2026 WSOP Day 14: Is Jake Schwartz About to Capture His First Bracelet?

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Jun 09, 2026 8 min read

The 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) turned two weeks old on June 8, and it so happened to be the busiest day of the series so far, with no fewer than nine events taking place inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Three of those events concluded and awarded their respective bracelets, another three progressed to their final days, and some of the brightest poker stars shone bright and gave themselves a shot at some WSOP hardware.

Two players captured their first WSOP bracelets on Day 14, with another star adding to his ever-growing collection.

Christopher Alcindor became a WSOP champion after taking down Event #22: $1,500 Big O. Alcindor bested a 2,150-strong field to claim the event's bracelet and $387,110 top prize. The Canadian already had two WSOP Circuit rings, and now has a bracelet to keep those company.

Event #25: $500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em also crowned its champion, with Brayden Lou coming out on top of a 4,100-entry field and banking $190,066. The 21-year-old had recently graduated from Gordon College and was making his way back to San Diego when he and his father decided to stop by the WSOP. What an incredible decision that turned out to be.

Russian high-stakes guru Artur Martirosian became a four-time WSOP bracelet winner after triumphing in Event #24: $25,000 High Roller Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em. Martirosian left 241 of the world's best poker players in his wake as he marched on to victory. Martirosian already topped Russia's all-time money list. He's now extended that lead with another $1,286,285 in prize money won from this event.

Jake Schwartz Leads From Chad Eveslage in the $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship

Jake Schwartz has more than 200 WSOP cashes and more than two dozen final table appearances to his name, but a bracelet continues eluding him. That may all change in the next 24 hours because Schwartz is the chip leader of Event #27: $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship, where only 11 players will return for the final day.

Schwartz goes into the final day armed with 1,890,000 chips, a significant lead over the chasing pack, many of whom are no strangers to the sweet taste of glory in a WSOP event.

Chad Eveslage (1,445,000) could become a five-time bracelet winner if he comes out on top, while Lawrence Brandt (1,015,000), Bryce Yockey (750,000), Jeremy Ausmus (685,000), Owais Ahmed (605,000), Ryan Miller (595,000), and Nick Schulman (555,000) each own between one and seven bracelets each.

Only Tomas Gluszko (1,305,000), Japan's Koji Fujimoto (590,000), and Duane Fontenot (345,000) are, like Schwartz, without a bracelet event victory.

Cards are back in the air from 1:00 p.m. local time on June 9, and PokerNews' live reporting team will be on the ground from the pitching of the first cards to the crowning of the champion.

Event #27: $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

$1,500 Monster Stack Reaches Day 4; 80 Players Remain

Day 3 of Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack saw the field cut from 660 players who started the day with high hopes to a more manageable 60 by the close of play. The deep-stacked structure has enabled the cream to rise to the top in this tournament, evident by the top-tier pros still in the hunt for the $1,302,125 top prize.

Valentin Vornicu (27,525,000) is the man to catch going into the penultimate day's play. Vornicu was a $1 buy by Team Fleyshman in the $25K Fantasy Draft, which could turn out to be a bargain if he progresses to the final table or beyond.

Popular pro Andrew Moreno (22,530,000 returns to the fray in second place, with Matthew Miller (19,345,000) completing the top three.

Elsewhere, Yaser Al-Keliddar (17,860,000), Jonas Lauck (17,670,000), Richard Alsup (13,420,000), and four-time bracelet winner Martin Zamani (13,350,000) have big stacks, while Alen Bakovic (9,730,000), John Wasnock (7,800,000), Gabriel Andrade (7,600,000), Ankush Mandavia (5,140,000), Joao Simao (3,305,000), and David Peters (2,380,000) are all lurking.

Play resumes at 11:00 a.m. local time on June 9, with the plan to trim the field to only five players.

Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts

Erwan Pecheux Leads After Day 2 of the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em

Only 12 players remain in Event #26: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em and it is Frenchman Erwann Pecheux (5,460,000) who holds the chip lead going into the final day. Pecheux has come close to securing a bracelet on several occasions, with a runner-up finish in the 2015 edition of the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Mix Max being his nearest miss.

Of the 12 remaining players, three, including Pecheux, call France home. Sami Bechahed (2,080,000) returns to the tables fifth in chips, with Flavien Guenan (1,050,000) sitting down with the second-shortest stack.

Braxton Dunaway (4,290,000) is the only bracelet winner still in the field. He has enough chips for third place at the restart.

The final day commences at 12:00 p.m. local time on June 9. Who will come out on top? Stay tuned to PokerNews to find out.

Event #26: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

The $600 Mixed NLHE/PLO Attracts A Host of Stars

Event #28: $600 Deepstack Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha saw 3,332 players buy in, but only 132 progressed to Day 2. Despite this being a tournament with a buy-in at the lower end of the scale, dozens of household names are returning to their seats on Day 2.

According to the WSOP LIVE app, Darryll Fish (4,020,000) leads the way, although there is a chance Fish's stack is 402,000. Regardless, the top of the counts is still littered with some of poker's elite.

Artur Martirosian Beats Final Table's 'Best Opponent' to Win Fourth WSOP Bracelet

Read our recap

Brian Rast (2,535,000), Daniel Negreanu (2,320,000), Alex Foxen (2,185,000), Robert Nehorayan (1,985,000), Will Berry (1,870,000), and Jason Daly (1,715,000) all return on Day 2 in the top 10! None of those names would look out of place at a $6,000 event, let alone one costing $600.

Lower down the counts but still with a legitimate shot at glory are players such as Josh Reichard (1,340,000), Calvin Anderson (1,185,000), Matt Vengrin (890,000), Jon Kyte (630,000), Max Neugebauer (580,000), and Alex Livingston (535,000).

It is an 11:00 a.m. local time start for Day 2, the final day, of this event. Stay tuned to PokerNews to find out whether one of poker's big guns takes down one of the 2026 WSOP's more affordable events.

Event #28: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

Brandon Wilson Leads an All-Star Cast in the $50,000 High Roller

A field of 104 competed on Day 1 of Event #29: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em, with more than half of those starters falling by the wayside before time was called. Brandon Wilson (2,025,000) bagged the most chips of the 41 survivors, and he heads into Day 2 with the chip lead.

Wilson is regular in the highest buy-in tournaments worldwide. At the 2025 WSOP Paradise festival, Wilson finished fourth in the $125,000 No-Limit Hold'em Triton 7-Handed event for $1,132,000.

At the time of writing, the WSOP LIVE app had inaccurate chip counts, so we only have a handful of counts from our reporters' overnight chip bags.

Brian Breck (1,635,000) is flying high, as are Christoph Vogelsang (1,440,000), Matthias Eibinger (1,410,000), and Aleksejs Ponakovs (1,375,000). Mikita Badziakouski (1,365,000) also bagged a large stack, along with Galen Hall (1,275,000), Stephen Chidwick (1,180,000), and Finland's Eelis Parssinen (1,090,000).

Day 2 starts at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 9, with players going into Level 9. Late registration remains open until the end of Level 10, so expect many more members of poker royalty to enter this high roller fashionably late.

Ronnie Bardah is Among the Day 1 Leaders in the $1,500 Limit Hold'em Event

A field of 510 entrants was reduced to 105 on Day 1 of Event #30: $1,500 Limit Hold'em 7-Handed. Second in chips at the close of play was none other than Ronnie Bardah, a man who has a penchant for fixed-limit betting structures.

Bardah won the $2,500 Limit Hold'em Six-Handed event at the 2012 WSOP, finished third in a $5,000 Limit Hold'em event in 2013, and reached back-to-back final tables in the $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship in 2023 and 2024. He's now in a position to reach the business end of yet another Limit Hold'em event.

The Day 2 field contains several prominent poker stars, including Bradley Jansen (254,000), David Bach (211,000), Christian Roberts (163,000), Yuri Dzivielevski (154,000), Patrick Leonard (142,000), Eli Elezra (109,000), Ian Johns (61,000), and Robert Mizrachi (52,000).

The Day 1 survivors return to the action from 1:00 p.m. local time on June 9 with the plan to complete another 10 levels.

Event #30: $1,500 Limit Hold'em 7-Handed Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

What to Expect on Day 15 of the 2026 WSOP

First up from the currently in-play tournaments is Day 4 of Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack. Only 80 players remain in the hunt for the $1,302,125 top prize. Cards are back in the air from 11:00 a.m. local time.

Also at 11:00 a.m. local time, we see the final day of Event #28: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha begins. Daniel Negreanu is among the final 132. Can they get the job done?

Event #26: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em awards its bracelet today after its final day shuffles up and deals at 12:00 p.m. local time. Noon is also when the 41 remaining superstars return for Day 2 of Event #29: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em and will be joined by a raft of late entrants.

Two other events continue from 1:00 p.m. local time. We have the final day of Event #27: $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship and Day 2 of Event #30: $1,500 Limit Hold'em 7-Handed.

If all that poker isn't enough for you, what if we tell you about three events getting underway throughout the day?

It's a 10:00 a.m. local time early start for Event #31: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em. This is one of the craziest events on the schedule, one that concludes in one day despite usually attracting more than 2,000 entrants. Last year, John Racener topped a 2,244-strong field and collected $247,595. PokerNews' coverage of this event starts when late registration closes at the end of Level 10, at approximately 2:00 p.m. local time.

Day 1 of Event #32: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em starts at 12:00 p.m. local time. The $3,000 buy-in means the field is an eclectic mix and the prizes are large. Yilong Wang won this event in 2025, taking home $830,685 after leaving 2,337 opponents in his wake.

The third and final new tournament on Day 15 of the 2026 WSOP is Event #33: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. It starts at 2:00 p.m. local time and should see upwards of 300 players join on Day 1. Philip Sternheimer is the reigning champion. He topped a 386-strong field to bank $736,087.

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.

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• Tags WSOP26 Aleksejs Ponakovs Alex Foxen Alex Livingston Andrew Moreno Artur Martirosian Brandon Wilson Brian Rast Daniel Negreanu Darryll Fish Calvin Anderson Eli Elezra Jake Schwartz Jason Daly Joao Simao Jeremy Ausmus Nick Schulman Patrick Leonard Matthias

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