2026 WSOP: Hall of Famer Eli Elezra Among Chip Leaders in Event #21: $1,500 PLO8

By Mrinal Gujare

3 hours ago

Mrinal Gujare 3 hours ago

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WSOP Event #21 attracts 1,093 players, up from 910 last year
Thomas Zanot leads, Eli Elezra holds a strong top-20 position
173 remain; Day 2 resumes June 5 with high stakes and drama

Image Credit: Alicia Skillman / Pokernews

Day 1 of the 2026 WSOP Event #21: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better drew 1,093 entries. Thomas Zanot leads the remaining 173 players, while Hall of Famer Eli Elezra bagged a top 20 chip stack.

The opening day of Event #21: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better at the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has concluded, with several high-profile players building substantial chip stacks.

Leading the veteran contingent is Poker Hall of Fame member Eli Elezra, who secured a strong position after a productive opening session.

Elezra bagged up 318,000 chips at the end of Day 1, placing him 12th in the overall standings and just outside the top 10.

The five-time WSOP bracelet winner is a proven specialist in this format, having previously captured a gold bracelet in the $10,000 buy-in edition of this exact event during the 2022 series. His performance on Day 1 sets him up safely for another deep tournament run.

The tournament saw a notable surge in attendance this year. Day 1 attracted a total of 1,093 entrants, marking a significant increase from the 910 players who registered for the same event in 2025.

By the time the bag-and-tag process arrived after 15 levels of play, only 173 competitors remained in contention.

At the top of the leaderboard, Thomas Zanot and Jordan Polk finished the day neck-and-neck. Zanot claimed the chip lead by a narrow margin, bagging 485,000 chips to Polk's 483,000.

They are followed closely by a small group of players who managed to cross the 400,000-chip threshold: Michael Rodrigues (460,000), Schuyler Thornton (452,000), Jean Laurent (409,000), and Tobias Hausen (409,000).

Several other prominent players managed to carry top 20 stacks into the next stage of the tournament. John Esposito secured 360,000 chips, Ray Fishman ended with 327,000, and Dennis Weiss kept pace with 291,000.

Additionally, Justin Fawcett (282,000), Pei Li (282,000), Ryan Hansen (280,000), and Robert Nehorayan (277,000) will all return with top 30 chip counts.

Further down the leaderboard, a highly competitive lineup of experienced pros remains very much in contention.

This group includes Nick Guagenti (260,000), Josh Arieh (244,000), Ryan Hoenig (243,000), Jim Collopy (209,000), Bryce Yockey (200,000), and Robert Mizrachi (197,000). Anthony Zinno also advanced with 143,000 chips, while eight-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser safely navigated the day with a stack of 107,000.

Day 2 is scheduled to resume at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 5. Play will commence in Level 16 with blinds structured at 3,000/6,000.

The schedule dictates another 10 levels of play, a stretch that is expected to drastically reduce the field down to the final handful of tables.

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