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Hubbard Leads The Final Six Into Day 3 of $1,500 No-Limit 2-7
At 1 p.m. today, the final 96 players out of the initial 626 returned in Event #12: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 to play for the total prize pool of $831,015. As the dust settled after 10 levels of play, there were only six players remaining to take down the latest draw game bracelet at the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas for the 2026 WSOP.
Leading the way is a player very familiar with this particular event, Stephen Hubbard (4,955,000). The Utah poker player finished in eighth place in the 2025 edition and collected $11,646 for his efforts. He has already secured himself a better finish and sits with a sizable lead over his five opponents. With tournament cashes dating back ten years, Hubbard has amassed $1,508,109 in lifetime earnings according to The Hendon Mob, and even finished in fifth place in Event #5: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha just days ago. All of his tournament wins have been in PLO, and a victory here would further diversify his growing resume.
Gabriel Paul (3,330,000) sits in second place, also having a deep run in this event himself back in 2021, where he finished in 15th place. With 12 years of recorded tournament cashes, he looks to better his runner up finish in the 2016 WSOP Tag Team Event and claim his first WSOP bracelet.
Another player who is looking to take home a WSOP bracelet after a runner up finish is Dylan Smith (2,890,000), who rounds out the podium. Finishing in second place in last year’s $10,000 Dealers Choice for $230,374, Smith’s decorated poker career has seen the Florida Poker Pro take down many six-figure scores and massive wins. With over $5 million in recorded lifetime earnings and big scores in many different variants of poker, he looks to add a WSOP bracelet to his already crowded trophy shelf.
Day 2 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Hubbard | United States | 4,955,000 | 99 |
| 2 | Gabriel Paul | United States | 3,330,000 | 67 |
| 3 | Dylan Smith | United States | 2,890,000 | 58 |
| 4 | Anthony Lamps | United States | 1,915,000 | 38 |
| 5 | Philip Jaffe | United States | 1,345,000 | 27 |
| 6 | Timothy Wong | United States | 1,285,000 | 26 |
In fourth is Anthony Lamps (1,915,000), who fought back from being the shortest stack at the final table to being just outside of the top three. Hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, his last seven years of recorded tournament cashes have shown a variety of game types in his arsenal. This is his first recorded cash in a draw tournament and he looks to make it a sizable splash into this pool.
Philip Jaffe (1,345,000) sits fifth on the leaderboard as he adds a third WSOP cash and first final table to his growing resume. Hailing from Georgia, Atlanta, he finished in 30th place in last year’s edition of the $3,000 Nine-Game mix for $7,079, a WSOP score he has already topped here today.
Sitting with the shortest stack here today is Timothy Wong (1,215,000), who is also looking for his first WSOP bracelet, with 16 years of cashes and many titles in mixed game tournaments throughout the country. Having secured his biggest live cash already, he'll be looking to make it even better tomorrow.
Final Table Results and Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $155,819 | ||
| 2 | $102,957 | ||
| 3 | $69,456 | ||
| 4 | $47,846 | ||
| 5 | $33,672 | ||
| 6 | $24,219 | ||
| 7 | Per Hildebrand | Sweden | $17,814 |
Final Day Action
Coming back into the day, the field was just two players away from the money. Adithya Sundar was the only player of the day to not receive any of the prize pool as he became the first elimination. A double knockout followed as Paul Clotar (95th-$1,520) and Evan Sparling (94th-$1,521) fell to David “ODB” Baker and Timothy Wong , respectively. They would split the minimum cash and ensure the other 93 players all took at least $3,041.
After that, it was a flurry of eliminations as players like John Monnette (87th-$3,041), Ryan Hoenig (86th-$3,041), Ray Henson (72nd-$3,041), Dan Shak (59th-$3,193), and Jon Glendinning (52nd-$3,361) all fell shortly after the bubble burst.
Caitlin Comeskey (30th-$4,645) was eliminated after losing a chip lead pot to Tal Avivi, but he would only hold the lead for mere moments as, at the other table, Chris Brewer (29th-$4,645) bust out to Gabriel Paul, with his ten being rendered second best up against Paul’s eight. Charlton Hawes (26th-$5,460) was the final player to fall in the Yellow section as the tournament migrated across the hall to play in the Gold section.
Eliminations kept on flying as players like Dario Sammartino (25th-$5,460), Justin Liberto (24th-$5,460), Terrence Chan (18th-$6,586), Asher Conniff (17th-$6,586), and Jon Kyte (16th-$6,586) all fell on the tournament’s journey to reach two tables.
Shawn Buchanan (14th-$8,146) became the first player to bust at the final two tables as his pat eight could not hold up against Stephen Hubbard’s two draw, where he made number three. Christopher Chung (13th-$8,146) was next to go as his jack-nine was found inferior to Hubbard’s jack-six. He was left with one chip after the hand, which disappeared just a few minutes later. Back at the other table, Brian Breck (12th-$8,146) got in his last chips with ten-nine and found himself up against Dylan Smith’s ten draw, which turned into ten-eight, and he exited the field.
Jorge Ufano (11th-$10,325) spent most of the day as one of the big stacks, but his end came at the hands of Timothy Wong, who’s ten-seven bested his opponent's ten-nine. At the other table just moments later, Jerry Wong (10th-$10,325) moved all in over an open holding ten-nine, only for Hubbard to wake up behind him with an eight and send the WSOP bracelet winner out of the tournament.
One more player fell before the tournament reached the final table as Avivi four-bet jammed his eight draw into Wong’s ten-nine. Avivi paired his two and the final table of eight was set while Avivi collected $13,405 for his ninth place finish.
Final Table Action
The big stacks coming into the final table were Hubbard, Dylan Smith, and Wong and the three of them wasted no time involving themselves in big pots with each other. Some of these pots included hero calls, while one of them saw Hubbard move all in for most of his stack holding a pair of eights. All three players held the lead at one time on the leaderboard, with Hubbard eventually separating himself from the rest.
Some of that separation came courtesy of the first elimination at the final table, when four-time WSOP bracelet winner Baker raised in the small blind to see Hubbard call in the big blind. Baker stood pat while Hubbard drew one and then jammed all in to see Baker call with ten-eight. Unfortunately it was outdrawn by Hubbard’s nine-six and the only bracelet winner at the table finished in eighth place for $13,405.
Next to go was Per Hildebrand in sixth place, who found himself falling down to the short stack of the table as the night lingered on. Eventually he put in his last chips holding an eight-draw up against Gabriel Paul’s ten. Hildebrand paired his eight and the Swedish poker player collected $17,814 for his efforts, just a couple of days after his third place finish in the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo.
All of the six surviving players will return tomorrow at 1:00 pm to play to a winner, with blinds returning to 30,000/60,000 and a 90,000 big blind ante. Levels will last one hour each and play will continue until a winner is crowned.
That will conclude today’s coverage of the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7, so be sure to check back into PokerNews tomorrow for all of the exciting updates on the ground at the 2026 WSOP.