Pei Li opened in the hijack and Erik Rozhynskyi three-bet to 450,000 in the cutoff. Li then clicked it back to 1,250,000 to send Rozhynskyi deep in the tank before folding.
The next hand, Li opened to 135,000 and Erik Rozhynskyi called, as did Michael Plesa in the big blind. Li continued for 175,000 on the flop of 9♣K♠2♦ and only Plesa called. Plesa then check-called a bet of 360,000 on the 7♠ turn.
The 2♥ river checked through and Plesa showed J♦9♠ to win the pot with a pair of nines.
Day 3 of Event #16: $1,700 U.S. Circuit Championship at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas gets underway at 12 p.m. local time.
A massive 2,148 entrants ponied up the $1,700 buy-in, to be part of the newest event for the 2026 World Series of Poker, generating a monstrous total prize pool of $3,231,666 and a whopping first-place payday of $439,605 to take home along with the coveted WSOP gold bracelet.
A total of 32 players advanced from Day 2 and will return for Day 3, having already locked up a guaranteed payout of $12,660.
Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Antonio Vargas
United States
8,435,000
105
2
Robert Kuhn
United States
8,070,000
100
3
Malcolm Franchi
France
5,000,000
63
4
Donovan Dicken
United States
4,795,000
60
5
Balakrishna Patur
United States
4,320,000
54
6
Manjunath Mulinti
United States
4,310,000
54
7
Martin Perez
United States
3,865,000
48
8
Pei Li
China
3,845,000
48
9
Kartik Ved
India
3,825,000
48
10
Liubomyr Melnyk
United States
3,510,000
44
All players will be chasing Antonio Vargas, who enters Day 3 with 8,435,000 and the overall lead. Robert Kuhn is second with 8,070,000 and Malcolm Franchi rounds out the podium, starting Day 3 in third place with 5,000,000.
Each of the top three chip leaders holds a plethora of titles to their names, but all are hunting for their first WSOP gold bracelet.
Robert Kuhn
Vargas has over $1,200,000 in recorded lifetime earnings, Kuhn is closing in on the $1,000,000 threshold, and Franchi is nearing the $2,000,000 mark (as per The Hendon Mob). With the wealth of deep experience among the top three, Day 3 is sure to be a thrilling day of top-level poker.
Further down the chip counts are bracelet holders Pei Li (3,845,000) and Kartik Ved (3,825,000), who are both sitting on healthy stacks in the top ten, to make a run at the final table and add to their bracelet tally.
Kartik Ved
Peter Cross (1,910,000) is sitting just outside the top ten, but with over $2,000,000 in lifetime earnings (as detailed by The Hendon Mob), he will be one to keep an eye on if he picks up chips early in the day.
In a similar spot to Cross is Chih Fan (1,651,000), who is another with close to $2,000,000 in lifetime earnings and can never be ruled out of being in the mix when it comes to the business end of an event.
Chih Fan
Shawn Daniels, although coming into Day 3 as a shorter stack, is another to keep an eye on and is looking to bag his second WSOP bracelet.
Day 3 is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. at Level 26, and the blinds will be 40,000/80,000 with an 80,000 big blind ante. Levels will be 60 minutes in duration.
The players will play down to a winner with a 15-minute break every two levels, with a dinner break to be decided as play progresses.
Stay closer than ever to the action with MyPlayers. This brand new,
free feature on PokerNews puts your favorite poker players front and center. Whether you're keeping tabs on legends like Daniel Negreanu or following a friend grinding their way through a Day 2, MyPlayers delivers real-time updates tailored just for you. No subscriptions, no paywalls - just the hands, chip counts, and bustouts that matter most.
It’s simple: log in, search for any player in our live coverage, hit the star, and they’ll be added to your personalized MyPlayers list. You’ll see their progress across all live-reported events, with chip counts and updates pinned right where you need them at the top.
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As always, PokerNews will be on the floor providing live updates, chip counts, and all the key moments from the final day of the event at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
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