2026 WSOP Day 43: Alex Foxen Bags a Big Stack on Day 2d of the Main Event

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Jul 08, 2026 5 min read

Three bracelet-awarding events were in play on Day 43 of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. As has been the case since the first shuffle-up-and-deal announcement, the $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship was the prime focus of the poker community.

Some 820 players took advantage of late registration on Day 2d, resulting in a total field of 9,208, the fourth largest in WSOP history. All those entrants have resulted in an $85,634,400 prize pool that the top 1,382 finishers will share, with the 2026 WSOP Main Event champion taking home $10 million.

While there is a lot of poker to be played before that eight-figure cash prize is awarded, Alex Foxen must be confident of being there or thereabouts after a superb performance on Day 2d. The four-time bracelet winner bagged 493,500 chips at the close of play, enough for a top 25 stack of the 2,034 players who advanced from Day 2d into Day 3.

According to the WSOP LIVE app, Michael Rossitto (770,500)) claimed the Day 2d chip lead from Jeff Fenster (747,000) and Yannick Schumacher (738,000). Farid Jattin (630,000), Terrance Reid (597,500), Taylor Paur (530,000), and Stephen Song (430,500) also crammed large stacks into their respective overnight bags.

Twelve WSOP Main Event champions advanced to Day 2, led by the 2018 champion John Cynn (403,000), who bagged a top 50 stack. Ryan Riess (395,000), Hossein Ensan (235,000), Chris Moneymaker (221,000), Max Neugebauer (190,000), Stoyan Madanzhiev (165,000), Joe Hachem (135,000), Simone Andrian (115,000), Joe McKeehen (102,500), Scott Blumstein (100,000), Alexandros Kolonias (38,000), and Robert Varkonyi (33,100) were that dozen of former champs. However, Jonathan Tamayo crashed out during play.

Plenty more poker heroes punched their Day 3 tickets on July 8. They included Shaun Deeb (368,500), Ren Lin (322,000), Chris Hunichen (302,500), Brad Ruben (299,500), Asi Moshe (282,500), Jesse Lonis (266,500), Kathy Liebert (255,000), Chance Kornuth (240,000), Todd Brunson (227,500), Patrick Leonard (200,000), Benny Glaser (193,000), and Kristen Foxen (143,000).

_{Click here to see a full chip count list for Day 2d of the 2026 WSOP Main Event}

Day 3 shuffles up and deals at 11:00 a.m. local time on July 8. It sees 3,294 players sit down and face another five 120-minute levels. Stay tuned to PokerNews to see which players remain in contention to become our great game's world champion after the curtain comes down on Day 3.

Event #82: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship Day 2d Top 10 Chip Counts

Final Flight of the $600 Ultra Stack Sees 4,217 Players Reduced to 321

All three flights of Event #86: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold'em are now done and dusted, after Day 1c wrapped up on July 7. The third and final flight saw 321 of the 4,217 starters advance to Day 2, with David Prociak (2,150,000) finding himself among the chip leaders.

Prociak has three WSOP bracelets to his name and is now in an excellent position to add a fourth to his collection. He has cashed seven times this summer, including a fourth-place finish in the $550 Mystery Millions event, which came with $155,000 in prize money.

Other notable players through to Day 2 include Chris Da Silva (2,100,000), Phillip Hui (1,700,000), Matt Stout (1,570,000), Tobias Peters (855,000), and the 2006 WSOP Main Event champion Jamie Gold (840,000).

Day 2 is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. local time restart and will see 603 players return to the fray. Another 17 levels are scheduled, although play will end when only five players remain if that happens first.

Event #86: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold'em Day 1c Top 10 Chip Counts

Lautaro Guerra Among the Leaders after Day 1a of the $1,000 Mystery Bounty PLO Event

Spain's Lautaro Guerra (1,135,000) is usually found playing in Pot-Limit Omaha tournaments commanding $10,000 to $100,000 buy-ins. However, he entered Day 1a of Event #87: $1,000 Mystery Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha and not only advanced to Day 2 but did so in style.

Guerra bagged the second-largest stack at the close of play and was one of only four players to cram seven figures worth of chips into his overnight bag. Robert Scherer (1,138,000), Grant Maruya (1,071,000), and Marco Damico (1,043,000) were the other chip millionaires.

The chance to win a bracelet and a sizeable mystery bounty payment proved enough to lure in some of poker's most recognizable names. Some of those who progressed from Day 1a included Tyler Brown (871,000), Ryan Depaulo (619,000), Rob Hollink (578,000), Christian Harder (529,000), Dong Chen (468,000), Roberto Romanello (460,000), Marco Johnson (424,000), Nick Guagenti (402,000), Robert Mizrachi (288,000), Christopher Vitch (237,000), and Michael Moncek (222,000).

The second of two flights starts at 2:00 p.m. local time on July 8.

Event #87: $1,000 Mystery Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts

What to Expect on Day 44 of the 2026 WSOP

The 44th day of the 2026 WSOP takes place on July 8 and, of course, the $10,000 WSOP Main Event continues to dominate proceedings. All the surviving players from the quartet of Day 1s and the brace of Day 2 combine for the first time at 11:00 a.m. local time.

Day 3 of the 2026 WSOP Main Event sees 3,294 players return to their seats, each sharing the common goal of making it through five 120-minute levels.

At 1:00 p.m. local time, Day 2 of Event #86: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold'em begins. Some 603 players sit down with the plan to complete either 17 levels or until only five players remain, whichever happens first.

An hour later, Day 1b of Event #87: $1,000 Mystery Bounty PLO shuffles up and deals. Day 1a drew 1,922 players, so expect an even larger crowd for the second and final flight in this exciting tournament.

Two new bracelet-awarding events get off the ground on July 8, starting with Day 1a of Event #88: $300 Gladiators of Poker from 10:00 a.m. local time. This affordable event will be nothing short of huge. Last year saw Ian Pelz outlast 24,628 opponents on his way to turning $300 into a cool $420,680.

Another popular event returns to the WSOP from 12:00 p.m. local time, Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship No-Limit Hold'em. Day 1a is the first of three flights. Ian O'Hara is the reigning champion, having topped a 3,797-strong field in 2025 and banked an impressive $1,109,408.

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 Alex Foxen Benny Glaser Chris Da Silva Chris Hunichen Chris Moneymaker Christopher Vitch David Prociak Hossein Ensan Jonathan Tamayo Kathy Liebert Kristen Foxen Lautaro Guerra Marco Johnson Max Neugebauer Michael Moncek Nick Guagenti Phillip Hui Pa

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