2026 WSOP Day 45: Rezaei Leads the $50K After Main Event Bubble Bursts

Copy link Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Jul 10, 2026 6 min read

It was an exciting day for poker fans on Day 45 of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. The day had a little bit of everything, including a bracelet being won, the $10,000 Main Event's money bubble bursting, and a whole load of stars bagging big stacks in their respective events.

Event #82: $10,000 WSOP Main Event No-Limit Hold'em World Championship cut its field down to 533 after Chris Moneymaker was the unfortunate soul to pop the bubble. Reigning champion Michael Mizrachi bagged a stack for Day 5; he couldn't go back-to-back, could he?

The only bracelet awarded on Day 45 was that of Event #86: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold'em. Eric Weber, who learned poker around the kitchen table as a child, came out on top, receiving $400,000 and his first piece of WSOP hardware.

Daniel Rezaei Leads an All-Star Cast in the $50,000 High Roller

A total of 103 entries were processed on Day 1 of Event #90: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em despite its massive buy-in. By the close of play, only 51 of those starters remained, and nobody had more chips than Austria's Daniel Rezaei.

Rezaei (2,010,000) was the only player to cross the two million-chip mark by day's end. Lithuania's Paulius Vaitiekunas (1,965,000) almost hit two million but fell just three big blinds shy.

As you would expect from a tournament with such a large buy-in, the chip counts are crammed full of elite-level pros. They include Thomas Boivin (1,510,000), Eelis Parssinen (1,450,000), Kristen Foxen (1,220,000), Daniel Negreanu (1,085,000), Bryn Kenney (1,000,000), Jeremy Ausmus (480,000), Martin Kabrhel (350,000), and Aleksejs Ponakovs (295,000).

Cards are back in the air from 1:00 p.m. local time on July 10, with late registration remaining open until the end of Level 12, or around 3:15 p.m. local time.

Event #90: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

Unscheduled Day 3 Required in the $1,000 Mystery Bounty PLO

Event #87: $1,000 Mystery Bounty PLO was meant to crown its champion today, but that never happened. The tournament director called time on proceedings with 34 players still in contention for the $305,000 top prize.

Four of those players return to their tables with eight figures worth of chips. Shawn Stroke (15,550,000) has the largest stack, with Christopher Vitch (15,175,000) just behind him. Wojciech Barzantny (11,050,000) and Sameer Batra (10,925,000) are the other players who have huge stacks.

Including Vitch, seven of the returning players have previously won a bracelet. Travis Pearson (7,500,000), Noah Schwartz (4,485,000), James Chen (4,050,000), Alex Manzano (3,250,000), Mark Radoja (3,150,000), and Nick Pupillo (2,575,000) are those WSOP hardware owners.

This event resumes at 1:00 p.m. local time on July 10, and it will crown its champion regardless of how long that takes.

Event #87: $1,000 Mystery Bounty PLO Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Jolnar Teliani Tops the $300 Gladiators of Poker Day 1b Chip Counts

Day 1b of Event #88: $300 Gladiators of Poker saw action from the moment the first cards were pitched up to the bagging and tagging of overnight chips. Some 2,174 players bought in, yet a mere 65 progressed to Day 2 from this flight.

Canada's Jolnar Teliani (3,265,000) topped the overnight chip counts and was the only survivor to bag up more than three million chips. Teliani came into the WSOP having won three low-stakes tournaments, and her good form seems to have continued.

Others through to Day 2 include Kevin Theodore (2,900,000), South Africa's Sean Bloom (2,110,000), high-volume grinder Justin Arnwine (2,060,000), and David Levi (545,000).

Those wishing to enter on Day 1c, the penultimate flight, have an early 10:00 a.m. local time start on July 10.

Event #88: $300 Gladiators of Poker Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts

Stars Turn Out in Force for Day 1b of the $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship

A total of 951 players bought into Day 1b of Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship No-Limit Hold'em, almost double the number of entrants of Day 1a. When the curtain came down on Day 1b proceedings, 263 players enjoyed the welcome task of bagging up chips for Day 2.

Portugal's Luis Faria (431,000) has the most chips, according to the WSOP LIVE app. Faria was joined at the top of the chip counts by Agustin Naranja (413,000) and Yuxi Huang (399,500).

Just outside the top 20 is where you find Maria Konnikova (298,000) and Paulina Loeliger (282,500), while Barry Shulman (230,500), Niall Farrell (177,500), Joe Serock (114,000), Martin Jacobson (110,000), Upeshka De Silva (98,000), Justin Vaysman (94,500), Michael Gathy (90,000), Brek Schutten (75,000), and Fahredin Mustafov (45,500) also advanced to Day 2.

Day 1c starts at 12:00 p.m. local time on July 10, and should be the busiest flight by far.

Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts

Eli Elezra Third in Chips After Day 1 of the $1,500 Pick Your PLO

Event #91: $1,500 Pick Your PLO was an Omaha specialist's dream, with players able to choose from several Pot-Limit Omaha variants, including double board games. It appears that Poker Hall of Fame member Eli Elezra (701,000) chose his games wisely because he bagged up the third largest stack at the end of the opening day.

Only two players finished Day 1 with more chips than the five-time bracelet winner. Emory Peebles (752,000) and $25K Fantasy Draft pick Jun Weng (719,000) are that deep-stacked duo.

This brand-new event attracted dozens of household names, and plenty of them navigated the minefield of Day 1. They included Scott Abrams (621,000), Jeremy Harkin (586,000), Jon Kyte (558,000), Maxx Coleman (532,000), Blaz Zerjav (469,000), Justin Liberto (468,000), nine-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser (188,000), Bryce Yockey (163,000), Robert Mizrachi (102,000), and Mike Matusow (73,000).

Of the 857 starters, only 104 made it to Day 2. They return to their seat from 1:00 p.m. local time on July 10 to play another 10 levels of mixed PLO.

Event #91: $1,500 Pick Your PLO

What to Expect on Day 46 of the 2026 WSOP

July 10 kicks off nice and early at 10:00 a.m. local time with Day 1c of Event #88: $300 Gladiators of Poker. This flight will be super busy, so we highly recommend registering early or using the WSOP LIVE app to secure your seat.

At 11:00 a.m. local time, it is Day 5 of Event #82: $10,000 Main Event No-Limit Hold'em World Championship, where 533 players will return to the felt and inch their way closer to that monster-sized $10 million top prize.

Day 1c of Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship No-Limit Hold'em shuffles up and deals at 12:00 p.m. local time, with Day 2 of both Event #90: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em and Event #91: $1,500 Pick Your PLO scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. local time restart.

The unscheduled Day 3 of Event #87: $1,000 Mystery Bounty PLO commences at 1:00 p.m. local time, too. It will play down to a champion, with the winner securing a $305,000 first place prize.

Only one new event kicks off on Day 46 of the 2026 WSOP, doing so at 2:00 p.m. local time. Event #92: $3,000 T.O.R.S.E. is essentially H.O.R.S.E. but 2-7 Triple Draw replaces Hold'em. Japan's Ryutaro Suzuki rode off with the title in 2025, leaving 521 opponents in his dust as he collected $273,385 and his second bracelet.

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.

Follow on

• Tags WSOP26 Benny Glaser Chris Moneymaker Daniel Negreanu Daniel Rezaei Eelis Parssinen Eli Elezra Jeremy Ausmus Joe Serock Jon Kyte Justin Liberto Justin Vaysman Kristen Foxen Luis Faria Michael Gathy Michael Mizrachi Mike Matusow Niall Farrell Nick Pupillo R

In this Series