PokerNews live coverage of this event will begin on Day 2 (June 8). Until then, we will be keeping readers informed with updates on chip counts and core event statistics, including entries and prize pool. Scroll down to see more.
Event #25: $500 Freezeout No-Limit Holdem
Day 1 Completed
A bumper crowd of 4,100 players bought into Event #25: $500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em. Unfortunately for all but 162 of those players who sat down with high hopes, their quest ended before Day 1 concluded.
One man who not only progressed to Day 2 but did so with a top 10 stack was Josh Reichard, who crammed 1,355,000 chips into his overnight bag at the close of play. Reichard is a beast of a player, one with 17 WSOP Circuit rings. However, the Wisconsin native has yet to capture a bracelet. Could this be the event where Reichard finally gets his hands on poker's most coveted prize?
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rahulinder Dhillon | United States | 2,334,500 | 78 |
| 2 | Srdan Mihajlovic | Serbia | 1,785,000 | 60 |
| 3 | Lou Brayden | United States | 1,700,000 | 57 |
| 4 | Steven Edmonds | United States | 1,600,000 | 53 |
| 5 | Alexander Ho | United States | 1,580,000 | 53 |
| 6 | Bill Bringold | United States | 1,515,000 | 51 |
| 7 | Arthur Demirchyan | United States | 1,500,000 | 50 |
| 8 | Sam Ruha | Australia | 1,380,000 | 46 |
| 9 | Claudiu-Mihai Burlacu | United Kingdom | 1,360,000 | 46 |
| 10 | Josh Reichard | United States | 1,355,000 | 45 |
Rahulinder Dhillon (2,334,500), Srdan Mihajlovic (1,785,000), and Lou Brayden (1,700,000) were the three largest stacks in the room as Day 1 ended. Others who punched their Day 2 tickets with their one and only bullet included Chris Hunichen (700,000), Rudy Cervantes (445,000), and Travis Johnson (335,000).
Day 2 kicks off nice and early at 11:00 a.m. local time on June 8, with 162 players returning to Level 23, meaning blinds are 15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 big blind ante.
PokerNews' live reporting team will be on the floor throughout Day 2, which will only end when a champion emerges. Will Reichard be that champion? Stay tuned to find out.
Here are the chip counts at the end of Day 1, according to the WSOP LIVE app.
20 years after that hand on High Stakes Poker, Daniel Negreanu is still getting coolered by Gus Hansen, and this time at the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
Playing Day 1 of the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship, the two poker legends faced off with monsters that saw Hansen rake in a pot against Negreanu with a better full house.
However, unlike that iconic encounter from Season 2 of High Stakes Poker in 2006 (in which the turn card that day gave Hansen quads over Negreanu's boat), on this occasion, Kid Poker had clearly learned his lesson from two decades ago, losing only a small pot instead of going broke after telling the Dane, "Jeez, I'm sorry I didn't raise you!" after the hands were tabled.
The total prize pool for the event is $1,701,500. The top 615 players make the money, while $190,066 is set aside for first place.
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $190,066 | 36 -44 | $5,075 |
| 2 | $130,441 | 45 -53 | $4,216 |
| 3 | $96,368 | 54 -62 | $3,536 |
| 4 | $71,806 | 63 -71 | $2,995 |
| 5 | $53,969 | 72 -80 | $2,562 |
| 6 | $40,916 | 81 -89 | $2,213 |
| 7 | $31,294 | 90 -98 | $1,931 |
| 8 | $24,148 | 99 -143 | $1,702 |
| 9 | $18,801 | 144 -197 | $1,515 |
| 10 -11 | $14,770 | 198 -251 | $1,363 |
| 12 -13 | $11,710 | 252 -305 | $1,239 |
| 14 -17 | $9,369 | 306 -359 | $1,139 |
| 18 -26 | $7,556 | 360 -413 | $1,057 |
| 27 -35 | $6,167 | 414 -615 | $1,007 |
According to the WSOP LIVE app.
There are 100 bracelet-awarding events on the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) schedule, but every poker player dreams of becoming the champion of just one of those tournaments: the $10,000 WSOP Main Event. Unfortunately for some, the $10,000 buy-in puts the 2026 WSOP Main Event out of reach, which is where satellites come into their own.
In 2003, the aptly-named Chris Moneymaker, then an accountant from Atlanta, Georgia, won a $10,000 WSOP Main Event seat via an $86 buy-in satellite online at PokerStars. Moneymaker outlasted 838 opponents, including defeating seasoned pro Sammy Farha heads-up, to win the WSOP Main Event and kickstart the phenomenon that would be called the Moneymaker Effect.
Fast forward to today, and hundreds, if not thousands, of players will head to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas hoping to win their way into the 2026 WSOP Main Event for a fraction of the $10,000 asking price. The 2026 WSOP Main Event satellites run from July 1-7 and come in buy-ins of $150, $260, $585, $1,100, and $2,200.
There was no shortage of big moments and big hands during the first week of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
Daniel Negreanu lost a 10:1 chip lead thanks to a three-outer in the Sweet 16 of Event #7: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship. Phil Hellmuth made an 18th bracelet run that fell short when he ran into the nut flush. And one player avoided complete disaster when he suffered a brutal cooler with quads.
As per the WSOP LIVE app.
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