button in SafariNick Schulman Bags Day 1 Chip Lead in Event #24: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed
A star-studded field turned out for Day 1 of Event #24: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed at the 2026 World Series of Poker with none other than Nick Schulman bagging the overnight chip lead after eight hours of poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
A total of 166 entries were recorded for the opening day of which 45 players advanced to Day 2. Schulman finished first in chips with 1,215,000, while Danny Tang registered late and secured the second spot after accumulating a stack of 1,060,000. Eli Berg rounds out the podium positions on 980,000, just shy of the seven-figure territory.
Schulman gained the chip lead after winning a massive three-way all-in on one of the final hands of the night. Justin Saliba had both Schulman and Nick Petrangelo on the ropes with big slick, but Schulman found a miracle straight on the river to double through Saliba, bust Petrangelo, and finish the day as chip leader.
Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Schulman | United States | 1,215,000 | 122 |
| 2 | Danny Tang | Hong Kong | 1,060,000 | 106 |
| 3 | Eli Berg | United States | 980,000 | 98 |
| 4 | Justin Arnwine | United States | 965,000 | 97 |
| 5 | Pavel Plesuv | Moldova, Republic of | 939,000 | 94 |
| 6 | Adam Hendrix | United States | 899,000 | 90 |
| 7 | Sergio Aido | Spain | 858,000 | 86 |
| 8 | Erik Seidel | United States | 837,000 | 84 |
| 9 | Dylan Linde | United States | 801,000 | 80 |
| 10 | Cedric Schwaederle | France | 797,000 | 80 |
Poker Hall of Famer and ten-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel had the perfect start to his tournament, doubling shortly after taking his seat with aces against the top pair of Chris Hunichen in a four-bet pot. That pot, along with several others, helped Seidel to finish with 837,000 and inside the overnight top ten.
Daniel Negreanu burned through both of his bullets before the end of the night. His first entry ended in a cooler when his queens ran into the aces of Keyavash Hemyari. Negreanu’s second attempt came to an end at the hands of Alex Foxen, who turned a straight and faded Negreanu's flush draw when the chips went in on the turn.
Plenty of other notables also advanced through to Day 2, including Artur Martirosian (678,000), five-time bracelet winner Adrian Mateos (625,000), Foxen (529,000), four-time bracelet winner Chance Kornuth (518,000), Darren Elias (505,000), Sean Winter (449,000), this series' bracelet winner Daniyal Gheba (271,000), and Qinghai "Jack" Pan (91,000).
The tournament resumes for Day 2 at noon local time on Sunday, June 7, with ten 60-minute levels scheduled. Play will begin at Level 9 with blinds of 5,000/10,000 and a 10,000 big blind ante. Late registration remains open for one more level before closing at approximately 1:15 p.m. local time.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage of the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed throughout the 2026 World Series of Poker.