Nick Guagenti Shines Bright on Day 1b of the $1,500 Closer
The second and final flight of Event #93: $1,500 The Closer No-Limit Hold'em attracted 2,646 players to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Twenty levels later, only 292 players remained, and three-time bracelet winner Nick Guagenti (1,400,000) had the fourth-most chips.
Guagenti has eight cashes at the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP), including an impressive eighth-place finish in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. The Ohio native won his first bracelet in 2020 and could make it four in six years if he continues his early form in this event.
Greece's Iason Filippidis (1,825,000), Frenchman Alexandre Moreau (1,605,000), and Zi Long Zhang (1,445,000) were the only Day 1 survivors who bagged more chips than Guagenti.
Event #93: $1,500 The Closer No-Limit Hold'em Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iason Filippidis | Greece | 1,825,000 | 91 |
| 2 | Alexandre Moreau | France | 1,605,000 | 80 |
| 3 | Zi Long Zhang | United States | 1,445,000 | 72 |
| 4 | Nick Guagenti | United States | 1,400,000 | 70 |
| 5 | Anthony Marquez | United States | 1,390,000 | 70 |
| 6 | Arturas Astrauskas | Lithuania | 1,345,000 | 67 |
| 7 | Rute Jin | United States | 1,155,000 | 58 |
| 8 | Dan Au | United States | 1,150,000 | 58 |
| 9 | Gaspar Fernandez | Argentina | 1,125,000 | 56 |
| 10 | Gregory Fabiao | Brazil | 1,115,000 | 56 |
Also safely through to the second and final day are the likes of Anthony Marquez (1,390,000), Alen Bakovic (1,070,000), David "ODB" Baker (1,065,000), Ori Hasson (930,000), Max Kruse (660,000), Lukas Zaskodny (610,000), Benjamin Zamani (600,000), Brett Shaffer (565,000), Matt Glantz (515,000), Jim Collopy (415,000), Martin Jacobson (375,000), and Shiina Okamoto (225,000).
Day 2 shuffles up and deals at 12:00 p.m. local time on July 13, with blinds starting at 10,000/20,000 and a 20,000 big blind ante. The plan is to play down to a winner, although 421 players return, so a long day is on the cards. Stay tuned to PokerNews for updates.