High Roller Down to Final Nine on Day 17 of WSOP 2026

By Mrinal Gujare

2 hours ago

Mrinal Gujare 2 hours ago

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Christopher Nguyen leads $100K High Roller final table after dramatic comeback.
Bellande, Liberto, Mozdzen, and Ausmus top their events as bracelet finals approach.
Major players like Negreanu and Schulman remain in contention for WSOP gold.

Day 17 of the 2026 WSOP saw Christopher Nguyen lead the final nine in the $100,000 High Roller, while Jean-Robert Bellande, Justin Liberto, Clayton Mozdzen, and Jeremy Ausmus advanced in key bracelet events nearing their conclusions.

The 2026 World Series of Poker continued to deliver major storylines on Day 17, with the $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em field shrinking to its final nine players and several other bracelet events moving closer to crowning champions.

Late registration remained open for Event #36: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em, with another 48 players entering the tournament. By the end of Day 2, only nine competitors remained.

Christopher Nguyen bagged the chip lead with 17,200,000 after surviving a pivotal all-in confrontation earlier in the day. Nguyen moved all in with king-queen after four-betting and found himself against Artur Martirosian's pocket aces.

A king on the turn and a queen on the river completed a dramatic double-up that helped launch Nguyen to the top of the leaderboard.

Martirosian's difficult run continued shortly afterward when his aces were cracked again, this time by Teun Mulder's jack-ten of spades. The hand eliminated Martirosian in 19th place and burst the money bubble, while Mulder advanced to Day 3 with 8,840,000 chips.

Brazil's Yuri Dzivielevski enters Day 3 in second place with 11,800,000 chips as he pursues his sixth WSOP bracelet.

Returning players include names like Alexandros Theologis with 9,955,000, Alex Kulev with 5,550,000, Martin Kabrhel with 5,215,000, Biao Ding with 4,750,000, Sam Soverel with 3,420,000, and Alex Foxen with 2,220,000. Foxen sits at the bottom of the counts with a stack worth fewer than ten big blinds.

Event #32: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em is down to its final seven players, with a top prize of $538,158 and a gold bracelet awaiting the winner on June 12.

The tournament resumed with 57 players and concluded with only seven survivors. Jean-Robert Bellande leads the field with 16,290,000 chips.

Bellande previously won a bracelet in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed event in 2018. Greece's Christos Argyriadis also crossed the 10-million chip mark, ending the day with 13,600,000.

$10,000 PLO8 Championship and COLOSSUS Event

Justin Liberto carries a commanding chip lead into the final day of Event #33: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship.

Liberto is in position to become the first double bracelet winner of the 2026 WSOP if he can finish the job.

Day 1b of Event #34: $500 COLOSSUS No-Limit Hold'em attracted another 3,219 entries, increasing total attendance to 5,813 with two starting flights still to play.

Only 612 players successfully advanced through 15 levels of action, with several well-known poker stars among those moving on.

Clayton Mozdzen and Jeremy Ausmus Lead the Way

Canadian player Clayton Mozdzen heads into the final day of Event #37: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. with the chip lead after accumulating 3,105,000.

Mozdzen is seeking his first WSOP bracelet. His previous best results include fifth-place finishes in the $1,500 Dealer's Choice event in both 2023 and 2026. Nick Schulman remains in contention as the tournament approaches its conclusion.

Six-time WSOP bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus finished Day 1 of Event #38: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship 7-Handed with the largest stack of 319,000.

Ausmus has already reached two final tables during the 2026 WSOP and is well positioned for another deep run. His Day 1 performance included cracking pocket aces.

Daniel Negreanu also mounted an impressive comeback. After starting the day with fewer than 10,000 chips, he recovered to finish among the leaders when play concluded.

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