button in SafariYaman Nakdali Tops Day 1b of the $25,000 High Roller Event
Day 1b of Event #19: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em event here at the 2026 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas saw 167 entries jump into the field to try and compete for their place in Friday's Day 2. Only 53 made it through the starting flight to combine with the 25 players who advanced from Day 1a.
It was Yaman Nakdali who topped the counts on Day 1b of the $25,000 High Roller after bagging 1,996,000. He was dominant throughout the day and was seen pressuring his table and taking a number of spots to chip away at the opposition. His rise to the top was also helped when he found himself in a spot against Martin Kabrhel, which saw him take down the pot and eliminate the five-time bracelet winner late in the night.
Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yaman Nakdali | Spain | 1,996,000 | 200 |
| 2 | Jon Vallinas | Spain | 1,285,000 | 129 |
| 3 | Ihar Soika | Belarus | 1,254,000 | 125 |
| 4 | Boris Kolev | Bulgaria | 1,059,000 | 106 |
| 5 | Didier Guerin | Australia | 1,027,000 | 103 |
| 6 | Clemen Deng | United States | 927,000 | 93 |
| 7 | Ignacio Moron | Spain | 916,000 | 92 |
| 8 | Barak Wisbrod | Israel | 888,000 | 89 |
| 9 | Aliaksei Boika | Belarus | 838,000 | 84 |
| 10 | Giuseppe Calio | United States | 777,000 | 78 |
Nakdali was closely followed by Jon Vallinas, who secured 1,285,000 chips to play with tomorrow. Ihar Soika (1,254,000) rounded off the podium and will return with a more than comfortable 156 big blinds to start the day. Soika soared toward the top of the counts after sending Dylan Linde to the rail with his pocket tens.
Michael Moncek (531,000) found more luck in today’s flight after joining the field following the last break of the evening. He managed to spin up and progress through to Day 2 with nearly triple starting stack. He had more fortunate in today's session compared to Day 1a, where he max‑late registered and played a single hand blind before busting out.
Defending champion Chang Lee also returned to the field with only a few levels remaining as he set his sights on gaining his second WSOP bracelet. The 2025 WSOP $25,000 High Roller was Lee’s first ever WSOP event, and he managed to take down a 392‑player field on his way to victory. He worked his way through a few full levels of play this evening but didn’t manage to make it through to Day 2 from this flight.
Chris Hunichen and Lander Lijo were also among those who failed to advance during Day 1b. It was a particularly brutal end for Lijo, who five‑bet jammed with queens into Yulian Bogdanov’s kings, ending his time in the tournament mid‑way through the day. Ethan Yau was also out of luck after busting with his big slick to Neil Warren’s pocket jacks.
Jeremy Ausmus fell after getting in ace‑jack against ace‑queen in the penultimate level of the night, and although he reentered, he failed to take any chips through to tomorrow. He wasn’t alone, as Daniel Negreanu, and Chance Kornuth, all had some skin in the game throughout the day but couldn’t make their way through all eight levels of play.
Day 2 will resume at 12 p.m. local time at Level 9 with 5,000/10,000 and a 10,000 big blind ante. The plan is to play through ten 60-minute levels before bagging for Day 3. With late registration still open, many are expected to return for another shot at building a stack, with one re‑entry permitted. Late registration will close after the first level of play on Day 2 (until the start of Level 10) which will be at approximately 1:15 p.m.
Be sure to return to the PokerNews live updates tomorrow to continue following all the action from the 100 bracelet events here at the 2026 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.