button in SafariTaylor Atchison Rides WSOP Momentum to Top-Three Stack on Day 1 of $10k 8-Game Championship
Stud Games: 700 Ante, 1,000 Bring-In, 3,000 Completion, 3,000-6,000 Limits
Pot-Limit & No-Limit: 1,500/2,500 Ante, 1,000-1,500 Blinds
Not even a week ago, Taylor Atchison made his first final table at the 2026 World Series of Poker in the $1,500 Stud Hi-Lo and immediately turned it into a victory and a golden bracelet. Afterwards, Taylor made it known that he was not done for the summer yet, and today he has made his first steps en route to a new piece of WSOP hardware by securing a podium spot on the leaderboard after ten levels of play on Day 1 of Event #80: $10,000 8-Game Mixed Championship.
The third edition of the prestigious mixed-game event, which is played as a freezeout, attracted a field of 156 unique entries to the Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas on Day 1, with only 73 of them surviving to the end of the day. Last year's record turnout of 195 is still in sight, as one more level of late registration remains on Day 2. With 297,500, Taylor bagged nearly five starting stacks, and only trails Clayton Mozdzen (345,000) and Nicholas Marchington (327,000) in the counts.
Meanwhile, Naoya Kihara jumped in straight after bubbling the $100k PLO and consoled himself by bagging 233,000 at the end of the night, still giving him a chance at securing a third bracelet of the summer. Closing out the top ten is $10k Dealer's Choice champion Bryce Yockey, who amassed 228,500 on Day 1.
End of Day 1 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clayton Mozdzen | Canada | 345,000 |
| 2 | Nicholas Marchington | United Kingdom | 327,000 |
| 3 | Taylor Atchison | United States | 297,500 |
| 4 | Wataru Kosugi | Japan | 275,500 |
| 5 | Christopher Vitch | United States | 270,500 |
| 6 | Yuval Bronshtein | Israel | 251,000 |
| 7 | Ray Dehkharghani | United States | 238,500 |
| 8 | Naoya Kihara | Japan | 233,000 |
| 9 | Tomasz Gluszko | Poland | 230,000 |
| 10 | Bryce Yockey | United States | 228,500 |
Two Main Event champions entered the fray today, looking to add a mixed-game bracelet to their prize cabinets. Daniel Weinman could not get much started and was eliminated halfway through the day, but Joe Hachem made it through to Day 2, albeit with less than a starting stack, as he ended with 51,500. Shorter still is Robert Mizrachi, who could only put 24,000 in his bag. Robert's brother, Michael Mizrachi, attempted a run at a tenth bracelet, but was knocked out after just a few hands.
Jennifer Harman joined her fellow Hall of Famer at the rail shortly after, but Brian Rast (134,500) and Todd Brunson (115,000) did survive the day to represent poker's most elite club on Day 2. Other notable players who bagged at the end of the night include David "ODB" Baker (185,000), content creators Jeremy Ausmus (118,000) and Brad Owen (99,000), and Nacho Barbero (88,000), who is hunting just his second cash of the summer.
Some of the other players who have already been eliminated include Player of the Year frontrunner Shaun Deeb, big bet cannons Jesse Lonis and Chris Hunichen, and poker legend Gus Hansen
The 73 remaining contenders will return on June 2nd at 1 p.m. local time, joined by players who late reg. The tournament is scheduled to play ten levels of 60 minutes each on Day 2, starting with Level 11, which has blinds of 1,000/2,000 for no-limit hold'em and pot-limit Omaha, and limits of 2,000/4,000 for the fixed-limit games.
Tune back in at the start of Day 2 as PokerNews will be back on the tournament floor, bringing you all the latest mixed-game action live from the WSOP in Las Vegas.