WSOP Main Event Day 7 | Malcolm Trayner leads 21 players, Deeb and Ensan advance

On July 12th, local time in Las Vegas, Day 7 of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #82:$10,000 Main Event NLH World Championship concluded. After five levels of deep water, the field shrank from 62 to 21 players. All those who advanced have secured at least $325,000, with only one day of competition remaining to reach the nine-player final table and the seven-figure prize pool.

This year's WSOP Main Event attracted 9,208 players, with a total prize pool of $85,634,400. Australian player Malcolm Trayner became the chip leader on Day 7 with 63,200,000 chips, leading second-place Rami Hammoud by over 20 million chips. Lucas Jumalon, Evagoras Evagorou, and Will Givens finished third through fifth, respectively.

Malcolm Trayner leads the final 21 players by a huge margin.

Malcolm Trayner will enter Day 8 with 105 big blinds. The Australian player, who won the 2024 WSOP Mystery Millions and earlier this year the 2026 Aussie Millions Main Event, now has the opportunity to achieve a double victory in both the Aussie Millions and the WSOP Main Event in the same year.

Despite holding a lead of over 20 million chips, Trayner remained focused on hand decisions rather than the escalating prize money. He stated after the tournament that he would treat each hand as a problem to be solved, concentrating on making better judgments than his opponents.

Top 10 Chips of Day 7 in the WSOP Main Event

The above scoreboard and country/region information are compiled based on the list published by PokerNews.

Shaun Deeb sets personal best record for deepest main event appearance.

Current WSOP Player of the Year Shaun Deeb is ranked sixth with 31,300,000 chips, which is also his deepest cut in the WSOP Main Event in his career.

While other players gradually felt the pressure of the final table and the seven-figure prize money, Deeb remained consistently calm. He stated that he viewed this Main Event journey as part of his daily work and wouldn't let excitement or adrenaline influence his table decisions.

Deeb has even started considering playing the $25,000 HORSE and $1,000 Turbo events after the main event. He mentioned that he hasn't registered for any other WSOP events for a week, which is quite rare in his career.

Hossein Ensan once again makes his way to the final table of the main event.

2019 WSOP Main Event champion Hossein Ensan is in seventh place with 29,700,000 chips and will enter Day 8 with nearly 50 big blinds.

If Ensan ultimately wins again, he will become the first player to win the WSOP Main Event twice since Johnny Chan in 1987 and 1988. Ensan said that returning to the later stages of the Main Event reminded him of his championship journey seven years ago, and with more experience, he believes he is more mature now than he was in 2019.

Todd Brunson continues the discussion of family history.

Todd Brunson also made it to the final 21 with 7,800,000 chips, equivalent to about 13 big blinds at the start of Day 8.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the late legendary poker player Doyle Brunson's second WSOP Main Event victory. If Todd can pull off a comeback from short-stack position, it will write a new chapter in the Brunson family's Main Event history.

Day 6: Both chip leaders were eliminated.

Tyler Gaston and Blake Barousse, who finished first and second in Day 6, both failed to make it to the final three tables. Gaston was the only player to break 20 million chips on Day 6, but ultimately finished in 36th place; Barousse was eliminated in a hand against Rami Hammoud with two pair, finishing in 31st place.

According to PokerNews statistics, since 2005, only Jamie Gold and Martin Jacobson have converted their Day 6 chip leader position into a WSOP Main Event title; of the past 20 Day 6 chip leaders, 12 have made it to the final table.

Nagami encountered three collisions, even bigger three.

Japanese player Kyosuke Nagami faced one of the day's toughest elimination hands in 23rd place. He held pocket Jacks against Daniel Savas' pocket Queens and took the lead after hitting triplets on the flop.

However, the turn dealt a Q, allowing Savas to complete a bigger set and win the game. Nagami finished in 23rd place, delivering another deep finish after his 21st place finish in the Main Event two years ago, but still failed to advance to Day 8.

Zhao Liu was eliminated in the final round, finishing in 22nd place.

Zhao Liu started Day 7 in third place on the leaderboard and had accumulated about 50 million chips by the end of the day, but his lead quickly disappeared in the last hour.

In the final hand, Zhao Liu went all-in from the cutoff position with 8,250,000 chips, and Lucas Jumalon re-raised from the small blind to isolate.

Zhao Liu: Q♠9♦
Lucas Jumalon: A♠K♠

The flop of A♦A♣2♣ gave Jumalon a straight set of three Aces, and the turn 2♦ completed a full house. Zhao Liu had no chance to recover and was eliminated in 22nd place, taking home $325,000.

After Zhao Liu was eliminated, Day 7 officially ended, and the last 21 contestants completed their bagging and secured their spots for Day 8.

Match data compilation

Distribution of remaining prize money

Day 8 will determine the nine finalists for the final table.

The WSOP Main Event Day 8 will resume at 11:00 AM Las Vegas time on July 13th, with blinds starting at 300,000/600,000 and an ante of 600,000 big blind. The tournament will continue with 21 players until the final 9.

Players who successfully advance to the nine-player final table will be guaranteed at least $1,000,000 in prize money and will return to Las Vegas on August 3 to compete for the WSOP Main Event bracelet and the $10,000,000 first-place prize.

Malcolm Trayner will lead his team into Day 8 with a clear advantage, but Rami Hammoud, Lucas Jumalon, Shaun Deeb, and Hossein Ensan all have ample chips. With the prize money increasing dramatically and several champion players still in the game, the competition for the final nine spots will be the most crucial day of this year's Main Event.

Want to change Texas Holdem from "can understand" to "can win"?

If you want to learn more about Texas Hold'em, you can continue reading：

The Origins of Texas Hold'em: Why is it the World's Most Popular Poker Variant?
Texas Hold'em Hand Rankings and Showdown Rules (Beginner’s Essentials)
Texas Hold'em Betting teaching: Check / Bet / Call /Raise and Betting Strategy Analysis
The importance of Texas Hold'em position? Why is the back position more advantageous?
How to play Texas Hold'em? Novices learn Texas Hold'em rules, processes and betting teaching in 10 minutes
Texas Hold'em Starting Hands Strategy Guide: Which Hands to Play?
Texas Holdem Starting Hands Chart Tutorial: Complete Starting Hand Chart and Position Strategy
How to play Texas Hold'em? Complete rules and a hand's flow (Preflop / Flop / Turn / River)

Hunter Poker offers comprehensive tutorials, hand analysis, and strategy sharing to help players upgrade from simply "reading the cards" to understanding the range . This allows you to make better decisions in every hand.

▶️ In Facebook Follow Hunter Poker.
📘 In Youtube Follow Hunter Poker.

Want to learn more about Texas Hold'em gameplay and strategies?

Online Texas Hold'em free tournaments typically have no entry fee, making them ideal for beginners to familiarize themselves with the rules and for advanced players to test strategies and gain experience. View full brand profiles to learn about each platform's free tournament schedule, features, and target audience.

Go to learn more