sunday night dreaming about the final table, Deeb admitted his thoughts had already drifted elsewhere.
"I just realized this tournament ends tomorrow, so I can still hop in the $25K H.O.R.S.E. and the $1K Turbo," he said. "I just love poker, and I've gone a week without registering a different event at the World Series. That's the longest of my career."
Chip Leaders Suffer Early Exits
Tyler Gaston and Blake Barousse bagged the two biggest stacks at the end of Day 6, but neither made it to the final three tables.
Gaston was the only player to finish Saturday with more than 20 million chips, yet his big stack translated into a 36th-place finish. Since 2005, only Jamie Gold (2006) and Martin Jacobson (2014) have turned the end-of-Day 6 chip lead into a WSOP Main Event title, while 12 of the last 20 Day 6 chip leaders have reached the final table. Gaston, however, wasn't able to add his name to either list.
Barousse fared only slightly better. He was eliminated in 31st after running into Rami Hammoud's two pair.
Other notable eliminations before the field reached the final three tables included Ralph Perry, whose ambitious hero call with pocket eights on a board of 10♠6♥5♣4♥Q♥ ended his run in 44th place. Patrick Leonard's pocket tens couldn't hold in a flip against Berkeley Yuan's ace-king, while the affable Jason Kornegay suffered a brutal set-over-set cooler to finish one spot behind Leonard.
Ensan sent Maxime Chilaud to the rail in 27th when his pocket fives held against jack-ten. Mark Tropp followed after failing to improve ace-eight against Givens' pocket tens. Giuseppe Pantaleo exited in 25th when his ace-jack couldn't overcome pocket queens and ace-king in a three-way all-in.
Romain Lewis then eliminated Yuan in 24th after his king-jack paired up to beat ace-three.
One of the day's cruelest exits belonged to Kyosuke Nagami. Holding pocket jacks against Daniel Savas' pocket queens, Nagami looked destined for the final day when he flopped a set. But the dream quickly turned into a nightmare as Savas spiked a queen on the turn and send the Japanese player out in 23rd place. It marked another impressive Main Event run for Nagami, who finished 21st two years ago.
Zhao Liu, who started third in chips, was the final player to fall. He saw his stack of 50 million evaporate in the last hour of play.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000,000 |
| 2 | $6,000,000 |
| 3 | $3,750,000 |
| 4 | $2,750,000 |
| 5 | $2,250,000 |
| 6 | $1,750,000 |
| 7 | $1,500,000 |
| 8 | $1,250,000 |
| 9 | $1,000,000 |
| 10-11 | $750,000 |
| 12-13 | $510,000 |
| 14-17 | $410,475 |
| 18-21 | $325,000 |
Day 8 Plan
Play resumes at 11 a.m. local time on Monday, July 13, with blinds of 300,000/600,000 and a 600,000 big blind ante.
By the end of the day, just nine players will remain. Those survivors will lock up at least $1 million before returning to Las Vegas on August 3 to play for poker's most coveted title, the gold bracelet and the $10 million first-place prize.
As always, PokerNews will be on the floor from first shuffle to last bag as the final table of the 2026 WSOP Main Event is set.
