By Alex Drummond, Editor-in-Chief · June 25, 2026 · Fact-checked by Maya Chen
Phil Ivey, by general consensus the most accomplished living tournament poker professional, returned to the final table of the World Series of Poker's most prestigious mixed-game event on Thursday with a stack of 5,135,000 chips and a chance to write his way back into a record book he has not seriously contested in more than a decade. The 11-time WSOP bracelet winner sits second in chips inside the new WSOP Thunderdome arena at Horseshoe Las Vegas, six handed, with a US$1,343,764 first-place prize, the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy and a 12th career WSOP bracelet on the line. A victory would lift Ivey to second on the all-time bracelet list, joining Phil Hellmuth (17) in double digits and surpassing tied 11-bracelet holders Erik Seidel and Doyle Brunson outright.
The chip leader entering the six-handed final, Benny Glaser of England, holds 8,610,000 chips and his own page in the history books to write. The eight-time WSOP bracelet winner, whose career titles include three Razz Championships, two Omaha 8-or-Better Championships and the 2018 and 2019 $1,500 Stud 8-or-Better events, would become only the sixth player in WSOP history to reach nine career bracelets should he win Thursday. American mixed-game regular Maxx Coleman is second in chips at 5,565,000, followed by Josh Arieh (5,265,000, five career bracelets including the 2002 PPC predecessor event), Kristopher Tong (5,180,000), and three-time bracelet winner Paul Volpe (2,725,000), who captured the 2019 PPC. Play resumes at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday at Level 24, with fixed-limit limits of 200,000/400,000 and no-limit blinds of 50,000/100,000.
The final six
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Bracelets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benny Glaser | United Kingdom | 8,610,000 | 8 |
| 2 | Phil Ivey | United States | 5,135,000 | 11 |
| 3 | Josh Arieh | United States | 5,265,000 | 5 |
| 4 | Kristopher Tong | United States | 5,180,000 | 0 |
| 5 | Paul Volpe | United States | 2,725,000 | 3 |
| 6 | Maxx Coleman | United States | 5,565,000 | 0 |
Event #60 $50,000 Poker Players Championship, final-table seat draw. Source: Poker.org.
Ivey's PPC history is, by his own standards, oddly unfinished. The 2026 final table is his record sixth time cashing the event since its inception in 2006 (when it was contested as HORSE), and across those six cashes he has won just over US$1.4 million in prize money, an ordinary number for a player whose career live earnings exceed US$45 million. His closest run came in the inaugural 2006 HORSE-format event, and his next-closest was a sixth-place finish in the 2023 nine-game iteration. He was nearly bounced from this year's event in the last two levels of Day 4, sitting on the shortest stack of the final 15 at one point, but recovered late Wednesday to bag a top-three stack and enter Thursday's televised stage with genuine bracelet equity. The PokerGO live stream covers every hand on a roughly two-and-a-half-hour delay through the WSOP YouTube channel.
Hellmuth's heartbreak, Livingston's exit
The casualties of Day 5 stood as a study in how the most prestigious bracelet on the schedule punishes even the most decorated names. Phil Hellmuth, the all-time WSOP bracelet leader at seventeen, bagged ninth in chips entering Day 5 after a near-triple-up on Day 2 from a 150,000 stack that followed his two-week COVID-19 absence. He was eliminated late on Day 5, two spots shy of Thursday's final-table seat, in what Poker.org's coverage characterised as "heartbreak for Hellmuth." Hellmuth's PPC record now includes a third-place finish in the 2012 edition; a 2026 final-table appearance would have been his deepest mixed-game run in nearly a decade.
Halifax-born Canadian professional Alex Livingston, the lone Canadian-flag player in the final 15 and seventh in chips entering Day 5, was eliminated between fifteenth and seventh place. Livingston's official finish position and prize were not yet listed in early-Thursday public sources, but the run is significant on its own terms: it was his deepest WSOP performance since his 2019 Main Event third-place finish for US$4,000,000 and a first PPC cash on his career ledger. The $50,000 entry fee converts on his Hendon Mob page to roughly C$68,500 in net cash if his finish falls in the 7th-to-12th range, putting the Canadian summer notable-cash total at approximately US$2,940,000 through Thursday morning.
Among the Day 5 eliminations who finished outside the top six were Maksim Pisarenko of Russia (15th, returning Day 5 with 135,000 chips), Jesse Lonis (13th), Chris Hunichen (11th), Chris Brewer (10th, one career bracelet) and Roy Thung (12th), Jason Mercier (eighth, five career bracelets including the 2009 PLO and 2015 PLO titles) and Nick Guagenti (seventh, one career bracelet) carried the deepest non-final-table finishes. The 2026 PPC will crown a first-time champion regardless of the outcome unless Volpe or Arieh wins; if Volpe captures the event, he becomes the third multiple-time PPC champion since the modern format was established (joining Brian Rast with two and Michael Mizrachi with four).
Joseph Liberta wins Millionaire Maker for US$1.25 million
While the PPC was setting its final table, Event #50, the $1,500 Millionaire Maker, crowned its champion. American Joseph Liberta defeated the nine-handed final table on Wednesday night at Paris Las Vegas to claim US$1,250,000 and his first WSOP gold bracelet against the second-largest field in WSOP history, 11,769 entries, and a US$15,623,347 prize pool. The win, which Liberta has chased for years, came on his fourth career major-event final-table appearance and his first outright tournament title since a 2024 World Poker Tour Las Vegas victory.
Liberta's win came in classic Millionaire Maker fashion: through a long final table that produced two poker millionaires, with American Michael Monroig taking second for US$1,000,000 and American Bradley Gafford, the only previous bracelet winner remaining at the start of the final nine, finishing third for US$750,000. Gafford had captured the 2023 $1,000 Mini Main Event for US$427,640 and was the only previous WSOP champion in the field at the start of the day. The remaining payouts were Halford Fairchild fourth for US$530,000, Joseph Baghdadlian fifth for US$410,000, Alex Kim sixth for US$315,000, Jacob Gagnon seventh for US$245,000, Garry Gurevich eighth for US$190,000 and Yifu He ninth for US$150,067.
| Place | Player | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joseph Liberta | $1,250,000 |
| 2 | Michael Monroig | $1,000,000 |
| 3 | Bradley Gafford | $750,000 |
| 4 | Halford Fairchild | $530,000 |
| 5 | Joseph Baghdadlian | $410,000 |
| 6 | Alex Kim | $315,000 |
| 7 | Jacob Gagnon | $245,000 |
| 8 | Garry Gurevich | $190,000 |
| 9 | Yifu He | $150,067 |
Event #50 $1,500 Millionaire Maker final-table payouts. Source: WSOP YouTube live coverage and WSOP.com.
The 2026 Millionaire Maker is the second-largest tournament field in WSOP history behind only the 2024 Mystery Millions (the inaugural year of that event drew 18,372 entries). The Millionaire Maker's reputation as a tournament that anyone can win, combined with the guaranteed million-dollar first-place prize, has driven entries up roughly 38 percent over its pre-pandemic numbers and made it one of the headline events of the modern Las Vegas summer.
Other Wednesday news
Two bracelets crossed the finish line outside the Millionaire Maker on Wednesday night. American mixed-game regular Harry Rubin won Event #57, the $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha, for US$390,300 and his first WSOP gold bracelet. The four-day, 23-survivor final session at Paris Las Vegas concluded with Rubin defeating American Frenchy Camarda heads-up after a brief deal discussion that ultimately did not produce a chop. The 2026 $1,000 PLO event drew 2,118 entries against a US$1,906,200 prize pool.
One particularly poignant story came on the PPC money bubble itself: American Bryce Yockey, a three-time WSOP bracelet winner and one of the most accomplished mixed-game tournament players of the past decade, was eliminated in 22nd place by Nick Guagenti in a Pot-Limit Omaha pot one spot shy of the US$100,000 min-cash. Yockey's elimination, recorded in real time on the WSOP's social channels, drew an outsized response from the live-poker community as one of the cruelest exits of the 2026 series. He had bagged a top-15 stack at the start of Day 4 and was a favourite to make the final twelve.
Event #65, the $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em, played its Day 2 session at Paris Las Vegas, with Quebec native Frederic Normand, the year's first Canadian bracelet winner in Event #21 ($1,500 PLO Hi-Lo, US$235,377), still in the field at the close of Wednesday play. Day 2 chip counts and the official end-of-day list will publish Thursday morning. The eventual winner of Event #65 collects approximately US$502,418 against a US$3,489,200 prize pool generated by 2,617 entries.
The Canadian summer to date
The 2026 series Canadian-flag tally remains at three gold bracelets and US$2,395,570 in combined first-place prize money. Livingston's PPC cash and Normand's continuing run in Event #65 will lift the total notable Canadian cashes figure once the PPC pays out its lower-bracket finishes. With four open WSOP bracelet events still in progress and the Mystery Millions opening into multi-flight Day 1B on Wednesday and Thursday, the second half of the series offers continued opportunities for the Canadian flag.
| Player | Event | Result | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kristen Foxen | #19 $25K High Roller NLH | 1st (bracelet) | $1,773,083 |
| Christopher Alcindor | #22 $1,500 Big O | 1st (bracelet) | $387,110 |
| Frederic Normand | #21 $1,500 PLO Hi-Lo | 1st (bracelet) | $235,377 |
| Clayton Mozdzen | #37 $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. | 2nd | $122,206 |
| Alex Livingston (Halifax, NS) | #60 $50,000 PPC | 7th to 15th (TBD) | est. $50,000-$150,000 |
| Thomas Taylor (Medicine Hat, AB) | #52 $3,000 Nine Game Mix | 4th | $76,510 |
| Elliot Smith | #49 $2,500 Freezeout NLH | 7th | $75,390 |
| Daniel Negreanu | #47 $25,000 PLO High Roller | 26th | $69,531 |
| Gianluca Cedolia (Toronto) | #53 $1,500 Five Card PLO | 5th | $66,610 |
| Orlando Moretti (Bolton, ON) | #43 $800 Deepstack NLH | 6th | $64,992 |
| Frederic Normand | #65 $1,500 Freezeout NLH | Day 2 in progress | still alive |
Notable Canadian results, 2026 WSOP, through Thursday morning June 25. Source: WSOP.com, PokerNews and the Hendon Mob.
What to watch Thursday
Thursday is one of the marquee nights of the 2026 series. The Event #60 final table resumes at 1:30 p.m. Pacific inside the WSOP Thunderdome, with the eventual champion taking US$1,343,764, the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy and a bracelet. Glaser is the chip leader and a 9-bracelet contender; Ivey carries the storyline of a 12-bracelet Hall of Fame chase that would, in essence, settle the modern GOAT debate; Volpe and Arieh both have prior PPC titles on their ledgers. Event #65, the $1,500 Freezeout, plays Day 3. Event #62, the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em, plays Day 3 with American Tunisian Maher Achour leading the 34-player field. Event #63, the $1,000 Mystery Millions, runs Day 1C with mass-field volume that should push the cumulative entry count over ten thousand by the end of Friday.
Ontario players watching from home can follow the live updates on PokerNews, WSOP.com and the PokerGO live stream. The regulated Ontario market overview is on the best poker sites in Ontario page; the WSOP Super Circuit Canada qualifiers operating in August are covered on the GGPoker Ontario page; and the four-week tournament guide is at Ontario poker tournament schedule.