The start of the Main Event was the big attraction throughout the Paris Las Vegas ballroom today, but Brian Rast and Alex Foxen made sure there was still plenty of starpower to go around on Day 2 of Event #80: $10,000 8-Game Mixed Championship at the 2026 World Series of Poker.
Rast and Foxen finished far ahead of the field as 12 players will return tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time to battle for the bracelet. Rast was the only player to bag up more than 2,000,000, ending up with 2,465,000, while Foxen followed behind with 1,955,000.
Day 2 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
Big Bets
1
Brian Rast
United States
2,465,000
123
31
2
Alex Foxen
United States
1,955,000
98
24
3
Richard Bai
United States
1,120,000
56
14
4
Dzmitry Urbanovich
Poland
1,030,000
52
13
5
Matt Vengrin
United States
835,000
42
10
6
Taylor Atchison
United States
810,000
41
10
7
Nicholas Marchington
United Kingdom
765,000
38
10
8
Bryn Kenney
United States
745,000
37
9
9
Derek Hanauer
United States
735,000
37
9
10
Maksim Pisarenko
Russian Federation
610,000
31
8
11
Ryan Miller
United States
550,000
28
7
12
David Baker
United States
345,000
17
4
Foxen, already with one bracelet this summer, was the first player to crack seven figures before he won a massive pot of Seven Card Stud against Richard Bai with a full house. He then made a flush on the river to bust Hiroyuki Noda, and also won another Stud pot by betting out Derek Hanauer on seventh.
Alex Foxen
Trying to track down the two poker superstars tomorrow is a litany of top mixed-game pros and WSOP bracelet winners. Bai (1,120,000) and Dzmitry Urbanovich (1,030,000) are the other members of the million-chip club, while Matt Vengrin (835,000), $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo champion Taylor Atchison (810,000), Nick Marchington (765,000), and poker’s all-time leading money winner Bryn Kenney (745,000) are also top stacks. Further down the leaderboard are Maksim Pisarenko (610,000), Ryan Miller (550,000), and David Baker (345,000).
More than 40 new arrivals on Day 2 brought the total field up to 199 players, generating a prize pool of $1,850,700 by the time late registration closed. Phil Hellmuth was given plenty of time to prepare for his Main Event entrance dressed as Superman when he busted shortly after entering, while Jeremy Ausmus, Joe Hachem, Alex Livingston, Bryce Yockey, and Patrick Leonard also fell short of the money.
Caitlin Comeskey came a few spots short when her pocket queens were cracked by Rast’s flopped set. PPC champion Benny Glaser was then eliminated on the money bubble when Ali Eslami and Hanauer chopped a three-way Stud Hi-Lo pot as the remaining 30 players all locked up a piece of the prize pool.
Paul Volpe (27th), Jerry Wong (24th), start-of-day chip leader Clayton Mozdzen (23rd), Marco Johnson (20th), John Racener (15th), and Todd Brunson (13th) were among those sent to the payout desk.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
1
$431,260
2
$283,660
3
$191,570
4
$132,880
5
$94,730
6
$69,460
7
$52,430
8-9
$40,780
10-11
$32,710
12
$27,080
The action on Day 3 picks up on Level 21 with No-Limit and Pot-Limit blinds of 10,000/20,000 and limits of 40,000/80,000. Levels will be extended to 90 minutes tomorrow. The remaining 12 players have all locked up at least $27,080, while the champion will take home $431,260 and the WSOP gold bracelet.
The WSOP is entering its closing stages, and for Rast and Foxen, tomorrow presents one of the last chances they’ll get to bolster their Hall of Fame resumes. Stay tuned as PokerNews returns to follow all the action down to the crowning of a new 8-Game champion.
button in Safari
