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Event #65: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em
Day 2 Completed
2026 World Series of Poker
Event #65: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 2
Players Left 29 / 2,617
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Chip Counts
Chip Counts
Level 25
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
Just 410 players of the initial 2,617 entrants came back for Day 2 of Event #65: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, battling through ten levels of play with a cash finish and a Day 3 berth on the line. By the end of the night, only 33 players remained with a shot at WSOP gold.
Leading the way is Valentin Oberhauser, who bagged a commanding stack of 5,500,000 — the only player to finish the day above the five-million mark. The Frenchman is relatively new to the live tournament scene, with his recorded cashes dating back to 2024. Oberhauser already has several WSOP cashes to his name but is still searching for his first final-table appearance. However, he now sits in pole position not only to reach the final table but also to make a run at capturing his first gold bracelet.
Sitting in second position is Kyle Lin with 4,845,000. Lin soared up the leaderboard about halfway through Day 2 and looked to be the runaway chip leader before getting edged out by Oberhauser in the final level of play. Like Oberhauser, Lin will also be chasing his first WSOP final table appearance and gold bracelet.
End of Day 2 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valentin Oberhauser | France | 5,500,000 | 92 |
| 2 | Kyle Lin | United States | 4,845,000 | 81 |
| 3 | Jan Sanchez | United States | 4,175,000 | 70 |
| 4 | Ciro Gonzalez | Mexico | 3,420,000 | 57 |
| 5 | Brandon Hamlet | United States | 3,310,000 | 55 |
| 6 | Micheal O'Neill | Ireland | 3,150,000 | 53 |
| 7 | Leonardo Alves | Brazil | 3,120,000 | 52 |
| 8 | Juan Vecino | Spain | 3,080,000 | 51 |
| 9 | Ryan Julius | United States | 3,070,000 | 51 |
| 10 | Julian Eibel | Germany | 2,625,000 | 44 |
Other notables further down the counts include Day 1 chip leader Shawn Puri (1,200,000), 2014 Main Event Champ Martin Jacobson (1,180,000), Nick Palma (1,135,000), and Antoine Labat (830,000).
Day 2 Action
Of the 410 players who returned, 393 were set to make the money. Unsurprisingly, it took less than a level of play before the field reached hand-for-hand action, with just two eliminations separating the players from a min-cash. Brandon Sunshine, who was sporting a full Batman costume, met an unheroic end after being forced all-in from the small blind with five-deuce against Ben Yu, who held ace-five in the big blind. The runout failed to improve Sunshine, sending him to the rail just two spots shy of the money.
A few rounds later, Chris Dilts shoved for his last few big blinds from early position with ace-ten and was called by Eric Wu in the big blind holding eight-six. The runout paired Wu's eight — eliminating Dilts on the stone bubble and guaranteeing everyone remaining a $3,020 payout.
A wave of eliminations predictably followed the bubble, and among the notables who had to settle for a min-cash were Yu, Shawn Buchanan, Davide Suriano, Ryan Laplante, Aaron Massey, Phillip Hui, Athanasios Polychronopoulos, and Jason Wheeler.
While many players hit the rail, Jordan Bamford managed to fade elimination and get a massive boost to his stack early on in one of the most dramatic hands of the day. In the hand, Bamford ran ace-queen in aces in what looked to be a standard cooler; however, Bamford went runner-runner to crack Alan Helfenstein's rockets. Bamford ultimately busted in 117th, but not before laddering several pay jumps as a result of the bad beat.
Paulina Loeliger, who was fresh off a fourth-place finish in the $3,000 No Limit Hold'em 6-Handed event, saw her solid summer continue by securing her seventh cash of the series. Unfortunately for Loeliger, her run came to an end after she got caught bluffing most of her stack against Andrew Rosen only to be eliminated shortly thereafter.
By the time dinner break arrived, just 86 players remained with several familiar faces boasting formidable stacks, including Jorge Ufano, Jared Jaffee, Nick Palma, Martin Zamani, and 2014 Main Event champion Martin Jacobson. However, despite entering Day 2 with a modest stack, Lin became the man to beat late in the day, thanks in part to scoring a double knockout against Jeffrey Slayton and Quirin Heinz. Once Lin crossed the seven-figure mark, he never looked back, successfully applying big-stack pressure and getting value from his strong hands to end the day with the second largest stack.
It wasn't until the final level that Oberhausen overtook the lead, and while Jacobson and Palma managed to find a bag, Zamani, Ufano, and Jaffee all saw their runs come to an end before the curtain closed on Day 2.
With just 33 players left, everyone has secured a minimum cash of $14,250 from the $3,474,067 prize pool. However, the focus now shifts to tomorrow's finale, where the remaining contenders will chase the $449,067 top prize and WSOP gold bracelet. Here's a look at the remaining payouts:
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $449,067 | 8 | $54,926 |
| 2 | $299,218 | 9 | $42,801 |
| 3 | $220,399 | 10 -11 | $33,677 |
| 4 | $163,838 | 12-13 | $26,759 |
| 5 | $122,923 | 14-17 | $21,474 |
| 6 | $93,091 | 18-26 | $17,405 |
| 7 | $71,167 | 27-33 | $14,250 |
Players will return tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time and play down to a winner. Action will resume on level 26, which features 30,000/60,000 blinds with a 60,000 big-blind ante.
With the finish line now in sight, plenty of notables eager to win a bracelet, and pay jumps rapidly increasing, Day 3 is shaping up to be an action-packed finale. For all the latest updates, stay tuned to PokerNews throughout.
Level 25
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 74 | 1 | Octavio Borra | Argentina | 1,930,000 | 32 |
| 74 | 2 | Chung-Tang Lin | United States | 1,415,000 | 24 |
| 74 | 3 | Sam Ameen | United Kingdom | 860,000 | 14 |
| 74 | 4 | Jacob Miller | United States | 1,330,000 | 22 |
| 74 | 5 | Jan Sanchez | United States | 4,175,000 | 70 |
| 74 | 6 | Shawn Puri | United States | 1,200,000 | 20 |
| 74 | 7 | Ciro Gonzalez | Mexico | 3,420,000 | 57 |
| 74 | 8 | Leonardo Alves | Brazil | 3,120,000 | 52 |
| 74 | 9 | Marcelo Mereles | Paraguay | 840,000 | 14 |
| 75 | 1 | Ryan Julius | United States | 3,070,000 | 51 |
| 75 | 2 | Hyun Cho | United States | 1,755,000 | 29 |
| 75 | 3 | Gael Ruiz | France | 1,270,000 | 21 |
| 75 | 4 | Dennis Stevermer | United States | 1,830,000 | 31 |
| 75 | 5 | Dylan Foster | New Zealand | 1,710,000 | 29 |
| 75 | 6 | Yongqing Yuan | United States | 725,000 | 12 |
| 75 | 7 | Nick Palma | United States | 1,135,000 | 19 |
| 75 | 8 | ||||
| 75 | 9 | Ben Squelch | United Kingdom | 730,000 | 12 |
| 86 | 1 | ||||
| 86 | 2 | Micheal O'Neill | Ireland | 3,150,000 | 53 |
| 86 | 3 | Martin Jacobson | Sweden | 1,180,000 | 20 |
| 86 | 4 | Samuel Rosborough | United States | 1,790,000 | 30 |
| 86 | 5 | Nethanel Cohen | France | 2,595,000 | 43 |
| 86 | 6 | Neel Joshi | India | 870,000 | 15 |
| 86 | 7 | Jakutis Povilas | Lithuania | 700,000 | 12 |
| 86 | 8 | Brian Kreuz | United States | 1,000,000 | 17 |
| 86 | 9 | Julian Eibel | Germany | 2,625,000 | 44 |
| 87 | 1 | Christopher Knibbs | United States | 1,390,000 | 23 |
| 87 | 2 | Valentin Oberhauser | France | 5,500,000 | 92 |
| 87 | 3 | Antoine Labat | France | 830,000 | 14 |
| 87 | 4 | Kyle Lin | United States | 4,845,000 | 81 |
| 87 | 5 | ||||
| 87 | 6 | Brandon Hamlet | United States | 3,310,000 | 55 |
| 87 | 7 | Juan Vecino | Spain | 3,080,000 | 51 |
| 87 | 8 | Aram Zobian | United States | 1,580,000 | 26 |
| 87 | 9 | Kevin Huang | China | 905,000 | 15 |
Level 25
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
Level 25
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
The final 33 players are now bagging and tagging for the evening.
Stay tuned for a recap of Day 2.
Level 25
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
Jared Jaffee shoved for his last 490,000 from the cutoff and was called by Micheal O'Neill on the button to be put at risk.
Jared Jaffee: A♣8♠
Micheal O'Neill: 9♦9♣
Jaffee would need some help against O'Neill's nines and immediately got it on the A♦7♥Q♣ flop.
The 3♥ turn and K♠ river changed nothing, leaving Jaffee best with his pair of aces to score the double up.
A few hands hands, Jaffee was heads-up on the turn on a board of A♠6♦Q♣6♥ from under the gun against Kyle Lin, who was in the hijack.
Jaffee moved all in and was snap-called by Lin, who showed 6♠6♣ for quad sixes. Jaffee was already drawing dead with A♥10♠ for aces-up, and a meaningless 3♦ made Jaffee's elimination on the last hand of the night official.
Level 25
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
The floor have now paused the clock and the players will be dealt three more hands for the night.
The remaining players will then bag up their chips to return for the final day tomorrow, June 25.
Level 25
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
Yuanzhi Cao was all in and at risk against Brandon Hamlet, with the cards on their backs.
Yuanzhi Cao: A♠J♣
Brandon Hamlet: K♣K♠
Hamlet's pocket kings were never in danger on the 2♥8♦4♣J♥7♣ runout, as Cao came up empty short before the final hands of the night.
Level 25
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
Micheal O'Neill checked the 6♠A♣9♣ flop from the big blind, and Kyle Lin bet 80,000 in middle position. O'Neill called to see the 7♦ turn, leading out for 130,000. Lin raised to 350,000, and the call was made.
O'Neill led out again on the 9♥ river, and Lin took some time before sticking in the call.
O'Neill tabled 7♠7♣ for a full house, taking down the pot as Lin mucked.
Level 25
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
Action folded to Brandon Hamlet in the small blind, who raised to 200,000, which was enough to put Tsubasa Itani, sat in the big blind, all in. Itani thought for a couple of seconds and made the call for his tournament life.
Tsubasa Itani: K♠J♦
Brandon Hamlet: K♦8♥
Itani was sitting pretty for a double up and the 6♣K♥9♠ flop changed nothing. However the 8♦ turn gave Hamlet two pair and when the river bricked out with the 5♣, Itani was sent to the cage.
On an outer table we also lost Alden Palmer.
