A poker player bluffed away all his chips early in the WSOP Main Event with a six-high hand.

Patrick Lander made a crazy bluff in Group D on Day 1 of the 2026 WSOP Main Event, scoring 6-5 with different suits, but ultimately lost to his opponent's 8 threes, becoming the first player to be eliminated.

It happened again. For four consecutive days, players were eliminated on the first day of the 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event—and at a depth of 300 big blinds—but this time it was different.

Day 1, Group D, began at 11 a.m. Pacific Time on Sunday. When UFC's "Suga" Sean O'Malley announced the "shuffle and deal," over 2,700 fighters had already registered. One fighter, Patrick Lander, was eliminated with six high cards less than half an hour after the first hand was dealt.

Poker player tries crazy bluffing

On Day 1, in Group A, one player bet all their chips with AK and was eliminated early after running into pocket aces. In Day 1, in Group B, one player hit trips on the flop but was eliminated by a backdoor flush from pocket aces. The first elimination in Group 1 was after calling on the river and losing a straight to pocket aces making a full house.

Lander was eliminated in a different way. He didn't have a strong hand. In fact, he only had six-high – specifically, 6x5x of different suits. According to PokerNews reporter Dan O'Hair, who was at the table, Nicolas Vayssieres raised to 500 from the under-the-gun position, and Bryan Buonocore in the small blind (holding 8x8x) called. Lander then 3-bet to 1,500, and both opponents called.

The flop came 9x8x4x. Action checked to Lander, who continuation bet 2,000 with a gutshot straight draw. Both players called, seeing the turn bring Ax. Buonocore checked again with his set, while Lander semi-bluffed again with 2,000, forcing Vayssieres to fold. Buonocore check-raised to 7,000 this time, but it wasn't enough to get his draw opponent to fold.

The river card, Kx, didn't improve the hand at all. Buonocore led with a bet of 12,000, while Lander, for some reason—either not wanting to stay or not believing he was facing a strong hand—went all in with about 45,000 chips. Buonocore called after a long deliberation, completing a full double-up, while Lander became the first player eliminated from Day 1, Group D. At least, he fought to the end.

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