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