From a starting field of 647 that generated a prize pool of $858,892, just 10 players returned on Day 3 of Event #69: $1,500 Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better. Each one looking to become the latest Stud variant champion of the 2026 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. After over 10 hours of play, just one stood among the rest with a bracelet around his wrist.
Minnesota’s Taylor Atchison took home his first WSOP bracelet and quadrupled his Hendon Mob earnings. The victory came just a couple of weeks after finishing in fifteenth of Event #42: $10,000 Big O for what was at the time, a career best score. At what was an uncharacteristically young final table, Atchison talked a bit about how he first got into playing the stud Hi-Lo.
“Homegames,” Atchison said just minutes after his win. “Just part of a mix. Actually I usually play super stud with my friends.”
This marks his first live cash in a Stud Hi-Lo tournament as well as a career high score, with most of his other cashes coming in Omaha variants and a single one coming in 2-7 Triple Draw.
“Nowadays I play everything except no-limit hold’em. Like everybody, I grew up playing hold’em, but now I play a lot of Big O. Over the past couple of years I have tried to expand to play all of the mixed games.”
Once the tournament hit the four-handed mark, a lengthy and swingy battle took place between all four of the contenders, each one of them taking their time as the short stack and the chip leader. At one point Atchison held 70% of the chips before falling down to the shortest stack before a single person had busted.
$1,500 Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor Atchison | United States | $159,276 |
| 2 | Daniil Fedunov | United States | $106,162 |
| 3 | Daniel Geeng | United States | $73,068 |
| 4 | Dave Stann | United States | $51,217 |
| 5 | Adam Owen | United Kingdom | $36,574 |
| 6 | David Bach | United States | $26,618 |
| 7 | Jeff Myers | United States | $19,749 |
| 8 | Alan Ledford | United States | $14,945 |
“No one could get eliminated. All the short stacks kept doubling, I think it was over ten times. When I had a lot of the chips I was just trying to apply a lot of pressure.” explained Atchison.
“I got the short stacks all in multiple times and they doubled. Then things turned south pretty quickly and I was on fumes, but when the levels get this big the swings are very large and it only takes one or two hands to get back into it.”
“Overall it was just a crazy tournament with how long it lasted. I got to give my hats off to the guys I played with, they were super fun. Another reason I love mixed games is because it’s a little bit more casual than Hold’em. We’re all trying to win, but everyone was having fun with each other, everyone was pretty friendly. It was almost becoming comical when we were down to four and nobody could get eliminated. It still feels pretty surreal.”
In the winner’s photo, he shaped the chips to spell out Jett, the name of his son.
“He’s at home with my wife right now. I’m just super fortunate that they let me come out here and play this summer, it’s a ton of sacrifice for them. I wish they would have let me spell out Angela (his wife) too. They only let me spell Jett, but this is for Jett and Angela. I’m so happy I could do this for them.”
Atchison talked a little bit about his upcoming poker plans.
“Just a couple more events, I’m only going to be here until early July. I was going to play the big bet mix today, but I think we passed the registration. I think I’ll take a day or two off and just fire something else, but I’ll keep playing. I’ll go for number two.”
Day 3 Action
It would take nearly an hour for the first player to fall as multiple players hung around the bottom of the counts at the start of day. The fourteenth all in was not the charm for Thomas Bessoir as he got in his last chips with a pair of aces on fifth to see David Bach look him up with a pair of tens. Bach ended with with tens up and the man nicknamed “The Cockroach” was unable to survive, collecting $9,093 for his tenth place finish.
Dave Stann began the final table as the overall chip leader, with the lead becoming even bigger thanks in large part to one hand that saw Kane Kalas (9th-$11,538) eliminated and Alan Ledford (8th-$14,945) fall down to just one ante. He was eliminated the following hand.
After a little over an hour of play, David Bach (6th-$26,618) lost a sizable pot to put him as the clear short stack and the three-time WSOP bracelet winner was next to go in sixth, with his elimination ensuring that a new player would win a bracelet.
A little while later, Adam Owen (5th-$36,574) and each of the remaining four locked up their best WSOP bracelet event finish.
What followed next would be a chip shuffling between all of the final four players. Stann started with over half of the chips in play, but several double ups from his opponents would see him tumble down to the shortest stack. Taylor Atchison spent some time at the top, even taking nearly 70% of the chips in play, but a few more clashes saw his chip lead level out. Eventually he fell to the shortest stack and Daniil Fedunov ascended high into the lead.
Two hours of four-handed play would see WSOPC ring winner Stann (4th-$51,217) fall next, leaving no WSOP jewelry left in play at all. After that, Daniel Geeng (3rd-$73,068) was next to go around thirty minutes later. As heads up play began, Fedunov started with a 6:1 lead over Atchison.
A couple of all ins would see the match begin to even out, before Fedunov would pull away again twice to maintain the start of the match lead. The turning point came an hour into heads up when kings full put Atchison into the chip lead. He held the lead for the final 30-minutes of the match. Atchison’s boat over Fedunov’s flush would seal it all for Atchison while Fedunov would collect a career high score of $106,162.
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