Two Canadians in the Top Four of WSOP $1,500 8-Game Mixed Day 1: Devon Sampson Second, Daniel Negreanu Fourth Among 147 Day 2 Survivors; Skye Chen Wins Ladies Championship for First Bracelet and US$194,630; Mizrachi Takes Massive 78 Big Blind Lead Into $10K PLO Championship Final Table

By Alex Drummond, Editor-in-Chief · June 29, 2026 · Fact-checked by Maya Chen

Day 35 of the 2026 World Series of Poker, the final Monday of June at the Horseshoe and Paris in Las Vegas, brings two Canadian-flag stories the rest of the summer has lacked. After 22 levels of mixed-game play on Sunday, two Toronto-based players bagged in the top four of Event #74, the $1,500 8-Game Mixed Day 1. Devon Sampson, the long-time Canadian mixed-game pro and 2023 H.O.R.S.E. final-tablist, bagged 515,000 chips and second-place chip position. Daniel Negreanu, the all-time WSOP earnings leader on US$33,999,728 across 13 bracelets and 364 cashes, bagged 378,500 chips and fourth-place chip position. The 147 Day 2 returners chase a US$1,022,500 prize pool that pays its winner approximately US$194,000.

The 766-entry field for Event #74 is the second-largest in the event's history, behind only the 798-entry 2024 edition. The 766 entries represented a small uptick from the 2025 edition's 731 entries and demonstrates the continued health of mixed-game variants at the lower buy-in levels, with PokerNews noting the rise of 8-Game's lower buy-in cousins in the regulated US online poker market over the past 18 months.

Sampson and Negreanu: contrasting Canadian portfolios

Devon Sampson is one of the most accomplished Canadian mixed-game grinders of his generation despite never having won a WSOP bracelet. The 38-year-old Toronto-area pro counts 22 WSOP cashes between 2014 and 2026, including a fourth-place finish in the 2024 $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship for US$269,154 and a second-place finish in the 2023 $1,500 Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better for US$112,488. His career WSOP earnings stand at approximately US$612,000, with a Hendon Mob lifetime total of US$1.15 million dominated by mixed-game events. Sampson is a regular at Aria's high-stakes mixed-game cash games and a member of the Toronto-area Royal Casino room reading group that includes 2026 PLO Hi-Lo bracelet winner Frederic Normand.

Negreanu, by contrast, brings an 8-Game pedigree that includes his 2014 $1,500 8-Game Mixed bracelet (US$294,649), his fifth WSOP gold. The Toronto-born poker icon has not won a bracelet in the format since but has cashed three 8-Game events between 2018 and 2025. His total summer 2026 WSOP record is now seven cashes, three final tables, and four ladder runs, with this top-four start in the 8-Game Mixed his deepest entry to a major mixed-game event since busting the 2026 $50,000 Poker Players Championship on Day 1B. Negreanu's Sunday vlog from Mizrachi's PLO Day 3 carry-on remarked, 'I bagged in 8-Game, I'm fourth in chips, I'm gonna chase this one.'

The Canadian-flag aspect of an 8-Game Mixed field is not coincidental. Canadian online poker, hardened by 15 years of PokerStars-led mixed game lobbies, has produced a disproportionate cohort of professionals comfortable across the eight formats. The 2024 $1,500 8-Game Mixed produced a final-table seat for Toronto's Marc-Etienne McLaughlin, who finished fifth for US$32,109. The Cypriot- and Greek-origin Toronto diaspora is overrepresented in the event's all-time Day 2 standings, with Pollio, Karamalegos and the wider Canadian PLO community well-represented in mixed-game side events. Frederic Normand's PLO Hi-Lo bracelet earlier this month was the bracket-win the wider community has been chasing for over a decade.

Skye Chen wins Ladies Championship in her first-ever tournament

Event #68, the $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship, concluded Sunday night when American Skye Chen defeated Aubrey Williams heads-up after a two-hour contest. The winning hand saw Chen all-in for her tournament life with pocket fours against Williams's ace-five of clubs. The board ran out eight-nine-nine-queen-ten, with no ace and no club flush, sending Chen to her first WSOP gold bracelet and the US$194,630 first-place prize. The win was the rookie's first-ever live tournament cash. Chen, a recent law graduate from California, had entered the event on the encouragement of a relative and described the experience as 'one of those weeks where everything went right.'

The final-table progression saw chip leader Emily Spencer eliminated fifth for US$49,874 after a clash with Caitlin Comeskey, who was herself eliminated fourth for US$67,735. Chen then sent Lisa Teebagy out third for US$93,149 when pocket fives improved to a set on the turn against Teebagy's straight draw. Heads-up between Williams and Chen swung multiple times before the final flip. Williams, who had been the target of widespread online abuse in recent days following her co-chip-leader bagging Saturday night, was second-place runner-up for US$129,692.

Chen's win is the first by an amateur in the WSOP Ladies Championship since 2019, when Pittsburgh-area first-time player Jiyoung Kim won the title for US$167,308. It is also a clean break from the two-year defence of Shiina Okamoto of Japan, who took the 2024 and 2025 Ladies Championships and was eliminated on Day 1 of this year's edition. The 1,475-entry field, which set a Ladies Championship record at registration close on Saturday, paid 222 players. The Canadian-flag presence in the event ended on Day 3 with the elimination of Toronto-based Jixin Zhou, who had bagged tenth in chips after Day 2.

Mizrachi heads to PLO Championship final table 78 big blinds clear

Event #70, the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, played its third day Sunday at the same time the Ladies Championship was concluding. The field cut from 126 returning players to a final table that will return Monday afternoon. Hall of Famer Michael 'The Grinder' Mizrachi, who had bagged at 5,655,000 chips after Day 2, continued his dominant run and bags overnight with approximately 80 per cent of the chips in play, a 78-big-blind lead over his nearest challenger. American Jesse Lonis, chasing his third bracelet, sits second; Indian high-stakes regular Zurvan Tumboli third; and 2026 PLO Hi-Lo bracelet winner Frederic Normand of Quebec failed to bag through Day 3.

A bracelet for Mizrachi on Monday would be his ninth career WSOP gold, putting him within one of the joint third-place all-time count behind Phil Hellmuth (17) and Phil Ivey (12). Mizrachi already won the 2026 Poker Players Championship for a record fifth time in May. Should he convert the chip lead to gold, he becomes the third player ever to win two bracelets at the same series after winning the Hall of Fame induction, after Stu Ungar (1980 and 1981) and Doyle Brunson (1976 and 1977). The PLO Championship first prize is projected at approximately US$1,634,000 from the US$7,774,800 prize pool. Negreanu, who had bagged 83rd through Day 2, busted Day 3 outside the bracelet day's bagging cut; Daniel Dvoress of Toronto, who had bagged 86th, also failed to make Day 4. Benny Glaser, the 2026 PPC champion who had bagged 101st, busted in the middle of Day 3.

Mystery Millions Day 2 continues; Mini Main Event Day 1A bags

Event #63, the $1,000 Mystery Millions, ran its Day 2 session Sunday afternoon and evening from 1,236 returning players. The bag-and-tag was still pending at time of writing, with 17 levels of play scheduled. Event #72, the $1,000 Mini Main Event, fired its Day 1A flight Sunday and bagged 194 of its 1,131 entries to Day 2. American Travis Taylor bagged the chip lead at 3,285,000 chips, the only player above 3 million. Day 1B fires Monday morning.

Event #71, the $2,500 Mixed Big Bet (Pot-Limit Omaha and No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw), played Day 2 to a final table. Japan's Naoya Kihara, the 2026 Five Card PLO bracelet winner, is one of the seven returning players for Monday's bracelet day. Event #73, the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed, played Day 1 with 348 of 1,018 entries bagging. Italian high stakes pro Alessio Isaia is among the survivors at 55,000 chips, the 120th place chip count.

The Canadian summer 2026 ledger

With the Monday card now bringing two Canadian-flag entries to the head of an active leaderboard, the broader Canadian summer 2026 picture is steadier than the past 72 hours suggested. The three bracelet wins (Foxen $25K High Roller, Alcindor Big O, Normand PLO Hi-Lo) and US$2,395,570 in combined first-place prize money remain the headline. Notable cashes total approximately US$3,189,000 with the Monaco brothers' US$88,058 Tag Team split. Mozdzen's H.O.R.S.E. runner-up (US$122,206), Taylor's Nine Game Mix fourth (US$76,510), and Cedolia and Moretti's mid-five-figure runs anchor the secondary tier. Negreanu's 7th-place finish in the $25K High Roller PLO/NLH Mixed for US$152,954 remains his largest single result of the summer.

For Ontario players watching the 8-Game Mixed Day 2 from home, the live updates feed is at PokerNews and on the WSOP+ subscription stream; the 2026 WSOP Super Circuit Montreal qualifier path on GGPoker Ontario remains active for satellites through August 19; the regulated Ontario market overview is on the best poker sites in Ontario page; and the WSOP Main Event opens Thursday July 2 at noon Pacific time with Day 1A.

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