The 2026 World Series of Poker is into its second weekend of the schedule, and players have become accustomed to the daily grind of the tournament. One of the highlights of the past few days has been the victory by poker professional Jeff Madsen, who came off the short stack to win the $1,500 Dealer’s Choice event for his fifth overall bracelet. Meanwhile, in the High Roller world, 22 players remain in the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller, with Kristen Foxen and Jesse Lonis looking to go deeper into the event.
Picky, Picky…Madsen Chooses to Win
In the $1,500 Dealer’s Choice tournament, Event #20 on the 2026 WSOP schedule, ten players returned on Friday to battle it out for the crown. The event is considered one of the most difficult bracelets to win because players must have a background in 21 different poker disciplines. Leading the way to start the day was Philip Wess, who was stacked with 5.37 million in chips and led Dario Sammartino, who held the #2 slot with 2.03 million.
There was some business to take care of to start the day – getting to the official final table of seven players. John Bunch, Nathan Gamble, and Daniel Geyser would depart in tenth through eighth places, respectively, to bring the field to the final table. Wess’ once sizeable lead had been whittled down through some of his play, but he still held 3.72 million in chips to lead Canada’s Luteng Li’s 3.28 million stack. Madsen had been battling off the short stack, all in at a couple of points during the play, and he was next to last with his 1.24 million chips (only topping Robert Klein’s 900K in chips).
The players ran through a litany of games – Stud Hi/Lo, Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, then Stud straight – and only Klein would be eliminated after committing his chips with A-Q-7-3 double-suited and seeing Clayton Mozdzen hit the Wheel for a straight and the best low. Klein’s departure in seventh did seem to open up the play, however, as Madsen would go on a mini-run.
In Seven Card Stud, Madsen cut a sizeable chunk of chips from Kelvin Zhao before tapping into the mountain of chips held by Wess and Mozdzen. In Badacey, Madsen’s run would continue as he crept closer to the three-million-chip mark. His momentum would continue as Madsen moved into second place in Badugi after beating up on Wess and Mozdzen again.
The tournament would take a turn toward Madsen right before the dinner break. He would scoop two big hands in Badacey, taking the chips from Sammartino, to eclipse the six-million-chip mark and hold the lead for the dinner break. From there, Madsen was an unstoppable force, no matter the game, as he ran rampant over the field.
Of the final five players, Madsen was responsible for knocking out Mozdzen in fifth, Sammartino in fourth, and Wess as the runner-up, never being threatened after his dinnertime rush. On the final hand, the game called was Pot Limit Double Draw High (a Five Card Draw variant), and Wess would get his final chips in with a J♥ 8♥ 6♥ 2♥ arrangement against Madsen’s pair of Queens. Over two draws, Madsen added an Ace, Queen, and deuce, to improve his hand to a set, while Wess was the Tinman looking for a heart. Alas, it would not come for him as Madsen picked up his fifth career WSOP bracelet and the $161,057 first-place check at the 2026 WSOP.
1. Jeff Madsen, $161,057
2. Philip Wess, $107,341
3. Luteng Li, $72,042
4. Dario Sammartino, $49,383
5. Clayton Mozdzen, $34,588
6. Kelvin Zhao, $24,766
7. Robert Klein, $18,137
Barak Wisbrod Powers to $25K High Roller Lead
There are still two days to go in the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller, but Barak Wisbrod has been able to separate himself from the pack. Sitting on a five-million-chip stack, Wisbrod was responsible for one of the more painful eliminations of the 2026 WSOP, sending Jeremy Ausmus to the rail on Day 2 after Ausmus had put in FOUR entries into the tournament (there were unlimited reentries into Day 2). On that hand, Ausmus’ pocket nines held the lead, even turning a set, but were run down by Wisbrod’s K-Q after an Ace, Jack and ten filled out the other slots of the community cards.
Wisbrod’s lead is a hefty one, with Zachary Grech 900K in chips behind the Israeli. Joey Weissman is in the mix with his 3.3 million stack, but it is down the leaderboard where more danger exists. In our preview of players to watch for the 2026 WSOP, we pointed out how Kristen Foxen has two more bracelets than her husband, Alex; she is in the hunt here with her 2.8 million stack. Also looking to drive further into the money are Jesse Lonis, tied for seventh with 2.7 million chips, and Philip Sternheimer, tied for ninth with 2.5 million chips.
Today is Moving Day with this tournament, as they will play down to the final table for action on Sunday. The first two days of this event have been part of the livestream on WSOP’s YouTube page, so it can be assumed that they will continue to air the action on Saturday and Sunday. Here is how the Top Ten of the 22 survivors will line up ahead of the Day Three action on Saturday:
1. Barak Wisbrod, 5 million
2. Zachary Grech, 4.1 million
3. Joey Weissman, 3.3 million
4. Ihar Soika, 3.2 million
5. Giuseppe Callo, 2.8 million
(tie) Kristen Foxen, 2.8 million
7. Dejan Kaladjurdjevic, 2.7 million
(tie) Jesse Lonis, 2.7 million
9. Philip Sternheimer, 2.5 million
(tie) Zachary Camp, 2.5 million
(Photo courtesy of WSOP.com)
