2026 WSOP: Benny Glaser Leads $50K Poker Players Championship Final Table, Star-Studded Field
The final table of the 2026 WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship is set. Benny Glaser leads with 8.61 million chips, while the other five players, including Phil Ivey and Josh Arieh, have a combined 32 gold bracelets. The tournament resumes today at 1:30 PM to crown the champion, who will also receive the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy and $1,343,764.
After four days of intense competition across multiple poker variants, Event #60 of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) — the $50,000 Poker Players Championship (PPC) — has produced its final six. Day 4 chip leader Benny Glaser will hold down the "Battlezone" at the WSOP today, but his path to a ninth gold bracelet faces a stern challenge from the formidable field around him.
A Long Day
Glaser opened Day 4 as the chip leader, but the remaining 14 players (out of 108 entries) were full of threats. Paul Volpe sat second with 4,020,000 chips, the only other player above 4 million. Day 3 chip leader Kristopher Tong was third, while Josh Arieh, Phil Ivey, Jason Mercier, Chris Brewer, and others rounded out the top ten.
Another threat was all-time bracelet record holder Phil Hellmuth. After Maksim Pisarenko was the first elimination, Hellmuth found himself short-stacked. Despite fighting valiantly multiple times on short stacks, he ultimately lost to Glaser in 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball: Hellmuth’s 8-7-6-4-2 ran into Glaser’s 8-7-5-3-2, finishing 14th ($109,459). Eliminations followed in quick succession: Roy Thung took 13th (eliminated by Maxx Coleman); Nick Guagenti sent Chris Brewer to the rail (12th) in a hand of Limit Hold'em, moving up the chip counts; Glaser eliminated "Big Huni" (Hunichen) in Pot-Limit Omaha when his J-10-9-9 flopped trips against A-A-K-7. Volpe dispatched Jesse Lonis (10th).
From Two Tables to One
With ten players remaining, the mixed-game format required keeping two tables. Tong surged ahead in 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball to take the chip lead, while Volpe and Glaser battled at their respective tables. Alex Livingston lost to Guagenti in Seven Card Stud to finish 9th ($144,054); but Guagenti was then eliminated by Coleman, taking 8th. After Guagenti’s exit, the final seven merged to one table. Tong led Arieh. Glaser’s chip stack fluctuated throughout the day — he dipped into danger territory at one point but quickly recovered. Mercier, short-stacked, doubled up twice but eventually fell to Glaser in Seven Card Stud: his tens failed to improve against Glaser’s two pair. This was the last elimination of the day, and Glaser surged to the top of the final table chip counts on the back of Mercier’s chips just before 1 a.m.
Final Table Chip Counts:
- Benny Glaser: 8,610,000
- Maxx Coleman: 5,565,000
- Josh Arieh: 5,265,000
- Kristopher Tong: 5,180,000
- Phil Ivey: 5,135,000
- Paul Volpe: 2,725,000
The final table is loaded with talent. Poker Hall of Famer Ivey and a combined 32 WSOP gold bracelets sit among the six. Even short-stacked Volpe is dangerous — one double-up could spell trouble for everyone else. Play resumes today at 1:30 p.m. PT, with the champion taking home the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy and $1,343,764. Can Glaser hold onto his lead from the past two days, or will one of his rivals catch him? The answer will come after a long and grueling battle.