Daniel Negreanu Wins Eighth WSOP Bracelet as Main Event Day 1A Concludes

July 2nd delivered another memorable day of World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2026, with one of the game’s most recognisable ambassadors winning the $100,000 High Roller Pot Limit Omaha prize.

Negreanu outlasted some of the world’s best Pot-Limit Omaha players to claim his eighth World Series of Poker bracelet, collecting a career-best Pot-Limit Omaha victory and one of the largest scores of the 2026 WSOP so far. He earned $2,257,718, with second-place Artur Martirosian coming away with a total of $1,477,434.

The field was full of Pot Limit Omaha specialists like Chris Frank and Philip Sternheimer, who also won big.

Japan’s Ryuta Nakai finished the day atop the chip counts with 323,000. He was followed by American Igor Pansovoi (300,300) and Australia’s Gregory Sly (254,500). Justin Yaker (240,000) and France’s David Rothschild (230,400) round out the top five.

Former Main Event champions also enjoyed successful starts. Joe Cada (133,600), Greg Merson (81,200), Daniel Weinman (79,300), Phil Hellmuth (66,000), and Damian Salas (54,900) all advanced to Day 2.

Day 1A quickly produced several notable clashes. Anthony Marini became the tournament’s first elimination after his Ace-King ran into Ryan Sands’ pocket Aces. At the other end of the spectrum, Scott Seiver made an outstanding preflop fold with Queens, correctly getting away against his opponent’s Aces to avoid an early exit.

Several prominent players, however, failed to survive Day 1A. Jared Bleznick, Leo Margets, Seth Davies, Dan Smith, Mike Moncek, Julien Sitbon, Chad Eveslage, David Bach, Frank Funaro Jr., and Espen Oeye were among those eliminated.

The Main Event continues with Day 1B, while the survivors from the opening flight will return to the tables on July 6th for Day 2.