2026 WSOP Day 41: $10,000 Main Event Dominates Proceedings

You’d be forgiven for mistakenly thinking that Day 41 of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was quiet if you looked at the schedule and saw only three events taking place. In that respect, it was a quieter than usual day, but with Day 1d of the Main Event drawing in 4,694 entrants, the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas were, again, packed to the rafters.

Only one bracelet found a new home on July 5. Zixuan Liu came out on top in Event #85: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em, and won his first bracelet and $219,391. Liu told PokerNews that he plans to use some of his winnings to purchase a new car for his supportive wife.

Taylor von Kriegenbergh Tops the Main Event Day 1d Chip Counts

Day 1d of Event #82: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship saw 4,694 choose this flight to start their quest to become poker’s world champion. The incredible blind structure of this tournament meant that 3,638 players bagged up chips as the curtain came down on proceedings.

Taylor von Kriegenbergh (312,800) bagged up the largest stack on Day 1d. The Massachusetts native has more than Taylor von Kriegenbergh, but he is yet to win a gold WSOP bracelet. There’s a lot of poker to be played before this event awards its hardware, but von Kriegenbergh has done his chances of capturing it no harm at all.

While von Kriegenbergh was busy adding to his stack, Patrick Lander was rueing an ill-timed bluff with nothing but six-high. Lander got a little frisky with six-five offsuit, squeezing preflop then firing on the flop, firing on the turn, and calling a check-raise, before jamming over the top of a bet on the river. Lander’s opponent called and showed a set, and Lander could only muster six-high!

Eleven WSOP Main Event champions progressed to Day 2d. Max Neugebauer (198,7000) was the best-placed of those former champs. Stoyan Madanzhiev (121,000), Jonathan Tamayo (109,300), Ryan Riess (106,8000), Scott Blumstein (105,600), Simone Andrian (97,200), Joe McKeehen (75,000), Hossein Ensan (50,000), Chris Moneymaker (39,500), Alexandros Kolonias (36,700), and Robert Varkonyi (33,100) are all hoping to join an exclusive club of two-time Main Event winners.

Other notable grinders through from this flight included Kathy Liebert (245,000), who bagged a top 20 stack. Taylor Paur (224,500), Viktor Blom (217,100), Massoud Eskandari (206,400), Martin Kabrhel (202,200), Stephen Song (201,600), Tyler Smith (198,100), Asi Moshe (195,300), and Chris Hunichen (194,900) bagged enough chips for a place in the counts’ top 100.

_{Check out the full 2026 WSOP Main Event Day 1d Chip Counts here}

The Day 1d survivors are not back in action until 11:00 a.m. local time on July 7. Day 2abc shuffles up and deals at 11:00 a.m. local time on July 6, and will see 2,468 players return to the tables.

Event #82: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship Day 1d Top 10 Chip Counts

Ryan Bambrick, Naoya Kihara, and Ian Simpson Progress From Day 1 of the $600 Ultra Stack

The first of three flights in Event #86: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold’em took place alongside the WSOP Main Event. It attracted 1,366 entrants, with only 98 bagging and tagging stacks after the completion of 22 levels.

Ryan Bambrick (1,315,000) navigated through the minefield of Day 1a in pretty good shape, his stack good for 15th place. Bambrick is a two-time bracelet winner, having won a $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event in 2018 and the $10,000 Stud Hi-Lo Championship last summer.

Japan’s Naoya Kihara (590,000) continued his incredible form by bagging a stack. Kihara has cashed in 14 events so far in 2026, with five of those in-the-money finishes being final table appearances. Two of those results were back-to-back bracelet victories in championship events!

888poker ambassador Ian Simpson (635,000) hasn’t been in Las Vegas long but is making up for lost time by advancing to Day 2 from this flight. Simpson finished 26th from 7,057 in this event last year.

Day 1b starts at 10:00 a.m. local time on July 6, with another 22 levels planned.

Event #86: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold’em Day 1d Top 10 Chip Counts

What to Expect on Day 42 of the 2026 WSOP

July 6 is the 42nd day of the 2026 WSOP, and only two events are running. Day 1b of Event #86: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold’em kicks things off, with Day 2abc of Event #82: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship shuffling up and dealing an hour later.

Japan’s Ryuta Nakai (323,000) leads the Day 2abc field when play resumes, closely followed by Yulian Bogdanov (315,000) and Igor Pansovoi (300,300).

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.

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