button in SafariBig Bounties Handed Out as 24 Advance to Mystery Millions Final Day
After six opening flights at the 2026 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, 22,811 runners generated a prize pool of $16,919,343, with $10,076,043 going into the regular prize pool and $6,843,300 allocated to bounty prizes. A total of 1,236 players returned for Day 2 in Event #63: $1,000 Mystery Millions No-Limit Hold'em. Now, just 24 players remain heading into the final day, each guaranteed at least $45,200 after what could be described as a bounty bonanza.
Vinay Boob from India leads the pack with 97,300,000 and has pocketed a $250,000 bounty. Second on the leaderboard is four-time bracelet winner David "ODB" Baker from the United States with 75,800,000, while rounding out the top three is Brian Smith, also from the United States, with 71,300,000.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vinay Boob | India | 97,300,000 | 65 |
| 2 | David "ODB" Baker | United States | 75,800,000 | 51 |
| 3 | Brian Smith | United States | 71,300,000 | 48 |
| 4 | Edward Pak | United States | 56,600,000 | 38 |
| 5 | Imre Makranyi | United States | 53,500,000 | 36 |
| 6 | Leo Lombardozzi | France | 53,400,000 | 36 |
| 7 | Joey Weissman | United States | 47,500,000 | 32 |
| 8 | Christopher Basile | United States | 46,000,000 | 31 |
| 9 | Abdullah Akbarpoor | Turkey | 43,400,000 | 29 |
| 10 | Thomas Hall | United Kingdom | 38,500,000 | 26 |
While the chip counts took shape, much of the attention remained on the bounty draw. Early in the session, the atmosphere was intense as every Gold Chest winner had the opportunity to pull a $1,000,000 bounty envelope. Despite his early exit, after pulling the $1,000,000 bounty following 39 attempts by his competitors, Jonathan Schiller was the man everybody was envious of. Clearly thrilled to distribute a portion of his newfound wealth back to the casino, Schiller remarked, "I'm going to put it all on black," as a joke, of course.
PokerNews caught up with Schiller for a real quote: "I'm going to pay off some of my mortgage, buy a new car and take my kids on a nice vacation," the complete opposite of what 2025 $1,000,000 bounty winner Tyler Montoya quoted.
Despite only one player receiving a seven-figure bounty, other players were also the talk of the town. Emmanouil Chalkiotis and Steven McCartney pulled the two $500,150 bounties, with Chalkiotis pulling the second-largest bounty on the first draw.Wai Kiat Lee, and Coltrane Mendelsohn each took home a cool $250,000 for their efforts on the felt.
One of the more memorable moments came when Brian Smith pulled a $100,000 bounty. Smith became emotional after opening the envelope, explaining that part of the money would go toward supporting Purple Pansies, a cause for those fighting pancreatic cancer.
Other notables eliminated on Day 2 included Brekstyn Schutten, who decided to put on the cape on the river and found himself exiting the tournament against Ruoxiao Shi's full house. One-time bracelet winner and 25K Fantasy pick Nicholas Pupillo was holding ace-queen but ran into Michael Horchoff's ace-king, and no queen appeared, sending Pupillo to the rail. Georgios Sotiropoulos, who has four bracelets to his name, won't be adding another in this tournament after failing to win a flip against Ren Lin.
Remaining Payouts
Day 3 will start tomorrow, June 29, at 1 p.m. local time with blinds at 1,000,000/2,000,000 and a 2,000,000 big blind ante. Play will continue until a champion is crowned. Players will compete through 40-minute levels with 15-minute breaks after every three levels.
So, stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates to find out who the last player standing will be.