The WSOP 2025 Main Event is down to its final nine, and this has been another historic year, not because it broke the all-time attendance record (this edition ranks as the third-largest Main Event in history), but because for the first time in 30 years, a female player has reached the final table.
Leo Margets, a Spanish poker pro and Winamax Poker ambassador becomes only the second woman ever to make the WSOP Main Event final table. She is guaranteed to earn at least $1 million, making her the first female player in history to lock up a seven-figure payout in the Main Event.
The final table resumes Tuesday, with the champion set to take home $10 million.
But in this article, we are shifting the spotlight to a different kind of performance, one not defined by individuals, but by the starting flight they chose.
While in recent years, the winner of the Main Event has often come from Day 1C or Day 1D, this year appears to be a bit different.
WSOP 2025 Main Event Performance Summary by Flight
| Flight | Entrants | Top 100 | Top 27 | Final Tablists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1A | 923 | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| 1B | 1,096 | 16 | 8 | 4 |
| 1C | 1,678 | 19 | 6 | 2 |
| 1D | 4,997 | 49 | 8 | 1 |
| 2ABC | 265 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 2D | 776 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
While Flight 1D once again drew the largest crowd — over 51% of the entire field — the real story of this year’s Main Event was Flight 1B, which quietly outperformed the rest when it came to deep runs and elite-level finishes.
Indeed, out of the nine finalists, four of them began their journey on Day 1B, making it the most successful starting flight at the final table by far. Those players are:
Leo Margets (41, Spain)
Kenny Hallaert (43, Belgium)
Michael Mizrachi (44, USA)
Luka Bojovic (37, Serbia)
That’s an accomplished group, including Mizrachi, a four-time WSOP bracelet winner, and Hallaert, a respected tournament director and long-time Main Event crusher. Their deep runs give Flight 1B a clear edge in prestige as well as numbers.
Despite accounting for only 11.3% of the total field (1,096 players out of the total 9,735), Flight 1B produced:
- 16 players in the Top 100
- 8 players in the Top 27
- 4 players in the Final 9
Compare that to Day 1D, which had the largest field by a wide margin (4,997 players, or 51.3% of the total). It sent 49 players to the Top 100, 8 to the Top 27, but only 1 to the final table. Despite having less than a quarter of the field size of Flight 1D, Flight 1B matched 1D with 8 players each in the Top 27.
Flight 1D’s 49 top-100 players still represent the largest group of deep cashes, but as players climb higher on the payout ladder, Flight 1B increasingly dominates. In the end, just one player from 1D made the final table: Jarod Minghini, a 37-year-old from the United States. That’s less than 0.02% of 1D’s original field.
Flight 1A, while the smallest Day 1 starting flight with 923 entries, also did well. It produced two final tablists:
Daehyung Lee (46, South Korea)- Adam Hendrix (32, USA)
Flight 1C, the second-largest starting flight at 1,678 players, also showed strength in depth. Six of Day 1C players made it to the Top 27, and it delivered two players to the final table:
- Braxton Dunaway (42, USA)
- John Wasnock (50, USA)
Flight 2ABC and 2D, the late registration flights, once again showed limited success. Combined, they accounted for only three players in the Top 100, two in the Top 27, and none at the final table
WSOP 2025 Main Event Final Tablists Starting Flight
| Player | Starting Day | Country | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leo Margets | 1B | Spain | 41 |
| Kenny Hallaert | 1B | Belgium | 43 |
| Michael Mizrachi | 1B | USA | 44 |
| Luka Bojovic | 1B | Serbia | 37 |
| Braxton Dunaway | 1C | USA | 42 |
| John Wasnock | 1C | USA | 50 |
| Daehyung Lee | 1A | South Korea | 46 |
| Adam Hendrix | 1A | USA | 32 |
| Jarod Minghini | 1D | USA | 37 |
While Day 1C and 1D continue to be popular choices among both recreational and professional players, often due to perceived softer fields and a higher chance of making it deep, this year it was Flight 1B that proved to be the most efficient.
That said, for future Main Event hopefuls, the choice of Day 1 flight may not dramatically affect your chances. But one lesson remains clear from years of data: entering during the early levels of Day 2 rarely results in deep runs. If you are serious about making it far, registering on Day 1 is still your best bet.
