The field is beginning to thin out at the 2026 WSOP Poker Players’ Championship. After the close of late registration, which allowed the tournament to surpass its 2025 numbers, the players battled onward in pursuit of this WSOP bracelet, a million-dollar prize, and the prestigious Chip Reese Trophy. The player with the best chance to be the beneficiary of all those goodies is Kristopher Tong, who not only maintained his momentum from Day One but also emerged as the leader of the pack in the Day Two survivors.
Topped by a Single Entry
87 players were a part of the party on Monday, and another 21 players decided that waiting until Tuesday’s Day Two play was advantageous. That brought the total field to 108 entries, topping the 2025 total by a single player. Those players were battling it out for the $5.13 million prize pool, with only the final seventeen taking part in the largesse, as a min-cash earns a player barely a double from their buy-in: $100,934. The eventual champion will take home a decent $1,343,764 and the honor of having defeated one of the toughest fields in the world of poker.
The PPC is a multi-game event, and Tuesday’s new arrivals were not strangers to the poker world. One of those who stepped to the felt was 17-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, who apparently had spent the last week fighting off a blast from the past:
The rest might have been worthwhile for Hellmuth, who has not exactly lit the 2026 WSOP on fire with his previous performances. By the end of Day Two, he had improved his starting stack to 900,000 (over the initial 300K) and is in the mix to make some big moves on Tuesday; Hellmuth will be looking to top his runner-up finish to Brian Rast from 2011.
Just the Right Tong to the Tournament
Kristopher Tong was the player who made the most of the action on Monday. After starting the day in the middle of the Top Ten with 739,500 in chips, Tong was able to run that stack into a formidable force over the six levels of action. By the time his run ended on Monday night, Tong was sitting with 2.428 million chips, but the remainder of the 39-player field is tightly bunched together.
Benny Glaser may have the most bracelets of any Englishman, but some might say that his story has yet to be written. The eight-time WSOP bracelet winner would love to add the PPC crown (and the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy) to his mantle, and Glaser is in a prime spot to do just that with his 2.286 million chips. Glaser and Tong are the only two players who have topped the two million mark in chips after two days of play.
Once again demonstrating his prowess in the mixed game arena, Chris Hunichen has placed himself in contention with 1.67 million in chips. Right behind him is Day One chip leader Matt Glantz, who would conclude the Day Two festivities with 1.48 million chips. No one is really out of the running, however, as even tenth-place Ryan Miller is still stacked with 948,000 chips, making even those down the leaderboard a threat to those at the top.
As Day Three prepares for action on Tuesday, here is how the Top Ten line up for action:
1. Kristopher Tong, 2.428 million
2. Benny Glaser, 2.286 million
3. Maxx Coleman, 1.917 million
4. Chris Hunichen, 1.67 million
5. Matt Glantz, 1.48 million
6. Chris Brewer, 1.253 million
7. Yosuke Miki, 1.127 million
8. Maksim Pisarenko, 1.083 million
9. Alex Livingston, 1.06 million
10. Ryan Miller, 968,000
There is one former PPC champion left in the 39-player field, and that is Brian Rast. He will have his work cut out for him, however, as he is the short stack in the field on Tuesday. With only 107,000 in chips, Rast is going to need all his mixed game skills to climb out of the cellar.
Action resumes at 1 PM, and another six levels of play (at 100 minutes each) are set for action. The objective on Tuesday is probably to get to the money bubble of seventeen players, as Wednesday’s play will look to determine the seven-handed final table for play on Thursday. This is NOT a tournament that will get coverage on YouTube from the WSOP broadcasting team, as they are most likely saving the final table for its focus on Thursday.
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