The Muck · WSOP Daily Brief
Day 25 Edition
Marco Johnson pocketed $513,885 and his third bracelet when his flopped wheel held against Chino Rheem heads-up. Eelis Parssinen cracked Alex Foxen's aces with a flopped set and a turned nut flush, sending the POY leader home before the $25K PLO final five and leaving Parssinen with a nearly 2:1 chip lead into Friday's finale. Shaun Deeb bagged more than twice his nearest competitor's stack in the Nine Game Mix and goes into the final day the heavy favorite. Phil Hellmuth is personally backing his son's 1.4 markup with a bet that caps at $10 million if the kid wins the Main Event -- and Deeb is on the other side again. Farzad Bonyadi called a Seniors player's bluff, got shoulder-squeezed, and left both of them in penalties. Calvin Anderson quietly became the most decorated Razz player in WSOP history last night -- his win barely made the news cycle before bigger things happened.
Story 01 of 6
Marco Johnson won Event #49: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout for $513,885 and his third career WSOP bracelet, defeating Chino Rheem heads-up. Johnson's previous two bracelets came in H.O.R.S.E. (2013) and Limit Hold'em (2015) -- he had not won in ten years and had never won in no-limit. He entered the final day second in chips. The final table: Johnson $513,885, Rheem $341,970, Kenzo Ishida $246,800, Faraz Jaka $180,210, Srivinay Irrinki $133,170, Vamerdino Magsakay $99,590, Elliot Smith $75,390, Pyeongkang Kim $57,780, Sebastian Schulze $44,840. 1,561 entries, $3,473,225 total prize pool. Key hand before the final table: Johnson's pocket kings held against Sebastian Schulze's ace-king to build the decisive chip lead. Heads-up, he flopped a wheel (A-2-3-4-5) against Rheem's ace-four on an A-2-3 board. There was nothing Rheem could do.
Why it mattersFaraz Jaka led the field into the final day and finished fourth. Johnson came in second and won. The ten-year gap between bracelets is not unusual at this level, but winning in a format you had never won before -- and doing it against a field of 1,561 -- is not a small thing. Rheem is one of the most experienced players on tour and he got run down by a wheel. Johnson is now a three-bracelet winner and made $513,885 doing it.
Story 02 of 6
Alex Foxen, the current POY leader, was eliminated from Event #47: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller before the final five after losing a massive all-in pot to Eelis Parssinen. Both players held double aces. Both went all in pre-flop. The flop came with two sevens and a blank -- Parssinen flopped a set of sevens with his two pair. The turn brought a card completing Parssinen's nut flush draw. Foxen was eliminated. Parssinen emerged as the overwhelming chip leader. End-of-day chip counts for the five remaining players: Parssinen 35,225,000; Levon Khachatryan 20,100,000; Aaron Mermelstein 5,300,000; Sergio Martinez Gonzalez 4,225,000; Jeremy Druckman 2,850,000. The final five resume Friday at 2pm. First prize: $2,161,056.
Why it mattersFoxen had led the $25K PLO for three days and was the POY leader coming in. He did not cash. The hand was a statistical near-coin flip -- both players had double aces, meaning the suit-over-suit advantage was the only real edge -- and the board resolved violently against him. Parssinen now holds more than half the chips in play with five left. Khachatryan at 20.1M is the only other player with a realistic shot at catching him before the final hand.
Story 03 of 6
Shaun Deeb bagged 3,500,000 at the end of Day 2 of Event #52: $3,000 Nine Game Mix, leading the remaining 21 players by more than two-to-one over his nearest competitor. David Williams is second at 1,742,000 -- his first cash of the 2026 series, still looking for a second bracelet. Richard Freitas is third at 1,565,000. Eli Elezra sits seventh at 901,000. Stephen Hubbard, who led Day 1, is not in the top ten. Top 10 chip counts: Deeb 3,500,000, Williams 1,742,000, Freitas 1,565,000, Antonios Onoufriou 1,474,000, Danny Noam 1,323,000, Thomas Taylor 930,000, Elezra 901,000, Mike Gorodinsky 832,000, Maximilian Schindler 795,000, Allan Le 780,000. First prize: $254,470. The final day is today.
Why it mattersDeeb is currently eighth in the 2026 WSOP POY race at 1,606 points, 631 behind Foxen's lead. A Nine Game Mix bracelet adds significant points and, combined with Foxen busting the PLO, would narrow the gap meaningfully. Deeb has two POY titles and no bracelet yet this summer -- his last bracelet was years ago. He is playing well enough that the summer is not over for him if he closes this out.
Story 04 of 6
Phil Hellmuth advised his son Phillip Hellmuth III to sell action in the WSOP Main Event at a 1.4 markup. Shaun Deeb and Jason Mo publicly disagreed with the markup and structured a prop bet: if Hellmuth III busts before the money, Deeb and Mo win $14,000 from Hellmuth Sr.; if the son cashes, Deeb and Mo pay the cash amount, up to $10 million if Hellmuth III wins the Main Event. Phil Hellmuth accepted. Deeb's comment: 'This bet will be my second cash of the summer thanks Phil.' Twitter user Aaron Barone added: 'The Foxens' kid is gonna be able to sell for 10.0,' riffing on both Kristen and Alex Foxen having won bracelets this summer.
Why it mattersThe markup debate in poker is real and recurring. 1.4 is high for most Main Event fields -- Daniel Negreanu sold at no markup in 2022 as a deliberate counterpoint to the practice. Whether Hellmuth III is worth 1.4 is a bet Deeb and Mo are making with real consequences: if the kid runs deep, the liability escalates rapidly. The bet structure -- low downside for the backers, unlimited upside -- is unusual. Most markup debates stay on Twitter. This one has financial stakes.
Story 05 of 6
Four-time bracelet winner Farzad Bonyadi and player Buck Bucceri received one-round penalties each after a verbal altercation during Day 3 of Event #46: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship. The incident: Bucceri was facing an all-in from Ablahad Salim on a paired river. Bucceri asked Salim to show his hand if he folded, triggering an argument from Bonyadi and other players at the table about table talk. While the argument was ongoing, Bucceri tossed in a chip to call. Salim showed a pure bluff (jack-ten). Bucceri won with ace-queen. Bucceri then walked over and squeezed Bonyadi's shoulder. Bonyadi said: 'Don't touch me.' Bucceri responded 'pussy.' Bonyadi replied 'f*** you.' Both players received one-round penalties. Bonyadi remained alive in the tournament with 5,775,000 chips. The Seniors Championship plays to 25 remaining players Saturday. Homan Mohammadi (Canada) leads at 13,955,000. $660,000 awaits the winner.
Why it mattersBonyadi is a legitimate mixed-game legend -- four bracelets, $4.7 million in live earnings, first bracelet in 1998. He was in the top 10 in chips when this happened and took the penalty without busting. The actual grievance -- whether a player can ask to see a folded hand -- is a recurring table-talk gray area in no-limit hold'em. The penalties were proportional. The exchange is very, very quotable.
Story 06 of 6
Calvin Anderson won Event #48: $10,000 Razz Championship for $357,026 and his sixth career WSOP bracelet late Thursday night. Anderson defeated Eric Rodawig ($237,851) heads-up. Final table: Anderson $357,026, Rodawig $237,851, Todd Dakake $162,551, Tobias Leknes $114,032, Max Kruse $82,171, Yuval Bronshtein $60,868, Philip Sternheimer $46,385, Shane Littlefield $36,395. 155 entries, $1,441,500 prize pool. Anderson previously won this same event in 2018, making him the first player to win the $10K Razz Championship twice. He is now the all-time leader in Razz bracelet wins at the WSOP. He also leads the event in appropriate quotes: 'Most people kind of s*** on Razz a little bit. I mean, almost the whole tournament everybody was like, oh, there's no skill set in this and just all about getting lucky. That's what you want people to think, right?'
Why it mattersSix bracelets and the most Razz wins in WSOP history is a real legacy statement. Anderson came in as a slight chip leader, held his position, and closed it out heads-up without drama. This result was a late-night publication and did not get proper coverage before the Day 24 recap cycle took over. The brief from June 18 did not have it. It deserves its line.
48 bracelets awarded through end of Day 25 (June 19). Anderson's Event #48 win was late-breaking from Thursday night and not included in the June 18 brief. Johnson's Event #49 win was confirmed Friday morning.
First bracelet. 844 entries, $3,882,400 prize pool. Rivered a king to crack Nariman Yaghmai heads-up.
First bracelet. 519 entries. Won on the same day as the Mateos $4.3M Super High Roller score.
First bracelet. 3,903 entries, $2,732,100 prize pool. Rallied from behind to beat Darryl Ronconi heads-up.
Sixth bracelet. First player to win the $10K Razz Championship twice (also won in 2018). Most Razz bracelets in WSOP history. 155 entries, $1,441,500 prize pool. Defeated Eric Rodawig heads-up.
Third bracelet, first in NLH. Previous bracelets in H.O.R.S.E. and Limit Hold'em. Ten years since last win. 1,561 entries, $3,473,225 prize pool. Defeated Chino Rheem heads-up with a flopped wheel.
Chip counts from Day 25 events. $25K PLO final five and Nine Game Mix final day are the headline stacks heading into Friday. Mystery Bounty final nine also plays Friday.
Alex Foxen's bust from the $25K PLO is the story of the day. Faraz Jaka came in as Day 1 chip leader in the Freezeout and finished fourth. Chino Rheem ran into the wheel heads-up.
Led the event for three days as the overall POY leader. Both he and Parssinen held double aces all in pre-flop. Parssinen flopped a set of sevens and turned a nut flush. Foxen goes home without a bracelet or POY points from this event.
Entered the final day as chip leader. Led a 28-player field heading into final action. Finished fourth. Johnson, who came in second, won the whole thing. Jaka's last bracelet was 2018.
Reached heads-up with a chip deficit and ran ace-four into Johnson's flopped wheel on an A-2-3 board. Had no outs.
Led Day 1 at 366,500 chips. Deeb took over on Day 2. Hubbard not in the top 10 chip counts heading into the final. Still alive but not the story today.
Busted from the $25K PLO before the final five after losing a set-over-set hand to Parssinen in an AA vs. AA all-in pre-flop spot. The PLO bust does not deduct points but he does not add to his total from this event. His 2,237-point lead remains intact but Deeb is about to potentially add a meaningful score if he wins the Nine Game Mix today.
Leads 21 players in the Nine Game Mix with more than twice the nearest competitor's chips. A bracelet win today adds significant POY points and would begin closing the 631-point gap to Foxen. Deeb has no bracelet yet in 2026. Two-time POY winner. Motivated.
Held the POY lead for weeks before Foxen passed him. Remains a remarkable summer regardless -- eighth bracelet, runner-up in Badugi, four final tables. Still the second-place position and can close if Foxen flatlines on points.
Won Event #14: $1,500 Mixed Omaha ($265,297) and has multiple deep-run scores accumulating. Third in the POY with minimal coverage relative to position. 110 points behind Schulman, 342 behind Foxen.