2026 WSOP Day 28: Kristopher Tong Leads $50K PPC Field

By Mrinal Gujare

4 hours ago

Mrinal Gujare 4 hours ago

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Michelle Chin wins her first WSOP bracelet in Event #58.
Kristopher Tong leads the $50K Poker Players Championship; Jamie Gold leads Salute to Warriors.
Irene Carey and Blaz Zerjav among top contenders in other marquee events.

Image Credit: Luther Redd / Pokernews

Day 28 of the 2026 WSOP saw Michelle Chin win a bracelet. Kristopher Tong secured the chip lead in the Poker Players Championship, while Jamie Gold paced the Salute to Warriors field. Irene Carey also advanced in the Millionaire Maker.

The relentless machine that is the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) continued on June 22, marking the 28th day of poker's longest-running festival.

Action at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas was filled with up-and-coming stars, seasoned professionals, and former WSOP Main Event champions. Several events whittled down their respective fields, while one tournament officially crowned its champion.

Event #58: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw concluded on Day 28 of the series, with Michelle Chin emerging as the tournament's champion.

Chin was already a decorated player with a pair of WSOP Circuit rings from victories achieved in 2015. With this win, she has officially added a coveted WSOP gold bracelet to her collection.

Kristopher Tong previously demonstrated his mixed game prowess in 2023 when he finished fifth in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Two years later, he won the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship.

Now, Tong holds the chip lead as only 39 players remain in Event #60: $50,000 Poker Players Championship.

Tong will return to his seat for Day 3 with 2,428,000 chips, making him one of just two players to cross the two-million mark.

The legendary Benny Glaser is the other, bagging 2,286,000 chips. Glaser has had a quiet series by his high standards but is now in an excellent position to pursue a ninth gold bracelet.

The remaining field is packed to the rafters with poker royalty. The top 10 overnight chip counts feature several notable stars:

Maxx Coleman: 1,917,000
Chris Hunichen: 1,670,000
Matt Glantz: 1,480,000
Chris Brewer: 1,253,000
Alex Livingston: 1,060,000

Further down the leaderboard, several legendary players remain firmly in contention:

Bryce Yockey: 950,000
Jesse Lonis: 906,000
Josh Arieh: 902,000
Phil Hellmuth (17-time bracelet winner): 900,000
Phil Ivey (Hall of Famer): 694,000
Jason Mercier: 634,000
Brian Rast (short-stack): 107,000

The tournament is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. local time restart on June 23. Another six levels of play are planned, and PokerNews will be on hand to provide live coverage of the prestigious event.

Only 62 players remain in Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker after three days of intense poker action. Each returning player is guaranteed at least $27,300, but the entire field has its sights set on the $1,250,000 top prize.

California's Irene Carey returns for Day 4 with a top 10 stack of 6,900,000 chips, giving her a legitimate shot at striking WSOP gold.

Carey finished 68th in this tournament in 2023, which stands as her deepest run in a bracelet-awarding event. She is now edging closer to potentially becoming another female champion of an open WSOP event.

A very familiar name sits at the top of the chip counts in Event #59: $500 Salute to Warriors as the tournament advances to its third and final day.

The 2006 WSOP Main Event champion Jamie Gold is the leader to catch, holding 15,700,000 chips with only 35 players remaining.

Gold cashed in this exact event in 2024 but crashed out early once the field hit the money places. This time around, he is in prime position to contend for a second career bracelet, 20 years after his historic Main Event victory.

Event #62: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em saw its starting field of 1,736 players reduced to a manageable 312 competitors over the course of 15 levels of play. At the top of the overnight chip counts is Slovenia's Blaz Zerjav, who bagged the leading stack of 893,000 chips.