button in SafariNo 'Knife Fight' Today, Galen Hall Blasts His Way to Final Day Chip Lead of $25,000 High Roller
When the remaining 22 players returned to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas for the penultimate day of Event #19: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em, the objective was simple: reduce the field to six players.
After six completed levels, meaning six hours of play, that task is complete, with the six-handed showdown perfectly poised for the final day, where one player will walk away with a cool $1,773,083 as well as the latest gold bracelet handed out by the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
“It feels a little surreal, I’m so used to fighting tooth and nail; it’s like a knife fight in the mud usually, and in this tournament, I just survived for a while and then got all in a bunch of times and won, and now I have a bunch of chips. It doesn’t feel like I did much work to get it. So I feel happy and lucky to be here”.
Those are the words of the overnight chip leader, Galen Hall, who bagged a stack of 16,050,000 to return to the final day with 54 big blinds.
The sentiment that he didn’t do much to earn that position certainly is an understatement, though. With the tournament at somewhat of an impasse with 14 players left, Hall took matters into his own hands, eliminating every player until the final table was set, and claiming two of the three final table casualties thereafter.
Those seven scalps catapulted Hall to the chip lead, where he stayed until play ended, finishing the day as the only player with an eight-figure stack.
Seat Assignments for the Final Day
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Biao Ding | China | 6,875,000 | 23 |
| 2 | Ignacio Moron | Spain | 7,900,000 | 26 |
| 3 | Kristen Foxen | Canada | 9,325,000 | 31 |
| 4 | Galen Hall | United States | 16,050,000 | 54 |
| 5 | Zdenek Zizka | Czechia | 4,375,000 | 15 |
| 6 | Joey Weissman | United States | 7,200,000 | 24 |
Entering the final day closest to the chip leader, five-time bracelet winner Kristen Foxen returns with a stack of 9,325,000. No stranger to the bright lights and big occasions, Foxen began the day among the chip leaders and never relinquished that position. It seemed that whoever Hall hadn't managed to eliminate, Foxen and third-in-chips, Ignacio Moron with 7,900,000, were right there to clean up. As such, it is no surprise that those are the three players who hold the overnight podium places.
You don't need to be a chip leader to return to the final day, though, and the lower half of the leaderboard is stocked with talent. In fact, all three of the remaining players are 25k Fantasy Draft picks, with bracelet winners Joey Weissman and Zdenek Zizka each looking to add a second piece of WSOP jewellery to their collection, as well as Biao Ding, who is fresh off a quarterfinal finish in the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship, hoping to collect his first.
Day 3 Action
The first two hours saw a flurry of eliminations, with action fast and furious across the three start-of-day tables. Aptly named, it was Turbo Nguyen who was first to fall. His flopped flush draw came to no avail, but he did improve to top pair on the river. He moved all in and was swiftly called by Nick Schulman, whose pocket aces provided the first elimination of the day.
By the time the first level was complete, five more had fallen, including Schulman himself. The 2025 WSOP Hall of Fame inductee was looking to add an eighth bracelet to his collection, but despite getting the money in good, the deck favoured Zachary Grech, and Schulman was eliminated in 18th place.
A swift double knockout then followed, as Foxen removed both Eric Wasserson and Dejan Kaladjurdjevic at the same time to cement her own position among the chip leaders.
The last remaining WSOP Hall of Fame inductee was next to hit the rail. Brian Rast, like Schulman, was also hunting an eighth bracelet, but he was the first of several players who were left wishing they hadn’t tangled with the end-of-day chip leader, Hall.
After dispatching Rast, Hall then went on a rampage, ridding the field of Jesse Lonis in 13th, Zachary Grech in 12th, Didier Guerin in 11th and Thomas Muehloecker in 10th. The latter of those eliminations was a brutal cooler that saw both players make a full house, with Hall having the best of it.
Hall's reign of terror temporarily ended, as Barak Wisbrod was sent to the rail by Moron in 9th place. However, Hall continued his dominance thereafter, taking care of both Giuseppe Calio in 8th place and Ihar Soika in 7th place.
That final elimination left the field with just six players, who all bagged their chips, knowing that they are each assured of a $300,942 payday, but also aware that just five more players stand between them and a $1,773,083 score, as well as a much sought-after WSOP gold bracelet.
$25,000 High-Roller Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $1,773,083 |
| 2 | $1,182,050 |
| 3 | $819,050 |
| 4 | $577,326 |
| 5 | $413,389 |
| 6 | $300,942 |
The six remaining players will now return tomorrow, Sunday, June 7, at 3:30 p.m. local time, with play continuing until a champion is crowned. The final tournament day will recommence in Level 24, featuring blinds of 150,000/300,000 and a 300,000 big blind ante, with the break schedule yet to be confirmed.
In line with the live stream coverage, reporting from the tournament floor will be provided on a 150-minute delay to prevent spoilers. The stream is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. local time.
Be sure to follow along with PokerNews, where full coverage continues with all the major moments until a champion is crowned.