By Alex Drummond, Editor-in-Chief · July 4, 2026 · Fact-checked by Maya Chen
The 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event began Thursday afternoon, July 2, when 771 players took their seats at the Horseshoe and Paris in Las Vegas for the first of four Day 1 starting flights. After five two-hour levels of play, 543 players bagged for Day 2. Japanese professional Ryuta Nakai finished atop the leaderboard with 323,000 chips, more than five times the 60,000-chip starting stack. American Igor Pansovoi bagged second with 300,300 chips, Australian mid-stakes veteran Gregory Sly third with 254,500, American recreational professional Justin Yaker fourth with 240,000, and French professional David Rothschild fifth with 230,400.
Day 1B fired Friday afternoon with over 725 players registered by mid-session, according to PokerNews live coverage, and reigning champion Michael 'The Grinder' Mizrachi arrived to defend his title in the second of the four Day 1 flights. Notable early Day 1B entries included Antonio Esfandiari, Kenny Hallaert and Kevin Martin of Toronto. Day 1C fires Saturday afternoon and Day 1D on Sunday, with Day 2 scheduled for Tuesday July 7 as the survivors of all four flights combine.
Day 1A top 10 chip counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryuta Nakai | Japan | 323,000 |
| 2 | Igor Pansovoi | United States | 300,300 |
| 3 | Gregory Sly | Australia | 254,500 |
| 4 | Justin Yaker | United States | 240,000 |
| 5 | David Rothschild | France | 230,400 |
| 6 | Rafael Mota | Brazil | ~200,000 |
| 7 | Phil Hellmuth (est.) | United States | ~135,000 |
| 8 | Billy Baxter | United States | 19,800 |
2026 WSOP Main Event Day 1A partial chip counts. Sources: Eurosport France's "WSOP 2026: Ryuta Nakai prend la tete du Main Event" and ESPN's "World Series of Poker updates: Mota leads in chips as Hellmuth makes super entrance".
Mizrachi bids to become the fourth back-to-back Main Event champion
Mizrachi's Main Event opener carries historic weight. Should he win a second consecutive Main Event title, he becomes the fourth player to accomplish the feat since the tournament's inception in 1970. Doyle Brunson took back-to-back titles in 1976 and 1977 for a combined US$610,000. Stu Ungar followed in 1980 and 1981 for a combined US$760,000. Johnny Chan took the 1987 and 1988 editions for a combined US$1,325,000. Mizrachi's US$10,000,000 win in 2025 remains the largest single-event prize awarded in the World Series's 56-year history and, in inflation-adjusted terms, exceeds any of the three previous back-to-back winners' combined earnings.
Mizrachi enters the Main Event as chip leader for the 2026 WSOP Player of the Year race at 2,500 points, with the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship bracelet Monday night converting his mid-summer position from Hall of Fame lock to bracelet-race centrepiece. The 45-year-old's post-match interview with PokerNews on Tuesday said the Main Event 'feels like different pressure, but the same day-to-day training that got me here.' Career WSOP earnings now stand at US$15,250,000; total live tournament earnings exceed US$30.6 million.
Canadian direct-entry contingent
The Canadian direct-entry contingent expected to fire at least one Day 1 bullet at the 2026 Main Event includes some of the most-established Canadian professionals of the past decade. Toronto's Daniel Negreanu, the all-time WSOP career leader by a margin at US$34,004,898 across 13 bracelets and 365 cashes, enters through direct entry and is expected to fire multiple bullets across the four Day 1 flights. Toronto's Kristen Foxen, the 2026 $25,000 High Roller bracelet winner and five-time bracelet champion (US$26.75 million career), returns for another Main Event bid. Toronto's Daniel Dvoress, the 2026 Triton Montenegro triple-bracelet winner, direct-fires. Toronto's Sam Greenwood and Winnipeg's Mike Watson, both perennial Main Event deep-run contenders, enter. Kevin Martin of Toronto, the CBC 2013 Big Brother Canada winner turned mid-stakes tournament pro with US$1.85 million in live earnings, is confirmed for Day 1B per PokerNews. Alex Livingston of Halifax, the 2019 Main Event fourth-place finisher (US$4 million), returns.
The full Canadian summer 2026 ledger through Wednesday now stands at three bracelets (Foxen $25K High Roller, Alcindor Big O, Normand PLO Hi-Lo) and US$2,395,570 in combined first-place prize money, with notable secondary cashes taking the cumulative Canadian notable cashes total to approximately US$3,275,000 after Toronto's Ari Engel added US$80,636 for his 10th-place finish in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship and the Monaco brothers added US$88,058 for their 3rd-place Tag Team split. Daniel Negreanu's US$5,170 min-cash in Event #74 nudges the year-to-date total up further.
Shaun Deeb wins ninth bracelet in $1,500 8-Game Mixed
The Wednesday, July 1 bracelet day of Event #74, the $1,500 8-Game Mixed, produced the third significant milestone win of the 2026 summer for a player from the eight-bracelet club. American Shaun Deeb, the 2018 WSOP Player of the Year and one of the most-decorated mixed-game specialists of his generation, won the event for his ninth WSOP gold bracelet and a US$181,625 first-place prize. Deeb overcame American Dean Joe heads-up with a winning hand of A♥ K♣ K♥ 3♠ against Joe's A♣ T♥ 6♠ 5♠ on a board of no relevance to the community-card portion of 8-Game. The win is Deeb's second 8-Game Mixed bracelet, following his 2023 title. He becomes the ninth player in WSOP history to reach nine bracelets, one day after Mizrachi reached the same mark in the $10,000 PLO Championship.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shaun Deeb | United States | $181,625 |
| 2 | Dean Joe | United States | $120,570 |
| 3 | Fu Wong | United States | $81,530 |
| 4 | Blaz Zerjav | Slovenia | $56,230 |
| 5 | Itsuko Yoroi | Japan | $39,570 |
| 6 | Patrick Mahoney | United States | $28,420 |
| 7 | Jason Riesenberg | United States | $20,840 |
Event #74 $1,500 8-Game Mixed final-table payouts. Source: PokerNews Event #74 live updates.
Sampson, Lally and Negreanu: three Canadian 8-Game cashes
The event's Canadian angle ran deep. Toronto mixed-game professional Devon Sampson, who had bagged second on Day 1 with 515,000 chips, made a deep run before eliminating from the money outside the published top 7 tier. Jaswinder Lally of Toronto, a lesser-known Canadian mid-stakes mixed-game grinder, bagged third with 1,985,000 chips at the end of Day 2 (per Hochgepokert) and busted from the final table's early stages, taking a five-figure payout. Daniel Negreanu bagged fourth on Day 1 with 378,500 chips and continued through to Day 3 before busting in 32nd place for US$5,170 (per WSOP.com player standings). The three Canadian cashes represent the deepest Canadian-flag penetration of an 8-Game Mixed field since Negreanu's own 2014 bracelet in the same event.
The Main Event schedule and Ontario watching guide
The 2026 Main Event runs Day 1 flights on July 2 (1A), July 3 (1B), July 4 (1C) and July 5 (1D), with Day 2 combining all four flights on Tuesday July 7. Day 3 is Wednesday July 8. Day 4 is Thursday July 9. Day 5 is Friday July 10. Day 6 is Saturday July 11. Day 7 is Sunday July 12. The final table plays from Wednesday July 15 through Saturday July 18. The full three-week WSOP Main Event schedule is available on the WSOP.com Main Event page.
For Ontario players watching from home, the Main Event live updates feed is at PokerNews and on the PokerGO subscription stream, with the ESPN broadcast covering Day 1B, key final-table days and the winner-declared final. The 2026 WSOP Super Circuit Montreal opens August 26 at Playground Poker Club in Kahnawake, Quebec with a CA$5,000 Main Event carrying a CA$10,000,000 guarantee; qualifier paths on GGPoker Ontario remain active for satellites through August 19. The regulated Ontario market overview is on the best poker sites in Ontario page.