button in SafariMichael Mizrachi Bags Piles in Day 1 of $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship
Day 1 of Event #70: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship saw 729 players make their way to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas for arguably the second-most-popular open championship tournament outside of the Main Event. Following a full ten levels of PLO action, only 270 were able to bag into Day 2.
Leading the way is none other than Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, who bagged up an enormous stack worth 946,000 after the last hand was dealt. The defending Main Event champion was heard saying this was probably the best Day 1 he's ever had at the WSOP, and nearly 400 big blinds to his name, it's easy to see why.
The newly inducted Poker Hall of Famer soared into a commanding chip lead after cracking two opponent's aces and kings simultaneously on the penultimate level of the night and never looked back. Of his eight bracelets, none have come from a stand-alone PLO event, but he is now in great position to make a deep run and add to his already decorated poker resume.
Sitting in second position is 2026 Millionaire Maker champion Joseph Liberta with 716,000. Liberta. In addition to his recent bracelet win, Liberta holds three WSOP Circuit rings and will be looking to add his $1.5 million in live-tournament earnings.
End of Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Mizrachi | United States | 946,000 | 378 |
| 2 | Joseph Liberta | United States | 716,000 | 286 |
| 3 | Steven Sarmiento | United States | 715,000 | 286 |
| 4 | Michael Banducci | United States | 509,000 | 204 |
| 5 | Kevin Gorsic | Slovenia | 498,500 | 199 |
| 6 | Felipe Campins | Argentina | 435,500 | 174 |
| 7 | Daniel Hirsh | United States | 380,500 | 152 |
| 8 | Daniel Bedson | United Kingdom | 378,000 | 151 |
| 9 | Judah Chambers | United States | 378,000 | 151 |
| 10 | Sascha Wilhelm | Germany | 374,000 | 150 |
Day 1 Highlights
The popular event drew a packed field from the start, with nearly 200 players taking their seats before cards were even in the air. There was not shortage of notables who took their seats early on, including Alex Foxen, Dennis Weiss, Alex Livingston, Dylan Weisman, David Benyamine, and defending champion Michael Wang.
The 2025 champ got off to a bit of a bumpy start before rebounding nicely in the early levels, however, Wang ulimately busted shortly before the final break of the day, meaning a new champion will be crowned this year.
Also taking his seat early was the always gregarious Espen Oeye, and he wasted little time enjoying a few drinks and engaging in plenty of well-received banter at his table. The rising Norwegian pro, who recently finished sixth in a Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em event at the 2026 WSOPE, got off to a decent start but ultimately fell victim to a cooler after turning the second nuts only to run into the nuts of Loren Klein, sending him to the rail about halfway through the day.
The 2026 Millionaire Maker champion, Liberta, surged up the counts after eliminating Alnoor Pujani in a set-over-set confrontation and continued to build on his stack steadily throughout the evening. Liberta held the chip lead at various points, but utlimately bagged up second in chips behind Mizrachi.
Justin Liberto, who won his second bracelet and placed runner-up in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship earlier in the series, is poised for yet another deep run after ending the day with 303,500. Liberto caught fire after eliminating Julian Milliard-Feral with a full house to land among the chip leaders midway through Day 1, but was unable to subtantially grow his stack from that point on.
In one of the crazier hands of the day, James Casement scored a very rare triple knockout after getting three players to commit their stacks preflop against Casement's aces. Amazingly, the board ran out clean for Casement and he dragged the entire pot with just his overpair. Thank largely to that hand, Casement went on to end the day with an above-average stack of 188,000.
However, Day 1 ultimately belonged to the man known as "The Grinder," whose willingness to gamble quite literally paid off in spades toward the end of day. With a big stack already in his possesion and about an hour left to play, Mizrachi found himself in a bloated three-way pot against Kai Yang and Tsz Shing, who held aces and kings respectively. Mizrachi went with his hand after flopping a flush draw to put both players at risk and was rewarded after hitting a fifth spade on the river to score the double knockout and surge into the chip lead.
Other notables who will be bringing healthy stacks with them into Day 2 include Noah Schwartz (358,000), Sasha Liu, (355,000), Toby Joyce, (349,500), Jesse Lonis, (344,500), Andrew Lichtenberger, (294,500), Josh Arieh (270,000), Dylan Weisman (260,500), and Jared Bleznick (235,000).
Some less fortunate players who will have to wait until next year include Jeff Madsen, Joe Hachem, Naoya Kihara, John Juanda, Erick Lindgren, Alex Foxen, Shaun Deeb, and Joao Vieira, who saw his day end after getting aces cracked by Dario Sammartino.
Players will return tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time to play an additional 10, hour-long levels. Action will resume on Level 11, which features 1,000/2,500 blinds with a 2,500 big-blind ante. Late registration will remain open until the start of Level 13 (~3:15 p.m. local time).
The long journey to crown the next $10K PLO champion has only just begun, so don't miss a beat! Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the latest updates and ongoing coverage from the floor until one player is left holding the gold.