button in SafariDutch Star Michel Molenaar Bags a Top 10 Stack on Day 1 of the $1,500 NLHE 6-Max
Day 1 of Event #13: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em here at the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) drew in a 1,840-strong crowd to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, but only 135 of those players who started the day with high hopes navigated to Day 2. One man who progressed with a big stack is Michel Molenaar of the Netherlands.
Molenaar bagged and tagged 850,000 chips at the close of play, ranking him sixth on the night. Team Gators drafted Molenaar for a mere $1 in the $25K Fantasy Draft, and that single dollar could turn out to be one of the bargains of the summer if the Dutchman continues his Day 1 form during the rest of this event.
Last summer, Molenaar came his closest yet to capturing a bracelet, falling in sixth in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout. Could this be the tournament where he gets his hand on some WSOP hardware?
David Rees (1,247,000) is the chip leader going into Day 2. Rees was one of three players whose stacks passed the 1 million barrier. The other two chip-millionaires are Bastien Ravalet (1,200,000) and Julius Jung (1,170,000).
Event #13: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Rees | United States | 1,247,000 |
| 2 | Bastien Ravalet | France | 1,200,000 |
| 3 | Julius Jung | United States | 1,170,000 |
| 4 | Taylor Hart | United States | 985,000 |
| 5 | Justin Arnwine | United States | 953,000 |
| 6 | Michel Molenaar | Netherlands | 850,000 |
| 7 | Yuchen Jiang | United States | 812,000 |
| 8 | Justin Lapka | United States | 792,000 |
| 9 | Nobuaki Sasaki | Japan | 788,000 |
| 10 | Boshuang Gao | United States | 749,000 |
There were plenty of big names who bought into this short-handed event and punched their Day 2 tickets at the first time of asking. They included Justin Lapka (792,000), Javier Zarco (579,000), Nick Yunis (565,000), Chris Hunichen (541,000), Cherish Andrews (499,000), Ryuta Nakai (383,000), Tom Hall (338,000), Fabian Quoss (333,000), Jonathan Little (258,000), Yuri Dzivielevski (257,000), Brandon Sheils (226,000), and Maria Lampropulos (120,000).
Day 2 shuffles up and deals at 11:00 a.m. local time on June 2, with blinds starting at 5,000/10,000 and a 10,000 big blind ante. The plan is to play another 10 levels, and PokerNews will be with you every step of the way.