Richard Alsup won Event #18, the $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold’em, at WSOP 2026 on June 11, 2026. The Minnesota grinder banked $1,302,125 and his second career bracelet, outlasting a record 11,933 entries and a $15,841,057 prize pool at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

The field shattered 2025’s record of 9,920 by more than 2,000 entries, making it the largest Monster Stack in WSOP history. Alsup defeated Salvatore Dicarlo heads-up after a gruelling three-hour duel that saw him crack pocket aces twice.

Alsup’s first bracelet came in 2022’s Event #82, the $800 Deep Stack, for $272,065. This win nearly quintupled that score and pushed his career live earnings past $3.9 million across 238 recorded results.

The family man from Savage, Minnesota, credited a new addition to his household for the run. “I got a new baby run good, so that probably helped out a little bit,” Alsup said. “I’m just very thankful to get a big score and provide for my family.”

The Monster Stack ran four Day 1 flights and four corresponding Day 2 flights across eight days before merging into a single field on Day 3. The 2026 edition added single in-flight re-entry for the first time, and the numbers responded.

Flight Breakdown

660 players sat down for Day 3 on June 8 with the prize pool confirmed at $15,841,057. Valentin Vornicu, a 14-time WSOP Circuit ring winner still hunting his first bracelet, bagged the Day 3 chip lead on 27,525,000.

Day 3 was a bloodbath. Hall of Famer John Juanda fell in 273rd, two-time Main Event final tablist Kenny Hallaert exited in 380th, and 2025 Main Event runner-up John Wasnock bowed out in 47th.

Day 4: 80 to 8

Day 4 started with 80 players and produced the official final table of eight. Vornicu ran his stack to nearly 60 million early before Joao Simao trapped him and began his downfall. Vornicu exited in 20th when he ran ace-ten into Kevin Eyster’s ace-king.

Simao himself fell victim to a set-under-set cooler against Eyster shortly after. Four-time bracelet winner Martin Zamani, Day 3 chip leader Vornicu, and three-time bracelet winner David Peters all hit the rail during Day 4.

Matthew Miller scored a double elimination late on Day 4, busting both Arthur Teisseire and Andrew Moreno with pocket queens. Dicarlo surged through the final stages, and Eyster bagged the chip lead at 126,700,000.

Eight players returned on Day 5, each locked up for at least $190,000. Every eye was on the $1,302,125 top prize and the gold bracelet.

8th: Nikolaos Angelou ($190,000)

Just the second hand of streamed play produced the first knockout in a three-way all-in. Aaron Massey opened under the gun, Eyster three-bet from the cutoff, and short stack Angelou moved all in from the small blind. Massey rejammed and Eyster called, putting both opponents at risk.

Nikolaos Angelou: :kh: :kd:
Aaron Massey: :ah: :ad:
Kevin Eyster: :ac: :kc:

Alsup had folded :ks: :qs: preflop, leaving Angelou drawing even slimmer. The :qh: :2s: :4d: flop held for Massey, and the :7d: :4c: runout changed nothing. “I know something you guys don’t know,” Massey told the table as his aces scooped a massive three-way pot.

7th: Kevin Eyster ($240,000)

The start-of-day chip leader never recovered from the three-way pot. Eyster doubled McKellar when his :kh: :qd: fell to McKellar’s :qs: :qh:, then shoved his final 9,000,000 with :9h: :6h:.

Dicarlo flatted from the cutoff with :kd: :9d: and Alsup called from the big blind with :jc: :7s:. The :4c: :8h: :qc: :ks: :10d: board sent the Day 4 chip leader to the rail.

6th: Pierce McKellar ($305,000)

McKellar moved all in from the small blind with :as: :7c: and Dicarlo snapped him off from the big blind with :ac: :kc:. The :6c: :2s: :qs: :6h: :ks: runout offered no escape. Dicarlo hit the 300-million-chip mark.

With Dicarlo controlling the table, Alsup found a lifeline. He got all in with :kd: :qd: against Dicarlo’s :as: :ac: and was staring at elimination. The :kc: :5h: :9s: flop paired his king, and the :ks: river gave him trip kings to crack the aces and double to 130,000,000.

5th: Matthew Miller ($400,000)

Miller picked up the blinds once, then immediately shoved again the next hand for 63,500,000 under the gun. Dicarlo called from the small blind.

Matthew Miller: :ad: :5s:
Salvatore Dicarlo: :as: :kh:

The :qd: :jh: :4h: flop kept Dicarlo ahead, and the :10d: turn drilled Broadway to lock it up. The remaining four were guaranteed at least $520,000.

4th: Aaron Massey ($520,000)

Massey open-shoved from the button for 37,500,000. Alsup pondered from the small blind before making the call.

Aaron Massey: :5h: :5d:
Richard Alsup: :ks: :js:

The :7c: :7s: :jh: flop paired Alsup’s jack. Both the :8h: turn and :9d: river bricked for Massey, ending his run just shy of the podium.

3rd: John Ripnick ($700,000)

Alsup opened on the button with :qd: :10s:. Ripnick three-bet jammed from the small blind for 59,500,000, and Dicarlo woke up with a monster in the big blind. He rejammed, and Alsup folded.

John Ripnick: :ac: :js:
Salvatore Dicarlo: :kd: :ks:

The :9d: :9c: :4d: flop kept the kings ahead. The :2c: turn left Ripnick needing an ace, but the :5c: river was no help. Dicarlo took a commanding lead into heads-up play.

Heads-Up: Alsup vs Dicarlo

Dicarlo entered heads-up with 413,500,000 to Alsup’s 182,500,000, a lead of more than two-to-one. What followed was a nearly three-hour war with the $400,000 difference between first and second on the line.

Dicarlo stretched his advantage early, building to a four-to-one lead. Alsup clawed back by check-shoving with :7s: :6s: against Dicarlo’s :ad: :ac:, and the :6h: river gave him trip sixes to crack aces for the second time in the session.

The turning point came when Alsup four-bet jammed with :6s: :6h: and Dicarlo folded, handing Alsup the chip lead for the first time.

Dicarlo fought back. He made aces full of kings against Alsup’s aces full of jacks to retake a three-to-one lead. But Alsup would not go away.

“I just limped every pot,” Alsup said of his heads-up approach. “Just put the pure limp strategy with that many bigs, and it just worked. The stars aligned.”

Dicarlo open-shoved for 153,000,000. Alsup thought it over, then called it off for the bracelet.

Dicarlo had picked up big slick for what felt like the hundredth time, and it had been printing all day. Not this time.

Flop: :3d: :jc: :7c:

Alsup paired his seven and shot into the lead. His rail erupted.

Turn: :5s:

One card to fade.

River: :8h:

Big slick let Dicarlo down for the first and final time. A $1,500 buy-in turned into $1,302,125 and a second gold bracelet.

“I just stayed positive and felt it was going to come, even on the last hand with a seven against ace king. I got a new baby run good, so that probably helped. I’m just very thankful to get a big score and provide for my family.”
Richard Alsup

“It was really special that we both won the same event, but you can’t compare anything to the monster field this big.”
Richard Alsup

The Monster Stack has grown every year since its post-pandemic return. The field has more than tripled from 3,520 entries in 2021 to 11,933 in 2026, and the winner’s cheque has doubled along with it.

The event started with two flights in 2021, expanded to three in 2024, then four in 2025. The 2026 edition added single in-flight re-entry on top of the four-flight format, pushing past 10,000 entries for the first time.

Every winner from 2021 through 2026 has been a first-time or low-profile bracelet winner. The Monster Stack keeps producing breakout stories.

Noori came back from 1.5 big blinds in 2021. Dunaway was an oil-and-gas family man who later finished third in the Main Event. Alsup is a circuit grinder from Minnesota who cracked aces twice at the final table.

The top 660 of 11,933 entries cashed, with a minimum payout of $4,500. Dicarlo collected $900,000 as the runner-up.

The $1,500 Monster Stack counts toward the 2026 Player of the Year race, handing Alsup a significant points haul alongside the bracelet and the cash.

The Monster Stack final table ran just four days after Foxen’s sixth bracelet in the $25K High Roller, capping a stretch where the series produced two of its most memorable storylines in a single week.

Every bracelet winner and daily recap from the series lives on our running WSOP 2026 results tracker. For the full schedule, venue details and qualifying routes, see our complete WSOP coverage and guide.