Event #20: $1,500 Dealer's Choice | 2026 World Series of Poker

1 day 5 hours ago

Mozdzen Scoops Gamble; Bunch Survives

Liam Gannon

Level 26

Limit Flop/Draw: 30,000-60,000, 60,000-120,000 Limits
Stud Games: 15,000 Ante, 20,000 Bring-In, 60,000 Completion, 60,000-120,000 Limits
Pot-Limit & No-Limit: 30,000/45,000 Ante, 15,000-30,000 Blinds

Stud Hi-Lo Regular

Action was picked up with John Bunch all in for 175,000 on third street against Clayton Mozdzen and Nathan Gamble, with Gamble and Mozdzen starting out with 60,000 in the side pot.

John Bunch: XxXx/A♦5♥6♥Q♦/Xx All in
Nathan Gamble: XxXx/K♠6♦9♥Q♣/Xx
Clayton Mozdzen: XxXx/A♥6♣4♥A♣/Xx

Mozdzen bet every street until seventh where they both checked. Mozden had peeled his first two cards as a 7♥3♥, with his final being a 5♦ to make a seven-high straight and a six-low. Gamble shook his head and showed K♥K♣10♣ for an inferior set of kings. Bunch peeled 9♦8♦3♦ to make and ace high flush to take the high half of the main pot, while Mozden took the low half and the side pot.

Tags: Clayton Mozdzen John Bunch Nathan Gamble

1 day 5 hours ago

Madsen vs. Sammartino Round II

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Brett Slezak

Level 26

Limit Flop/Draw: 30,000-60,000, 60,000-120,000 Limits
Stud Games: 15,000 Ante, 20,000 Bring-In, 60,000 Completion, 60,000-120,000 Limits
Pot-Limit & No-Limit: 30,000/45,000 Ante, 15,000-30,000 Blinds

Stud Hi-Lo Regular

Jeff Madsen: XxXx / 6♠8♠J♦Q♦ / Xx
Dario Sammartino: XxXx / 10♥2♥2♣4♣ / Xx

Action picked up on fourth as Madsen led and Sammartino called. The same occurred on fifth.

On sixth, Madsen elected to check-call and he quickly did the same on seventh. However, Sammartino revealed 10♦9♠6♦ in the hole, as he had tens-up and a ten-nine low, enough for the scoop.

At the other table, Kelvin Zhao doubled through John Bunch in the same game, leaving Bunch in the danger zone.

Tags: Dario Sammartino Jeff Madsen John Bunch Kelvin Zhao

1 day 5 hours ago

Madsen Scoops With Flush

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Liam Gannon

Level 26

Limit Flop/Draw: 30,000-60,000, 60,000-120,000 Limits
Stud Games: 15,000 Ante, 20,000 Bring-In, 60,000 Completion, 60,000-120,000 Limits
Pot-Limit & No-Limit: 30,000/45,000 Ante, 15,000-30,000 Blinds

Stud Hi-Lo

Action was picked up on fifth street in a pot between Dario Sammartino and Jeff Madsen with a few bets in front of each of them.

Jeff Madsen: XxXx/7♦4♥4♦3♦/Xx
Dario Sammartino: XxXx/8♥8♦7♣9♦/Xx

Sammartino bet on fifth street, and Madsen called.

On sixth street, Sammartino checked over to Madsen, who bet, and Sammartino called. The same action repeated on seventh street.

"Flush and a low," said Madsen as he tabled A♦Q♠2♦ for a seven-low and an ace-high flush. Sammartino shook his head and showed an 8♣.

Tags: Dario Sammartino Jeff Madsen

1 day 5 hours ago

Gamble Piles On Bunch

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Liam Gannon

Level 26

Limit Flop/Draw: 30,000-60,000, 60,000-120,000 Limits
Stud Games: 15,000 Ante, 20,000 Bring-In, 60,000 Completion, 60,000-120,000 Limits
Pot-Limit & No-Limit: 30,000/45,000 Ante, 15,000-30,000 Blinds

Big O

John Bunch opened to 70,000 in the cutoff and Nathan Gamble called in the big blind.

The flop rolled out J♣8♥6♣ and action checked through to the turn J♥ where Gamble bet 105,000.

Bunch raised to 310,000 and after a few minutes of thought, Gamble potted it to 1,250,000.

After a few more minutes of thought, Bunch released his hand and Gamble took down the pot.

Tags: John Bunch Nathan Gamble

1 day 5 hours ago

Straight Six Scoops for Sammartino

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Brett Slezak

Level 26

Limit Flop/Draw: 30,000-60,000, 60,000-120,000 Limits
Stud Games: 15,000 Ante, 20,000 Bring-In, 60,000 Completion, 60,000-120,000 Limits
Pot-Limit & No-Limit: 30,000/45,000 Ante, 15,000-30,000 Blinds

Stud Hi-Lo

Luteng Li: XxXx / 6♦2♥8♥A♦ / Xx
Dario Sammartino: XxXx / 8♦6♣2♠Q♦ / Xx

Dario Sammartino completed last to act and Li defended his bring-in.

Sammartino check-called fourth. On fifth, Li had the lead but opted to check-call. He then led on sixth after catching the ace.

On seventh, Li led for a final time before Sammartino put in a raise, which Li called after some deliberation. He got the bad news as Sammartino tabled 5♦4♦3♣ in the hole for a six-high straight and six low, good for the scoop.

Tags: Dario Sammartino Luteng Li

Level: 26

Limit Flop/Draw: 30,000-60,000, 60,000-120,000 Limits
Stud Games: 15,000 Ante, 20,000 Bring-In, 60,000 Completion, 60,000-120,000 Limits
Pot-Limit & No-Limit: 30,000/45,000 Ante, 15,000-30,000 Blinds

1 day 6 hours ago

Shuffle Up and Deal!

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Liam Gannon

The players have taken their seats and cards are in the air!

1 day 7 hours ago

Ten Return for a Shot at WSOP Gold in the $1,500 Dealers Choice

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Brett Slezak

Undoubtedly, one of the most difficult bracelets of the summer to win is Event #20: $1,500 Dealers Choice. A total of 656 hopefuls came out to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas two days ago to compete in 21 different poker formats. Fast forward to today, and just ten players remain in contention for the first-place prize of $161,057, the lion's share of the $870,840 total prize pool.

Leading the pack into the final day is Philip Wess, who takes a commanding chip lead into the final two tables, holding one-third of the chips in play with 5,370,000.

Dario Sammartino starts the day in second place (2,030,000) and Robert Klein is close behind in third (1,915,000).

Start of Day 3 Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count
1	Philip Wess	United States	5,370,000
2	Dario Sammartino	Italy	2,030,000
3	Robert Klein	United States	1,915,000
4	Luteng Li	Canada	1,650,000
5	Nathan Gamble	United States	1,350,000
6	Clayton Mozdzen	Canada	1,180,000
7	John Bunch	United States	1,155,000
8	Jeff Madsen	United States	750,000
9	Kelvin Zhao	United States	510,000
10	Daniel Geyser	United States	480,000

Sammartino, along with Nathan Gamble and Jeff Madsen, are already WSOP hardware winners, and they have put themselves in contention to win another bracelet. They will have to battle with a strong cast of mixed game regulars and overcome Wess' overwhelming lead if they want to hoist the bracelet by night's end.

Remaining Payouts

Place	Prize
1	$161,057
2	$107,341
3	$72,042
4	$49,383
5	$34,588
6	$24,766
7	$18,137
8	$13,592
9	$13,592
10	$10,430

The final ten players will return at 1 p.m. today in the Paris Gold section to resume play. The action gets back underway in Level 26 with blinds of 15,000/30,000, limits of 60,000/120,000 and an average stack of 1,640,000. Play will continue in 60-minute levels until we have a champion.

Stay tuned to PokerNews as we deliver updates from the floor as they play down to a winner in Event #20: $1,500 Dealers Choice here at the 2026 World Series of Poker.

Tags: Clayton Mozdzen Daniel Geyser Dario Sammartino Jeff Madsen John Bunch Kelvin Zhao Luteng Li Nathan Gamble Paris Gold Philip Wess Robert Klein

1 day 7 hours ago

Final Day Seat Draw (Gold Section)

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Brett Slezak

Table	Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count
74	1	Daniel Geyser	United States	480,000
74	3	Clayton Mozdzen	Canada	1,180,000
74	4	Nathan Gamble	United States	1,350,000
74	5	Kelvin Zhao	United States	510,000
74	6	John Bunch	United States	1,155,000

75	1	Luteng Li	Canada	1,650,000
75	3	Jeff Madsen	United States	750,000
75	4	Philip Wess	United States	5,370,000
75	5	Robert Klein	United States	1,915,000
75	6	Dario Sammartino	Italy	2,030,000

Event #20: $1,500 Dealer's Choice

Day 3 Started