Xiong Thao Dominates Opening Day of $400 PokerNews Cup

Jul 17, 2026
3 min read

The Thunder Valley Casino Resort poker room was full of excitement and anticipation, as the first 142 entrants took their shot in the return of the $400 PokerNews Cup.

The opening day of the RunGood Passport Season finale festival saw a fast pace throughout Day 1a, before a long bubble led to a runaway chip leader as everyone chases the $250,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Xiong Thao took advantage of his big stack as the money neared, raising frequently to build a massive lead before bursting the bubble himself. Thao bagged up 994,000, collecting almost 30 percent of the chips in play in the opening flight.

Sitting a distant second is Nabil Zumout (569,000), who took a big pot off Thao to temporarily take the chip lead. In all, 14 players earned a spot on Day 2 while another four players took home $700 for their efforts after surviving the bubble.

Day 1a Chip Counts

There were some early fireworks, as Zackary Moore made a royal flush and was among the big stacks in the room for several more hours. Moore later played a key pot against Dennis Shirron, doubling up his opponent before losing the rest of his stack. Shirron would go on to survive the bubble, but missed out on a Day 2 bag.

2023-24 RGPS Player of the Year Brian Winter came up empty on his two bullets, but can return to take a shot in the remaining flights this weekend.

Joshua Moessner was among those to participate in our Share Your Story campaign, earning some PokerNews swag after speaking with Chad Holloway on a break in play. Moessner later got his stack in with Big Slick, but came second best to hit the rail.

Thao led the field into the money by knocking out Abel Valle on the bubble. Shirron was then among the group to bow out before the end of play, along with Michael Cohen, Andrew Duffy and Harvey Tran.

Holloway is expected to join the action on Day 1b, when the tournament resumes on Friday, July 17 at 11:00 a.m. local time. Players will begin with 25,000 chips, with blinds of 100/200 to start the day. Play will be nine-handed, and levels will be 30 minutes in duration with breaks following every two hours of action.

The remaining days will continue to allow one reentry per flight, with late registration closing before the start of Level 9. Action will once again continue into the money, where the top 12.5 percent of the field will earn at least $700.

From there, the top 10 percent will join Day 1a survivors for the final day. Anyone missing out on the money in the early flight can play Day 1c, kicking off at 4:00 p.m. on Friday.

The action continues with two flights on Friday, July 17, so be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for full coverage at Thunder Valley.