WSOP 2025 Day 3 Recap: Texas Mike Goes for Gold, Michael Duek Flying High in PLO

The third day of World Series of Poker (WSOP) action in Las Vegas saw five events take place as big names and debut hopefuls pushed for glory. After the first WSOP bracelet of the summer was won yesterday, the third Day 1 flight of the Mystery Millions, two Day 2s in big events and two new events played out at the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos.

Texas Mike Makes Final Stages in $5k NLHE Event

Day 2 of Event #3, the $5,000-entry 8-Max No Limit Hold’em event, took place and whittled down 340 players to 25 survivors. With everyone who made Day 3 guaranteed to win $18,736, everyone will be chasing the half-million top prize and much coveted WSOP gold bracelet, with Spanish player Antonio Galiana in the lead with 3,615,000 chips. 

While Galiana grabbed the lead, the top 10 is peppered with big names, with Greek $25k Fantasy Draft player Georgios Sotiropoulos (3,045,000) second in chips, Bradley Gafford (2,445,000), Uri Reichenstein (2,095,000) and Christian Roberts (2,065,000) completing the top five, the dangerous Renji Mao (2,045,000) and legendary player Michael ‘Texas Mike' Moncek (1,805,000) will have no fear as they attempt to win their second and third WSOP bracelets in this event. 

On a day where so many big players made the final 25, such as Sam Soverel (1.2m) and Justin Saliba (1.1m), others left with cash but no chance of bracelet glory. Jeremy Ausmus cashed in 50th place for $12,089, Quan Zhou came 42nd for $13,713, and Jesse Lonis finished in 29th place for a score of $18,736.

WSOP Event #3 $5,000 8-Handed NLHE Day 2 Chip Counts

 
Final 16 Reached in Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Event 

From the 910 players who started Day 1 of the $1,500-entry Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Event #4, just 224 began with a chance of taking home gold on Day 2, where the bubble burst and 16 players were in seats when the music stopped. Players such as Texas Mike, who ran eight-six into jacks, queens, kings and aces on a day of personal drama, departed with nothing. Alex Livingston, Brad Ruben and the 2024 WSOP Player of the Year Scott Seiver were among those to miss the money. 

Inside the final 137 paid places, Ari Engel (134th for $3,027), Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow (111th for $3,027), Brad Owen (91st for $3,027), Stoyan Madanzhiev (61st for $3,820), Robert Mizrachi (47th for $4,807) and Todd Brunson (39th for $5,561) all saw a return on their buy-in for their endeavours at the felt.

Leading the final day chip counts is Melvin McCraney, who stacked up 3,425,000, marginally more than Day 1 chip leader David Shmuel (3,060,000) and Russian player Ilia Krupin (2,985,000), while the talented Jon Kyte (1,010,000) also made the top ten in ninth place of the 16 remaining players. A top prize of $205,333 and the WSOP bracelet will be on the line tomorrow.

WSOP Event #4 $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Day 2 Chip Counts

Beck and Duek Top a Million in PLO

The first big Pot Limit Omaha event of the summer saw 757 entries gather at the felt for Event #5, the $5,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha event. Building a huge $3.5m prize pool, just 123 players remained at the close of play as nine eliminations were still required to burst the money bubble.

When players return tomorrow, they’ll do so hoping not only to make a min-cash worth $9,960 but to chase the top prize of a whopping $620,696. Best placed to do so is the New Zealander Matthew Beck, who finished the night on 1,320,000 chips. With 1,026,000, Michael Duek ended Day 1 as the only other player to top a million chips after his kings beat Chris ‘Big Huni’ Hunichen’s kings earlier in the day. Having come third in the 2022 WSOP Main Event, Duek will be a major threat to any of the other players hoping to take this event down.

From the remaining 123 players, an incredible 87 collective WSOP bracelets have been won in the past and the surviving players read like a Who’s Who of players who are tough to beat at the poker table. Chad Eveslage (531,000), Alex Livingston (525,000), Daniel Zack (384,000), Bryce Yockey (363,000), Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow (273,000), Shaun Deeb (227,000), Phil Hellmuth (148,000), Nick Schulman (117,000), Viktor Blom (101,000) and the seven-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu (89,000) all made the Day 2 cut. Maybe PLO is everybody’s jam.

WSOP Event #5 $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Day 1 Chip Counts

Reichard and Song Chasing More Gold in Mystery Millions 

Day 1c of the $1,000-entry Mystery Millions took place in Las Vegas today, as Brad Lasko (3.55m) top scored from 2,995 entries, the biggest Day 1 field yet in the 2025 event. Only 153 players survived the 22 levels of play today, with the former WSOP bracelet winners Josh Reichard (2,675,000) and Valentino Konakchiev (2,330,000) as well as the excellent Yunkyu Song (1,835,000) also well poised.

$25k Fantasy Draft picks Craig Varnell (1,390,000), Brad Ruben (1,340,000), Phil Hui (900,000), and Brock Wilson (190,000) also survived the day, albeit with some having more work to do than others to get back in the running for gold or the $1 million top bounty prize.

WSOP Event #1 $1,000 Mystery Millions Day 1 Chip Counts

Bach Among the Seven Card Stud Leaders with Pescatori in Pursuit

Finally, total of 377 entries populated Event #6’s opening day as the three-day $1,500 Seven Card Stud event saw just 69 players survive and a prize pool of $519,977 created. A dozen players will need to bust tomorrow before the top 57 players are paid and in pole position to run deep after Day 1 was John Woolen, who took the lead with 439,000 chips.

Elsewhere in the remaining field, Matthew Valeo (353,300), Robert Shepp (340,000), Max Pescatori (261,500) and Joey Couden (also 261,500) made the top ten, while Greg Mueller (169,500), Brian Rast (153,000), Frankie O'Dell (136,000) and the defending champion Richard Ashby (36,500) all survived with varying degrees of hope for bracelet gold in two days’ time.

Players to fall on Day 1 included the reigning WSOP Player of the Year Scott Seiver, British mixed games legend Benny Glaser, another specialist in this discipline Adam Friedman and the 1996 WSOP world champion Huck Seed.

WSOP Event #6 $1,500 Seven Card Stud Day 1 Chip Counts

Connect with PokerGO.com on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Watch daily poker clips on the PokerGO YouTube channel. Join the conversation on the PokerGO Discord server. You can save $20 off your first year of an annual subscription to PokerGO.com by using the code “WSOP25” at checkout.