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A New Champion To Be Crowned in $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
The second bracelet of the 2026 World Series of Poker is up for grabs as the final five players of Event #2: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em return to the felt to compete for the top prize of $502,985 at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. A total of 570 entries created a prize pool of $2,622,000, with the five remaining players looking to break through at the WSOP and take home a title. Regardless of who captures the title, the event will produce a new WSOP champion as the remaining five players are all chasing their first WSOP bracelet.
Daniyal Gheba was poised to be the Day 3 chip leader after having been the one to beat throughout most of Day 3 before a late surge from Miao surpassed him in the chip counts. Gheba has already surpassed his career best when he finished sixth at the 2024 World Series of Poker in Event #16: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Eight-Handed.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chenxiang Miao | China | 10,850,000 | 90 |
| 2 | Xiaohu Liu | China | 3,365,000 | 28 |
| 3 | Peter Mugar | United States | 2,640,000 | 22 |
| 4 | Daniyal Gheba | United States | 8,600,000 | 72 |
| 5 | Ren Lin | China | 3,000,000 | 25 |
Chenxiang Miao will enter the final day atop the leaderboard after a late surge on Day 3 resulted in him bagging the first eight-figure stack. Miao is still in search of his first WSOP bracelet and has already achieved the highest finish of his WSOP career in this event, regardless of his placement. Miao will top his ninth-place finish that came at the 2026 WSOP Europe, where he took ninth place in Event #1: €1,100 The Opener Mystery Bounty.
Xiaohu Liu has also broken through his highest finish of sixth place. Liu accomplished this when he took sixth at the 2025 WSOP in Event #17: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em. Liu boasts over $300,000 in career earnings at WSOP events according to the WSOP Live app, and will have an opportunity to add a significant chunk to that total regardless of where he finishes on the final day of play.
Ren Lin enters the final day fourth in chips after he bagged 3,000,000. Lin barely missed out on the first bracelet of his career when he finished second at the 2026 WSOP Europe in Event #11: €20,800 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold’em.
Peter Mugar has over half a million in career earnings at the WSOP, but has never finished in the top five of any WSOP event, according to the WSOP live app. The Massachusetts resident has blown past his highest live finish at a WSOP, which came back in 2021 when he took 43rd.
Play will resume at the 60,000/120,000 blind level at 1 p.m. local time in the Paris ballroom Gold section.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $502,985 |
| 2 | $335,290 |
| 3 | $234,432 |
| 4 | $166,448 |
| 5 | $120,035 |
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Stay tuned here at PokerNews for continued coverage of Event #2: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em at the 2026 World Series of Poker.