button in SafariBrian Tate Tops the Counts after Day 1 of the $10,000 Limit 2-7 Championship
Limits: 3,000-6,000
The first day of action has come and gone here at Paris Las Vegas for Event #67: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Championship. There was an impressive turnout of players who came to battle in what many consider to be one of the purest forms of poker. A total of 140 entries were tallied in this freezeout format, almost reaching last year's total of 141 with registration still open.
After eight hours of limited wagering, just 57 players have put chips into a bag and will be returning for Thursday's Day 2.
Atop the counts after today's action was Brian Tate, who went on a late-night surge on his way to a bag of 367,000. The former poker pro turned entrepreneur still finds the time to come play many of the mixed events every summer, but a WSOP bracelet has eluded him. However, he has put himself in a position to add some hardware to his resume.
End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Tate | United States | 367,000 | 46 |
| 2 | Andrew Yeh | United States | 327,000 | 41 |
| 3 | Hanh Tran | Austria | 306,000 | 38 |
| 4 | Robert Wells | United Kingdom | 281,000 | 35 |
| 5 | Pierre Lewandowski | France | 280,000 | 35 |
| 6 | Ryan Hoenig | United States | 260,000 | 33 |
| 7 | Jon Turner | United States | 253,000 | 32 |
| 8 | Patrick Stacey | Canada | 236,000 | 30 |
| 9 | Michael Rodrigues | Portugal | 235,000 | 29 |
| 10 | Oscar Johansson | Sweden | 225,000 | 28 |
Finishing the day in second place was 2022 $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. champion Andrew Yeh (327,000), while Hanh Tran (306,000), who already has a Triple Draw bracelet that came in 2018, rounds out the podium in third.
Others notables that bagged include Viktor Blom (197,000), Allen Kessler (175,000), Jennifer Harman (163,000), Todd Brunson (160,000), Brandon Shack-Harris (146,000), Joao Vieira (102,000), the most decorated Lowball player of all time Billy Baxter (100,000), Scott Seiver (86,000), Alex Foxen (75,000), John Monnette (74,000), Philip Sternheimer (61,000), and Eli Elezra (36,000).
Not everyone was so fortunate, as many of the game's biggest stars fell by the wayside. Some of these include Shaun Deeb, Mike Matusow, John Hennigan, Chris Brewer, Bryce Yockey, Calvin Anderson, Chad Eveslage, John Racener, James Obst, Christopher Vitch, Chino Rheem, and vlogger Brad Owen.
Last year's champion Alexander Wilkinson was not seen in the field today, but his father Wil Wilkinson was in the action from the first shuffle. Unfortunately, Wilkinson was not able to find a bag for Day 2, but perhaps his son will join in on the action tomorrow.
The restart is Thursday at 1 p.m. in the Gold Section of Paris. Play will resume on Level 11 with blinds of 2,000/4,000 and limits of 4,000/8,000.
Registration remains open until the start of Level 12, occurring around 2:15 p.m. tomorrow. A maximum late stack is worth six big bets. It is likely that many new hopefuls will join tomorrow, so it is yet to be seen just how popular the event will be this year.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for updates from the floor throughout Event #67: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Championship, and all other events here at the 2026 World Series of Poker.