PokerNews live coverage of this event will begin on Day 3 (June 8). 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 #18: $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold'em
Day 2a Completed
Day 2a of Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack is in the bag, and what a day it was. The original Day 2a field consisted of the 538 players who survived Day 1a's shenanigans, but they were then joined by 293 late entrants.
By the time 10 more levels were completed, Ralph Perry (3,320,000) had bagged up the third-largest stack in the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, trailing only Hayden Hetland (4,075,000) and Dustin Harrelson (3,850,000).
Perry is a poker veteran with cashes dating back to 1994. He was the third-place finisher in the 2002 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, and captured a bracelet in 2006 when he took down the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hayden Hetland | United States | 4,075,000 | 163 |
| 2 | Dustin Harrelson | United States | 3,850,000 | 154 |
| 3 | Ralph Perry | United States | 3,320,000 | 133 |
| 4 | John Ripnick | United States | 3,205,000 | 128 |
| 5 | Zhijian Zhang | China | 3,010,000 | 120 |
| 6 | Paris Sitzoukis | Australia | 3,010,000 | 120 |
| 7 | Andreas Boelling | Germany | 2,895,000 | 116 |
| 8 | Drake Kemper | United States | 2,665,000 | 107 |
| 9 | James Rowe | United Kingdom | 2,500,000 | 100 |
| 10 | Uri Reichenstein | Israel | 2,140,000 | 86 |
The list of Day 2a surviving players is littered with household names. Such luminaries as Tyler Phillips (1,765,000), Kyle Julius (1,560,000), Ronnie Day (1,400,000), Michael Casella (1,385,000), five-time bracelet winner Martin Kabrhel (1,350,000), John Wasnock (1,075,000), Daniel Rezaei (1,065,000), Poker Hall of Famer John Juanda (945,000), Belgian superstar Michael Gathy (860,000), Jonathan Glendinning (600,000), David Benyamine (575,000), and Allyn Shulman (520,000) all punched their Day 3 tickets.
Day 3 of the Monster Stack starts at 11:00 a.m. local time on June 8, which is also when PokerNews' traditional coverage of this tournament begins. All the players who navigate through their respective Day 2s will combine on Day 3 to play another 10 levels, with blinds starting at 10,000/25,000 and a 25,000 big blind ante.
Here are the End of Day 2a chip counts, according to the WSOP LIVE app.
According to the WSOP LIVE app.
The poker world moves fast and during massive events, it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everyone. Whether you’re following a high-stakes pro, a local hero from your home game, or a family member chasing a bracelet, PokerNews makes it even easier with the new MyPlayers feed — your personalized updates feed for tracking the players you care about in one place.
Build your custom watchlist by clicking the star icon next to a player in the live reporting feed, and they’ll be pinned to the top of chip counts and tracked in a single, real-time feed as the action unfolds.
According to the WSOP LIVE app.
In the 969th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, which is sponsored by FanDuel Poker, Chad Holloway, Mike Holtz, and Ben Ludlow are at Level 9 Studio in Las Vegas for the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
To kick things off, they talk about a big hand played by Phil Ivey, one that left the usually stone-faced poker pro in shock. See the hand and learn what happened! From there, it's a discussion on why Jeremy Ausmus may have been denied a vlogger pass, big names falling just short of gold bracelets, and Alan Keating no-showing the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship.
Speaking of that tournament, Daniel Negreanu was cruising right along until he suffered a series of unfortunate events, including a river bad beat that you can see in this episode. Some other things you can see are the $1,000,000 bounty pull from the $550 Mini Mystery Millions tournament and highlights from the Charity Series of Poker (CSOP) Event #100 with Matt Stout.
Finally, the PokerNews Podcast has a new sponsor in Think Jerky, and as fate would have it, there's a poker connection between Chad and the brand's Pat's Cheesesteak stick that dates back more than a decade to a poker game in Philadelphia. Learn all about that, and while you're at it, be sure to check out Think Jerky!
Find out all about those stories and more in this week's episode of the PokerNews Podcast! Oh, and be sure to check out the audio version of the PokerNews Podcast that is available on all major podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and SoundCloud.
According to the WSOP LIVE app.
There was no shortage of big moments and big hands during the first week of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
Daniel Negreanu lost a 10:1 chip lead thanks to a three-outer in the Sweet 16 of Event #7: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship. Phil Hellmuth made an 18th bracelet run that fell short when he ran into the nut flush. And one player avoided complete disaster when he suffered a brutal cooler with quads.
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