The 2026 WSOP Main Event Has Begun… But Did Phil Hellmuth Survive Day 1a?

The WSOP Main Event, otherwise known as the World Championship, is the benchmark by which the mainstream media measure success in poker. If you’re one of its 40+ winners, then you’re a legend. If you’re not, then most outside poker won’t have heard of you. This is the legend that has kept the World Championship the biggest game in town for half a century, and after Day 1a of the 2026 Main Event, that legend has only grown.

Nakai Continues Japanese Rise

The 2026 WSOP has been nothing if not a stunning one for the country of Japan. Naoya Kihara has won two bracelets and come close to a third. High rollers have won hearts and claimed millions of dollars in the pursuit of greatness. So it was revealing and reflective of the series to date that a Japanese payer leads the way after Day 1a of the $10,000 WSOP Main Event.

Ryuta Nakai (323,000) holds that lead after a tumultuous day at the felt on Day 1a and his lead is a healthy one, with American Igor Pansovoi second in chips on 300,300. He was the only other player to top 300,000 chips on a day where the first level sent a player home with over 600 big blinds going into the middle.

Elsewhere in the top 10, Nakai is followed by players such as Aussie Gregory Sly (254,500), Arie Kliper from Israel on 254,100 and American Go Kato (245,700) inside the top five, with another Japanese player, Masato Yokosawa (221,800) eight in the counts. Others such as Tyler Phillips (204,500), Scott Seiver (177,300), Dimitar Danchev (175,200), Sam Soverel (112,600), and Jeremy Ausmus (109,300) all exceeded six-figure stacks when play came to a close.

Hellmuth Among Other Survivors After Grand Entrance

Phil Hellmuth (above) has made a big entrance on most of the 37 years since he became world champion and this year was no different. In previous years, The Poker Brat has left his entrance to the final Day 1 flight to build suspense, but his arrival on Day 1a suggests that the 1989 winner is trying to make the most of three days off before he puts together a real attempt at becoming world champion once again.

Hellmuth, the only player ever to win the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas and Europe, sat down late after entering the arena as a Bet Rivers branded Superman. Flanked by both his sons and Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates, Hellmuth – wearing a black wig to match the black and gold motif to his outfit – took his time making it to the stage before posing for photographs with models holding up scenes of each of his 17 WSOP bracelet wins.

Hellmuth, who leads that list by six titles from Phil Ivey, bagged up what he came with, stacking up 60,000 chips by the close of play, which was less than players such as Andrew ‘Lucky Chewy’ Lichtenberger (94,700), 10-time champion Erik Seidel (86,400), British poker hero Stephen Chidwick (83,400), and the former WSOP Main Event winner Greg Merson (81,200), all of whom bagged profit on Day 1a. Others weren’t so fortunate, with Spanish 2026 Super High Roller champion Adrian Mateos (42,000), and the 12-time Triton Poker Tour winner Jason Koon (18,700) with work to put in on Day 2.

Heading Home on Day 1a

Neither Mateos or Koon will panic, of course, and each of their stacks were preferable to having no stack at all, a fate that befell over 200 players on the day. Anthony Marini busted in Level 1 after he six-bet shoved with ace-king of diamonds only to be called by the shrewd Ryan Sands with pocket aces. A king on the flop gave Sands a sinking feeling but no further paint arrived, and the Main Event had its first victim.

Soon, big names joined Marini on the rail. The 2025 finalist Leo Margets from Spain won’t be following up her epic run 12 months ago with another one this summer. She got a lot of chips in the middle in the early part of the day with pocket kings, only to lose a huge chunk of chips to her opponent, whose pocket aces prevailed. Out soon after, Margets slid out of contention in good company. Jared Bleznick was a favorite to double-up but was rivered by a two-outer to return to his Sports Card emporium in Las Vegas $10,000 lighter in the pocket.

Other big names to exit on Day 1a included the American high roller regular Seth Davies, charity entrepreneur and tournament crusher Dan ‘Cowboy’ Smith, PokerGO personality Michael ‘Texas Mike’ Moncek, multiple bracelet winner Chad Eveslage and the mixed game legend David Bach. With even busier days expected on Day 1b, Day 1c and Day 1d, the competition is only going to get fiercer as the World Series of Poker Main Event continues in Las Vegas, Nevada.