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2026 WSOP Day 2: Hunt For Glory is On
- Nikitin, Berg, Avivi, & Neppl dominate as Day 2 chip leaders.
- Poker greats Selbst and Seed among stars eyeing bracelets.
- Day 3 features six events & the first bracelet winner.
Image Credit: Eloy Cabacas/Pokernews.com
Day 2 of the 2026 World Series of Poker featured four events, bringing elite players like Vanessa Selbst and Huck Seed to the felt. Anatoly Nikitin, Lawrence Berg, Tal Avivi, and Jerome Neppl emerged as chip leaders in their respective tournaments.
May 28 marked the second day of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, giving the poker community a clear indication of how big and busy this year's festival will be.
Although the community is still waiting to see who wins the first gold bracelet of the summer on May 29, there were four events in play at one stage, each taking up plenty of table space.
While today was busy, Day 3 on May 29 sees six in-play events. The WSOP has arrived, and it is relentless. Day 2 also saw dozens of poker's elite players take to the felts and start their quest for 2026 WSOP glory.
The likes of John Hennigan, Anthony Zinno, Ryan Riess, Vanessa Selbst, Huck Seed, and Daniel Negreanu were all in action, although not all of those mentioned players enjoyed themselves as much as others.
Tal Avivi Bags Big on Day 1b of the $550 Mini Mystery Millions
Day 1b of Event #1: $550 Mini Mystery Millions saw another 1,562 entries processed and another 57 players progress to Day 2. Leading the way on Day 1b after the completion of 22 levels was Israel's Tal Avivi, who ended the night with 2,800,000 chips.
Avivi already has two WSOP Circuit rings to his name, which he won both in 2019. Although Avivi doesn't yet have a bracelet to his name, he came close to winning one last year, finishing fourth in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E., a result that earned him $64,607.
Several players who already own a coveted WSOP bracelet made it through the second of six scheduled flights and now have a chance of adding to their collection.
Valentino Konakchiev (570,000), Ryan Laplante (520,000), Brett Shaffer (505,000), Mike Leah (246,000), and Erick Lindgren (194,000) have a little more work to do than the deep-stacked Avivi, but they are all capable of turning around their fortunes.
Day 1c of this event shuffles up and deals at 10:00 a.m. local time on May 28, and should see another 1,500+ strong field enter the mix.
Only 24 players remain in contention for the $502,985 top prize in Event #2: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold'em, and it is two Russians that top the chip counts. Anatoly Nikitin (3,290,000) holds a commanding lead over the rest of the field, with Nikitin's fellow countryman Ivan Ruban (2,300,000) currently occupying second place.
While the likes of Nicholas Seward (1,275,000), Justin Saliba (1,265,000), Ren Lin (1,090,000), Renji Mao (745,000), Julien Sitbon (620,000), Colin Robinson (590,000), and Brock Wilson (345,000) all progressed to the penultimate day, superstars Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Shaun Deeb, and Scott Seiver bowed out before the bubble burst.
Industry Employees Event Attracts 906 Entrants
Day 1 of Event #3: $500 Industry Employees No-Limit Hold'em saw the 906 starters reduced to 136, and one of PokerNews' own is flying high into Day 2.
Brett Slezak (383,000) couldn't quite finish in the top 10, but he returns to the fray 11th in chips and with a realistic chance of securing the $64,083 top prize and his first gold bracelet.
Slezak's fellow PokerNews colleague, Tyler Boyer (84,000), also progressed to Day 2. However, it was the end of the road for the likes of Myles Phago, Frank Visser, Daniel Williams, Dan O'Hair, and last year's finalist, Connor Richards.
Jerome Neppl (758,000) sits down on Day 2 with a tournament-leading stack and is the only player with more than 100 big blinds. Yutaka Morishima (517,000) and Ronan Woolman (491,000) round off the podium places and are the front-runners going into the final day's play.
Lawrence Berg Leads From the Front on Day 1 of the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low
The first mixed game of the 2026 WSOP, Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better 7-Handed, drew in an 828-strong crowd who created a $1,099,170 prize pool. Though the attendance is slightly down from last year, this event will still award its champion $191,362.
Lawrence Berg (373,000), a bracelet winner in 2016, leads the 179 surviving players back into battle on Day 2. Berg has three more big blinds than second-placed Dekel Balas (354,000), but then there's a little daylight between that pair and William House (294,000) in third place. Top-tier grinders turned out in force for this event, with many making it through to Day 2.
Aaron Kupin (262,000), Ryan Bambrick (255,000), and Owais Ahmed (240,000) each crammed a top-10-worthy stack into their overnight chip bags.
Renan Bruschi (216,000), off the back of some incredible online poker results of late, navigated to Day 2, as did Esther Taylor (208,000), Vanessa Selbst (122,000), Huck Seed (59,000), and Allen Kessler (25,000).
Only 125 of the 179 returning players will receive a min-cash of at least $3,020. Those returning players will be in their respective seats from 1:00 p.m. local time on May 28. The plan is to complete another 10 levels, which should whittle the field down to the last handful of tables.
Day 3 of the 2026 WSOP
Day 3 of the 2026 WSOP is on May 28, and it looks set to be yet another busy day at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
The day begins at 10:00 a.m. local time with Day 1c of the $550 Mini Mystery Millions. Through the first two of six scheduled flights, some 3,197 players have entered, with 117 navigating through 22 fast-paced levels to reach Day 2.
Two hours later, we will see the second and final day's action from Event #3: $500 Industry Employees, where only 136 players remain in the hunt for the first bracelet of the 2026 WSOP and a $64,083 top prize.
Event #2: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold'em has reached its penultimate day, with Day 3 starting at 1:00 p.m. local time. The plan is to reduce the returning 24 to only five players, regardless of how long that takes.
Also at 1:00 p.m. local time is the second day of Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better where a host of stars are among the 179 returning players who are hunting for the $191,362 top prize. The plan is to play through another 10 levels. While those in-play events continue, two new bracelet-awarding tournaments enter the mix.
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