The Muck · WSOP Daily Brief
Day 24 Edition
Four days, eight bracelets, and one of the most stacked stretches of results the summer has seen. Adrian Mateos took down the $250,000 Super High Roller on June 15, beating Bryn Kenney heads-up for $4,334,411 and becoming the youngest player ever to claim six WSOP bracelets at 31. The next day, three bracelets fell in a single session: Justin Smith climbed back from four big blinds to win the Colossus; Daniel Aharoni overcame his own near-exit to win the $10K Big O for $861,287; and Eddie Blumenthal finally broke through for his first bracelet in the $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Stud event. Today, Calvin Anderson finished it off by winning the $10K Razz Championship for his sixth bracelet, becoming the most decorated Razz player in WSOP history. Forty-six bracelets in. Fifty-four to go.
Story 01 of 6
Calvin Anderson won Event #48: $10,000 Razz Championship for $357,026 and his sixth career WSOP bracelet, beating Eric Rodawig heads-up after a 10-plus hour day from eight players. Anderson won the same event in 2018, making him the first player to win the $10K Razz Championship twice and the most decorated Razz player in the history of the WSOP. The 155-entry field generated a $1,441,500 prize pool, with the final table also featuring German former professional soccer player Max Kruse, Philip Sternheimer, and Tobias Leknes. Anderson led the day three-handed with roughly two-thirds of the chips, but the match was swingy before he locked it down heads-up. Rodawig collected $237,851 for second; Todd Dakake finished third for $162,551.
Why it mattersSix bracelets in a format most players treat as an afterthought is a legitimate career landmark. Anderson's point about Razz -- that the 'no skill' crowd is simply wrong, and that belief is exactly what he exploits -- is the kind of quiet defiance that specialist records are made of. He joins Adrian Mateos, Kristen Foxen, and Yuri Dzivielevski as six-bracelet winners at the 2026 WSOP. The series is making multiple all-time records look attainable.
Story 02 of 6
Adrian Mateos of Spain won Event #41: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em for $4,334,411 and his sixth career WSOP bracelet, beating Bryn Kenney heads-up. At 31, Mateos is now the youngest player in WSOP history to reach six bracelets. The final table was a murderers' row: Phil Ivey, Jason Koon, Sean Winter, and Bryn Kenney among the nine finalists. The 41-entry field built a prize pool of over $10 million, with Kenney collecting $2,776,634 for second. Samuel Mullur, who led Day 1 and was the subject of Day 19 chip-leader coverage, did not win. Daniel Negreanu, who entered Day 2 in fourth at 2,970,000, did not win.
Why it mattersThe $250K is as close as tournament poker gets to a measure of who the best in the world actually are, with no recreational padding. Mateos beating that field, heads-up against Kenney, for six figures shy of $4.5 million is a career-defining result. The youngest-ever six-bracelet record at 31 is a number that will be on his biography for the rest of his life. It also resolves the storyline from the Day 19 brief, where Negreanu was fourth and Kenney was chasing all-time money records. Kenney now has the runner-up. Negreanu got paid but not the bracelet.
Story 03 of 6
Day 22 of the 2026 WSOP (June 16) awarded three bracelets. Justin Smith won Event #34: $500 Colossus No-Limit Hold'em for approximately $550,000 after fighting back from four big blinds at the final table -- overcoming a field of 16,269 entries and a $6.75 million prize pool. Daniel Aharoni won Event #42: $10,000 Big O Championship for $861,287, his first bracelet in two years, in what PokerNews described as a 'thought he was out' comeback. Eddie Blumenthal won Event #45: $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo for $248,545 and his first ever WSOP bracelet, denying Nikolai Fal a second bracelet in the process. Cyndy Violette, seeking her first final table appearance since 2015, also made a deep run in the event but did not reach the final table.
Why it mattersThree bracelets in one day requires three separate things to go right, and all three came with narratives attached. Smith's comeback from four big blinds in a 16,000-person field is exactly the kind of result a $500 event is supposed to produce. Aharoni winning a $10K championship two years after his last bracelet shows the high-roller specialist scene is not done with him. Blumenthal becoming a bracelet winner on his tenth career final table closes one of the longer near-miss arcs of any recent WSOP regular.
Story 04 of 6
As of June 17, the 2026 WSOP Player of the Year race is being dominated by three players. Poker Hall of Famer Nick Schulman leads with 2,002 points after winning his eighth bracelet in $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. and adding a runner-up in $1,500 Limit Badugi plus two more final table appearances. Alex Foxen sits second at 1,902 points after winning his fourth bracelet in the $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty (beating $4,334,411 scorer Kristen Foxen's sixth bracelet by only a few days), on top of a third in the $25K Heads-Up Championship and a sixth in the $100K High Roller. Japan's Naoya Kihara, who won back-to-back $10K championships in 2-7 Lowball and Seven Card Stud earlier in the series, sits third tied with Germany's Dennis Weiss at 1,686. Shaun Deeb, two-time defending POY and the most expensive pick in the $25K Fantasy Draft at $133, is seventh with just one cash.
Why it mattersThe POY race is less than halfway through its Las Vegas leg, with WSOP Europe and WSOP Paradise still ahead -- but summer is where the big points are clustered. Schulman holding the lead on the strength of a single bracelet win and four final tables tells you something about the points weighting. Foxen nearly having two bracelets through the Foxen household between him and Kristen is one of the more unusual storylines in the field. Deeb in seventh with one result is not disqualifying this early, but the pace-setters are building leads that will require actual bracelet runs to overcome.
Story 05 of 6
On Day 23 (June 18), several major storylines are live. Alex Foxen tops the 31 survivors of Event #47: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha with 6,820,000, a notable lead over Chenxiang Miao at 4,310,000. The 451-entry field (330+ came in on Day 1b) plays Day 3 today with a final table possible Friday. Faraz Jaka leads 28 players into the final day of Event #49: $2,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em with 4,470,000 in chips and the $513,885 top prize at stake. Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker is in full swing -- Day 1a drew 1,752 entries with Will Givens leading the 460 survivors. Flight B runs today, with two more flights this week before the field combines. Adrian Mateos is also among the 84 survivors of the $10,000 Mystery Bounty (Event #51), having bagged sixth in chips. The $1,000 Seniors Championship (7,538 entries total) combines its remaining 239 players for Day 3 today.
Why it mattersFoxen in the PLO lead positions him for a potentially historic stretch -- he and Kristen Foxen would have two summer bracelets in the same household, and a fifth bracelet would push him into elite multi-bracelet territory. Jaka leading the Freezeout final is a rare deep run for a player whose floor game has been more prominent than tournament success in recent years. The Millionaire Maker kickoff is the unofficial start of the series' second high-volume chapter -- this event typically hits five figures in attendance before it's done.
Story 06 of 6
Jared Bleznick, playing in the $25,000 PLO High Roller, made pointed comments on the WSOP livestream criticizing the $1,000 Seniors Championship, which was running simultaneously. Bleznick's remarks -- which PokerNews summarized as calling it 'the worst tournament I've ever played' -- sparked immediate debate. The Seniors event had drawn 7,538 entries by the time the controversy broke.
Why it mattersThe Seniors Championship is one of the highest-volume events of the WSOP and consistently draws a player profile that is very different from the high-roller circuit. Bleznick's comments on a WSOP-produced stream while the event was in progress hit a nerve. Whether someone in a $25K event has standing to criticize a $1K field for their tournament experience is the kind of question that generates a lot of poker Twitter takes.
46 bracelets awarded through Day 24 (June 18), per PokerNews. Recent winners from June 15-18 listed below; earlier winners from prior briefs not all repeated.
Sixth bracelet. First player to win the $10K Razz Championship twice. Most decorated Razz player in WSOP history. Beat Eric Rodawig heads-up.
First bracelet in two years. Came back from near-elimination to win.
Came back from four big blinds at the final table to win 16,269-entry field.
First career WSOP bracelet on his tenth career final table. Denied Nikolai Fal a second bracelet.
Sixth bracelet. Youngest player ever to win six WSOP bracelets at age 31. Beat Bryn Kenney heads-up. Final table included Phil Ivey and Jason Koon.
Fourth bracelet of his career. Boosted him to second in POY standings.
Chip counts from live events on Day 23-24 (June 17-18) per PokerNews. Multiple events running simultaneously.
Notable runner-up and near-miss results from events resolved June 15-18.
Lost heads-up to Adrian Mateos. Was chasing his place in all-time live earnings records. Adds $2.7M to his total.
Led Day 1 at 4,315,000 as featured chip leader in prior coverage. Did not close out the title.
Was 4th in chips entering Day 2 at 2,970,000. Cashed but did not win the bracelet.
Denied a second WSOP bracelet by Eddie Blumenthal. Lost heads-up.
Lost heads-up to Calvin Anderson. Came close but could not improve past a jack on the final hand.
Leads the POY race with 2,002 points. Won his eighth bracelet in $1,500 H.O.R.S.E., added a runner-up in $1,500 Limit Badugi, and has four final table appearances this summer. A Poker Hall of Famer having one of his best WSOP summers.
At 1,902 points and leading the $25K PLO with 31 players remaining. Already has bracelet #4 from the Super Turbo Bounty and multiple other deep runs. If he wins the PLO, the POY lead is there for the taking.
Tied third with Dennis Weiss at 1,686 points. Won two $10K championships in 2-7 Lowball Draw and Seven Card Stud -- the first double-championship winner of the 2026 series.
Seventh at 1,602 points with just one cash this summer -- a final table finish in $10K 2-7 Draw Lowball. Was the most expensive player in the $25K Fantasy Draft at $133. Nobody is counting him out yet.