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Event #59: $500 Salute to Warriors
Day 2 Completed
2026 World Series of Poker
Event #59: $500 Salute to Warriors
Day: 2
Players Left 29 / 4,478
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Chip Counts
Chip Counts
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
An action-packed Day 2 of Event #59: $500 Salute to Warriors No-Limit Hold'em concluded with just 35 players remaining at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
Headlining the remaining players is 2006 WSOP Main Event Champion Jamie Gold, who is chasing down his second WSOP bracelet, this one coming with a potential $208,800 payday. This is slightly less than his $12 million Main Event payday, which remains the second-largest in WSOP history, but still nothing to be grumbled at.
Day 2 kicked off with 672 players who bagged up from an opening Day 1 field of 4,478 entries. A total prize pool of $1,835,980 was generated in this special World Series of Poker (WSOP) event, with $40 from each buy-in donated to the United Service Organizations and other veteran-focused charities.
Tables were breaking left, right, and center from the start of the day, and the field was soon whittled down to 100 remaining prior to the players going on their dinner break. Action slowed down considerably when they returned, as players tightened their belts to make a run at the final table.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamie Gold | United States | 15,700,000 | 52 |
| 2 | Jeevan Lobo | India | 14,850,000 | 50 |
| 3 | Sho Shiratori | Japan | 10,275,000 | 34 |
| 4 | Laurance Essak | United States | 8,050,000 | 27 |
| 5 | Joseph Rusinko | United States | 8,005,000 | 27 |
| 6 | Holly Foley | United States | 7,125,000 | 24 |
| 7 | Julien Duveau | France | 7,070,000 | 24 |
| 8 | Samuel Rannou | France | 6,950,000 | 23 |
| 9 | Robert Brobyn | United States | 6,925,000 | 23 |
| 10 | Fady Khabbaz | United States | 6,725,000 | 22 |
Gold comes into Day 3 as the chip leader with a slender lead, but with his deep run experience definitely puts him in the hunt to take down his second WSOP bracelet.
"My dad was in the service, so I always like to play this Salute to Warriors event," the former world champion explained. "It's never easy with 4,500 entries. I'll be happy if I just make the final table, and then of course I'll feel like I have to win it! One goal at a time."
Gold is closely followed by Jeevan Lobo with 14,850,000, and rounding out the podium in third place is Sho Shiratori with 10,275,000.
Not all could be as lucky as the 35 survivors, as numerous WSOP crushers fell by the wayside. Names such as start-of-day chip leader Nicholas Rigby, Andreas Froehli, Brandon Sheils, Ari Engel, and Craig Chait all bit the dust before the end of Day 2.
2019 WSOP Europe Main Event champion Alexandros Kolonias, unlike Gold, will not be in the hunt for a second WSOP Main Event title, as he was sent to the rail reasonably early in Day 2.
Lexy Gavin-Mather also made it through the day but, coming into Day 3 as one of the shorter stacks with 4,300,000, she has work to do to make a run at the final table.
All returning players have locked up $6,540, but will be eyeing up the mouthwatering $208,800 first place prize, which of course, comes along with the coveted WSOP gold bracelet.
Remaining Payouts
Event #59: $500 Salute to Warriors No-Limit Hold'em will continue on June 23 at 11:00 a.m. local time. Play will restart at Level 33 where the blinds will be 200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 big blind ante. Levels will be 40 minutes with a 15-minute break after every two levels, and a dinner break will be decided by the floor on the day.
PokerNews will be back on the floor tomorrow, June 23, for the final day of the event. Stay tuned for all the action from the floor as it unfolds, and the bracelet is awarded to the eventual champion.
Level 32
: 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
The 35 surviving players have bagged their chips and headed into the night.
Action will resume with Day 3, tomorrow, Tuesday, June 23, at 11:00 a.m. local time, and will play down to a winner.
Stay tuned for the full chip counts and a recap of the day's action.
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
The clock has now been paused and the floor have announced that three more hands will be played for the night.
On completion of the hands, all remaining players will bag up their chips to return for Day 3 tomorrow June 23.
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Action folded to Prashanth Nataraj in the small blind, who open-jammed all in and had James Mihokovich in the big blind covered. Mihokovich went into the tank for a good while before he made the call.
James Mihokovich: K♥Q♥ 
Prashanth Nataraj: A♠4♥
Not the flop Nataraj wanted to see on J♣6♣K♣ but he still had outs. The 6♠ changed nothing, and when the Q♠ river gave Mihokovich an unneeded two pair, he was shipped the pot for a double up.
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Jason Velasco moved all in from middle position for 230,000, less than a big blind, and was given isolation when Keegan Westover moved all in for around 3,500,000 from the cutoff.
Jason Velasco: Q♣5♣
Keegan Westover: A♠9♦
The window card moved Velasco into the lead, but it was short-lived as the full flop brought Q♦K♣A♦.
The turn was better news, though, as the 5♦ saw Velasco take the lead. He stayed there when the 2♣ completed the board, seeing his very short stack triple up, with the day nearing its close.
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
