On Day 2 of the 2026 WSOP, Tal Avivi led in the Mini Mystery Million and the 550 Mini Mystery Million, with only 24 players remaining in the 5K event. Legends like Vanessa Selbst and Huck Seed returned to the field, while the Industry Employees Event and the Omaha High-Low Event ran concurrently.
May 28th marked the second day of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas hotels, giving the poker community a glimpse into the scale and intensity of this year's series.
While we're still waiting to see who will win the first gold bracelet of the summer (which will be revealed on May 29), four events are already underway at the same time, each taking up a significant amount of table space. If you think today is already busy, then the third day on May 29 will feature six events running simultaneously; the WSOP is truly here in full force, and without hesitation.
The second day also saw dozens of poker elites step onto the tables, embarking on their quest for glory at the 2026 WSOP. John Hennigan, Anthony Zinno, Ryan Riess, Vanessa Selbst, Huck Seed, and Daniel Negreanu were among those who participated, although not all of the players mentioned enjoyed the competition as much as the others.
Tal Avivi accumulated a large chip stack in Group 1b of the $550 Mini Mystery Millions.
Event #1:$550 - Group 1b of the Mini Mystery Millions saw an additional 1,562 entries, with 57 more players advancing to Day 2. After 22 levels, Tal Avivi from Israel led the pack, finishing the night with 2,800,000 chips.
Avivi already owns two WSOP Circuit gold rings, both won in 2019. While Avivi doesn't yet have a gold bracelet, he nearly won one last year, finishing fourth in the $1,500 HORSE event, earning him $64,607.
Several players who already possess coveted WSOP gold bracelets have successfully completed the second of six pre-selected starter categories and now have the opportunity to add another to their collections. Valentino Konakchiev (570,000), Ryan Laplante (520,000), Brett Shaffer (505,000), Mike Leah (246,000), and Erick Lindgren (194,000) have more work to do than the chip-rich Avivi, but they all have the potential to turn their fortunes around.
Group 1c of this tournament will begin at 10:00 AM on May 28th, and is expected to have a strong lineup of over 1,500 participants.
Event #1: $550 Mini Mystery Millions Group 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Ranking | player | country | Chip quantity | Big Blind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tal Avivi | Israel | 2,800,000 | 92 |
| 2 | Quang Vu | United States | 2,000,000 | 65 |
| 3 | Qiang Pan | United States | 1,400,000 | 48 |
| 4 | Caroline Schallock | Germany | 1,300,000 | 44 |
| 5 | Dave Stann | United States | 1,200,000 | 39 |
| 6 | Giovanni Zanette | South Africa | 1,100,000 | 36 |
| 7 | Michael Comisso | United States | 1,100,000 | 35 |
| 8 | Brandon Nguyen | United Kingdom | 960,000 | 32 |
| 9 | Robert Buckenmayer | United States | 940,000 | 31 |
| 10 | Steven Correll | United States | 900,000 | 30 |
Because the WSOP+ application rounds the chip count, the chip amount is an approximate value.
In an 8-player No-Limit Texas Hold'em game with $5,000, only 24 players remain, with Anatoly Nikitin in the lead.
In the #2:$5,000 8-max No-Limit Hold'em event, only 24 players remain in contention for the $502,985 first-place prize. Currently, two Russian players lead the chip leaderboard. Anatoly Nikitin (3,290,000) maintains a commanding lead over the other players, while his compatriot Ivan Ruban (2,300,000) is currently in second place.
Nicholas Seward (1,275,000), Justin Saliba (1,265,000), Ren Lin (1,090,000), Renji Mao (745,000), Julien Sitbon (620,000), Colin Robinson (590,000), and Brock Wilson (345,000) all advanced to the penultimate day, but superstars Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Shaun Deeb, and Scott Seiver were all eliminated before the bubble burst.
Day 3 will begin at 1:00 PM on May 28th, with the goal of narrowing the competition down to the final five players. Stay tuned to PokerNews' live coverage page for this exciting finale.
Event #2: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Texas Hold'em Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Ranking | player | country | Chip quantity | Big Blind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anatoly Nikitin | Russia | 3,290,000 | 132 |
| 2 | Ivan Ruban | Russia | 2,300,000 | 92 |
| 3 | Xiaohu Liu | China | 1,910,000 | 76 |
| 4 | Zexiang Sun | United States | 1,700,000 | 68 |
| 5 | Charles Alex-Barton | United States | 1,690,000 | 68 |
| 6 | Scott Eskenazi | United States | 1,395,000 | 56 |
| 7 | Chenxiang Miao | China | 1,350,000 | 54 |
| 8 | Daniyal Gheba | United States | 1,330,000 | 53 |
| 9 | Peter Mugar | United States | 1,300,000 | 52 |
| 10 | Nicholas Seward | United States | 1,275,000 | 51 |
The industry employee competition attracted 906 participants.
Event #3:$500 - On Day 1 of the Industry Employees No-Limit Hold'em tournament, the pool of 906 players was reduced to 136, while a PokerNews employee was heading into Day 2 with a large chip stack. Brett Slezak (383,000) failed to crack the top ten, but he returned to the tournament with 11th place in chips, giving him a realistic chance to win the $64,083 first-place prize and his first gold bracelet.
Slezak's PokerNews colleague Tyler Boyer (84,000) also advanced to Day Two. However, Myles Phago, Frank Visser, Daniel Williams, Dan O'Hair, and last year's finalist Connor Richards were among those who were eliminated.
Jerome Neppl (758,000) entered Day 2 with the largest chip stack, and he was the only player with more than 100 big blinds. Yutaka Morishima (517,000) and Ronan Woolman (491,000) were second and third respectively, leading the pack as they entered the final day of the tournament.
The tournament will restart at 12:00 noon on May 28 and will continue until only one player has all the chips.
Event #3: $500 Industry Employees Tournament Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Ranking | player | country | Chip quantity | Big Blind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerome Neppl | United States | 758,000 | 126 |
| 2 | Yutaka Morishima | United States | 517,000 | 86 |
| 3 | Ronan Woolman | United States | 491,000 | 82 |
| 4 | Skyler Halama | United States | 489,000 | 82 |
| 5 | Brian Baron | United States | 487,000 | 81 |
| 6 | Larry Serebryany | United States | 482,000 | 80 |
| 7 | Michael Schlittler | United States | 460,000 | 77 |
| 8 | Timothy Dugan | United States | 457,000 | 76 |
| 9 | Bobby Sanchez | United States | 404,000 | 67 |
| 10 | Lennart Hennig | Germany | 394,000 | 66 |
Lawrence Berg leads the pack on Day 1 of the $1,500 Omaha High-Low Championship.
The first mixed game of the 2026 WSOP, Event #4: $1,500 Omaha High/Low 8 or better 7-max, attracted a strong field of 828 players, creating a total prize pool of $1,099,170. Despite a slight decrease in attendance compared to last year, the winner of this event will still take home $191,362.
Lawrence Berg (373,000), the 2016 gold bracelet winner, leads 179 surviving players into Day Two. Berg has three big blinds ahead of second-place Dekel Balas (354,000), but there is a gap between them and third-place William House (294,000).
Top poker players enthusiastically participated in the event, and many successfully advanced to Day Two.
Aaron Kupin (262,000), Ryan Bambrick (255,000), and Owais Ahmed (240,000) all packed their top ten chips into overnight bags. Renan Bruschi (216,000) advanced to Day 2 thanks to some incredible recent online poker results, as did Esther Taylor (208,000), Vanessa Selbst (122,000), Huck Seed (59,000), and Allen Kessler (25,000).
Of the 179 returning players, only 125 will receive the minimum prize of at least $3,020. These returning players will be seated at 1:00 PM on May 28th. The plan is to complete 10 more levels, which should reduce the number of participants to the final few tables.
Event #4: $1, 500 Omaha High/Low 8 or better. Top 10 chip stacks on Day 1.
| Ranking | player | country | Chip quantity | Big Blind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lawrence Berg | United States | 373,000 | 62 |
| 2 | Dekel Balas | United States | 354,000 | 59 |
| 3 | William House | United States | 294,000 | 49 |
| 4 | Ingo Klasen | Germany | 271,000 | 45 |
| 5 | Benjamin Gold | United States | 270,000 | 44 |
| 6 | Aaron Kupin | United States | 262,000 | 43 |
| 7 | Ryan Bambrick | United States | 255,000 | 40 |
| 8 | Tony Diehl | United States | 241,000 | 40 |
| 9 | Owais Ahmed | United States | 240,000 | 40 |
| 10 | Rafael Concepcion | United States | 239,000 | 40 |
2026 WSOP Day 3 Preview
The third day of the 2026 WSOP is May 28, which is expected to be another busy day for Horseshoe and the Paris Las Vegas Hotel.
The day began at 10:00 AM with Group 1c of the $550 Mini Mystery Million tournament. In the first two of the six pre-selected starting groups, 3,197 players had already registered, with 117 advancing to Day Two after completing 22 fast-paced levels.
Two hours later, we will see the results of the second (and final) day of the #3:$500 Industrial Employees Tournament, where only 136 players remain to compete for the first gold bracelet of the 2026 WSOP and a champion's prize of $64,083.
Event #2: $5,000 8-max No-Limit Texas Hold'em is entering its penultimate day, with Day 3 starting at 1:00 PM. The goal is to reduce the 24 returning players to just 5, however long it takes.
Also at 1:00 PM, the second day of the #4:$1,500 Omaha High Low 8 or better tournament will begin, with many star players among the 179 returning players vying for the $191,362 first-place prize. The plan is to play 10 more classes.
While these ongoing tournaments continue, two more championships awarding gold bracelets will also be joining the fray.
Event #5:$5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha will begin at 12:00 PM. This is only the third time this event has been held, but the previous two editions awarded over $3 million in prize money. Last year, a strong field of 757 players created a total prize pool of $3,482,200. Caleb “Bruno” Furth was the ultimate winner, taking home his second gold bracelet and $620,696.
Another new event starting on Day 3 is Event #6: $1,500 Seven-Card Stud, which will begin at 2:00 PM. Dan Heimiller is the defending champion of this tournament. The poker veteran defeated 375 opponents in 2025 to win his third gold bracelet and $106,839. Stud may not be as popular as it used to be, but the relatively small field of this event has attracted some of the loudest names in poker to the tables of the WSOP brand.
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