button in SafariChenxiang Miao Bags Day 3 Chip Lead After Late Surge
The field drew a total of 570 entries, and now just five remain after Day 3 of Event #2: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em at the 2026 World Series of Poker. A top prize of $502,985 awaits the winner up top as the remaining players look to get the lion’s share of the $2,622,000 prize pool at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
Chenxiang Miao clashed with Ivan Ruban to end Day 3, vaulting him to the top of the leaderboard as he bagged 10,850,000 to finish as the chip leader. Miao has nearly $1.5 million in tournament live earnings, according to The Hendon Mob. Miao is still chasing his first WSOP bracelet and will be in a prime position to do so after a late surge puts him as the player to chase.
Final Five Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chenxiang Miao | China | 10,850,000 | 90 |
| 2 | Daniyal Gheba | United States | 8,600,000 | 72 |
| 3 | Xiaohu Liu | China | 3,365,000 | 28 |
| 4 | Ren Lin | China | 3,000,000 | 25 |
| 5 | Peter Mugar | United States | 2,640,000 | 22 |
Miao may have stolen the show late, but it was Daniyal Gheba who was a force to be reckoned with throughout the majority of Day 3. Gheba won a significant pot against Day 2 chip leader Anatoly Nikitin to seize the chip lead, and his stock continued to rise the rest of Day 3. Gheba would go on to bust WSOP bracelet winner Scott Eskenazi, Benjamin Williams, Zexiang Sun, and Nikitin to bag 8,600,000 at the end of Day 3 as second in chips.
Gheba has over $700,000 in WSOP earnings according to the WSOP LIVE app, but has yet to secure his first bracelet.
Top Five Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $502,985 |
| 2 | $335,290 |
| 3 | $234,432 |
| 4 | $166,448 |
| 5 | $120,035 |
Notable WSOP bracelet winners to drop out on Day 3 include Julien Sitbon, Renji Mao, Nicholas Seward, Justin Saliba, and Colin Robinson.
Day 4 will resume at 1 p.m. local time with the blinds at 60,000/120,000 at the Gold section of the Paris ballroom. Play will continue until a new champion is crowned.
Check back here at PokerNews for continued updates and coverage of Event #2: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em at the 2026 World Series of Poker.