At the 30k/60k/60k level, the loose and extremely aggressive Sannier raises to 125,000 from middle position, and Chi Chen — lojack and shallow — calls with aces.
Flop (400,000):
Sanye checks. Chen checks back.
Thorn (400,000):
Sannier bets 100,000. Chen glances at his cards (who doesn't like looking at aces?) and raises to 300,000.
Sannier, as we already know from previous episodes, has decided never to trust a raise. So he re-raises — 750,000!
Chen, with 1.7 million behind, is perplexed. The morning commentators are somehow certain Chen is thrilled and already counting his winnings, but they clearly haven't played poker with their own money (or at least with people who know the rules) in a while. Chen has a hard time even finding a call.
River (1,900,000):
The effective stack is 1.2 million. Sannier quickly moves all-in.
, probably one of the worst cards in the deck for a slow-played pair of aces. Chen says:
"I'll probably call, but I want to wait for the pay jump."
And he waits. And the longer he waits, the less he likes the situation.
After a few minutes he says:
"Okay. Looks like I've changed my mind."
He sits there a while longer, then pulls the trigger — fold.
Kevin Ordet moves all-in against Congya Zhang in a pot that was already quite large preflop. Congya asks for a stack count, but Kevin thinks she said "call" rather than "count," and he quickly flips over his aces to avoid being accused of slowrolling.
The floor arrives. The hand is alive, and there will be no penalty for exposing the cards — the player has already punished himself. There's also little point in recounting the stack: Congya throws away her cards and says she had .
This table is being made a TV table, and Vladimir Belekhov — a professional from Kostroma and a member of our Russian forum — is sitting at it. He's immediately dealt aces, which he now has to play without arousing suspicion, since his stack is under 20 big blinds. He opts to three-bet rather than jam.
Ordet doesn't disappoint and goes all-in. Vladimir doubles up.
Sannier keeps pressing his thesis: I see a raise? That's weakness!
But Yashan comes back with a 5-bet!
This is right out of Anton Makievsky's playbook: in the late stages of the Main Event, the key is to adjust the sizings so that you — not your opponent — are the one moving all-in.
Sannier folds.
A few minutes later, another test. A cheeky young man five-bets to 70bb. Holding J7s, two jacks suddenly looked like a serious upgrade, and Sannier quickly called.
Trayner suddenly finds himself with a mountain of chips at his disposal.
A big check-raise from Ensan suddenly knocks out top pair from Deeb!
Both players have below-average stacks, but somehow it feels like they could both make it to the final table. That's still a long way off, though.
Trayner opens from UTG with . Sannier enters the hijack with .
On the flop , pure hatred is already brewing.
Trayner – check.
Sannier – 150,000.
Trayner check-raises to 500,000.
Sannier – call
Turn (1,520,000):
Trayner bets 625,000. I wonder if he thinks he's bluffing? Maybe he's knocking out some mid-range pocket pairs? It's unlikely he's putting his opponent on bare K-high.
Sannier comes to his senses and folds.
"That was a very interesting call from Sannier on the flop. I like it!" David Williams approves. And he seems to mean it.
2026 WSOP Europe Main Event finalist Akihiro Konishi defends the big blind with 42o against the world's leading poker vlogger and mocks him with a check-raise on the flop:
Yokosawa calls.
Turn (980,000, effective stack 345,000):
With live outs, Konishi moves all-in.
Yokosawa folds and is eliminated in the next hand.
At the very end of the 40k/80k/80k level, Trayner wins another huge pot. Suheb Porbandarwala raises to 160,000 from UTG+1 with , and his stack is about 60 blinds.
Trayner has – . He 3-bets 460,000. Suheb 4-bets 1,200,000. Trayner 5-bets small – 2,000,000.
Suheb probably lived through the days when winning players could show each other A8o and two sixes in such pots, and it was like he was back in his youth.
All-in and instant call.
The flop is a two-way draw, but then there's nothing left, and the aggressor leaves the main in flames.
The players return from dinner to the 50k/100k/100k blinds. The spotlight is still on the table with Deeb (3,605,000) and Ensan (4,520,000). The biggest stack behind them belongs to Frenchman Mario Boos with 13.5 million — his parents probably loved console games. Fast-food restaurateur Sharma, whose surname could use an extra letter, also sits on a big stack of 8.3 million. As the field thins, we see more and more familiar faces.
The second TV table features Australian high-stakes reg Trainer with 18,335,000 and a host of short and mid-sized stacks. Among the short stacks is Zizka with four blinds, while Yashan and Sannier round out the shorties.
The third table has Vladimir Belekhov (4 million), Congya Zhang — the last woman in the Main Event and the top Chinese player (7.7 million) — and the ever-short-stacked Sean Winter (1.2 million).
Chinese player Shi raises from the button. Zizka moves all-in from the small blind with . Shi has an easy call with almost anything, but against this hand he's not far behind — he holds ATo. A ten comes on the turn, and Zizka is eliminated.
Shaun Deeb opened AJo from early position. Next, Boos folded the same hand. Everyone else folded too, but the blinds took a keen interest in the pot...
Nugent weighs how strong his 4-bet will look from these positions, but re-raises to 1,400,000 anyway. Ensan moves all-in, gets snap-called, and doubles up, leaving his opponent with four blinds.
Ensan shows no visible emotion. What's the big deal? He picked up aces and kings in the top 100 of the Main Event. For a former winner of this tournament, it's just another step toward the final table.
Boos 3-bets Deeb in late position. Sean, however, holds a hand that isn't a bad candidate for a bluff 4-bet.
But he's a bit short on chips. With a heavy heart, Sean folds — and probably chides himself for his cowardice and promises not to do it again.
Kevin Ordet, who just doubled up, min-raises from early position. Vladimir Belekhov, in the hijack, shows an unexpected fondness for K4s.
He calls and flops trips.
Ordet check-calls, checks the turn.
Belekhov bets 550,000. Ordet calls.
River (2,100,000):
Ordet checks, his stack is 1.5 million.
Belekhov bets 600,000. Schulman approves — he should bet, because a paired jack will widen his value range against bluff-catchers, but jamming is unnecessary and could be dangerous.
Ordet calls very quickly and doesn't hide his surprise when he sees the Russian's cards.
Belekhov slaps his forehead and admits that he actually thought he was making an open raise.
Ordet, clearly not feeling any better, is eliminated all-in a few minutes later.
Deeb raises from the button. His stack at the start of the hand is 18.5 big blinds, but Vaziri in the big blind decides to play sevens passively and just calls on every street.
On the river, Deeb pushes almost all his chips over the line — 950,000, with 5,000 left beside Sean's cards.
Vaziri calls, and Sean gets a crucial double-up. Vaziri is allowed to keep his cards, since there was no all-in and call.
"And anyway, we don't need our opponents to show their cards," Ali Nejad remarks paradoxically. "What if they do — and then we win?"
A big-stacked Frenchman opens from the cutoff. Hossein Ensan, never shy about three-betting a fairly wide range, raises from the button. Shaun Deeb ponders in the big blind...
...and calmly goes all-in! 37 blinds!
Ensan 3-bet for value, but is he willing to fold half his stack?
No! He throws AQo face up and calls on his friend to show his cards too.
But Sean, of course, refuses.
Saying goodbye to Iachan.
Not right away, but Chauday announces a call, and yet another of Iachan's deep Main Event runs comes to an end.
Zhang raises from the hijack. Vladimir Belekhov has 20 blinds again, and calls from the small blind with . Petkov comes along with a weak ace in the big blind.
Flop –
The blinds check. Zhang continuation-bets 220,000, Vladimir check-raises to 550,000. Congya calls.
Thorn (1,800,000):
Vladimir goes all-in for 1,400,000.
The Chinese woman calls with .
Igor Soika finds a fold in a 3-bet pot.
At the very start of the 60k/120k/120k level, Sharma tries to stuff all his chips into Ensan's stack.
The outs don't come, and Sharma — who played extremely loosely — leaves the tournament, handing most of his chips to a more patient player. As a reminder, he'd received the lion's share of his stack the day before from the utterly insane Eliday. Perhaps Ensan's chips will eventually end up with some nitwit too?
Jeffrey Weiss and Ryan Miller are dealt a cooler that's dead for such stacks. Weiss opens tens, and Miller, short-stacked, three-bets queens.
But then Weiss makes his strongest move of the hand – 4-bets to 1.4 million.
Miller, a strong limit cash game reg, a competent and highly experienced player, suddenly finds himself lost in thought. He looks at his opponent suspiciously. He looks at his chips. He stares into space...
The neighbors are discussing football, and Ryan is getting worse.
Finally, he calls!
On the flop, Weiss quickly moves all-in.
Pause.
"He always has aces," Miller mutters. "Always aces! Or a monster fold? Keep the million for himself?..."
It feels like panic on a physiological level, a real attack of paranoia. His whole body is shaking.
And finally, he folds!!
"Was it a good one?" he asks his opponent nervously.
“Well... I already have a pair,” Weiss says.
Miller's expression changes slightly.
– Me too.
"You have a pair? No... I don't believe it. You would have called with a pair," Weiss finishes him off.
Deeb gets a three-bet. The first thing he does is ask his opponent's stack size with a predatory look.
Then he quickly says “all-in” and ends the hand in his favor.
That same Greg Brown (30bb) opens from the lojack for 250,000. Deeb has eights in the small blind. He three-bets to 900,000 and wins on the spot.
Shaun Deeb, for one, has probably never once lost his ability to think clearly at the poker table in his life.
The flop is seen by four players.
Flop (1,200,000):
Michael Gagliano, a great online regular from the bygone days, finds himself in heaven. After three checks, he bets 300,000 and is quickly check-raised to 800,000 by Chaudey.
Calls.
Turn (2,800,000):
Chaudey bets 850,000. He's doing everything right – attacking pocket pairs under jacks and A7s. He just got unlucky with the hand.
But what should Gagliano do? The situation isn't as clear-cut as on the flop, where betting or calling was the only option.
He ends up making a big raise – 2,500,000.
Chaudey takes off his glasses and examines Michael's glasses. Then he looks up.
– But I knew there would be complications... What are you telling me? Set, sevens? Bet/call, then raise... But why would you raise a set here? Maybe it's a move?
"I wanted to raise preflop, but I just called..." Chauday starts breaking down his own play in the hand, hunting for a possible mistake or, conversely, a stroke of luck. "Yeah, it should be a set. I just don't see any bluffs," the Frenchman concludes, and folds.
O'Neal raises to 240,000 from the cutoff and is 3-bet to 720,000 by Spain's Gaglian, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner.
In the old days, people might have folded AJo out of position, but now no one is playing that weak, and O'Neal calls.
The dealer reveals a king as his first card, but it is followed by a jack.
Flop (1,740,000):
With the ace of hearts, there is no fold on the flop at all, so O'Neal check-calls a bet of 650,000.
On the turn, O'Neal sees a third heart and leads 750,000.
Gagliana calls.
River – board pairs with a .
O'Neal goes all-in – he wasn't trying to knock out a set, but or aces, so a board pair doesn't scare him. An enterprising bluff from a cash game player from Florida, but it leads to elimination from the tournament.
“It’s painful to watch this at such a late stage of the Main,” says Shulman.
Shi responds to a bet of 150,000 with a flat raise to 300,000. There is a call.
Turn (1,270,000):
Weiss checks. Shi bets 880,000, leaving herself with 1.1 million. There seems to be no point in continuing to lie in wait, but Weiss just calls.
River (3,030,000):
Weiss checks. SPR is around 0.3. Shi rechecks his cards and announces a fatal all-in.
Ensan raises from lowjack. Deeb is in the cutoff. , and he simply calls. Two people see the flop.
Flop (1,000,000):
Ensan bets 800,000—a surprisingly tight bet. Sean immediately folds.
The way Hossein Ensan steers his ship through the stormy waters of the Main with an iron fist is quite impressive.
"It looks like we're in for a huge flip," says Nick Shulman.
Shaevel makes a big reraise, leaving himself with 200,000 chips. The raise is 5,025,000. Chaudey calls.
Turn .
"Do you mind if I wait a couple of minutes?" asks Shaevel, who has caught the nuts. A page jump will give him another run.
The table doesn't object.
Chaudey spends these minutes in agony – on such a turn he can’t hit anything else, the only question is whether he has outs.
Finally, Shaevel is ready to meet his fate. All-in and call, safe river .
Chaudey doubles up after almost going all-in and calling. However, this "almost" causes the table to pause for a few minutes again, waiting for a pay jump.
At another table, Lauren Klein waits on a pay jump — $20,000! — for a full 15 minutes (!), and only with the help of a floorman is forced to put his last chips in the pot. And no one at the table objected — please, take until tomorrow to think about it, my friend!
Klein busts all-in without ever seeing the extra money. We won't feel sorry for him.
Ali Nejad, seeing Lauren's name only in the credits, without looking at the work monitor, assumed she was a woman.
"It's okay," Schulman reassured him gently. "I'll just add that Lauren Klein recently won a bracelet four years in a row."
This really did happen — between 2016 and 2019. Nick Schulman has an enviable memory!
Thibodeau Belekhov responds to a limp with a raise of 450,000.
His opponent calls.
Flop (1,050,000):
Check – 300,000 from Belekhov – call.
Turn (1,650,000):
It will be difficult to bluff the opponent with such a card, and Vladimir checks after.
River (1,650,000):
A decent runout for Thibodeau, the problem is, winning the money will be tough. We're not even shown the end of the hand.
Chaudey calls.
Flop (2,600,000):
Shaevel makes a small continuation bet and calls the all-in.
"Cheer for the jack!" asks Chaudey.
The turn and river don't help.
"Good luck, everyone. I can't just quit, can I?" says the Frenchman, leaving the tournament.
The day is winding down — the last four hands. Ensan defends the big blind and misses the flop completely, which doesn't stop him from check-raising.
The opponent folds and says:
"I don't believe him!"
"Yes, I have a nine. No — a set of nines!" Ensan assures him.
The players suddenly switch to Farsi.
"I still don't believe it," Karakaya says, returning to English.
But his chips have already changed hands.
At the end of the day, 62 players remain in contention for the top prizes. American Tyler Gaston is the chip leader with 21,000,000. Hossein Ensan has 17,775,000, placing him fifth in chips.
Here are the top 25 players at the end of Day 6:
| Day 6 Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tyler Gaston | 21,000,000 |
| 2 | Blake Barousse | 19,375,000 |
| 3 | Zhao Liu | 19,047,000 |
| 4 | Mario Boos | 17,950,000 |
| 5 | Hossein Ensan | 17,775,000 |
| 6 | Rami Hammoud | 17,400,000 |
| 7 | Junjie Tang | 17,300,000 |
| 8 | Malcolm Trayner | 17,200,000 |
| 9 | Todd Brunson | 17,000,000 |
| 10 | Lucas Jumalon | 15,875,000 |
| 11 | Antonio Galiana | 15,600,000 |
| 12 | Jamie Shaevel | 15,525,000 |
| 13 | Maxime Chilaud | 14,650,000 |
| 14 | Giuseppe Pantaleo | 14,450,000 |
| 15 | Romain Lewis | 13,900,000 |
| 16 | Ralph Perry | 13,775,000 |
| 17 | Han Feng | 12,850,000 |
| 18 | Brock Wilson | 12,650,000 |
| 19 | Michael Gagliano | 11,675,000 |
| 20 | Allan Sannier | 11,350,000 |
| 21 | Daniel Savas | 11,275,000 |
| 22 | Cade Lautenbacher | 11,000,000 |
| 23 | Will Givens | 10,175,000 |
| 24 | Greg Mueller | 10,000,000 |
| 25 | Mark Tropp | 9,300,000 |
