The 2026 WSOP officially kicked off on May 26th, with the Mini Mystery Millions, 550 Mini Mystery Millions, and 5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 8-Max event leading the pack. Jansen Satparam and Peter Cross are currently in the lead.
The wait for the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) finally came to a close on May 26th, approximately 315 days after the last player left Horseshoe and the Paris Las Vegas Hotel, marking the end of the 2025 WSOP. May 26th marked the start of a 50-day summer tournament, with the 57th WSOP taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Shortly after 12:00 noon local time, defending WSOP Main Event champion Michael Mizrachi uttered his famous slogan "Shuffle Up and Deal," officially kicking off the first of the 100 bracelet events of the summer: Event #1: $550 Mini Mystery Millions Group 1a.
Event #1:$550, the Mini Mystery Million, Group 1a, was the first of five pre-selected starting groups. It attracted 1,635 players to buy in, and after 22 action-packed levels, the number of players was reduced to a more manageable 60.
Despite being one of the more affordable events in the 2026 WSOP schedule, many star players are still participating, hoping to get off to a good start for the series.
Ryan Leng, Robert Sherwood, Darryll Fish, Ari Engel, Dylan Smith, and Ray Henson all participated in Group 1a but failed to advance to Day 2. However, these players all made it deep enough before being eliminated to secure prize money.
Jansen Satparam became the first chip leader to win the 2026 WSOP. They started with 25,000 chips and finished with a tournament lead of 1,800,000. Peyman Luth and David Farber finished second and third respectively, while David Prociak (1,500,000), Chad Eveslage (690,000), Jeremy Becker (535,000), Jake Schwartz (385,000), and Dan Sepiol (215,000) secured their spots for Day 2 on their first attempt.
Event #1: $550 Mini Mystery Millions Group 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Ranking | player | country | Chip quantity | Big Blind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jansen Satparam | United States | 1,800,000 | 59 |
| 2 | Peyman Luth | Germany | 1,700,000 | 57 |
| 3 | David Farber | United States | 1,600,000 | 53 |
| 4 | Steven Buckner Jr | United States | 1,500,000 | 51 |
| 5 | David Prociak | United States | 1,500,000 | 50 |
| 6 | Michael Renna | United States | 1,500,000 | 50 |
| 7 | Thomas Schmitter | Switzerland | 1,300,000 | 43 |
| 8 | Joe Tijerina | United States | 1,200,000 | 41 |
| 9 | “"Camel Man"” | Spain | 1,200,000 | 40 |
| 10 | Mark Yarbrough | United States | 1,100,000 | 37 |
Because the WSOP+ application rounds the chip count, the chip amount is an approximate value.
Group 1b of this tournament will begin at 10:00 AM on May 27th, and a large influx of participants is expected. PokerNews' traditional coverage of the $550 Mini Mystery Million will begin on May 31st, the second day of the tournament.
Peter Cross leads an all-star lineup into Day Two of $5K No-Limit Texas Hold'em.
Peter Cross of Japan had an incredible day at the #2:$5,000 8-max No-Limit Hold'em poker table. The five-time bracelet winner finished Day 1 with 525,000 chips, equivalent to 210 big blinds!
Dzivielevski was one of the 415 participants in this event, and of course, one of the 142 survivors. Both numbers are expected to increase further, as late registration will remain open until approximately 3:15 PM local time on May 27th, the end of Level 12.
Bulgaria's Yuliyan Kolev (470,500) and Benjamin Williams (456,000) ranked second and third respectively, while Ren Lin (316,500), Martin Kabrhel (298,000), Renji Mao (270,000) and Maksim Pisarenko (268,500) and others bagged the top 15 chip counts.
Lower down the leaderboard, but still competitive, are a group of top contenders and bracelet winners from the $25,000 dream draft. Notable players include Chris Hunichen ($249,500), Brian Yoon ($226,000), Shaun Deeb ($215,500), Viktor Blom ($200,500), Justin Saliba ($174,000), Josh Arieh ($129,000), and Michael Gathy ($120,000), all of whom will demonstrate their ambition in this tournament if they can close the gap with Dzivielevski.
Event #2: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Texas Hold'em Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Ranking | player | country | Chip quantity | Big Blind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Cross | Japan | 525,000 | 210 |
| 2 | Yuliyan Kolev | Bulgaria | 470,500 | 188 |
| 3 | Benjamin Williams | United States | 456,000 | 182 |
| 4 | Daniel Vicente | Spain | 401,000 | 160 |
| 5 | Clemen Deng | United States | 358,500 | 143 |
| 6 | Peter Mugar | United States | 342,000 | 136 |
| 7 | David Chaput | United States | 335,500 | 134 |
| 8 | Fikret Kovac | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 320,000 | 129 |
| 9 | Ren Lin | China | 316,500 | 126 |
| 10 | Martin Kabrhel | Czech Republic | 298,000 | 119 |
The second day will begin at 1:00 PM local time on May 27th. PokerNews' special correspondent will be on-site throughout the event to bring you the most up-to-date match reports.
2026 WSOP Day 2 Preview
Besides the #1 tournament:550 Mini Mystery Million Series Group 1b and Event #2:In addition to the second day of the 5,000 8-handed No-Limit Hold'em tournament, two other bracelet events will also take place.
At 12:00 PM, the #3:$500 No-Limit Texas Hold'em event for industry employees will kick off. This event is exclusively for employees of the poker and casino industry, giving them the opportunity to experience the thrill of the WSOP tables.
The current champion is Phovieeng Keokham, who won the WSOP gold bracelet and $64,369 in 2025.
Two hours after the start of the industry staff event, at 2:00 PM, the event #4:$1,500 Omaha H-Lo 8 or better will begin. This first non-Texas Hold'em event in the series is expected to draw a large crowd. Last year's event attracted 910 participants, with David Shmuel beating everyone. What did he win? $205,333 and his first gold bracelet.
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