By Alex Drummond, Editor-in-Chief · June 24, 2026 · Fact-checked by Maya Chen
The 2026 World Series of Poker arrives at one of its title nights on Wednesday, with Event #50, the $1,500 Millionaire Maker, set to crown its champion after a Day 4 session that ground a 28-player return field down to five. American Nico LaPolla bagged the chip lead at 18,200,000 chips, three big blinds clear of nearest challenger Ami Alibay at 14,125,000, while Australian Christian Roberts (10,975,000), Brazilian Guilherme Torres (9,100,000) and Polish player Jakub Pasieczny (5,250,000) round out the final five. The winner will earn US$1,250,000 and a WSOP gold bracelet against a US$15,623,347 prize pool generated by 11,769 total entries, the second-largest tournament field in WSOP history behind only the 2024 Mystery Millions. The runner-up's prize, US$1,000,000, ensures that two new poker millionaires will be crowned by close of business at Paris Las Vegas.
The final-five composition reflects the international nature of the modern mass-field Las Vegas summer. None of the five remaining players has a previous WSOP bracelet. LaPolla, a New York-based recreational player turned semi-professional, climbed into the chip lead through a series of late-Day 4 set-ups that included a 13-million-chip pot at the final two tables; the hand, picked up on the WSOP's PokerGO live stream, saw a paired flop that backed into a turned set for LaPolla and a river hold against Patni's two pair. The Bo Chen-led overnight chip count from Day 3 did not survive the day's middle stages, with Chen ultimately bagging eighth in chips before the final-table redraw and exiting later in the session in twelfth place. Day 5 plays under WSOP final-table levels, with thirty-minute blinds, starting Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. Pacific time.
The Final Five
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | BBs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | Nico LaPolla | United States | 18,200,000 | 61 |
| 2 | Ami Alibay | United Kingdom | 14,125,000 | 47 |
| 3 | Christian Roberts | Australia | 10,975,000 | 37 |
| 4 | Guilherme Torres | Brazil | 9,100,000 | 30 |
| 5 | Jakub Pasieczny | Poland | 5,250,000 | 18 |
Event #50 $1,500 Millionaire Maker, final-five chip counts entering Day 5. Source: PokerNews 2026 WSOP daily live blog.
No Canadian-flag player advances to the final five. The Canadian charge in Event #50 effectively ended on Day 3, when Frederic Normand, who captured the year's first Canadian bracelet on June 7 in Event #21 ($1,500 PLO Hi-Lo, US$235,377), was eliminated in the early-to-middle stages of the session along with bracelet winners Eugene Katchalov, Jason Wheeler and Simeon Spasov, per the PokerNews Event #50 live coverage. Kristen Foxen, the St. Catharines, Ontario-born American-flagged professional who won Event #19 earlier in the series, was likewise unable to convert a Day 2 bag into a Day 4 seat. The eventual winner of Event #50 will become the sixth Millionaire Maker champion since the event's relaunch in 2022; previous winners include Daniel Lazrus (2025), Ferenc Deak (2024) and Jordan Griff (2023).
Dylan Weisman moves to the front of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship
While the Millionaire Maker was reshaping itself overnight, Event #60, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, ground its way through a long Day 3 of eight-game mixed-game action at the Horseshoe Las Vegas. American mixed-game specialist Dylan Weisman emerged as the day-end chip leader at 3,950,000, overtaking previous Day 2 leader Kristopher Tong. The field has been reduced to 36 players from the 39 who bagged for Day 3 and the 108 unique entries that ultimately registered for the event. Day 3 played down on a level structure that included one full rotation each of 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.
Among the notable runs continuing into Day 4 are England's Benny Glaser, whose five WSOP bracelets across Razz Championship and PPC-style mixed-game events make him one of the most accomplished mixed-game tournament players of the past decade, and seventeen-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, who returned from a two-week COVID-19 absence on Day 2 to triple to 900,000 chips and was still active through middle-Day 3 action. Halifax, Nova Scotia native Alex Livingston, who bagged ninth in chips at 1,060,000 to start the day as the lone Canadian-flag player in the field, is not specifically identified in the most-recent published chip counts, with his status to be confirmed when the official end-of-day Day 3 chip list publishes Wednesday morning Pacific time. The eventual winner of Event #60 will earn approximately US$1,690,000 and the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy, with the runner-up collecting roughly US$1,044,000.
One notable departure from the championship field was Japan's Sho Shiratori, the M-League-affiliated Shibuya Abemas player who finished 22nd in Event #60 and immediately registered for Event #61, the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha, where he had bagged the overall chip lead by the close of his very first Day 1 session.
Mystery Millions opens to 2,244 Day 1A entries
Event #63, the $1,000 Mystery Millions, opened its multi-flight Day 1 schedule on Tuesday with a first flight that drew 2,244 entries and saw 181 players bag chips for Day 2. American recreational pro Jesse Rockowitz bagged the Day 1A chip lead at 930,000, with the combined chip stack across all bag list players standing at 112,200,000. The Mystery Millions structure, introduced to the WSOP schedule in 2024, layers a randomised mystery-bounty pool on top of the standard prize-pool distribution; the 2025 event drew 18,372 entries and produced both a US$2.5-million top prize and a US$1-million mystery-bounty envelope. The 2026 edition is structured with up to four Day 1 flights and a Day 2 restart on Friday, June 26, and is expected to comfortably exceed the 2025 turnout based on early-flight registration volume.
Day 1B continues into Tuesday evening at the Horseshoe Las Vegas, with multiple satellite winners and ring-fenced regulated-market qualifiers feeding the field. The 2026 WSOP Super Circuit Canada satellite system, available to players physically located in Ontario through licensed operators including GGPoker Ontario, has been a steady direct-buy-in feeder to mass-field events throughout the summer. Ontario players watching at home can follow the live updates on WSOP.com and the PokerGO live stream.
Two bracelets awarded Tuesday night
Two bracelets crossed the finish line Tuesday. Serbian pro Milan Dekić won Event #57, the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max, for US$465,016 and his first WSOP gold bracelet. Dekić, a regular on the Eastern European circuit, defeated American Connor Daly heads-up at the final table to claim the title. American mixed-game specialist Michelle Chin captured Event #58, the $1,500 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw, for US$99,314 and her first WSOP gold bracelet, becoming the first female open-event WSOP bracelet winner in 2026 outside of Kristen Foxen's two earlier high-roller victories. Chin defeated American Daniel Strelet heads-up; she also holds the separate distinction of being the first female WSOP Circuit Main Event champion, an honour set in 2024.
| Event | Winner | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| #57 $1,500 NLH 6-Max | Milan Dekić | Serbia | $465,016 |
| #58 $1,500 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw | Michelle Chin | United States | $99,314 |
Tuesday night bracelet results, 2026 WSOP. Source: PokerNews daily live blog.
Salute to Warriors and Event #62
Event #59, the $500 Salute to Warriors, plays its Day 4 session Wednesday with American Vinny Pahuja leading the bag list at 6,500,000 chips. Pahuja, a regular at New Jersey's Borgata circuit and a multiple WSOP Circuit ring winner, took over the lead after Jamie Gold, the 2006 WSOP Main Event champion, faded from a Day 3 chip-lead position to exit in 17th place for his deepest WSOP run since 2012. The eventual winner of Event #59 collects approximately US$208,800 against a US$2,008,065 prize pool generated by the 4,478-entry field. The Day 4 restart is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Pacific time at the Horseshoe.
Event #62, the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em, played its Day 1 session Tuesday with Brazilian pro Felipe Ramos taking the bag-list lead at 1,124,000 chips. Ramos, a longtime PokerStars Team Pro and a familiar face on the Brazilian Series of Poker tour, advanced through a Day 1 that produced 312 surviving players against the US$3,820,000 prize pool. Day 2 of Event #62 runs Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. Pacific time, with Slovenia's Blaž Žerjav (893,000), Czech high-stakes regular Martin Kabrhel, 2014 Main Event runner-up Martin Jacobson, Argentina's Damian Salas and Russia's Artur Martirosian all in the chase.
The Canadian summer, holding
The 2026 series Canadian-flag tally remains at three gold bracelets and US$2,395,570 in combined first-place prize money: Kristen Foxen's Event #19 $25K High Roller NLH (US$1,773,083), Christopher Alcindor's Event #22 $1,500 Big O (US$387,110) and Frederic Normand's Event #21 $1,500 PLO Hi-Lo (US$235,377). Total notable Canadian cashes for the 2026 summer hold at approximately US$2,870,809 with Livingston's deep run in Event #60 still in progress. The most-cashes leaderboard continues to be paced by Daniel Negreanu's career total of US$33,821,239 and Kristen Foxen's 2026-season total of US$3,493,212, the latter the third-highest among all players this summer behind only Adrian Mateos (US$5,056,540) and Benjamin Tollerene (US$3,766,000), per the WSOP.com player standings.
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Alex Livingston (Halifax, NS) | #60 $50K PPC | started Day 3 ninth in chips | still in field |
Notable Canadian results, 2026 WSOP, through Wednesday morning June 24. Source: WSOP.com, PokerNews and the Hendon Mob.
What to watch Wednesday
Three threads to follow Wednesday. Event #50, the $1,500 Millionaire Maker, plays its Day 5 from the final five with US$1,250,000 and a WSOP gold bracelet on the line; the bracelet ceremony is scheduled for the conclusion of the final hand. Event #60, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, restarts at 1:00 p.m. Pacific time at the Horseshoe with 36 players returning, with Day 4 narrowing to the official final twelve. Event #63, the $1,000 Mystery Millions, runs Day 1B with mass-field volume that should clear ten thousand cumulative entries by close of registration on 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.