Daniel Allen, better known as "The Poker Beard," shoved from late position for 580,000; Tsubasa Kamei also shoved for 1,320,000 from the hijack position, and everyone else moved out of the way.
Daniel Allen: K♥Q♦
Tsubasa Kamei: A♥J♠
The board arrived with 2♥6♣J♠10♥7♣, and a pair of jacks won for Kamei.
In the cutoff, Warren Friedman shoved all-in for 450,000, and Paul Merlette in the big blind called.
Warren Friedman: Q♦6♠
Paul Merlette: K♣Q♠
Merlette had Friedman dominated, but the flop came 8♦9♣6♥, pushing Friedman ahead with a pair of sixes. Merlette was still hoping for his king to hit the board, but the turn fell 10♣, and the river showed 5♠. Friedman fist pumped, happy to have survived.
Jesse Herron open-jammed for 820,000 from early position and Itai Levy in cutoff called. After action folded around, the two players headed to showdown.
Jesse Herron: A♦Q♠
Itai Levy: 7♦7♣
The flop came J♣J♥K♠ giving Herron a chance for an upset should he complete his straight. But Levy's sevens held on the 9♣ turn and the 4♣ river. Herron was left disappointed as he headed to the payout counter.
Terence Etim raised to 200,000 from the cutoff, and Zixuan Liu in the big blind three-bet to 450,000. After a short stare-down, Etim called to see the flop.
The dealer fanned out 7♣J♣3♦. Liu continued with a 300,000 bet, and Etim tagged along for the next street.
The 8♦ turn fell, and Liu kept pushing with a 500,000 bet. Etim, not to be shaken off, called.
Both players checked the river Q♥.
Liu tabled A♠Q♣ for a pair on the river, prompting Etim to throw his hand in the muck.
Xingwei Chen opened for 200,000 in middle position and Shawn Pilot in hijack called. Junichi Murakami, however, had other things in mind and jammed for 3,645,000. Valentin Farkas in cutoff followed suit and pushed all his 750,000 chips in.
When action went back to him, Chen asked for a count then folded his hand. Pilot did the same leaving the remaining players to head to showdown.
Valentin Farkas: 10♠10♣
Junichi Murakami: A♦K♣
Farkas was looking to double up as his tens held on the 4♠9♥4♣ flop. He faded another street when the 2♥ turn fell. The K♦ river, however, dashed his hopes when Murakami was pushed into the lead with a pair.
The penultimate day of Event #78: $600 Deepstack Championship No-Limit Hold'em gets underway at 11 a.m. local time at the 2026 World Series of Poker, with just 50 players remaining from a massive field of 5,177 entries inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. The surviving players have already locked up $6,194, but all eyes are on the coveted WSOP gold bracelet and the $282,817 top prize from the $2,609,208 prize pool.
Starting Day 3 as the player to catch is Korea's Seong Han, who bagged 6,285,000 at the end of Day 2. Right on his heels is Lisa Tan with 6,230,000, while South Africa's Adriaan Jacobs rounds out the top three with 6,140,000. Fewer than twelve big blinds separate the top ten stacks, meaning the chip lead is likely to change as the day progresses.
Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Seong Han
Korea, Republic of
6,285,000
63
2
Lisa Tan
United States
6,230,000
62
3
Adriaan Jacobs
South Africa
6,140,000
61
4
Mykhailo Lendel
United States
5,980,000
60
5
Wes Heryford
United States
5,900,000
59
6
Abu Naser Bikas
United States
5,640,000
56
7
Michael Starek
United States
5,580,000
56
8
Xingwei Chen
China
5,380,000
54
9
Yoann Saubot
Canada
5,175,000
52
10
Itai Levy
Israel
5,100,000
51
Itai Levy
The race for the title remains open, with plenty of players still in the mix. Mykhailo Lendel (5,980,000), Wes Heryford (5,900,000), Abu Naser Bikas (5,640,000), Michael Starek (5,580,000), Xingwei Chen (5,380,000), Yoann Saubot (5,175,000), and Itai Levy (5,100,000) all return with stacks well above the five-million mark and have positioned themselves for a deep run.
Also returning today re Christopher Summers-James (5,045,000), Rohit Kwatra (4,630,000), Zixuan Liu (4,385,000), Terence Etim (4,370,000), Daniele Miniello (3,965,000), and Daniel Allen (3,960,000), all of whom begin the day within striking distance of the overnight leader. At the other end of the counts, Kevin Rustice returns with 560,000 and faces the toughest climb if he is to keep his bracelet hopes alive.
Christopher Summers-James
Play resumes on Level 28 with blinds of 50,000/100,000 and a 100,000 big blind ante. Levels remain 60 minutes in length, with a 15-minute break after every two levels and a scheduled 60-minute dinner break following Level 33. The plan is to play down to the final five, with every pot carrying added significance as the remaining players edge closer to the final table.
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Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the action, biggest hands, and chip counts as Day 3 of Event #78: $600 Deepstack Championship No-Limit Hold'em rolls on.