Main Event Day 2abc Sees Phil Hellmuth and Son Survive with Kid Poker, Cary Katz Bags First WSOP Bracelet
The latest action at the World Series of Poker saw a pulsating day’s action put Phil Hellmuth on a possible collision course with his son, Daniel Negreanu battled to survival and Cary Katz finally ended a long wait for bracelet glory. Las Vegas, Nevada was packed to the rafters on a day where the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos also saw Shaun Deeb fall just short of an eighth WSOP title.
Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth Survive Day 2 in the Main Event
Day 2abc brought the 2,681 surviving players from Day 1a, Day 1b, and Day 1c of the Main Event back to the felt at the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris ballroom. The World Championship continued in Las Vegas as another 265 players entered during late registration, boosting the total attendance in this year’s Main Event to 8,959. That total is still 1,153 entries short of the record attendance of 10,112 set in 2024 so it seems unlikely the record will go in 2025, but late registration remains open at the start of Day 2d tomorrow.
After a pulsating day’s action, just 1,320 players remained in their seats and while no-on bagged up a million chips, Ukrainian player Oleksii Kravchuk got closest, bagging up 937,500 chips, with Randall Lack (762,000), David Cabrera Polop (704,000), Thomas Eychenne (647,000), and WPT Main Event crusher Bin Weng (500,500) all finishing about half a million.
The grand entrance of the 1989 world champion Phil Hellmuth caused quite a stir on Day 1 of the event, but Hellmuth let his chips do the talking on Day 2, winning a coinflip to double up in the first hand, making an outrageous bluff with four-high later in the day on the feature table then flopping quads to eliminate another doomed opponent. All told, the 17-time record bracelet winner ended the day with 87,000 chips. There is still the chance of Hellmuth facing his son on Day 3, with Philip Hellmuth bagging up 80,500 chips.
PokerStake seller Daniel Negreanu endured a tough day at the felt. Watched by a rail of fans three-deep at times, Kid Poker was up against it for much of the day. But battling hard is in the Canadian’s poker DNA and once again, a bit like his movie hero Rocky, ‘DNegs’ showed he will fight to the last shot, bagging up 71,000 and vowing to go again on what could be ‘money day’ on Day 3.
Just like Phil Hellmuth, plenty of other world champions made Day 3, with the 1987 and 1988 winner Johnny Chan (95,500), ‘Fossilman’ Greg Raymer (226,000), 2012 champion Greg Merson (123,000), and Damian Salas (129,000) all surviving. Other former Main Event winners weren’t so fortunate, with Qui Nguyen, Scott Blumstein, and Robert Varkonyi all departing on Day 2. Others to leave included the ‘voice of 2025’ Martin Kabrhel, Aussie high roller legend Michael Addamo and Christoph Vogelsang.
Finally, could 2025 be the year of the female winner at long last? Vanessa Selbst (160,500) will certainly hope so, performing brilliantly amid her semi-retirement. Other female players Juliet Hegedus (627,000), Susan Faber (435,000), Marte Sandberg (403,000), Lara Eisenberg (214,000), and Katie Lindsay (170,000) all impressed too.
| WSOP 2025 Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship Day 2abc: | |||
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Oleksii Kravchuk | Ukraine | 937,500 |
| 2nd | Randall Lack | United States | 762,500 |
| 3rd | Nicholas Bond | United States | 724,500 |
| 4th | David Polop | Spain | 704,000 |
| 5th | Ryuta Nakai | Japan | 648,000 |
| 6th | Thomas Eychenne | France | 644,000 |
| 7th | Eric Bunch | United States | 632,500 |
| 8th | Juliet Hegedus | United States | 627,000 |
| 9th | Kajetan Renke | Poland | 600,000 |
| 10th | Kohei Arai | Japan | 597,000 |
PokerGO Founder Cary Katz Wins Debut Bracelet
“It was a good decision – I’m glad I took my shot.”
In Event #83, the $2,500-entry NLHE Freezeout event, the PokerGO founder Cary Katz won $449,245 and his first-ever WSOP bracelet after beating Brazilian Breno Drumond heads-up. Katz, surrounded by family and friends on the rail, came from behind to recover a chip deficit and silence a raucous Brazilian rail to seal victory.
Three times in the past, Cary Katz had finished second in a WSOP Event. Back in 2013, Katz lost with pocket kings to pocket jacks as Event #19, the $5,000-entry Pot-Limit Hold’em event got away from him. In 2017, he was runner-up again, this time in Event #52, a $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event. Six years later, in 2023, Katz was the bridesmaid again, losing heads-up to Dutchman Jans Arends in Event #29, the $100,000-entry High Roller.
In 2025, however, Katz came back and won. Grabbing the lead, Katz was all-in with pocket threes and Drumond called with 
. A ten-high board with no help for the Brazilian kept the South American rail quiet and pronounced Cary Katz a bracelet winner at last. Soaring past $41 million in live tournament results, Katz now sits 19th on the All-Time Money List via The Hendon Mob.
“I wasn’t even supposed to play it,” Katz admitted after his victory. “I was going to rest this weekend and just get ready for the Main. But I had a feeling I wanted to play this. I like freezeouts. It was a good decision – I’m glad I took my shot.”
Winning gold with friends and family close by, the usually reserved Katz seemed emotional as he celebrated a lifelong dream made real.
“It feels amazing. I just wanted to enjoy every moment,” said Katz. “It means everything to me to have my family there. I had my wife there, I had my son there, my daughter was there. My other daughter was there last night, my son-in-law was there, so it was quite an experience.”
How else will Cary Katz celebrate? By late regging the Main Event on Day 2d, of course.
| WSOP 2025 Event #83: $2,500 NLHE Freezeout Final Table Results: | |||
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Cary Katz | United States | $449,245 |
| 2nd | Breno Drumond | Brazil | $298,690 |
| 3rd | Jaehoon Baek | South Korea | $213,800 |
| 4th | Preston McEwen | United States | $155,010 |
| 5th | Gary Hasson | Belgium | $113,860 |
| 6th | Michel Molenaar | Netherlands | $84,730 |
| 7th | Pawel Brzeski | Poland | $63,910 |
| 8th | Razvan Belea | Romania | $48,860 |
| 9th | Mihai Manole | Romania | $37,860 |
Shaun Deeb Second as ZZ Top
“I was extremely lucky in heads up, and it just went my way.”
Shaun Deeb fell just short of winning his eighth WSOP bracelet and second inside a week in Event #84. The $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event saw a first-time bracelet winner, as the Czech Republic’s former backgammon professional Zdenek Zizka won the top prize of $232,498, the biggest result of his career to date. The 26-year-old denied Deeb the maximum POY points and the bracelet that would separate him from players like Billy Baxter and Daniel Negreanu but Deeb’s strong run means he is now a clear leader in the WSOP POY race.
In the end, Zizka’s lead of 3:1 in chips meant he could go for it with pocket deuces and he won that key coinflip with Deeb’s king-three not hitting.
“You always think that you’re gonna win a bracelet. Many times it doesn’t come true, but this time it did, and it just feels amazing,” Zizka said after the battle was over. “It’s been amazing with Shaun; we’ve been on the same table every single time and he was my biggest competitor. It was meant to be, I guess. I was extremely lucky in heads up, and it just went my way. He’s such a nice guy, [so its] pleasant to have my first heads up against him.”
| WSOP 2025 Event #84: $1,000 No Limit Hold’em Final Table Results: | |||
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Zdenek Zizka | Czech Republic | $232,498 |
| 2nd | Shaun Deeb | United States | $154,906 |
| 3rd | Jeffrey Thoney | United States | $112,413 |
| 4th | Santiago Maglio | Argentina | $82,480 |
| 5th | Brian Klish | United States | $61,195 |
| 6th | Dinesh Singham | Australia | $45,917 |
| 7th | Logan Kim | United States | $34,848 |
| 8th | Ricky Robinson | United States | $26,754 |
| 9th | Santiago Plante | Canada | $20,781 |