button in SafariTong Tops the Table After Day 2 of Poker Players Championship
Stud Games: 5,000 Ante, 5,000 Bring-In, 20,000 Completion, 20,000-40,000 Limits
Pot-Limit & No-Limit: 10,000/15,000 Ante, 5,000-10,000 Blinds
The $50,000 Poker Players Championship rolled on inside Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas on Monday, with another six levels completed and late registration officially coming to a close in one of the marquee events of the 2026 World Series of Poker.
Just 39 players remain, and it is Kristopher Tong who sits atop the leaderboard after turning his Day 1 stack of 784,000 into 2,428,000. The bracelet winner finished just ahead of mixed-game standout Benny Glaser, who more than doubled his overnight stack of 826,000 to bag 2,286,000.
Tong and Glaser were the only players to eclipse the two-million mark. Maxx Coleman (1,917,000), Chris Hunichen (1,670,000), and Matt Glantz (1,480,000) round out the top five.
Poker Players Championship Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kristopher Tong | United States | 2,428,000 |
| 2 | Benny Glaser | United Kingdom | 2,286,000 |
| 3 | Maxx Coleman | United States | 1,917,000 |
| 4 | Chris Hunichen | United States | 1,670,000 |
| 5 | Matt Glantz | United States | 1,480,000 |
| 6 | Chris Brewer | United States | 1,253,000 |
| 7 | Yosuke Miki | Japan | 1,127,000 |
| 8 | Maksim Pisarenko | Russian Federation | 1,083,000 |
| 9 | Alex Livingston | Canada | 1,060,000 |
| 10 | Ryan Miller | United States | 968,000 |
Rast Only Former Champ Remaining
Another 21 entries came in on Day 2, bringing the field to 108 and edging past last year's turnout by a single entry. The remaining players are battling for a share of the $5,130,000 prize pool, with the top 17 spots paying. A min-cash is worth $100,934, while the winner will earn $1,343,764 and the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy.
There's also a strong chance the trophy will have a new owner. Of the former champions who entered this year's edition, only one remains in the hunt: Brian Rast.
The Poker Hall of Famer captured the title in 2011, 2016, and 2023, and now has the chance to join Michael Mizrachi atop the all-time list with a fourth Poker Players Championship victory. Mizrachi set the benchmark with his record-breaking triumph last summer. However, Rast has plenty of work to do, as he bagged the smallest stack of the advancing players.
Poker Players Championship Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,343,764 | 7 | $176,732 |
| 2 | $895,837 | 8-9 | $144,054 |
| 3 | $600,698 | 10-11 | $122,709 |
| 4 | $417,607 | 12-14 | $109,459 |
| 5 | $301,405 | 15-16 | $102,474 |
| 6 | $226,172 | 17 | $100,934 |
Hellmuth Bounces Back From COVID
One of the Day 2 entrants was all-time bracelet leader Phil Hellmuth, who after "seven days of being sick with COVID," bagged a strong stack.
The 17-time bracelet winner showed no signs of a diminished appetite. Shortly after taking his seat, Hellmuth tucked into a burrito in his own unique way, eating it from the middle outward.
Whatever the strategy, it worked. The Poker Brat turned his 300,000 starting stack into 900,000 to finish 16th in chips heading into Day 3.
Hellmuth, who finished runner-up to Rast in 2011, wasn't the only former second-place finisher back in the field. Defending runner-up Bryn Kenney advanced with 335,000, while Bryce Yockey (950,000), Josh Arieh (902,000), and Yuri Dzivielevski (140,000) also punched their Day 3 tickets.
Other familiar faces moving on include Jesse Lonis (906,000), Phil Ivey (694,000), Jason Mercier (634,000), and Gus Hansen (632,000).
More than half of the Day 2 field fell by the wayside during the day, with 48 players hitting the rail. Former champions Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hui were among the casualties, as were Viktor Blom, Nick Schulman, and Shaun Deeb. Esther Taylor, last year's third-place finisher and the only woman in the field, was also unable to survive the day.
Plan for Day 3
Day 3 gets underway at 1 p.m. local time with 39 players returning to the Paris Ballroom. Action resumes on Level 13, where the limit flop and draw games will be played with 10,000-20,000 blinds and limits of 20,000-40,000.
In the stud variants, players will post a 5,000 ante and 5,000 bring-in, with betting limits of 20,000 and 40,000. During the no-limit and pot-limit rounds, blinds will be 5,000-10,000.
Players will contest six more levels on Tuesday, with 15-minute breaks after each level and a 60-minute dinner break scheduled after Level 15 at approximately 6:30 p.m.
As always, stick with PokerNews to keep up with all the action from the 2026 WSOP.