The First Week of the 57th World Series of Poker
The 2026 World Series of Poker kicked off on May 26 at the Horseshoe and Paris Casinos in Las Vegas. As usual, thousands of players from around the world arrived to try and win the 100 gold bracelets awarded to the event champions.
The first week of the festival featured 11 events with almost 30,000 entries and a prize pool of $25,021,243. The festival's opening event played a significant role, with the debut of the Mini Mystery Millions attracting 20,488 entries and a $9,352,772 prize pool.
Here are the 2026 WSOP winners from May 26 to June 2.
Event #1: $550 Mini Mystery Millions
- Entries: 20,488
- Prize Pool: $5,255,172
- Bounties: $4,097,600
- Total Prizes: $9,352,772
The festival opened with a brand-new event — a more accessible version of the Mystery Millions. It ran for six days and drew 20,488 entries, making it the seventh most-entered tournament in WSOP history.
The $9,352,772 prize pool broke down into $5,255,172 for standard payouts and $4,097,600 for mystery bounties. The top bounties were worth $25,000, $50,000, $100,000, $250,000, and a single $1,000,000 bounty to live up to the tournament's name. That million-dollar prize went to Andrew Shelton.
Philip Chun took the bracelet at his first WSOP final table and took home $400,000 (a 725x return on his buy-in).
Top 10 Finalists:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philip Chun | United States | $400,000 |
| 2 | Jalil Houssain | Palestine | $265,000 |
| 3 | Kartik Ved | India | $200,000 |
| 4 | David Prociak | United States | $155,000 |
| 5 | Axel Bayout | France | $115,000 |
| 6 | Joseph Trezzo | United States | $90,000 |
| 7 | Alex Kaviani | United States | $72,000 |
| 8 | Rocco Iati | United States | $43,000 |
| 9 | Jurgen Pirgu | United States | $43,000 |
| 10 | Alex Ferrari | United States | $32,856 |
Event #2: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
- Entries: 570
- Prize Pool: $2,622,000
American Daniyal Gheba won his first gold bracelet and the biggest score of his career, $502,985. He had finished sixth in this same event in 2024 for $117,000.
After winning over half a million dollars, Gheba said, "Obviously, it's life-changing money. But when I got to the final table, the prize jumps didn't worry me too much.”
Top 10 Finalists:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniyal Gheba | United States | $502,985 |
| 2 | Chenxiang Miao | China | $335,290 |
| 3 | Xiaohu Liu | China | $234,432 |
| 4 | Ren Lin | China | $166,448 |
| 5 | Peter Mugar | United States | $120,035 |
| 6 | Ivan Ruban | Russian Federation | $87,945 |
| 7 | Anatoly Nikitin | Russian Federation | $65,479 |
| 8 | Casey Hatmaker | United States | $49,556 |
| 9 | Kharlin Sued | United States | $38,133 |
| 10 | Zexiang Sun | United States | $29,844 |
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Event #3: $500 Industry Employees No-Limit Hold'em
- Entries: 136
- Prize Pool: $375,990
The Industry Employees event was won by Jerome Neppl, a dealer from New Mexico working at the WSOP. He took home $64,083 and the bracelet. He said he plans to use the winnings to pay off debts and will continue working as a dealer for the rest of the 2026 WSOP.
Before winning this event, Jerome only had $613 in recorded live tournament earnings.
Top 10 Finalists:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerome Neppl | United States | $64,083 |
| 2 | Sean Hamrick | United States | $42,680 |
| 3 | Skyler Halama | United States | $29,678 |
| 4 | Michael Schlittler | United States | $20,988 |
| 5 | Nicholas Baldev | United States | $15,098 |
| 6 | Andre Welt | Brazil | $11,052 |
| 7 | Antony Diep | China | $8,235 |
| 8 | Armando Viramontes Serna | United States | $6,247 |
| 9 | Jessica Odom | United States | $4,828 |
| 10 | Hunter Payne | United States | $3,801 |
Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better
- Entries: 828
- Prize Pool: $1,099,170
Jason Daly took the bracelet in the Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better event (his third WSOP bracelet) and $191,362.
Basking in the glory of the win, Daly said, "Three years ago was the first summer that I came out and said I’m going to win a bracelet. So I played 30 or 40 events, won one, then I said I’m going to keep doing it."
Top 10 Finalists:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Daly | United States | $191,362 |
| 2 | Dorian Rios | Venezuela | $127,528 |
| 3 | Per Hildebrand | Sweden | $87,038 |
| 4 | Amnon Filippi | United States | $60,517 |
| 5 | Andrew Voor | United States | $42,879 |
| 6 | Perry Green | United States | $30,973 |
| 7 | Joseph Hallock | United States | $22,817 |
| 8 | Benjamin Gold | United States | $17,149 |
| 9 | Vanessa Selbst | United States | $17,149 |
| 10 | Ryan Bambrick | United States | $13,155 |
Event #5: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
- Entries: 716
- Prize Pool: $3,293,600
Yang Wang of China overcame a 5-to-1 chip deficit heads-up against Jesse Lonis to win his first bracelet and $595,388. This bumps his lifetime recorded winnings above $6 million,
He credited part of his win to patience, saying that he had “folded a lot of big hands at the final table and just waited and waited until the right spot came along.”
Top 10 Finalists:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yang Wang | China | $595,388 |
| 2 | Jesse Lonis | United States | $396,892 |
| 3 | Evan Krentzman | United States | $277,537 |
| 4 | Justin Scott | United States | $197,139 |
| 5 | Stephen Hubbard | United States | $142,279 |
| 6 | Dylan Weisman | United States | $104,359 |
| 7 | Jarred Graham | Australia | $77,815 |
| 8 | Zackary Estes | United States | $59,001 |
| 9 | Edward Leonard | United States | $45,502 |
| 10 | Miguel Capriles | Venezuela | $35,704 |
Event #6: $1,500 Seven Card Stud
- Entries: 359
- Prize Pool: $476,573
Qigong Cheung won his first bracelet and the biggest payday of his career, $103,185. He defeated Brian Yoon heads-up for the victory.
"It feels so right to be able to play him heads-up and be able to win the title. He was the end-boss when I first played in the WSOP. To overcome him and win my first WSOP bracelet is a great tournament narrative for me."
Top 10 Finalists:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Cheung | United Kingdom | $103,185 |
| 2 | Brian Yoon | United States | $67,771 |
| 3 | Gregory Josephson | United States | $45,570 |
| 4 | Thomas Savitsky | United States | $31,380 |
| 5 | Bradley Jansen | United States | $22,141 |
| 6 | Jonathan Glendinning | United States | $16,017 |
| 7 | Korey Simeone | United States | $11,888 |
| 8 | Karle Wilson | United States | $9,058 |
| 9 | Hal Rotholz | United States | $7,090 |
| 10 | Ilkka Heikkila | Finland | $5,706 |
Event #7: $25,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship
- Entries: 128
- Prize Pool: $3,008,000
The $25,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship event drew some of the best players in the world, with the top 16 finishing in the money. Notable results included Daniel Negreanu (14th), Justin Saliba (11th), Michael Mizrachi (9th), Cary Katz (8th), and Thomas Boivin (6th).
It was Bulgarian Dimitar Danchev's first event of the trip. He ran through seven tough opponents and walked away with $800,000 and his second bracelet. His first came in 2022 in the same format at the WSOP Online, where he beat 97 players and won $327,000.
Top 10 Finalists:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dimitar Danchev | Bulgaria | $800,000 |
| 2 | Nikita Kuznetsov | Russian Federation | $528,000 |
| 3 | Ryuta Nakai | Japan | $300,000 |
| 4 | Alex Foxen | United States | $300,000 |
| 5 | Cary Katz | United States | $150,000 |
| 6 | Thomas Boivin | Belgium | $150,000 |
| 7 | Biao Ding | China | $150,000 |
| 8 | Henri Puustinen | Finland | $150,000 |
| 9 | Julien Sitbon | France | $60,000 |
| 10 | Florian Pesce | France | $60,000 |
Event #8: $1,500 Badugi
- Entries: 554
- Prize Pool: $735,435
American Michael Casella defeated two tough opponents in the three-handed battle against seven-time bracelet winner Scott Seiver and Poker Hall of Famer Nick Schulman. He earned his first bracelet and $141,963.
He apparently foresaw the entire thing. "I was planning on this last night," Casella explained, "Four way with me, Seiver, Nick, and Yuri, and that I would beat them all."
Top 10 Finalists:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Casella | United States | $141,963 |
| 2 | Nick Schulman | United States | $94,607 |
| 3 | Scott Seiver | United States | $62,920 |
| 4 | Gary Benson | Australia | $42,815 |
| 5 | Brant Hale | United States | $29,824 |
| 6 | Stephan Nussrallah | United States | $21,279 |
| 7 | Walter Chambers | United States | $15,560 |
| 8 | Kyle Arora | United States | $11,668 |
| 9 | Jon Turner | United States | $11,668 |
| 10 | Yuri Dzivielevski | Brazil | $8,979 |
Event #9: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
- Entries: 204
- Prize Pool: $1,897,200
Veteran Scott Clements won his fourth bracelet and $450,176. He skipped the post-victory press and immediately late-registered for another WSOP event. Classic grinder behavior.
Phil Hellmuth made the final table, finishing seventh for $54,000. It was his 76th WSOP final table. He's still hunting his 18th bracelet, which would extend his all-time record.
Top 10 Finalists:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Clements | United States | $450,176 |
| 2 | Dylan Weisman | United States | $299,228 |
| 3 | Todd Brunson | United States | $203,242 |
| 4 | James Obst | Australia | $141,126 |
| 5 | Nam Le | United States | $100,231 |
| 6 | Ryan Bambrick | United States | $72,849 |
| 7 | Phil Hellmuth | United States | $54,214 |
| 8 | John Esposito | United States | $41,334 |
| 9 | Josh Arieh | United States | $41,334 |
| 10 | James Chen | United States | $32,305 |
Event #10: $600 Deepstack No-Limit Hold’em
- Entries: 4,622
- Prize Pool: $2,329,488
Karapet Galstyan won his second bracelet and the biggest score of his career: $259,829. His first bracelet came in 2024 in Event #10 Limit O 8 or Better ($320) at the online WSOP for $13,000. He texted his wife about the win, but she hadn’t managed to stay awake.
"It's awesome. What a difference it is to win a live event and get both the prize money and the bracelet."
Top 10 Finalists:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karapet Galstyan | United States | $259,829 |
| 2 | Joshua Lusby-Angvick | United States | $173,067 |
| 3 | Russell Giordano | United States | $128,446 |
| 4 | Joseph Sia | Philippines | $96,106 |
| 5 | Kenneth Baime | United States | $72,500 |
| 6 | Luis Yepez Carmona | Venezuela | $55,145 |
| 7 | Michael Wagner | United States | $42,295 |
| 8 | Nelson Chew | United States | $32,713 |
| 9 | Omri Zaidman | United States | $25,517 |
| 10 | Michael Destephen | United States | $20,074 |
Event #12: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw
- Entries: 626
- Prize Pool: $831,015
Stephen Hubbard won his first bracelet and $155,819. It was his second final table at the 2026 WSOP, having finished fifth in Event #5 PLO ($5K) for $142,000. He had also recently won two PokerGO Tour PLO titles.
Speaking on the success after another recent deep run, Hubbard said, "I mean, that's crazy that just happened so quickly back-to-back. I have a few other titles, but this one means a lot to me."
Top 10 Finalists:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Hubbard | United States | $155,819 |
| 2 | Gabriel Paul | United States | $102,957 |
| 3 | Dylan Smith | United States | $69,456 |
| 4 | Timothy Wong | United States | $47,846 |
| 5 | Anthony Lamps | United States | $33,672 |
| 6 | Philip Jaffe | United States | $24,219 |
| 7 | Per Hildebrand | Sweden | $17,814 |
| 8 | David "ODB" Baker | United States | $13,405 |
| 9 | Tal Avivi | Israel | $13,405 |
| 10 | Jerry Wong | United States | $10,325 |
