button in SafariDerek McMaster Leads As Stars Turn Out For the $1,500 Mixed Omaha
Derek McMaster bagged the Day 1 chip lead in Event #14: $1,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo, where 1,287 players decided to put their Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, Omaha Hi-Lo, and Big O skills to the test at the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP). By the time 15 levels were done and dusted, only 273 players had chips requiring bagging, and nobody had more to cram into their overnight bag than McMaster.
McMaster won his one and only bracelet at the 2019 WSOP, taking down the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo event for a career-best $228,228. He finished Day 1 of this tournament with 502,000 chips, enough for 167 big blinds (during the Pot-Limit betting rounds) or 42 big bets (during the Fixed Limit betting rounds).
David Yarbrough (430,000) bagged up the second-largest stack, while Alessandro De Michele (395,000) rounded off the podium places.
Event #14: $1,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Derek Mcmaster | United States | 502,000 | 167 | 42 |
| 2 | David Yarbrough | United States | 430,000 | 143 | 36 |
| 3 | Alessandro De Michele | Italy | 395,000 | 132 | 33 |
| 4 | Brian Battistone | United States | 370,500 | 124 | 31 |
| 5 | Serozh Arutyunyan | United States | 343,000 | 114 | 29 |
| 6 | Michael Banducci | United States | 329,000 | 110 | 27 |
| 7 | Christopher Kennedy | United States | 316,500 | 106 | 26 |
| 8 | Oliver Tot | Slovakia | 293,000 | 98 | 24 |
| 9 | Dean Campbell | 287,000 | 96 | 24 | |
| 10 | Michael Krescanko Jr | United States | 286,500 | 96 | 24 |
As mentioned, dozens of top-tier players entered this event, and many were among the 273 who progressed to Day 2.
Brian Battistone (370,500), a $25K Fantasy pick, finished in the top five while Nick Guagenti (277,500), Allan Le (260,000), Justin Liberto (248,000), and Thomas Taylor (243,000) return with top 20 stacks.
Patrick Leonard (239,000) will be present on Day 2, as will Brandon Cantu (222,000), Matt Glantz (212,000), Brandon Shack-Harris (205,000), Ryan Hughes (186,500), Phillip Hui (180,000), Ray Henson (162,000), Mike Matusow (130,500), John Monnette (92,000), Robert Mizrachi (80,500), and Max Neugebauer (79,500).
Day 2 starts at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 2 with the plan to play another 10 levels. Join PokerNews then for all of the split-pot Omaha you can handle.