Alex Livingston Carries Canada Into Final 15 of $50,000 Poker Players Championship; Benny Glaser Leads, Phil Ivey Lurks for Twelfth Bracelet, Phil Hellmuth on Fumes

By Alex Drummond, Editor-in-Chief · June 24, 2026 · Fact-checked by Maya Chen

Alex Livingston, the Halifax, Nova Scotia-born professional with a 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event third-place finish and over US$8 million in lifetime tournament earnings, bagged 2,530,000 chips at the conclusion of Day 4 of the 2026 $50,000 Poker Players Championship at Horseshoe Las Vegas, sitting seventh in the official chip counts of the fifteen players still alive. The bag locks Livingston into the final fifteen of the WSOP's most prestigious mixed-game championship and places Canada inside the chase for the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy and a US$1,343,764 first-place prize, the largest scheduled non-Main-Event payout of the 2026 Las Vegas summer to date.

Livingston's run carries weight beyond the dollars. The PPC, contested in an eight-game rotation that includes No-Limit Hold'em, Pot-Limit Omaha, Seven Card Stud, Razz, Limit Hold'em, 2-7 Triple Draw, Stud 8-or-Better and Omaha 8-or-Better, is the only WSOP gold bracelet that the professional ranks treat with the same reverence as the Main Event. The 108-entry 2026 field is the largest PPC field since 2013 and includes most of the modern mixed-game elite. Livingston is the lone Canadian-flag player still alive in any open WSOP bracelet event currently in progress.

Glaser leads, Ivey lurks for twelfth

The Day 4 chip leader is England's Benny Glaser at 4,705,000 chips, eight-time WSOP bracelet winner and one of the most accomplished mixed-game tournament players of the past decade. Glaser, who won the 2018 and 2019 PPC-equivalent six-card $1,500 Stud 8-or-Better titles, three Razz Championship titles and two Omaha 8-or-Better Championships, would become only the sixth player in WSOP history to reach a ninth career bracelet should he win this event, joining Phil Hellmuth (17), Phil Ivey (11), Erik Seidel (11), Doyle Brunson (10) and Johnny Chan (10). It would be his second bracelet of the 2026 series.

The story sitting two seats over is Phil Ivey. The 11-time bracelet winner is sixth in chips at 2,555,000 and, in the event he wins the PPC, would become only the second player in WSOP history to accumulate a dozen gold bracelets, joining Hellmuth on the all-time list. Ivey, by general consensus the most accomplished living tournament professional, has not been in serious bracelet contention since his 2014 $1,500 Eight-Game Mix victory; the past decade has seen him at the highest stakes in the world but rarely deep in WSOP gold-bracelet events. The 2026 PPC has been one of his deepest WSOP runs in the post-Bobby's Room era and the type of structure, eight-game rotation across multiple sessions, that traditionally favours his all-around skill set.

The third storyline is Phil Hellmuth, the all-time WSOP bracelet leader at seventeen, who returned from a two-week COVID-19 absence on Day 2 and bagged 900,000 chips to enter Day 3 third in the official chip counts. He goes into Day 5 of the PPC fourteenth and short-stacked at 545,000, roughly four big bets in the smallest of the eight-game limits. Hellmuth needs an immediate double-up on Day 5 to remain in genuine bracelet contention.

The full final fifteen

The combined Day 4 chip room reads as a who's-who of the modern mixed-game tournament circuit. Five players in the final fifteen, Glaser, Volpe, Arieh, Ivey and Mercier, hold a combined twenty-seven WSOP bracelets between them, including five Players Championship titles overall (Volpe 2019, Arieh 2002, Ivey 2014 Eight-Game Mix, Mercier 2009 PLO and 2015 PLO). Hellmuth's seventeen on top of that count brings the total to forty-four bracelets among the final fifteen, almost certainly the densest concentration of bracelet talent at this stage of any 2026 WSOP open event so far.

Livingston's path forward

Livingston, 38, is competitively well-positioned. His 2,530,000 stack is roughly average for the field and gives him approximately twenty-five big bets in the larger of the eight-game limits, comfortably in play across all rotations. His mixed-game tournament record is steady rather than spectacular, with several seven-game and eight-game mix cashes on his Hendon Mob ledger and one prior $50,000 PPC entry that ended outside the money in 2022. The 2026 run is his deepest live mixed-game performance to date and his deepest WSOP appearance since the 2019 Main Event final table.

The structure into Day 5 favours an experienced, balanced player. Day 5 is scheduled to play down from fifteen to the official final twelve of the event, with all twelve players guaranteed at least US$78,400 (the official bubble payout for the 21st-place finisher having already been crossed at the start of Day 4). The final five session is set for Friday and the Day 7 heads-up finale for Saturday at the PokerGO live stream studio at the Horseshoe Las Vegas. The Chip Reese Trophy will be awarded at the conclusion of the heads-up match.

Should Livingston win the event, he would become the third Canadian to capture a 2026 WSOP gold bracelet (joining Frederic Normand's Event #21 PLO Hi-Lo title and Christopher Alcindor's Event #22 Big O title) and the highest-paying Canadian victory of the summer at US$1,343,764, surpassing Kristen Foxen's Event #19 $25,000 High Roller win of US$1,773,083 (a flag dispute aside, since Foxen carries an American flag at the WSOP despite being St. Catharines-born). Livingston would also become the first Canadian PPC champion in WSOP history.

Millionaire Maker final table set

While Day 4 of the PPC was unfolding, Event #50, the $1,500 Millionaire Maker, played down from its Day 4 final five (covered in this morning's edition) into a Day 5 nine-handed final table that did not crown a champion. American Michael Monroig bagged the chip lead at 73,900,000 chips (49 big blinds), with each of the nine returning players guaranteed at least US$150,068 and the top two finishers becoming poker millionaires. Day 6 plays Thursday from 12:00 p.m. Pacific time at Paris Las Vegas. None of the nine final-table players carries a Canadian flag, but the field at the start of the day still contained Bradley Gafford as the only previous bracelet winner (he won the $1,000 Mini Main Event at the 2023 WSOP).

Other Wednesday news

The day's bracelet went to American patriot Prashanth Nataraj, who captured Event #59, the $500 Salute to Warriors, for US$208,800 and his first WSOP gold bracelet. Nataraj told reporters his initial goal had been simply to surpass his career-best US$40,000 cash; with that achieved at the eight-handed final table, he set out to win the tournament. The Salute to Warriors event, in its third year on the WSOP schedule, drew 4,478 entries and dedicates a portion of its proceeds to U.S. military veterans' organisations.

Frederic Normand, the Quebec-based 2026 Canadian bracelet leader, returned to live action Wednesday in Event #65, the $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em, advancing through Day 1 with 284,000 chips against a 2,617-entry field that lost 85 percent of its starters in the first session. Day 2 of Event #65 begins Thursday at 1:00 p.m. Pacific. Normand's 284,000 puts him roughly forty big blinds deep into a Day 2 that pays the top 393 places, against a US$3,489,200 prize pool and a projected US$502,418 first-place prize.

Event #57, the $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha, plays Day 3 Thursday with 23 players returning. France's Francois Scapula leads at 8,520,000 chips ahead of a US$390,300 first-place prize. Event #61, the $1,000 Super Seniors, plays its final five session at 11:00 a.m. local with American Kelley Slay leading at 2,085,000. Event #62, the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em, plays Day 3 with Tunisian Maher Achour leading the 34 returning players. Event #63, the $1,000 Mystery Millions, ran Day 1A on Tuesday with 1,643 entries and 76 players bagging chips; Day 1B continues into Wednesday evening.

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. Total notable Canadian cashes for the summer hold at approximately US$2,870,809. Livingston's PPC run is by far the deepest non-bracelet Canadian performance currently in progress and a potential US$1,343,764 swing on the season ledger.

What to watch Thursday

Three threads to follow Thursday. Event #60, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, restarts at 1:00 p.m. Pacific time at the Horseshoe with fifteen players returning. Day 5 is scheduled to narrow the field to the official final twelve, with Day 6 (Friday) playing down to the final five and Day 7 (Saturday) deciding the title and the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy. Event #50, the $1,500 Millionaire Maker, plays its final-table session Thursday with US$1,250,000 and a WSOP gold bracelet on the line. Event #65, the $1,500 Freezeout, plays its Day 2 with Normand and the rest of the 410-player Day 2 field.

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.

Related Articles