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Event #2: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
Day 3 Completed
2026 World Series of Poker
Event #2: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
Day: 3
Players Left 4 / 570
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Final Table
Level 27
: Blinds 50,000/10,000, 100,000 ante
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.
Level 27
: Blinds 50,000/10,000, 100,000 ante
Level 27
: Blinds 50,000/10,000, 100,000 ante
Ivan Ruban raised to 200,000 from the hijack and Chenxiang Miao three-bet to 575,000 on the button. When it got back to Ruban, he four-bet to 1,400,000, and Miao continued via a call.
The dealer spread the 7♣4♠8♠ flop and Ruban carved out a bet of 675,000. Miao stacked up the chips to call, but then opted to raise to 1,400,000. Ruban gave it some thought before three-bet jamming for around 3,400,000 total. Miao instantly called.
Ivan Ruban: A♣5♥ 
Chenxiang Miao: A♥A♠
Ruban was making a huge move with ace-five and had run into the pocket rockets of Miao.
Ruban looked poised for the rail, although he did have a straight draw he could hit to deliver a brutal beat on Miao.
The 9♦ turn changed nothing, and neither did the K♥ river. Ruban was out in fifth place as the final elimination of the day, while Miao bagged up the chip lead.
Level 27
: Blinds 50,000/10,000, 100,000 ante
Ren Lin opened to 600,000 from under the gun before Daniyal Gheba defended his big blind.
Gheba checked the 7♥8♠A♦ flop and Lin continued for 250,000. Gheba called.
Both players checked the 6♦ turn to bring the K♥ river.
Gheba bet approximately 600,000. Lin made the call and won the hand when he showed A♠J♠ for a pair of aces to chip up at the final table.
Level 27
: Blinds 50,000/10,000, 100,000 ante
Ivan Ruban raised to 200,000 in the cutoff and Xiaohu Liu called from the big blind.
Liu check-called a bet of 180,000 from Ruban on the A♥10♥J♠ flop.
An 8♣ hit the turn and Liu check-folded against the 680,000 double barrel of Ruban.
A few hands later, Peter Mugar completed from the small blind and Daniyal Gheba checked his option out of the big blind.
Both checked to the river on the 10♠6♣4♠10♥J♦ runout before Mugar fired the pot for 300,000. Gheba was curious enough to make the call and was shown trips by Mugar with K♣J♥.
Level 27
: Blinds 50,000/10,000, 100,000 ante
Anatoly Nikitin opened to 400,000 from early position, committing most of his stack in the process. Daniyal Gheba called on the button.
Nikitin put in his final 45,000 on the 3♦8♦J♥ flop, and Gheba put in the call to put Nikitin at risk.
Anatoly Nikitin: A♣4♣
Daniyal Gheba: A♥9♦
Nikitin had kicker problems, and that proved to be consequential as the K♦ turn and 2♦ river kept Gheba ahead to eliminate Nikitin in seventh place.
Nikitin earned $65,479 for his effort.
Level 27
: Blinds 50,000/10,000, 100,000 ante
Casey Hatmaker chose to shove out of the small blind for 2,190,000 and was called out of the big blind by Ivan Ruban, who just barely had him covered to put Hatmaker at risk.
Casey Hatmaker: K♣3♣
Ivan Ruban: J♦J♥
Hatmaker ran into a big hand as Ruban had the goods out of the big blind with pocket jacks.
Hatmaker was given something to work with on the A♣2♦3♠ flop, but he was unable to improve any further on the 5♠ turn and the 8♠ river to be eliminated in eighth place.
Hatmaker earned $49,556 for his finish.
Level 27
: Blinds 50,000/10,000, 100,000 ante
Ivan Ruban made it 450,000 from middle position, which was for just under half his stack. Anatoly Nikitin shoved the cutoff for around 1,500,000, and once the rest of the table folded, Ruban called to put himself at risk.
Ivan Ruban: 8♥8♣
Anatoly Nikitin: A♠Q♣
Ruban was flipping for his tournament with the pair against Nikitin's two overcards.
The 4♠10♠J♥ flop gave Nikitin some extra outs, but he was unable to find any of them on the 9♥ turn or 2♣ river.
Ruban doubled and Nikitin was the new table short stack.
Level 27
: Blinds 50,000/10,000, 100,000 ante
Chenxiang Miao raised to 100,000 from under the gun. Kharlin Sued opted to reraise to 1,000,000 on the button as he committed most of his stack.
Miao chose to shove to commit the rest of Sued's chips. Sued called off the remainder of his stack to be at risk.
Kharlin Sued: K♣Q♠
Chenxiang Miao: A♥J♦
It was a race for Sued's tournament, and the flop gave Sued more outs when it came J♠8♦9♣ to give him a straight draw. Miao stayed in the lead improving to a pair of jacks.
The A♦ turn gave Miao two pair as Sued was limited to his straight outs to stay in contention.
The 6♥ river was a blank as Sued was eliminated in ninth place.
Sued earned $38,133 for his finish.
