The 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) reached the most exciting day of the year in Las Vegas, as the $10,000-entry Main Event began. With 772 entries on Day 1a, only 543 players made the cut for a seat on Day 2, with a Main Event finalist from 2025 crashing out along the way. The biggest news of the day came in the $100,000-entry Pot Limit Omaha High Roller event, however, as Canadian Poker Hall of Famer and PokerStake seller Daniel Negreanu won $2.25 million and his eighth WSOP in a dramatic finale at the Las Vegas felt.

Daniel Negreanu Claims Epic 8th WSOP Win

Canadian legend and Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu took home his eighth WSOP bracelet in the $100,000 PLO High Roller Event #76, beating Russian pro and GGMillion$ crusher Artur Martirosian heads-up to claim the top prize of $2.25 million. In doing so, Negreanu levelled with Nick Schulman on eight WSOP bracelets and moved into eighth place on the WSOP Player of the Year leaderboard.

With 83 total entries whittled down to just five players by the start of the final day, Daniel Negreanu came into the action second in chips and only a three-bet off the chip lead. The plan might have been to take that lead early and dominate the remainder of the final table but as ever in poker, things didn’t quite follow the script. The Canadian endured a torrid start to the day and dropped back in the chipcounts as German player Christopher Frank bullied his way into a big advantage.

You can’t keep a poker great down for long, however, and Negreanu fought back claiming chips from Frank before the Russian professional and four-time WSOP bracelet winner Artur Martirosian took out Japanese player Yosuke Miki for $516,160 in fifth. Martirosian wasn’t finished there, crushing the hopes of British player Philip Sternheimer (4^th for $705,448) and the overnight leader Frank (3^rd for $1,002,107) as the final duel was set in place.

Both Martirosian and Negreanu held the lead on multiple occasions in a topsy-turvy heads-up clash fought in an air of friendly fire, but Negreanu, whose love of the Rocky movies is part of his legend, finally grabbed victory against the man he called ‘Ivan Drago Russian Bear’. Flopping a wheel straight in the final hand, the Poker Hall of Famer only had to avoid running cards and when the turn bricked, Negreanu had the win, shaking hands with a humble Martirosian before embracing his wife Amanda and celebrating with friends on the rail.

Don’t rule out a run at Player of the Year for Kid Poker this winter at WSOP Paradise.

Watch him break down his win with PokerGO right here:

WSOP 2026 Event #76: $100,000 Pot Limit Omaha High Roller Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Daniel Negreanu	Canada	$2,257,718
2nd	Artur Martirosian	Russia	$1,477,434
3rd	Chris Frank	Germany	$1,002,107
4th	Philip Sternheimer	United Kingdom	$705,448
5th	Yosuke Miki	Japan	$516,160
6th	Sean Winter	United States	$393,139
7th	Sergio Martinez Gonzalez	Spain	$312,233
8th	Jeremy Ausmus	United States	$259,047

Tyler Phillips Chasing Leaders in WSOP Main Event

Every poker player dreams of making a strong start in the WSOP Main Event, so Tyler Phillips can pat himself on the back after a job well done in Las Vegas tonight. Playing Day 1a of the World Championship is a risk in as much as no-one wants to leave the party before the confetti has hit the floor, but the flip side of that risk is the reward of a long break before Day 2.

Of the 772 total entries on Day 1a of the Main Event, 543 survived to play on Day 2abc, which will take place after three more days of action in the opening flights. That means stars who survived Day 1a will be the happiest of all, and Phillips, who bagged an incredible 204,500 chips on the day, will be delighted.

Poker players celebrate the arrival of the WSOP Main Event like Christmas Day, and it isn’t hard to see why, with last year’s winner, Michael Mizrachi, winning $10,000,000 and entering the Poker Hall of Fame while the rail was still cheering for ‘Grinder’. The one that everybody wants to win kicked off in style saw the Japanese pro Ryuta Nakai (323,000) take the overnight chip lead, with U.S. player Igor Pansovoi (300,300) and another Japanese star, Masato Yokosawa (221,800), not far behind.

Other big names like Scott Seiver (177,300), Dimitar Danchev (175,200), Sam Soverel (112,600), Jeremy Ausmus (109,300), Andrew Lichtenberger (94,700), Erik Seidel (86,400), Stephen Chidwick (83,400), and the former WSOP Main Event winner Greg Merson (81,200) all bagged a profit from the 60,000 starting stack they began on. The 17-time WSOP bracelet winner and 1989 world champion Phil Hellmuth (pictured below) arrived as a black-and-gold branded Superman, with his sons and Jungleman, a.k.a. Daniel Cates in tow. The Poker Brat wasn’t at the felt the whole day and lost a late pot to put him on 60,000 chips when the bags came round. That looked a chunk compared to the chips held by modern poker legends Adrian Mateos (42,000), and Jason Koon (18,700) who will have work to do on Day 2.

Other players weren’t lucky enough to make the cut at all. Anthony Marini was the first player to bust his stack in this year’s Main Event when he six-bet all-in pre-flop with ace-king of diamonds against the superior pocket aces of Ryan Sands. The latter might have been sweating when a king flopped but no further drama meant he earned an almost instant double-up to his chances.

Lots of other poker legends missed the chance to come back for Day 2, with last year’s finalist Leo Margets running kings into aces for most of her stack before busting. PLO specialist and sports card nut Jared Bleznick was two-outered for his tournament life, while other high rollers such as Seth Davies, Dan Smith, Michael Moncek, Chad Eveslage and David Bach all departed on Day 1a.

WSOP 2026 Event #82: $10,000 Main Event World Championship Day 1a Chipcounts:
Position	Player	Country	Chips
1st	Ryuta Nakai	Japan	323,000
2nd	Igor Pansovoi	United States	300,300
3rd	Gregory Sly	Australia	254,500
4th	Arie Kliper	Israel	254,100
5th	Go Kato	United States	245,700
6th	Domenico Gala	Italy	241,000
7th	Richard Rohr	United States	229,100
8th	Masato Yokosawa	Japan	221,800
9th	Earl Goodman	United States	221,600
10th	Matthew Russell	United States	217,300

Chainsaw Goes Close Again in Mixed Triple Draw

Allen Kessler, also known as ‘Chainsaw’, is having one of the most profitable WSOP trips ever. Well in profit in low events, his backers on PokerStake have been celebrating for weeks and the latest big win came in Event #77 on this year’s schedule. The $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball event featured 508 total entries and awarded a $223,177 top prize to first-time winner Patrick Stacey.

Down to just one big bet earlier on the final day, Allen’s run to fourth place for a score of $66,103 deserves plenty of praise. After coming third in the Seven Card Stud Championship in June, this latest cash add yet more profit to a brilliant series.

With over a dozen WSOP events yet to be played out this summer, Allen Kessler may yet have a chance to bag his first bracelet to go with the profits he has already locked up long ago.

WSOP 2026 Event #77: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Patrick Stacey	Canada	$223,177
2nd	Danny Tang	Hong Kong	$145,365
3rd	Mark Gregorich	United States	$96,888
4th	Allen Kessler	United States	$66,103
5th	Andrew Kelsall	United States	$46,191
6th	Arthur Morris	United States	$33,077

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Photography by Luther Redd for PokerGO and Jess Beck for WSOP.