With limited media access to the new feature tables, PokerNews will provide updates where possible, alongside the results of the match-ups and the updated bracket as players are eliminated. Some matches will be streamed by the World Series of Poker, and our updates will follow the same delay as the live stream.
Once upon a time, professional musician Scott Ian of the legendary metal band Anthrax had a side career as a sponsored poker player.
What began with a free trip to Las Vegas ended with Ian being mentored by poker royalty like Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke, landing a poker sponsorship, and playing online poker as much as 90 hours a week. The A-list guitarist would also occasionally play online poker on stage in the middle of concerts.
"I'm like, this guy is so smart, so fun," Hellmuth told PokerNews. "I was just struck by how great Scott is."
Ian, who is back on tour with Anthrax for the first time in a decade, recently opened up to PokerNews about his time as a sponsored poker pro. Read about the metal legend's poker journey and watch the full interview on YouTube.
The successful players from Round 1 have returned and taken their seats.
With media access to the new feature tables limited, PokerNews will provide updates where possible, alongside the results of the match-ups and the updated bracket as players are eliminated.
WSOP will be streaming some of the matches which you can see here. Our updates will be following the same delay as the live stream.
Level: 11
Blinds: 600/1,200
Ante: 0
In the 965th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, which is sponsored by WPT Global, Chad Holloway and Mike Holtz are joined by Matt Berkey at Level 9 Studio in Las Vegas to discuss the brouhaha surrounding patch at the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP), a topic spurred by a social media post from Patrick Leonard. What's the situation, and should you be worried?
The trio then discusses Charlie Carrel being banned from entering the USA for nine years now, stemming from a drug arrest, poker returning next week to The Lodge in Texas, and an update on the bankruptcy of Maurice Hawkins, who amended his court filing to include his "friend" and "backer" Cody Stanford.
Chad then asks Berkey if we might ever see the return of the Only Friends Podcast before the crew wraps things up by examining WPT Global Ambassador Phil Ivey's top WSOP scores.
Find out all about those stories and more in this week's episode of the PokerNews Podcast! Oh, and be sure to check out the audio version of the PokerNews Podcast that is available on all major podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and SoundCloud.
The starting field of 64 players has been whittled down to just 32, with the advancing players scheduled to return for Round 2 at 5 p.m. local time.
Two more rounds are slated for today, with Round 3 commencing at 10 p.m. local time.
Keyavash Hemyari said Elijah Berg had bucked the odds to take three coin flips in a row to stay in the match.
A hand after Berg shoved all in on the flop to force a fold, Hemyari called his all-in raise preflop to put another flip in play.
Elijah Berg: 4♥4♣
Keyavash Hemyari: A♥5♠
The runout Q♦5♥A♣J♠2♣ favored Hemyari, who was pleased.
"He won three flips in a row, and I finally got him," Hemyari said.
Thomas Boivin moved all in for 120,000 chips, drawing a call from Masato Yokosawa.
Thomas Boivin: A♣J♦
Masato Yokosawa: 8♠8♥
The board was to Yokosawa's liking, running 10♠5♣8♦9♦10♥, and his eights were good enough for the win.
Winner of the match, Michael Berk, gave a recount of his winning hand.
After Berk limped on the button, Linglin Zeng moved all in from the big blind for roughly 50,000, and Berk called.
Linglin Zeng: Kx6x
Michael Berk: AxKx
It was a domination situation for Zeng, who was unable to find any help from the deck, confirming her elimination.
On a neighboring table, Viktor Blom was unable to overcome Harvey Castro, with the latter advancing to Round 2.
Thomas Boivin limped into the pot from the button, and Masato Yokosawa checked his option. The flop came out with 9♥10♥8♠, Yokosawa checked, while Boivin placed a 6,000 bet. Yokosawa called.
The turn 7♥ and the river J♦ saw both players check.
Yokosawa showed 9♠4♥ for a pair of nines, and Boivin showed 10♠7♠ for two pair and the small victory.
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