From the starting field of over 9,200 players, the 2026 WSOP Main Event is down to just 533. The defending champion, Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi, is among the survivors, and the dream of going back-to-back in poker’s biggest event is still alive.
Mizrachi will have his work cut out for him when the action resumes today for Day 5, though, as he is starting with the stack of around 30 big blinds and some serious catching up to do. But for a player of his caliber, 30 big blinds is plenty of ammo, and, with a bit of luck, we could see him among the chip leaders by the time the action wraps up today.
It was a very exciting day at the Main Event yesterday, as players came back with only seven eliminations separating them from the bubble. For hardened pros in the field, this was not a big deal, but for those who came out specifically to play the Main, the difference between leaving with nothing to show for and at least $15,000 was quite substantial.
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Chris Moneymaker Claims the Dubious Honor
With only seven players needed to hit the rail for the bubble to burst, it was clear it wouldn’t take long. Those who started the day on short stacks were trying to hold on, while the ones with the chips were putting on the pressure — just your standard tournament poker stuff, amplified by the pressure of the Main Event.
It didn’t take long for the bubble to burst. After a few initial eliminations, the money line was crossed during a single hand, which saw three players sent to the showers. One of those was none other than the 2003 Main Event champion and the man largely responsible for the poker boom in the 2000s, Chris Moneymaker.
Chris had the bad fortune to run into pocket aces, and that was all she wrote for his attempt at this year’s title. He and the other two players who got knocked out at other tables actually got to split the min-cash of $10,000 and then proceeded to play a three-way flip for the WSOP Paradise Main Event package. The flip was won by Zhaken Seitbekov.
Many Poker Legends Still In
As is usually the case, once the bubble burst, we saw many players hit the rail in a quick succession, before the play calmed down and got into its usual rhythm.
By the end of the day, there were 533 players remaining, so the field had more than halved from the start of the action. Many heroes have fallen along the way, but there are also quite a few big names still in contention for the title and the first-place prize of $10,000,000.
Apart from ‘The Grinder’ (who is the only remaining representative of the Mizrachi family in the Main Event), we have the likes of Shaun Deeb, Josh Arieh, Alex Foxen, Chino Rheem, Aaron Barone, and David Peters still in the mix.
There are also three more past Main Event winners who still have a shot at the double title. These are Hossein Ensan, the 2019 champion, Greg Raymer, the 2004 winner, and Ryan Riess, the man who took down the title in 2013. According to the official chip counts in the WSOP Live app, all three have some catching up to do, just like ‘The Grinder.’
Talking about big stacks, it is Sam Sweilem leading the way with close to 200 big blinds. The Russian high roller Artur Martirosyan is in the top three as well, and one thing we know is that Martirosyan knows how to put his chips to good use.
Sasha Liu, who started Day 3 as the chip leader, has done well, as she’ll be coming back to a stack of over 150 big blinds. Caitlin Comeskey is another lady making the top 100 in chip counts, ending the day with 1.7 million, good for 116 big blinds.
Even though nearly 95% of the starting field has been eliminated, there is still a long way to go in the 2026 Main Event. It’s way too early to predict who’ll end up at the biggest of all the final tables, but the eyes of the poker world will certainly be focused on Michael Mizrachi as he attempts to do the near impossible and go back-to-back!
