By Alex Drummond, Editor-in-Chief · July 5, 2026 · Fact-checked by Maya Chen
Day 1C of the 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event closed early Sunday morning after five two-hour levels of play at the Horseshoe and Paris in Las Vegas. Bulgarian mid-stakes professional Yulian Bogdanov bagged the largest stack at 315,000 chips, or approximately 396 big blinds at the Day 2ABC starting blinds. Lithuanian professional Arturas Astrauskas bagged second at 296,700 chips. Three Americans, Lawrence Brandt (292,800), Rahul Gangan (291,600) and Justin Arnwine (280,600), rounded out the top five. The 1,573-entry Day 1C represented the largest starting flight of the 2026 Main Event through three flights, exceeding the Day 1A (771 entries) and Day 1B (1,038 entries) totals combined.
1,166 players survived Day 1C, at an average stack of approximately 86,000 chips. Cumulative through Day 1A, Day 1B and Day 1C, the Main Event field stands at 3,383 entries with 2,468 survivors combined, with Day 1D still to fire. The prize pool through Day 1C stands at approximately US$31.65 million; the addition of Day 1D and Day 2 late-registration entries will boost the pool further before Day 2ABC begins Monday at noon local time.
Day 1C top 10 chip counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yulian Bogdanov | Bulgaria | 315,000 |
| 2 | Arturas Astrauskas | Lithuania | 296,700 |
| 3 | Lawrence Brandt | United States | 292,800 |
| 4 | Rahul Gangan | United States | 291,600 |
| 5 | Justin Arnwine | United States | 280,600 |
| 6 | Gaspar Fernandez | Spain | 279,000 |
| 7 | Freddy Deeb | United States | 267,800 |
| 8 | Simon Wilson | United States | 264,000 |
| 9 | Naveen Sama | United States | 256,500 |
| 10 | Mason Vieth | United States | 255,000 |
Event #82 2026 WSOP Main Event Day 1C top 10 chip counts. Source: Eurosport France's "Le Day 1C a reuni 1,573 joueurs".
Matt Salsberg carries the Canadian flag through Day 1C
The largest confirmed Canadian-flag stack from Day 1C belongs to Matt Salsberg, the Toronto-born Canadian bracelet winner and long-time GGPoker ambassador who bagged 205,500 chips. Salsberg, best known for his 2013 WSOP $2,500 Eight-Game Mix bracelet win for US$251,290 and his second-place finish in the 2018 $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship for US$358,850, has US$4.7 million in live tournament earnings across 51 WSOP cashes. His Day 1C bag places him in the top 25 chip counts of the entire flight and within the top 15 per cent of the overall Day 1A, 1B and 1C survivor pool.
Salsberg is the first Canadian-flag Day 1 chip count officially published for the 2026 Main Event. Kevin Martin, the Toronto Big Brother Canada 2013 winner and mid-stakes tournament pro with US$1.85 million in live earnings, entered Day 1B on Friday but no end-of-day stack was published for him in mainstream coverage. Neither Kristen Foxen (2026 $25K High Roller bracelet, US$26.75 million career), Daniel Negreanu (US$34.0 million career, 13 bracelets), Daniel Dvoress (2026 Triton Montenegro triple), Sam Greenwood, Mike Watson (Winnipeg) nor Alex Livingston (Halifax, 2019 Main Event 4th) entered Day 1A, 1B or 1C. All are expected to fire Day 1D on Sunday, with backups available at Day 2 late registration through Tuesday.
Other notable Day 1C survivors
Beyond the Day 1C top ten, several established professionals and content creators bagged competitive stacks. Dylan Smith, the young American mid-stakes tournament pro, bagged 205,500 chips. Brian Hastings, the 2009 WSOP $10,000 Seven Card Stud High Championship winner and long-time high-stakes online cash game specialist, bagged 178,100. Chino Rheem, the 2013 WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond winner, bagged 171,300. Josh Arieh, the 2021 WSOP Player of the Year and four-time bracelet winner (including the 2004 Main Event third-place finisher for US$2.5 million), bagged 158,200. Christopher Moorman, the online tournament pro and only Brit to win a WSOP bracelet in a Deepstack Turbo event, bagged 148,600. Poker Hall of Famer Brian Rast bagged 119,100 chips. Klemens Roiter, the Austrian 2024 WSOP Europe Main Event runner-up, bagged 126,800. American Ian Matakis, who finished 5th in the $10K PLO Championship earlier this summer for US$320,763, bagged 118,700. Jessica Teusl of Austria, the 2022 WSOP Ladies Championship winner who finished 9th in the 2026 Ladies Championship earlier this week for US$16,668, bagged 116,300 chips.
The Day 1C return of Norwegian professional Annette Obrestad, who at 18 years old won the 2007 WSOPE Main Event for £1,000,000 (the youngest Main Event champion of any WSOP series in history), was the day's most-remarked-upon storyline outside the top ten chip counts. Obrestad, 37, has spent the past five years focused on family and content creation on Twitch and had not entered a live WSOP event since the 2020 online series. Her Day 1C bag was not confirmed at time of writing.
Day 1D fires with the Canadian contingent expected
Day 1D of the 2026 Main Event fires at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time Sunday afternoon and is expected by ESPN's tournament projections to draw close to 5,000 entries across the day, potentially the largest Day 1 flight in Main Event history and taking the cumulative Main Event field toward the 8,000-plus mark before Day 2 late registration. The traditional preference of professional players to fire the largest Day 1 flight to maximise recreational opponents means the core Canadian direct-entry contingent is expected to be present. Daniel Negreanu confirmed his Day 1D fire in a Sunday morning YouTube vlog. Kristen Foxen was expected to play. Daniel Dvoress, Sam Greenwood, Mike Watson and Alex Livingston all had Day 1D-preference reservations per the WSOP LIVE app.
Day 1D plays five two-hour levels through to approximately 3:00 a.m. Pacific Time Monday morning. The ESPN+ live broadcast begins at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Day 2ABC combines the Day 1A, 1B and 1C survivors at 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time Monday, July 6. Day 2D plays Tuesday, July 7 from Day 1D survivors and Day 2 registrants. Day 3 combines all surviving players Wednesday, July 8. The final table begins Wednesday, July 15 through Saturday, July 18. Total prize pool by close of late registration is expected to reach approximately US$80 million to US$90 million, with first prize projected at US$11 million to US$12 million.
Ontario watch and the Main Event money bubble
The 2026 Main Event money bubble is expected to burst on Day 3 Wednesday, with approximately 1,250 to 1,400 players cashing depending on the final field size. The min-cash payout is expected to be approximately US$16,000 to US$18,000, with the final table taking home minimum US$1,000,000 for ninth place. Ontario players following the Main Event from home can watch the ESPN+ live broadcast beginning at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time Sunday for Day 1D, with PokerGO providing feature-table coverage across all Day 1 flights. The 2026 WSOP Super Circuit Montreal at Playground Poker Club in Kahnawake, Quebec opens August 26 with a CA$5,000 Super Circuit Main Event and a CA$10,000,000 guarantee; qualifier paths on GGPoker Ontario remain active through August 19. The regulated Ontario market overview is on the best poker sites in Ontario page.