PokerNews live coverage of this event will begin on Day 3 (June 15). 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 #34: $500 COLOSSUS
Day 2a Completed
Day 2a of Event #34: $500 COLOSSUS No-Limit Hold'em started with 501 players returning to the action. After another 12 levels were completed, all but 43 of them had fallen by the wayside. Justin Arnwine was one of those 43 survivong players who progressed to Day 3 from this flight, doing so with a top 10 stack.
Arnwine has cashed in four 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet-awarding events, including an eighth-place finish in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed tournament. The Maryland native has almost $2 million in live tournament cashes, but a bracelet has eluded him thus far. Arnwine sits down on Day 3 with 5,050,000 chips, or 42 big blinds.
Anthony Fay (6,620,000) earned the title of Day 2a chip leader. Fay has cashed at least once at the WSOP every year since 2023, including this year, where he enjoyed a 13th-place finish in the $500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout, which earned him a career-best $11,710.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anthony Fay | United States | 6,620,000 | 55 |
| 2 | Tyler Kolness | United States | 6,415,000 | 53 |
| 3 | Joel Kop | United States | 5,890,000 | 49 |
| 4 | Kfir Nahum | Israel | 5,190,000 | 43 |
| 5 | Justin Arnwine | United States | 5,050,000 | 42 |
| 6 | Hasnain Sm | United States | 4,975,000 | 41 |
| 7 | Gaetan Goudmaeker | Belgium | 4,880,000 | 41 |
| 8 | Van Tran | Netherlands | 4,735,000 | 39 |
| 9 | Hang Xu | China | 4,380,000 | 37 |
| 10 | Christian Burger | Germany | 4,260,000 | 36 |
None of the 43 players who safely made it through the Day 2a field has previously won a bracelet, but they are inching closer to changing that fact. Tyler Kolness (6,415,000), Joel Kop (5,890,000), and Kfir Nahum (5,190,000) are just three of the players who have given themselves every chance of becoming this event's champion.
Nahum has gone close to capturing some WSOP hardware in the past. The Israeli grinder finished fifth in the $300 Gladiators of Poker at the 2023 WSOP for $123,840. How he'd love to go four places deeper in the COLOSSUS.
The 43 survivors from Day 2a get to have a welcomed break, or can play in other tournaments, because Day 3 of the COLOSSUS doesn't start until June 15. Before then, there will be Day 1c and 1d, then Day 2b, 2c, and 2d!
Here are the chip counts of the 43 players who progressed from Day 2a, according to the WSOP LIVE app.
Alan Keating has dominated Hustler Casino Live's Million Dollar Game over the past few years. But he'll be facing perhaps his toughest lineup as the $1 million buy-in cash game moves to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) feature table on Friday.
There will be incentives for dealers to perform well at the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP), one being financial.
The other incentive is not facing scrutiny, as the WSOP has implemented a dealer rating system that will permit poker players to grade dealers this summer.
A change has been made for the 2026 series at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, as players can rate dealers through the WSOP LIVE app, the same app they use to receive seating assignments and register for tournaments.
According to the WSOP Live app.
The world of poker strategy has become increasingly solver-driven over the last decade, with players obsessing over balanced ranges, GTO outputs, and technical perfection.
But according to Nacho Cuesta, creator of Master Poker Tells, there’s still a huge part of the game many players are completely overlooking: human behavior.
Cuesta has spent the last five years building what he describes as a structured system for reading live poker tells, breaking down unconscious behaviors into categories including eye movement, betting patterns, verbal cues, and body language. In the process, he says he identified something missing from almost all traditional tells content - structure.
According to the WSOP LIVE app
In the 971st episode of the PokerNews Podcast, which is sponsored by FanDuel Poker, Chad Holloway, Mike Holtz, and Ben Ludlow come to you from the floor of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) where they discussed one of the most viral hands of the summer, one involving Bobby James and Ricky Landais that has been called one of the worst bad beats ever!
They then discuss Martin Kabrhel's premature celebration, give you a good news update on Jeremy Ausmus vlogging credentials, and a poker curse from WWE superstar Danhausen. Other stories include highlights from the Mixed Game Festival XIV, choosing a winner for the signed Daniel Negreanu autographed book (plus a new giveaway), and the return of the famous PokerNews segment, The Chainsaw Report, featuring Allen Kessler.
Find out all about those stories and more in this week's episode of the PokerNews Podcast! Oh, and be sure to check out the audio version of the PokerNews Podcast that is available on all major podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and SoundCloud.
According to the WSOP LIVE app.
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