As Day 2 of Event #45: $2,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better gets underway at the 2026 World Series Of Poker, only 204 players will return for the start of play, that number being the survivors from the 587 total entrants into the event.
These entries have managed to generate a seven-figure prize pool of $1,306,075, of which $248,357 has been set aside for the eventual champion, who will also pick up a coveted WSOP bracelet for their efforts. A min-cash is worth $4,999, and 89 of the remaining players will be heading home with at least that, as the bubble is set to burst today.
The title of chip leader going into today belongs to Kevin Choi, who managed to bag up an impressive 280,000 chips, which equates to 35 big bets, which he will be looking to put to good use in an attempt to pick up his maiden bracelet. He's come close before, finishing second in this very event one year ago, and there's no reason to believe that he can't go one step further this summer.
Jared Hyman finds himself less than a single big bet behind, holding 276,500, and Justin Liberto rounds out the podium with 263,000. Liberto has had an incredibly impressive summer so far, picking up his second bracelet in Event #14: $1,500 Mixed: Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, & Big O, and finishing as runner-up just over a week later in Event #33: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
Start of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|
| 1 | Kevin Choi | Hong Kong | 280,000 |
| 2 | Jared Hyman | United States | 276,500 |
| 3 | Justin Liberto | United States | 263,000 |
| 4 | Walter Chambers | United States | 252,500 |
| 5 | Dekel Balas | Israel | 239,500 |
| 6 | Ryan Bambrick | United States | 229,500 |
| 7 | Brian Breck | United States | 226,000 |
| 8 | Masafumi Iijima | Japan | 207,000 |
| 9 | Yueqi Zhu | China | 205,000 |
| 10 | Neal Liptak | United States | 199,500 |
Plenty of big names remain, including Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu, Ex-German National Team Footballer Max Kruse, as well as Omaha variant bracelet winners Dylan Linde and Igor Zektser. Benny Glaser is still in the hunt for his first bracelet of the summer, after falling at the final hurdle in Event #38: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship 7-Handed. Allen Kessler will also be opening up a bag today, as he searches to get his hands on his first bracelet.
Action will resume at Level 13, with limits at 4,000/8,000. Level duration remains at 60 minutes throughout, and a total of ten levels will be played. Cards get in the air at 1 p.m. local time, and players will take their seats in the Paris Black section. Stay tuned as PokerNews brings you live coverage for the remainder of the event.
Tags:
Allen KesslerBenny GlaserBig OBrian BreckDekel BalasDylan LindeHong KongIgor ZektserJared HymanJustin LibertoKevin ChoiMasafumi IijimaMax KruseNeal LiptakRyan BambrickWalter ChambersYueqi Zhu
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