PokerNews live coverage of this event will begin on Day 2 (June 2). Until then, we will be keeping readers informed with updates on chip counts and core event statistics, including entries and prize pool. Scroll down to see more.
Event #13: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
Day 1 Completed
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).
| 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.
Here are the end of Day 1 chip counts, according to the WSOP LIVE app.
There are 100 bracelet-awarding events on the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) schedule, but every poker player dreams of becoming the champion of just one of those tournaments: the $10,000 WSOP Main Event. Unfortunately for some, the $10,000 buy-in puts the 2026 WSOP Main Event out of reach, which is where satellites come into their own.
In 2003, the aptly-named Chris Moneymaker, then an accountant from Atlanta, Georgia, won a $10,000 WSOP Main Event seat via an $86 buy-in satellite online at PokerStars. Moneymaker outlasted 838 opponents, including defeating seasoned pro Sammy Farha heads-up, to win the WSOP Main Event and kickstart the phenomenon that would be called the Moneymaker Effect.
Fast forward to today, and hundreds, if not thousands, of players will head to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas hoping to win their way into the 2026 WSOP Main Event for a fraction of the $10,000 asking price. The 2026 WSOP Main Event satellites run from July 1-7 and come in buy-ins of $150, $260, $585, $1,100, and $2,200.
According to WSOP LIVE app.
It took some time, but the $1 million mystery bounty eventually surfaced.
Just under six hours after Day 2 of the inaugural Mini Mystery Millions got underway at the 2026 World Series of Poker, one fortunate player peeled back the tournament's most wanted prize.
It took 43 players drawing from the Gold Chest, which contained any bounty prize worth $25,000 or more, before the $1,000,000 bounty was pulled.
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $346,108 | 30-35 | $10,766 |
| 2 | $230,626 | 36-41 | $8,873 |
| 3 | $163,172 | 42-47 | $7,423 |
| 4 | $116,951 | 48-53 | $6,306 |
| 5 | $84,929 | 54-59 | $5,442 |
| 6 | $62,501 | 60-71 | $4,770 |
| 7 | $46,619 | 72-83 | $4,250 |
| 8-9 | $35,250 | 84-99 | $3,848 |
| 10-11 | $27,026 | 100-126 | $3,543 |
| 12-17 | $21,013 | 127-153 | $3,317 |
| 18-23 | $16,572 | 154-180 | $3,160 |
| 24-29 | $13,260 | 181-276 | $3,009 |
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