When he wasn't milking cows on his family dairy farm in Windsor, Texas, Mason Vieth was playing poker at the nearest casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma.
"I grew up milking the cows and playing poker at WinStar World Casino," the former dairy farmer told PokerNews. "I would stay up all night playing poker, then go milk them, then go back. Three days in a row most of the time. No sleep."
Those hard-earned poker chops are now paying off for Vieth, better known as "Milkman," — as embroidered on his royal blue cap —who is one of 533 players who advanced to Day 5 of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.
PokerNews caught up with Vieth during a break on Day 4 as he chased his first bracelet and life-changing money in an event that will award $10 million.
The latest mixed game format is underway at the 2026 World Series of Poker, as 104 players return in the money for Day 2 of Event #91: $1,500 Pick Your PLO.
Action resumes at 1 p.m. local time inside Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, with the largest portions of the $1,137,667 prize pool still to be handed out. This first-time event attracted a total of 857 entries, and features a Dealer's Choice style of PLO variants.
Among the notable names still in contention after the opening day are Poker Hall of Famer Eli Elezra (701,000), along with multiple WSOP bracelet winners: John Racener (184,000), Bryce Yockey (163,000), Robert Mizrachi (102,000) and Mike Matusow (73,000).
Also in the mix is Event #60: $50,000 Poker Players Championship winner Benny Glaser (188,000), looking for a ninth bracelet and another boost to his WSOP Player of the Year hopes.
Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Emory Peebles
United States
752,000
125
2
Jun Weng
China
719,000
120
3
Eli Elezra
Israwl
701,000
117
4
Samuel Rosen
United States
673,000
112
5
Scott Abrams
United States
621,000
104
6
Jeremy Harkin
United States
586,000
98
7
Jon Kyte
Norway
558,000
93
8
Brennan Benglis
United States
558,000
93
9
Farhad Jamasi
United States
558,000
93
10
Yunpeng Bai
China
537,000
90
Jun Weng
Leading the way after the first 15 levels is Emory Peebles (752,000), followed by 25K Fantasy daftee Jun Weng (719,000).
Among the notable larger stacks returning to action are Scott Abrams (621,000), Jeremy Harkin (586,000) and Jon Kyte (558,000).
Players will return to Level 16, with blinds of 3,000/6,000 and a 6,000 big blind ante. The schedule calls for 10 levels of action, increasing to 60 minutes in duration for the remainder of the tournament. Breaks of 15 minutes will occur after every two hours of play, and a 60-minute dinner break will come at the conclusion of Level 21.
Everyone has locked up at least $3,027, with the next pay jump coming at 87th place. From there, it will be a battle to bag up for Day 3, where the eventual champion will claim the $196,431 first-place prize and WSOP bracelet.
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Don't miss a moment of his unique debut event, as PokerNews provides full live reporting coverage from inside the ropes in Las Vegas.
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