John Veltri was already all in on the button as Sam Soverel and Todd Ivens went to a flop of 10♠K♦6♦. Ivens then got in his last few chips from under the gun, and Soverel put him at risk with around 150,000 in the pot.
John Veltri: A♥K♥10♦9♠3♠
Todd Ivens: 10♣10♥4♣3♥2♣
Sam Soverel: A♣K♣J♥8♠5♥
Ivens had flopped a set to take the lead, but the rest of the board ran out 8♥Q♦ to give Soverel a rivered straight and send both opponents to the rail.
Heads-up on a flop of 8♣3♣7♦, James Obst bet 25,000 from the big blind and Sascha Manns called in the hijack.
The turn was the 7♠ and Obst moved all in for 77,000. Manns called with A♥10♥6♠3♠2♠, while Obst had A♠K♣6♦5♣2♦. The river was the 7♥ and Obst took the high with his king-kicker, while they had the same low and Obst took three-quarters.
The Nguyen pushed in his stack of 150,000 preflop on the button, and was looked up by Joshua Ray in middle position.
The Nguyen: A♥A♣7♥5♥3♠
Joshua Ray: A♠A♦Q♣5♠5♣
The last five in the deck appeared on the 9♣5♦8♥ flop to give Ray a set. He still had a low draw and a straight draw, but neither came in on the Q♠ turn or 9♥ river, eliminating him from the tournament.
Noah Bronstein moved all in for 26,500 under the gun and Jakob Deitell called in middle position. Adrian Buckley then reraised to 99,000 in the cutoff, and Deitell called.
Deitell and Buckley checked the K♣K♥2♠ flop. Buckley then bet 33,000 on the 10♣ turn, and Deitell called.
The river was the 9♦ and Deitell announced all in. Buckley snap-called for 96,000 and turned over A♥A♠K♦9♥4♦ for a full house. Deitell mucked, while Bronstein also tossed A♦6♠3♥3♦2♥ into the muck and made his exit.
Richard Bai raised to 6,500 in the hijack and was called by Dylan Linde in the small blind. Linde check-called Bai's continuation-bet of 4,500 before the A♠ turn was checked by both.
The J♥ river saw Linde check a third time. Bai fired 19,000 into the pot, getting a fold for his efforts to take the chips in the middle.
Naoya Kihara is having the summer of his life at the 2026 World Series of Poker. Already having accomplished a rare feat by winning back-to-back Championship events in the first week at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, the Japanese poker veteran remains hungry for more, having his eyes on becoming the eighth player ever to capture three bracelets during a single WSOP.
Kihara entered Event #42: $10,000 Big O Championship with his eyes on yet another prize. Although the proceedings are early, with two more levels of late registration to grow the current 362-strong field and $3,375,900 prize pool to possible record heights, he has given himself a shot at another deep run by amassing a stack 405,500, securing a top ten stack when Day 2 commences at 1 p.m. local time. Kihara is just under 40 big blinds behind chipleader William Kerkaert, who tops the 132 returning players with 500,500 in chips.
William Kerkaert
Chad Eveslage follows Kerkaert with a bag of 489,000 waiting for him today. PLO specialist Bruno Furth already notched a deep run in the $1,500 Big O a couple of days ago and is looking to improve on his 17th-place finish in its bigger brother, starting the day with 436,500. Meanwhile, WSOP regulars John Racener and Dylan Linde round out the top ten, placing below Kihara with stacks of 375,000 and 342,000, respectively.
End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Day 2 Big Blinds
1
William Kerkaert
United States
500,500
200
2
Chad Eveslage
United States
489,000
196
3
Daniel Aharoni
United States
458,500
183
4
Philip Long
United Kingdom
445,000
178
5
Sam Soverel
United States
437,000
175
6
Bruno Furth
United States
436,500
175
7
Gary Bolden
United States
415,000
166
8
Naoya Kihara
Japan
405,500
162
9
John Racener
United States
375,000
150
10
Dylan Linde
United States
342,000
137
As is par for the course for a prestigious $10,000 Championship event, the returning field is filled to the brim with 25K Fantasy picks. Dylan Weisman
bagged just under double the average with 295,000, while mixed-game legend James Obst follows close at 266,000. Speaking of legends, Viktor "Isildur1" Blom continues hunting a first bracelet with a stack of 219,500, and Mike Matusow returns with 202,000, eyeing his first piece of WSOP jewelry since 2013. Hall of Famer Nick Schulman is looking to join the exclusive nine-bracelet club after capturing number eight a few days ago, having 196,000 to start with on Day 2.
Nick Schulman
Meanwhile, the likes of Allen Kessler (116,500), Robert Mizrachi (112,800), Qinghai Pan (103,000), Matt Glantz (83,000), and Joao Vieira (81,000) play less than the average stack, but still more than anyone who enters during the two levels of late registration today.
With the blinds starting at 1,000/2,500/2,500, the 60,000 starting stack will be worth 24 big blinds at the start of the day, and anyone who has not fired three bullets yet can enter or reenter until the start of Level 13, when blinds have reached 2,000/4,000/4,000.
Day 2 will play ten 60-minute levels in total, with an hour-long dinner break scheduled after Level 16, around 7:30 p.m. local time. The night is scheduled to end around 1 a.m. local time, but with the bubble set to burst today, it might become a late endeavor for the surviving players.
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PokerNews will provide live updates of the second day of the $10,000 Big O Championship from start to finish, so stay tuned as the five-card action will resume shortly.
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