Monaco Brothers Take Bronze in WSOP Tag Team for US$88,058; Jixin Zhou Carries Canadian Hopes Into Ladies Championship Day 3; Hall-of-Famer Mizrachi Leads $10,000 PLO Day 1

By Alex Drummond, Editor-in-Chief · June 27, 2026 · Fact-checked by Maya Chen

Day 32 of the 2026 World Series of Poker, the final Saturday of June at the Horseshoe and Paris in Las Vegas, closed without a Canadian-flag gold bracelet but with two Canadian-named runs deep enough to register on the national ledger. Toronto-based brothers Joseph and Gabriel Monaco finished third in Event #66, the $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold'em, for a split prize of US$88,058 against a 1,375-team field; and Toronto-based recreational player Jixin Zhou bagged 885,000 chips into the third day of Event #68, the $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship, sitting tenth in chips among 48 returning players.

The day's bracelet, the Tag Team gold, went to a Brazilian pair: Breno Drumond and Henrique Lessa, coached by the 2025 Tag Team champions Kelvin Kerber and Peter Patricio. Drumond and Lessa defeated the Japanese duo of Ruka Yamauchi and Shotaro Murase heads-up for a split first-place prize of US$184,769. The final hand, dealt on a board of four-deuce-six-eight runout, saw Drumond's pocket aces hold against Yamauchi's queen-seven of clubs after the river paired no part of the Japanese team's draw. The result is Brazil's third WSOP gold bracelet of 2026 and the second consecutive year the Brazilian Tag Team feeder system has produced the event's winner.

Joseph and Gabriel Monaco: a Canadian-flag bronze

Joseph and Gabriel Monaco, Toronto-area recreational players who have logged six WSOP cashes between them dating back to 2018, took the Canadian-flag third-place finish for US$88,058 split. The brothers entered the bracelet day ninth in chips at 1,280,000 and ran their stack up to a four-handed lead before a series of coolers on the bubble of the final three, including a queen-seven that flopped two pair into Drumond's pocket aces, ended their run. The US$88,058 split represents the brothers' largest combined WSOP score and the third-largest Canadian-flag team result in the Tag Team event since its 2016 introduction.

Tag Team format permits two-to-four-player teams to share a single tournament entry and swap in and out of the seat throughout the level. The format favours teams who can match strong tournament players with table-friendly partners; the Monaco brothers' balance of patience and aggression had been on display through three days of play, with several timely chip-up hands sourced through the live blog. The 1,375-team field is the second-largest in the event's history, behind the 2024 edition's 1,471 teams.

Jixin Zhou: Canadian-flag chip count into Ladies Day 3

Event #68, the $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship, ran its Day 2 session to a 48-player money cut from the record 1,475-entry field. The bubble burst on the first hand of hand-for-hand play when Sinead Davenport's pocket kings ran into Jixin Zhou's ace-king on a board that brought an ace on the river. A total of 222 players cashed. The 48 returning to Day 3 are guaranteed a US$4,123 minimum payout, with the eventual winner receiving US$194,630, the largest first-place prize in Ladies Championship history.

Toronto-based recreational player Jixin Zhou bagged 885,000 chips at the end of Day 2, the only Canadian-flag entry in the published top 10. Co-leaders Aubrey Williams of the United States and Shannon Fahey of the United States each return at 1,665,000 chips, with American Cherish Andrews close behind at 1,610,000. Andrews carries the most decorated resume into Day 3, having won the 2022 $400 Big Stack tournament for a bracelet and a career US$1.4 million in WSOP earnings; Williams cites a 2025 Main Event min-cash and Fahey is a recreational New York-area attorney making her deepest WSOP run.

Two-time defending champion Shiina Okamoto of Japan, who took the 2024 and 2025 editions for a combined US$369,094, was eliminated on Day 1. The three Japanese players still alive in the 48-player field, Kimura Nao (800,000), Mayonnu Morita and Sayoko Matsumoto, will play to extend the country's two-year run on the title; Kimura sits 14th in chips into Day 3. Five-time bracelet winner Kristen Foxen, who entered Day 2 with 620,000 chips, did not appear in the published top 27 chip counts after Day 2 and is presumed eliminated outside the money positions, ending her run in the event.

Mizrachi leads Event #70 $10K PLO Day 1

Event #70, the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, opened Saturday as a freezeout. The event drew 729 players against a projected projection of 650 to 700, generating a prize pool of approximately US$6.9 million. Late registration remains open for the first two levels of Day 2, with the field expected to climb modestly. After ten levels of Day 1 play, 270 players survived.

Leading the survivor list at 946,000 chips is Michael 'The Grinder' Mizrachi, the newly elected 2026 Poker Hall of Fame inductee whose Day 1 finish included consecutive set-over-set holds against opponents' aces and kings. Mizrachi, who entered the 2026 series chasing a record fifth $50,000 Poker Players Championship title only to bust before late registration closed, called Day 1 of the PLO Championship 'possibly the best day I've had at the series this year.' A ninth career WSOP gold bracelet would put Mizrachi within one of the joint third-place bracelet count behind Phil Hellmuth (17) and Phil Ivey (12), tied with several others at ten.

Behind Mizrachi sits Joseph Liberta at 716,000 chips, the American who took the 2026 Millionaire Maker for US$1,156,378 earlier this month. Liberta moved into the chip lead during the middle levels of Day 1 after eliminating Alnoor Pujani in a set-over-set confrontation, then surrendered the lead in the final level to Mizrachi. American Steven Sarmiento bags third at 715,000.

Notable Day 1 survivors below the published top 10 include Jesse Lonis, Noah Schwartz, Josh Arieh, Aleksejs Ponakovs and Sam Soverel. No Canadian-flag player is currently listed in the published 30-player chip count, though the wider 270-player survivor pool is yet to be released in full.

Negreanu busts Event #69 Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better 63rd

Event #69, the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better, played its second day Saturday with 98 players cashing from a 647-entry field. Daniel Negreanu, who entered the day at 235,500 chips, was eliminated 63rd for US$3,167. Brian Rast cashed 18th and Max Kruse cashed 19th for US$6,016. The Canadian-flag presence in mixed-game side-events of the 2026 series continues to come almost exclusively through Negreanu; no other Canadian player has cashed a Stud Hi-Lo, Stud or H.O.R.S.E. side-event since Mozdzen's runner-up in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. on June 12. Ten players return Sunday to play for the bracelet and a US$159,276 first-place prize, with American Daniel Geeng leading at 3,625,000 chips ahead of Dave Stann at 3,020,000 and Daniil Fedunov at 2,950,000. The legendary stud specialist David Bach sits sixth at 1,025,000.

Mystery Millions enters Sunday Day 2 from 11,783 cumulative entries

Event #63, the $1,000 Mystery Millions, ran its Day 1d flight Saturday, drawing 4,719 entries. With 11,783 cumulative entries through Day 1d, plus the still-pending Day 1e on Sunday morning and the turbo Day 1f at midday Sunday, the 2026 Mystery Millions remains on pace to surpass the 2024 inaugural Mystery Millions field of 18,372 and become the largest open WSOP tournament in series history. The combined prize pool is expected to exceed US$10.8 million through Day 1d, with bounties on top of the standard distribution to be added on Day 2.

Day 1d's chip leader was Israeli professional Liran Betito with a bag the live blog described as 'the largest of any flight to date.' German recreational professional Jonas Lauck held the provisional second-place slot. Notable Day 1d survivors include Argentinian mid-stakes regular Martin Zamani, two-time bracelet winner Marco Johnson, and 2024 and 2025 Ladies Championship winner Shiina Okamoto. Day 2 begins at 1:00 p.m. local on Sunday, June 28, with the field expected to play down to two tables; bounty envelopes are revealed during Day 2 play, with one envelope worth US$1,000,000 still in the bounty pool.

Canadian summer tally and the Sunday card

With the Monaco brothers' US$88,058 split now official, the 2026 Canadian-flag notable cashes total has approached approximately US$3,189,000. The three gold bracelet wins (Kristen Foxen $25K High Roller, Christopher Alcindor Big O, Frederic Normand PLO Hi-Lo) and US$2,395,570 in combined first-place prize money is unchanged; the cumulative notable cashes figure now reads approximately US$3,189,000 with Negreanu's continued Stud Hi-Lo bust and Zhou's Ladies Championship still in play.

What to watch Sunday

Four threads continue Sunday. Event #68 Ladies Championship plays Day 3 with Zhou tenth in chips, scheduled to play down to a final five who return Monday for the bracelet day. Event #69 Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better plays its bracelet day with ten returning players. Event #70 PLO Championship plays Day 2 from Mizrachi's 946,000-chip lead. And Event #63 Mystery Millions plays its Day 1e morning flight and turbo Day 1f at midday, with Day 2 starting at 1:00 p.m. local for all survivors of all flights. Event #71, the $1,500 Mixed Big Bet, opens Sunday afternoon, expected to draw approximately 350 entries.

Ontario players watching from home can follow the live updates on PokerNews, WSOP.com and the PokerGO live stream. Six regulated rooms serve players physically located in Ontario under iGaming Ontario's stand-alone Crown agency framework; 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 full month-ahead schedule is at Ontario poker tournament schedule.

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