Han Feng raised to 5,000,000 in the cutoff, leaving himself just 100,000 behind, and found no action as he took the blinds and ante.
Feng raised to 7,000,000 in the hijack the next hand, again committing most of his stack, and the rest of the table folded once more as Feng virtually doubled up his short stack without seeing a flop.
Antonio Galiana raised to 2,000,000 from under the gun and Daniel Savas called from the cutoff.
They checked through the 5♦2♣2♠ flop to the A♥ turn. Galiana bet 1,500,000 and Savas called. On the J♣ river, Galiana checked before calling a bet of 2,500,000 and Savas tabled the 10♥9♥ for a bluff, which Galiana had beat holding the Q♦Q♠.
Lauri Saaskilahti arrived to balance the tables and got involved into a battle of the blinds with Hossein Ensan. They built a pot of 10,000,000 until the 10♠6♠5♦A♥J♣ river on which Saaskilahti bet 7,000,000. Ensan called and mucked when he was shown the J♥10♥ for two pair by Saaskilahti.
Winning the WSOP Main Event twice in the post-Moneymaker era is about as unlikely as winning the Main Event and Poker Players Championship in the same year.
The latter improbable scenario actually did happen last summer when Michael Mizrachi won both events. The first scenario just might happen as Hossein Ensan, the 2019 champion, has a big stack on Day 8 with only two tables away from the bracelet.
Johnny Moss (1970, 1971, and 1974) and Stu Ungar (1980, 1981, and 1997) are the only three-time Main Event winners, while Doyle Brunson (1976 and 1977) and Johnny Chan (1987 and 1988) and two-time winners. But those wins all came in an era when fields were a couple hundred players or fewer. The Main Event has cracked 5,000 players every year since 2005, and the likelihood of winning twice these days is barely above 0%.
Rami Hammoud raised to 2,000,000 and then folded when Daniel Savas three-bet to 5,000,000 behind him.
Hossein Ensan made it 2,000,000 to go next and Hammoud called in the cutoff. Shaun Deeb in the big blind called and they made it three ways to the Q♠5♣4♦ flop, on which Deeb and Ensan checked. Hammoud bet 1,500,000 and Deeb then check-raised all-in for 13,600,000.
Ensan asked for a count and folded whereas Hammoud quickly called.
Shaun Deeb: 7♥6♥ 
Rami Hammoud: A♠Q♣
Deeb needed an eight or trey to double or running cards for two pair. His outs were reduced to eight on the K♦ turn and the J♦ river ended Deeb's bid to reach the final table, as he bowed out in 15th place for $410,475.
Malcolm Trayner raised to 2,000,000 in middle position and Lucas Jumalon alled in the big blind.
Both players checked the Q♣7♦7♣ flop. Jumalon then led out for 2,100,000 on the 6♥ turn, and Trayner called.
The Q♦ river was checked down, and Jumalon showed 10♥9♣. Trayner turned over A♣J♣ to win the pot.
With the livestream back underway, the PokerNews live updates are resuming.
Next stop: The WSOP Main Event table.
Let's gooooooooooooo! 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
Level: 37
Blinds: 500,000/1,000,000
Ante: 1,000,000
In the 988th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, which is sponsored by FanDuel Poker, Chad Holloway is joined by Mike Holtz and Ben Ludlow are joined at Level 9 Studio by Ryan Depaulo to talk the latest from the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.
That includes the money bubble bursting and none other than 2003 WSOP Main Event champ Chris Moneymaker being a part of it. See what went down and the aftermath yourself. The crew then talks about the debate surrounding whether or not a player should have to be profitable in order to win WSOP Player of the Year. It's a heated debate between Shaun Deeb and Phil Hellmuth, with Daniel Negreanu and others weighing in.
Other stories include a streaker at the WSOP, Martin Kabrhel's antics, WSOP POY update, and a player who built up a big stack in the Main Event and then decided to abandon it while he went to South Point casino to play $1-$3 NLH and watch a movie.
Finally, Chad previews the upcoming $400 buy-in, $250K GTD PokerNews Cup at the RGPS Thunder Valley.
Find out all about those stories and more in this week's episode of the PokerNews Podcast! Oh, and be sure to check out the audio version of the PokerNews Podcast that is available on all major podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and SoundCloud.
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