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Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker
Day 3 Completed
After ten levels of play, Day 3 action has come to a close here in Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker at the 2026 World Series of Poker, hosted by the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
Of the 424 players who began the day, just 62 will return for Day 4 on Tuesday, each having locked up at least $27,300. The remaining competitors will battle for a share of the $15,623,347 prize pool, with the winner set to earn $1,250,000 and the coveted gold bracelet. The eventual runner-up will also become a millionaire, collecting a cool $1,000,000 for second place.
Bo Chen bagged the chip lead with 13,300,000 after playing a massive pot with Rob Kuhn on one of the last hands of the night. Kuhn, who had a top stack for most of the day, will have his work cut out for him as he enters tomorrow with just five and a half big blinds.
Sitting in second, not far behind Chen, is Kunal Patni, who ended the day with 11,600,000. Right on his heels is Seiji Sasaki, who rounds out the podium with 11,400,000.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bo Chen | United States | 13,300,000 | 67 |
| 2 | Kunal Patni | India | 11,600,000 | 58 |
| 3 | Seiji Sasaki | Japan | 11,400,000 | 57 |
| 4 | Jed Friedman | United States | 10,700,000 | 54 |
| 5 | Jacob Gagnon | United States | 10,500,000 | 53 |
| 6 | Yifu He | United States | 9,100,000 | 46 |
| 7 | Meng Dian Peng | China | 8,400,000 | 42 |
| 8 | Steven Hinkle | United States | 7,500,000 | 38 |
| 9 | Irene Carey | United States | 6,900,000 | 35 |
| 10 | Jordan Meltzer | United States | 6,800,000 | 34 |
The beginning of Day 4 set a fast tempo, with the field slimming down with a flurry of bustouts during the first couple of hours. Those who exited in the first level include 2018 Main Event runner-up Tony Miles, high-stakes regular Chris Hunichen, and four-time bracelet winner Joshua Remitio. Ryan Laplante, Xixiang Luo, and Rich Alsup were also eliminated before first break.
A slew of 25K Fantasy draftees saw the door during the early-to-middle stages of the day, including Dan Sepiol, Zdenek Zizka, Frederic Normand, Terrance Reid, and Malcolm Trayner.
Bracelet winners Rafael Reis, Eugene Katchalov, Simeon Spasov and Jason Wheeler didn't make it to the dinner break. Wheeler's bustout hand was especially rough, as his pocket aces were cracked by pocket tens.
Kenny Hallaert, Trishelle Cannatella, Ronnie Day, Marle Spragg, David Jackson, Josh McCully, and Adam Walton were among other notables to be eliminated during the last few levels.
Matt Affleck was in great shape to score a late-night double up, but suffered a brutal bad beat on the last hand of the night, courtesy of Benoit Fiasson.
Those who managed to stick around and book a ticket into Day 4 include Irene Carey (6,900,000), who bagged a top-ten stack, as well as bracelet winners Ryan Eriquezzo (5,900,000) and Will Givens (5,300,000).
Scott Stewart (4,000,000) and Mark Newhouse (3,700,000), who are no strangers to running deep in big fields, sit in the middle of the pack. Harrison Gimbel (3,500,000) and Bradley Gafford (3,400,000), who both own a piece of WSOP hardware, are also still in the mix.
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,250,000 | 10-11 | $118,000 |
| 2 | $1,000,000 | 12-13 | $94,000 |
| 3 | $750,000 | 14-17 | $75,200 |
| 4 | $530,000 | 18-26 | $60,600 |
| 5 | $410,000 | 27-35 | $49,200 |
| 6 | $315,000 | 36-44 | $40,200 |
| 7 | $245,000 | 45-53 | $33,000 |
| 8 | $190,000 | 54-62 | $27,300 |
| 9 | $150,068 |
Action will resume at 11 a.m. local time on Tuesday, June 23, and the tournament is scheduled to play down to five players. Play will resume at Level 31 with blinds at 100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 big blind ante, and there will be a 15-minute break every two levels. A one-hour dinner break will take place after Level 37 is completed, at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Be sure to follow PokerNews throughout the remainder of this event and for continued coverage of the 2026 World Series of Poker.
The field shortened to just 62 players who will all return to restart at 11 a.m. tomorrow to play Day 4.
Stay tuned for the full recap, which will be posted shortly.
There was just one table still with action to play out before bagging and tagging for Day 4.
Matt Affleck opened from the cutoff for 300,000 and Benoit Fiasson moved all in for his last 3,285,000. Affleck paused before calling off for his tournament life as he had just 2,615,000 left behind.
Matt Affleck: A♦J♦
Benoit Fiasson: A♣6♣
Affleck was ahead, but Fiasson picked up a pair on the 3♠6♥8♦ flop to put him in front.
There was no coming back for Fiasson on the A♠ turn and Q♦ river, and he was the last to hit the rail in Day 3.
The players were on the pay jump from $22,800 to $27,300 and so the action had slowed right down.
Yifu He opened to 305,000 from the hijack and Chisa Matsutani raised to 1,000,000 from the small blind. Action went to the big blind who tanked, but opted to fold, and He moved all in for around 7,600,000.
Matsutani eventually mucked, and He showed A♣Q♥. He looked at Matsutani and said, "I think you had better right?...", and Matsutani didn't reply.
Action went heads-up to a flop of 6♦7♣9♣ with a sizable post brewing between the under-the-gun Bo Chen and Rob Kuhn in middle position.
With 3,000,000 in the middle, Chen checked with 9♦8♦ and Kuhn bet 1,000,000 with K♣6♣. Chen called and the turn brought the 3♠.
Checn checked and Kuhn bet enough to put Chen all in, who had 4,640,000 behind. Chen went into the tank, eventually making the call.
Chen faded Kuhn's outs on the 10♥ river, improving to a straight to earn a huge late-night double up.
The floor has announced that action will continue for three more hands before bagging for the night.
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