button in SafariYouness Barakat Tops Remaining 83 After Day 1b of $25,000 High Roller PLO
After 27 players out of 105 entries advanced through Day 1a of Event #47: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha at the 2026 World Series of Poker, those who failed to bag in the first flight were given a second chance on Day 1b at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
The second flight drew more than twice as many entries as Day 1a, with 224 entries recorded after ten levels of play, bringing the total field to 329 entries and the prize pool to $7,731,000 before the end of late registration tomorrow. By the end of the day, however, only 83 players secured a spot for Day 2, with Youness Barakat leading the way.
Barakat sent several players to the rail throughout the day and even scored a double elimination on his way to surpassing the million-chip mark. He ultimately bagged a massive 1,675,000 to take the overall chip lead, slightly ahead of Philip Marsico, who finished with 1,580,000. David Benyamine, meanwhile, was among the first players to enter the field and never left the top five, ending the day with 1,209,000.
Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Youness Barakat | Italy | 1,675,000 | 419 |
| 2 | Philip Marsico | United States | 1,570,000 | 393 |
| 3 | David Benyamine | France | 1,209,000 | 302 |
| 4 | Robert Cowen | United Kingdom | 1,026,000 | 257 |
| 5 | Richard Gryko | United Kingdom | 800,000 | 200 |
| 6 | Chenxiang Miao | China | 795,000 | 199 |
| 7 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 789,000 | 197 |
| 8 | Zachary Grech | United States | 786,000 | 197 |
| 9 | Maximilian Schindler | United States | 761,000 | 190 |
| 10 | Biao Ding | China | 754,000 | 189 |
Despite an early elimination on the very first hand of his first bullet, Daniel Negreanu enjoyed a much better run on his second entry, bagging 789,000 after spending most of the day seated to the left of Josh Arieh. Arieh, who eliminated David Coleman among others, will return with 489,000.
Chenxiang Miao managed to make an impressive comeback during Day 1b. Left with less than 100,000 chips after Esther Taylor (69,000) doubled through him, Miao more than survived and ultimately bagged the sixth-largest stack with 795,000.
Fellow countrymen Biao Ding (754,000) and Chongxian Yang (596,000), along with Arthur Morris (736,000) and Michael Moncek (725,000), also finished the day with big stacks. They were joined by Pavel Plesuv (587,000), who needed to reenter before securing his place for Day 2.
Stephen Chidwick (542,000), Dan “Jungleman” Cates (475,000), and Thomas Zanot (464,000), who eliminated Cary Katz in a three-way all-in, all sit near the average stack, with Hall of Famers Nick Schulman (418,000) and Brian Rast (412,000) also in the mix.
Recent finalist in the $250,000 Super High Roller, Sean Winter will return with 385,000, ahead of Dylan Linde (363,000) and Chris Hunichen (358,000), who hit the rail once before reentering.
James Obst (284,000), Jesse Lonis (274,000), Philip Long (272,000), Joao Simao (256,000), Erik Seidel (233,000), who eliminated Dylan Weisman and Chad Eveslage (212,000), are among the other notable names advancing to Day 2. Meanwhile, $100,000 High Roller champion Yuri Dzivielevski (82,000) and defending champion Dennis Weiss (55,000) will be back on Day 2 among the shortest stacks in the field.
Play is set to resume this Wednesday, June 17, at noon local time, with blinds at 3,000/6,000 and a 6,000 big blind ante. Late registration remains open until the end of Level 12 (approximately 2:15 p.m.), and the bubble is expected to burst during the ten 60-minute levels scheduled for Day 2.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for all the action from Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas!