Three former champions eliminated from the 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event

The action at the 2026 World Series of Poker intensified as Day 2abc of the Main Event commenced, with 2,468 hopefuls from the first three days taking to the tables to continue their journey towards claiming the competition’s prestigious title.

Now, these hopefuls that qualified through the first day were joined by another 312 late entrants who took advantage of registering on Day 2, and this has increased the prize pool to a huge $78,017,700.

By the end of play, a significant number of individuals were eliminated from the competition, as only 1,260 players were able to bag up chips for Day 3.

Argentine Gaspar Fernandez led the field with a 754,000 stack, while Texas native Mason Vieth wasn’t far off the lead with 730,000.

A total of eight former Main Event champions took to the tables. Michael ”The Grinder” Mizrachi left with a stack of 202,500 and the American is on course to achieve history by becoming the first back-to-back Main Event champion since Johnny Chan, who accomplished the feat by winning in 1987 and 1988.

It was a wonderful sight to witness seventeen-time bracelet winner and 1989 Main Event champion Phil Hellmuth sharing the field with his son Nicholas, who made his debut in the event. The pair both made it through to the next day.

Three former champions went bust before the end of play as Joe Cada, Damian Salas, and Daniel Weinman all crashed out.

Action in the Main Event will continue tomorrow with the 3,638 survivors from Day 1D attempt to move a step closer to the golden bracelet.

Elsewhere around the tables of Las Vegas, play concluded on Day 1B of the $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold’em, and this has seen the field reduced from 2,424 to 184 players for Day 2. Leading the pack is Neng Lee as the only player with over three million in chips, while John Berreman is sitting second with 2,460,000.