Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth ITM as Benny Glaser leads Day 4 of the Poker Players Championship

There are a ton of headliners still left, as the original field of 108 players has been reduced to 15 in the annual $50,000 Poker Players Championship.

Whether you’re a fan of the old school greats like Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, and Josh Arieh, a fan of the new generation of poker stars like Jesse Lonis, Chris Brewer, and Chris “Big Huni” Hunichen, or you prefer the mixed-games legends like Benny Glaser, Alex Livingston, and Maxx Coleman, you’ll be in for a treat on Day 4.

Following roughly 40 hands of hand-for-hand play, Bryce Yockey, who finished second to Daniel Negreanu in this event two years ago, was the unfortunate bubble boy. While Dara Taherpour ($100,934) and Matt Glantz ($102,474) made the money, they quickly busted after the bubble and did not make Day 4 of the Poker Players Championship.

With $1,343,764 up top, the Chip Reese trophy, and one of the most coveted WSOP bracelets of the summer up for grabs, all 15 remaining players will be extremely motivated to make a big run towards the final table.

A bad beat to remember

With just 19 players remaining, two players from the money, Robert Wells found himself short but dealt gin in a hand of 7-Card Stud, finding rolled up sixes. He was all in on fourth street against Roy Thung and Paul Volpe.

After Volpe made Thung fold on fifth street, Volpe turned over jacks and eights against Wells’ trip sixes. Since Thung already folded a jack, there were only three cards in the deck that Wells had to fade.

However, an eight on sixth street gave Volpe a full house and brutally knocked Wells out of the tournament.

A ton of big names weren’t fortunate enough to convert their Day 3 run to any money. Yuri Dzivielevski, Jared Bleznick, Gus Hansen, Brian Rast, Eric Wasserman, Marco Johnson, Bryn Kenney, and John Racener all saw themselves hit the rail.

Poker Players Championship chip counts

On top of winning one of the most illustrious titles in all of poker, a handful of players are chasing major milestones.

After winning three WSOP bracelets in record time last year, Benny Glaser is looking to win his ninth-career bracelet, which would tie him with Johnny Moss for sixth all-time. He’s the chip leader by some margin over three-time WSOP bracelet winner Paul Volpe and Day 2 chip leader Kristopher Tong.

Six-time bracelet winner Jason Mercier sits in fifth place while seven-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh is just behind him in sixth.

The legendary Phil Ivey, one of just two players with more than 10 bracelets (11), is in seventh, while Phil Hellmuth is at the back of the pack looking to spin it up in search of his 18th bracelet.

The only player at the table never to have won a WSOP bracelet, Roy Thung, is also the oldest player remaining by some margin. With just one more elimination, Thung will clinch his largest-career cash. Thung has WSOP cashes dating back to 1997 and would certainly be the Cinderella story of the 2026 WSOP.

Poker Players Championship payouts