WSOP 2026: Poker Brat and Kid Poker Enter the Arena… Which Other Poker Legends Returned?
Just 48 hours into the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP), four events have kicked off, with one event down to just 24 players. Phil Hellmuth entered the fray and got himself a selfie with a fellow poker legend, while Daniel Negreanu proved that even the best in the world can’t always beat the odds. The 57th annual WSOP has begun and both cardrooms are the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos were full on Day 2 of the 2026 WSOP.
Hellmuth and the Brat
In the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Event #2, some of the best players in the world have ponied up four figures to battle their way to a Day 3 seat. Just 24 of those players succeeded in their endeavours and made Day 3, where they’ll hope to put themselves in the best position to win the $502,985 top prize.
Three PokerStake sellers find themselves in the hunt for the gold, but with varying hopes or expectations of winning the bracelet. While the Russian player Anatoly Nikitin (3,290,000) leads from his compatriot Ivan Ruban (2,300,000) and both Scott Eskenazi (1,395,000) and Nick Seward (1,275,000) are close, our players are slightly further behind heading into the Day 3 action. Justin Saliba (1,265,000) sits 11th of the 24 players, with Renji Mao (745,000) in 17th place. Brock Wilson, who we spoke to last week alongside his partner Cherish Andrews, is currently bottom of the pile on 345,000 chips but that still equates to around 15 big blinds, so rule him out at your peril.
It was an entertaining day at the felt in the event, with Phil Hellmuth sat to the direct left of Nick Palma for some time, as the metaphorical ‘Poker Brat’ torch was passed between two of the most talkative players at any table. Of course, there is a vast difference between the two men, with Hellmuth the 17-time record bracelet winner and Palma yet to win a WSOP event in his career, but on this occasion, Palma cashed (80th for $9,947), with Hellmuth unable to make the money. Along the way, the original Poker Brat also took a selfie with Vanessa Selbst (below) as one of the greatest female players ever to take to the poker felt showed up for the WSOP.
Also in the event, Daniel Negreanu was unable to make a profit as pocket aces were shot down. The rockets looked good enough for Kid Poker to shove on a board showing T-7-6-4, but his opponent in the hand, Ryutu Nakai, had pocket tens for a flopped top set and that held through the river to oust the seven-time WSOP bracelet winner.
| WSOP 2026 Event #2 $5,000 8-Max NLHE Day 2 Top 10 Chipcounts: | |||
| Position | Player | Country | Chips |
| 1st | Anatoly Nikitin | Russia | 3,290,000 |
| 2nd | Ivan Ruban | Russia | 2,300,000 |
| 3rd | Xiaohu Liu | China | 1,910,000 |
| 4th | Zexiang Sun | United States | 1,700,000 |
| 5th | Charles Alex-Barton | United States | 1,690,000 |
| 6th | Scott Eskenazi | United States | 1,395,000 |
| 7th | Chenxiang Miao | China | 1,350,000 |
| 8th | Daniyal Gheba | United States | 1,330,000 |
| 9th | Peter Mugar | United States | 1,300,000 |
| 10th | Nicholas Seward | United States | 1,275,000 |
A Champion and a Chainsaw
Two poker legends survived Day of the first non-Hold’em bracelet event of the summer, as Day 1 of the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better played out in Horseshoe and Paris on Day 2 of the 2026 WSOP. Event #4 saw 179 players make Day 2 from 828 total entries, including the chip leader and former WSOP bracelet winner Lawrence Berg (373,000).
While others such as Dekel Balas (354,000) and William House (294,000) ended the day closest to Berg, other stars of the felt like Aaron Kupin (262,000), Ryan Bambrick (255,000), and Owais Ahmed (240,000) all survived too. Team PokerStake was well represented too, however, with Allen ‘Chainsaw’ Kessler (25,000) one of several names who made the cut, albeit in Allen’s case with a shorter stack.
After others such as Justin Liberto (234,000), Esther Taylor (208,000), Vanessa Selbst (122,000), Caitlin Comeskey (106,000), Allyn Shulman (98,000), and the 2025 WSOP Main Event runner-up John Wasnock (80,000) made the cut, so too did the 1996 world champion Huck Seed (below), who made it through with 59,000 chips as he bids to win his fifth bracelet and first since 2003.
Mystery Millions Posts Huge Numbers Again
Israeli player Tal Avivi (2,800,000) topped the leaderboard after Day 1b of the $500-entry Mystery Millions event, taking the overall tournament lead from Day 1a’s standout player, Jansen Satparam. Also on Day 1b, Quang Vu (2,000,000) and Ryan Laplante (520,000) bagged chips, while Brett Shaffer (505,000) also made sure he was among the bigger stacks going into Day 2. There are four more Day 1 flights to come before the field merges into a single Day 2 field, but with just 135 players through so far, anyone who makes it to that stage will be in pole position to pull that mystical $1m bounty prize.
| WSOP 2026 Event #1 $550 Mystery Millions Day 1b Top 10 Chipcounts: | |||
| Position | Player | Country | Chips |
| 1st | Tal Avivi | Israel | 2,800,000 |
| 2nd | Quang Vu | United States | 2,000,000 |
| 3rd | Qiang Pan | United States | 1,400,000 |
| 4th | Caroline Schallock | Germany | 1,300,000 |
| 5th | Dave Stann | United States | 1,200,000 |
| 6th | Giovanni Zanette | South Africa | 1,100,000 |
| 7th | Michael Comisso | United States | 1,100,000 |
| 8th | Brandon Nguyen | United Kingdom | 960,000 |
| 9th | Robert Buckenmayer | United States | 940,000 |
| 10th | Steven Correll | United States | 900,000 |