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Event #9: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
Day 2 Completed
2026 World Series of Poker
Event #9: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
Day: 2
Players Left 7 / 204
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Final Table
Level 20
: Limits 30,000/60,000, 0 ante
Blinds: 15,000-30,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
An action-packed Day 2 of Event #9: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship concluded with just 15 players remaining at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Headlining them is all-time bracelet leader Phil Hellmuth, who finds himself tantanglizingly close to a record-extending 18th piece of WSOP hardware in one of the first events of the 2026 World Series of Poker, this one coming with a potential $450,176 payday.
Hellmuth was one of the 42 people who entered during the first level of the day, the final chance at late registration. The total field was brought to 204 entries, and the prize pool was confirmed at $1,897,200 not much later. He spun the starting stack of 60,000 up to 665,000 after just over 12 hours of poker, bursting the bubble by disposing of recent $1,500 Stud runner-up Brian Yoon en route to a sixth spot on the end-of-night leaderboard.
Hellmuth's stack will be worth just over eight big bets at the start of Day 3, but he will have a big gap to cross with chipleader Scott Clements, who went on a late-night surge to end with 1,980,000 in his bag. Clements won the first of his three bracelets 20 years ago in a $3,000 Omaha Hi-Lo event, and is looking to prove he is still among the best of the best in the four-card, split-pot game.
Clements is closely followed by pot-limit Omaha wizard Dylan Weisman with 1,940,000, who is aiming to add a hi-lo victory to his two PLO bracelets. Hellmuth's fellow Hall of Famer Todd Brunson rounds out the top three with 1,280,000, hunting his first bracelet since 2005, while Nam Le and seven-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh also bagged a seven-figure stack.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Clements | United States | 1,980,000 | 25 |
| 2 | Dylan Weisman | United States | 1,940,000 | 24 |
| 3 | Todd Brunson | United States | 1,280,000 | 16 |
| 4 | Nam Le | United States | 1,180,000 | 15 |
| 5 | Josh Arieh | United States | 1,120,000 | 14 |
| 6 | Phil Hellmuth | United States | 665,000 | 8 |
| 7 | John Esposito | United States | 650,000 | 8 |
| 8 | James Chen | United States | 580,000 | 7 |
| 9 | James Obst | Australia | 530,000 | 7 |
| 10 | David Lin | United States | 490,000 | 6 |
Defending champion Ryan Bambrick still has a shot at going back-to-back, but his bag of 410,000 lands him among the short stacks, together with five-times bracelet winner Robert Mizrachi (330,000) and $25K Fantasy pick Philip Long (255,000).
Not all could be so lucky as the 15 survivors, as legendary names such as Phil Ivey, Brian Rast, John Hennigan, Jennifer Harman, and Chris Moneymaker busted well before the 31 paid spots were reached.
After Yoon had left the tournament area, Chino Rheem was the first player to pick up the minimum cash of $20,298, and he was quickly followed to the payout desk by the likes of Joao Vieira, Gus Hansen, Philip Sternheimer, and Christopher Vitch.
Ashish Gupta and Yueqi Zhu picked up valuable points for their $25K Fantasy teams by making the pay jump to $21,313, the same amount the 15 players have secured by making it to Day 3. They are only one elimination away from an increase to $25,900, but the eye-catching six-figure prizes won't be handed out until the final five players have been reached.
Remaning Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $450,176 | 7 | $54,214 |
| 2 | $299,228 | 8-9 | $41,334 |
| 3 | $203,242 | 10-11 | $32,305 |
| 4 | $141,126 | 12-14 | $25,900 |
| 5 | $100,231 | 15 | $21,313 |
| 6 | $72,849 |
The $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Championship will continue on June 1 at 1 p.m. local time. The blinds will restart at 20,000/40,000 with limits of 40,000/80,000. The duration of the levels will be increased to 90 minutes each, and the plan for Day 3 is to play down to a winner.
PokerNews will be back on the floor tomorrow for the final day of the tournament, providing consistent live updates on the way to the crowning of the 2026 Omaha Hi-Lo champion.
Level 20
: Limits 30,000/60,000, 0 ante
Blinds: 15,000-30,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 114 | 1 | Josh Arieh | United States | 1,120,000 | 22 |
| 114 | 2 | Nam Le | United States | 1,180,000 | 24 |
| 114 | 3 | Jason Kluska | United States | 220,000 | 4 |
| 114 | 4 | Phil Hellmuth | United States | 665,000 | 13 |
| 114 | 6 | James Obst | Australia | 530,000 | 11 |
| 118 | 1 | John Esposito | United States | 650,000 | 13 |
| 118 | 2 | Dylan Weisman | United States | 750,000 | 15 |
| 118 | 3 | Scott Clements | United States | 1,980,000 | 40 |
| 118 | 4 | David Lin | United States | 490,000 | 10 |
| 118 | 5 | James Chen | United States | 580,000 | 12 |
| 122 | 1 | Ryan Bambrick | United States | 690,000 | 14 |
| 122 | 2 | Rob Hollink | Netherlands | 250,000 | 5 |
| 122 | 5 | Todd Brunson | United States | 1,280,000 | 26 |
| 122 | 6 | Philip Long | United Kingdom | 395,000 | 8 |
| 122 | 7 | Robert Mizrachi | United States | 330,000 | 7 |
Level 20
: Limits 30,000/60,000, 0 ante
Blinds: 15,000-30,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
Ten levels have been played to completion, and the fifteen remaining players have bagged and tagged their chips. They will return at 1 p.m. local time tomorrow to play out the remainder of the tournament.
The end-of-day chip counts can be found below; a recap of the day will follow shortly.
Level 20
: Limits 30,000/60,000, 0 ante
Blinds: 15,000-30,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
Ryan Bambrick raised on the button, John Esposito three-bet in the small blind, and Bambrick called.
Esposito bet on the 9♥4♦3♥ flop and Bambrick called. Esposito bet again on the 8♠ turn, and Bambrick again called.
The 2♦ river was checked down, and Esposito showed A♠A♥6♦2♥ for aces and a low to scoop the pot and leave the defending champion on a short stack.
Level 20
: Limits 30,000/60,000, 0 ante
Blinds: 15,000-30,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
Rob Hollink raised under the gun and was called by James Chen in the cutoff and Dylan Weisman in the small blind.
Hollink bet on the 10♦7♠5♥ flop, and both opponents called. Weisman then bet on the K♦ turn, and only Hollink called.
Both players checked the 9♠ river, and Weisman showed A♦A♣J♦4♠ to win the pot.
Level 20
: Limits 30,000/60,000, 0 ante
Blinds: 15,000-30,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
Each table will complete three more hands before Day 2 of the Omaha Hi-Lo Championship wraps up.
Level 20
: Limits 30,000/60,000, 0 ante
Blinds: 15,000-30,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
Todd Brunson raised on the button, and Philip Long called in the big blind. Long check-called bets by Brunson on the 10♠2♦10♦ flop and 4♦ turn, after which the 10♣ river completed the board.
Both players knuckled the table, and Long's 7♠7♣5♠3♠ for a full house won the pot at showdown.
Level 20
: Limits 30,000/60,000, 0 ante
Blinds: 15,000-30,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
James Obst raised in the cutoff, and Scott Clements flat-called on the button. Obst bet the subsequent 2♦9♣4♣ flop, and called when Clements raised. He then check-called Clements' bet on the J♣ turn, after which the Q♦ river was checked to showdown.
Obst tabled A♠K♣2♣2♥ for a flopped set which had been upgraded to a flush by the river, and Clemets conceded defeat by mucking his cards.
Level 20
: Limits 30,000/60,000, 0 ante
Blinds: 15,000-30,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
Limits: 30,000-60,000
Scott Clements bet from the big blind on a flop of Q♥3♣A♣ and Josh Arieh raised on the button. James Obst called in the small blind, as did Clements.
Clements bet on the K♦ turn and Arieh folded, while Obst called. The river was the 5♥ and Clements bet again. Obst this time tanked for a few minutes before giving up his hand.
At another table, James Chen bet from the button on a flop of 8♣K♥3♣ and David Lin raised in the small blind. Chen then reraised, and Lin called.
Chen bet the 2♥ turn and J♣ river, and Lin called him down. Chen showed A♦6♣2♠2♣ for a flush and low, and Lin mucked.
