button in SafariJeremy Ausmus Bags the Chip Lead, Daniel Negreanu Makes a Big Comeback on Day 1 of Event #38: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship
Limits: 3,000-6,000
Jeremy Ausmus has already made two final tables at the 2026 World Series of Poker, and he put himself in position for a third shot at a bracelet on Day 1 of Event #38: $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship.
Ausmus ended up as chip leader with 319,000 as 40 players survived the event’s opening day. Ausmus cracked two aces by flopping two pair for a bustout to first build his big stack, and he kept climbing from there the rest of the night.
Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | 319,000 | 40 |
| 2 | Ryan Johnson (AZ) | United States | 285,000 | 36 |
| 3 | Kyle Ray | United States | 275,000 | 34 |
| 4 | Josh Arieh | United States | 268,000 | 34 |
| 5 | Maximilian Schindler | United States | 255,000 | 32 |
| 6 | Batmunkh Unubukh | Mongolia | 240,000 | 30 |
| 7 | Ryuta Nakai | Japan | 182,000 | 23 |
| 8 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 182,000 | 23 |
| 9 | James Obst | Australia | 171,000 | 21 |
| 10 | Jason Daly | United States | 165,000 | 21 |
He’s followed on the leaderboard by Ryan Johnson (285,000), Kyle Ray (275,000), Josh Arieh (268,000), and Maximilian Schindler (255,000). Arieh, who won this event in 2023, hit trip kings to best Joe McKeehen’s aces, then won a big pot off John Hennigan when his straight cracked Hennigan’s top set of tens. Schindler, meanwhile, rivered a “Lady Gaga” to make a straight and take a pot off Ren Lin.
Daniel Negreanu lost most of his stack within a few minutes of taking his seat. “Mamma mia,” he said as he was left with less than 10,000, but he rebounded to end the night with 182,000. Shaun Deeb only entered with around 15 minutes left in the day, and he still managed to bag up 142,000. Other top stacks include James Obst (171,000), Jason Daly (165,000), and Brian Rast (160,000).
Further down the leaderboard are Scott Seiver[/B] (113,000), Jesse Lonis (96,000), Hennigan (95,000), David Baker (90,000), Gus Hansen (90,000), McKeehen (82,000), and Matt Glantz (48,000). Chris Brewer, meanwhile, bagged up only 7,000, good for less than a big bet at the start of Day 2.
Among those to hit the rail over the course of Day 1 were defending champion Ian Johns, as well as $10,000 Dealer’s Choice champion Bryce Yockey, Lin, $1,500 Limit Hold’em champion Dennis Weiss, and Chad Eveslage.
A total of 87 players joined on Day 1. Late registration remains open for the first level of Day 2, when the prize pool will be officially confirmed. The action on Day 2 picks up on Level 11 with blinds of 2,000/4,000 and limits of 4,000/8,000. The plan tomorrow is to play 10 60-minute levels.
PokerNews will be back providing live updates on Day 2, so be sure to return tomorrow for all the action.