button in SafariAlex Foxen Continues Hot Run and Tops Day 2 of $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha
As has been the case in most high-roller tournaments throughout the 2026 World Series of Poker at the Paris and Horseshoe Hotel in Las Vegas so far, the extended late registration saw a major boost to the overall attendance in . Another 122 entries and re-entries increased the total tally to 451 entries in Event #47: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha, which came up short of last year's 489 entries in the very same event. This increased the prize pool to a staggering $10,598,500 with the top 68 spots paid.
After a total of ten levels of one hour each, not only did the money bubble burst, but more than half of those earning a cash prize were sent to the rail as the field was cut down to only 31 players in a star-studded line-up. Upon bagging and tagging the chips for the night, Alex Foxen continued his already impressive resume throughout the last two and a half weeks to once again sit atop the leaderboard with a towering stack of 6,820,000.
There is already a notable gap to Chenxiang Miao (4,310,000) and long-time chip leader Sergio Martinez Gonzalez (4,255,000), while several other four-card specialists can be found in the overnight, such as Eelis Pärssinen (3,190,000), Richard Gryko (2,560,000) and Chance Kornuth (2,560,000).
$25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha Top 10 Day 2 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Foxen | United States | 6,820,000 | 136 |
| 2 | Chenxiang Miao | China | 4,310,000 | 86 |
| 3 | Sergio Martinez Gonzalez | Spain | 4,255,000 | 85 |
| 4 | Benjamin Juhasz | Hungary | 3,775,000 | 76 |
| 5 | Jeremy Druckman | United States | 3,660,000 | 73 |
| 6 | Eelis Parssinen | Finland | 3,190,000 | 64 |
| 7 | Richard Gryko | United Kingdom | 3,170,000 | 63 |
| 8 | Chongxian Yang | China | 2,830,000 | 57 |
| 9 | Levon Khachatryan | United States | 2,655,000 | 53 |
| 10 | Chance Kornuth | United States | 2,560,000 | 51 |
Many other big names of the international high-stakes scene and WSOP history remain in contention, all with a shot at increasing their bracelet tally. Ian Matakis (2,210,000), Joao Simao (2,045,000), Ka Kwan Lau (1,965,000), Artur Martirosian (1,710,000), Bryce Yockey (1,550,000), and Daniel Negreanu (995,000) will all return for the penultimate tournament day.
Plenty of other big names bowed out after the end of late registration and not many of those jumping in at the last minute were left over. After six hours of play on Day 2, the field had reached the money bubble. Aussie Geoffrey Mooney was the last casualty prior to the dinner break, with 69 hopefuls still in contention. Defending champion Dennis Weiss no longer had chips at his disposal by then after his flopped trips stood no chance against the flopped full house of fellow German Manuel Fischer.
It was then the former WSOP Europe Main Event champion Max Neugebauer who became the last hopeful to leave the tournament empty-handed without anything to show for. Down to fumes, Neugebauer flopped top pair and rivered two pair, but the very same card gave Dylan Linde the nut straight to let the bubble burst in the first hand after dinner.
The eliminations thereafter came at a rapid pace, such as a clash of live poker titans when Jason Koon saw his hopes dashed by a deadly river against none other than the aforementioned Foxen. Arthur Morris clashed one times too many with Jeremy Druckman in a setup hand to collect a min-cash, as did David Wang, Jeffrey Hakim, Christopher Frank and Chad Eveslage.
Plenty of WSOP bracelet winners followed suit in the final hands of four-card poker action, including James Obst, Santhosh Suvarna, Robert Cowen, and David Benyamine. Among the late casualties was also Youness Barakat, who had been leading the way when the cards went back in the air. After suffering a major blow in one of the most memorable hands of the day, in which he only called with quads and was shown a straight flush by Matthew Costanzo, the Italian couldn't recover and bowed out in 41st place.
Towards the end of the night, Foxen cemented his status as the chip leader with sheer aggression and took over the lead when firing three barrels against fellow WSOP 2026 bracelet winner Yockey. By then, Jason Mercier had his pocket aces cracked when Brevin Andreadis rivered a flush, and Mercier was denied another chance at bracelet number seven for the time being.
The final casualty was the UK's Phillip Mighall who got it in with middle pair and the ace-high flush draw. Tom Vogelsang looked him up with pocket aces and remained ahead thanks to blanks on the turn and river. That brought the field down to the last 31 hopefuls, with all Day 2 survivors having locked up at least $69,531 for their efforts.
Foxen increased his lead with three more barrels against Biao Ding and cemented his status atop the summit among the 31 hopefuls still in contention. They will return to their seats in the gold section at the Paris Hotel Las Vegas at noon local time on Thursday, June 18, 2026, with blinds of 25,000-50,000 and a big blind ante of 50,000.
The penultimate tournament day is scheduled to whittle down the field to the final five contenders with levels continuing on a 60-minute clock. Stay tuned right here on PokerNews to follow the conclusion of the latest high-stakes contest at the 2026 WSOP in Las Vegas.