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Shaun Deeb Bags Monster Lead in Day 2 of $3,000 Nine Game Mix
Stud Games: 10,000 Ante, 10,000 Bring-In, 30,000 Completion, 30,000-60,000 Limits
Pot-Limit & No-Limit: 16,000/24,000 Ante, 8,000-16,000 Blinds
From a starting field of 472 players, 164 made their way back to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas to continue their run in Day 2 of Event #52: $3,000 Nine Game Mix. Following a full day of mixed-game action, Shaun Deeb emerged as the chip leader of the remaining 21 players after bagging up 3,500,000 — more than twice that of his closest competitor.
Since his fantastic showing at the 2026 World Series of Poker Europe, wherein Deeb had two runner-up finishes and a ninth-place, the eight-time bracelet winner has been in a bit of a dry spell, with just one cash this series prior to today. However, Deeb is now in pole position to get back into a top spot on the Player of the Year leaderboard with a podium finish.
Sitting in a distant second is 2004 Main Event runner-up David Williams with 1,742,000. The deep run marks Williams' first cash of the series as he looks to add a second bracelet to his resume.
End of Day 2 Top 10 Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shaun Deeb | United States | 3,500,000 |
| 2 | David Williams | United States | 1,742,000 |
| 3 | Richard Freitas | Brazil | 1,565,000 |
| 4 | Antonios Onoufriou | Cyprus | 1,474,000 |
| 5 | Danny Noam | United States | 1,323,000 |
| 6 | Thomas Taylor | Canada | 930,000 |
| 7 | Eli Elezra | Israel | 901,000 |
| 8 | Mike Gorodinsky | United States | 832,000 |
| 9 | Maximilian Schindler | United States | 795,000 |
| 10 | Allan Le | United States | 780,000 |
Day 2 Action
With nearly 100 players needing to be eliminated before the money bubble, players weren't shy in their attempts to build up their stacks or bust trying. Among the early eliminations were Yuri Dzivielevski, Michael Estes, Daniel Strelitz, Chris Brewer, and defending champion Robert Wells, meaning a new champion will be crowned this year.
Ray Fishman got off to a hot start after winning several pots early on and eliminating Ilkka Heikkila in a round of triple draw. By the dinner break, Fishman had grown his stack to nearly 700,000 — good for a top five stack.
Meanwhile, Day 1 chip leader Stephen Hubbard was unable to gain any momentum and found himself on the rail before the money after an unfortuante couple of hands didn't go his way. Other notables to bust as the money bubble approached included John Racener, Jake Schwartz, Naoya Kihara, Nam Le, Matt Grapenthien, and Tom McCormick, who had been nursing a short stack for most of the day before busting to Kharlin Sued in a game of No Limit 2-7 Single Draw.
Once hand-for-hand play was announced, It only took a couple of rounds for the money bubble to burst. Dennis Weiss, who has both a win and a runner-up finish from this series already, had his momentum temporarily halted after getting eliminated on the stone bubble. In his final hand, Weiss shoved for his last few big blind from the small blind and was called by Kazuhiro Shirasawa in the big blind in a game of No Limit 2-7 Single Draw. Both players drew one, but Weiss ended second-best with a pair to be eliminated one spot shy of the money.
Following the dinner break, a surge of eliminations brought the field down to 33 just within two levels. Allen Kessler was among those to fall late in the day after Danny Noam hit three perfect cards in a game of Razz — ending "The Chainsaw"'s run for his 326th cash in WSOP events.
Despite his good start, Fishman lost steam and most of his chips, including from a hand wherein Eli Elezra outdrew Fishman's pat eight-seven to leave him short. Fishman managed to hang on a bit longer after the hand, but ultimately bowed out with about 30 minutes left in the day in 24th place.
Toward the end of the night, Maximilian Schindler surged up the counts and looked to be the runaway chip leader. However, the last level of the day belong to Deeb — who skyrocketed up the leaderboard in a series of pots that went his way, including one where he busted Thomas Zanot with a gutshot in Pot Limit Omaha
Everyone remaining has already secured a $9,040 payout from the $1,260,240 prize pool, but everyone's aim will be on the $254,470 top payout and coveted gold bracelet awaiting the champion.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $254,470 | 8-9 | $21,420 |
| 2 | $166,540 | 10-11 | $16,590 |
| 3 | $111,610 | 12-14 | $13,180 |
| 4 | $76,510 | 15-20 | $10,760 |
| 5 | $53,680 | 21 | $9,040 |
| 6 | $38,560 | ||
| 7 | $28,390 |
Players will return tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time and play down to a winner. Action will resume on level 23, which features 40,000/80,000 betting limits.
For all the latest from the floor, be sure to stick with PokerNews right up until the latest Nine Game Mix champion has been crowned.