Kravchuk Dominates Main Event as Two More Bracelets Find New Homes
WSOP Day 41
Day 41 of the 2025 World Series of Poker delivered the perfect blend of championship drama and bracelet glory at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. While the prestigious $10,000 Main Event continued its relentless march toward poker’s ultimate prize, two deserving champions emerged from the chaos to claim their first WSOP bracelets, setting the stage for another thrilling day of tournament action.
Main Event Mayhem: Kravchuk’s Commanding Performance
The spotlight firmly remained on poker’s World Championship, where Day 2abc of the Main Event saw 2,946 players return to battle for their tournament lives. When the dust settled, only 1,320 survivors remained, but none commanded more respect than Ukraine’s Oleksii Kravchuk, who bagged a tournament-leading 937,500 chips.
Kravchuk’s performance was nothing short of spectacular, coming tantalizingly close to becoming the Main Event’s first chip millionaire. His massive stack translates to 375 big blinds, giving him a commanding 70 big blind advantage over his nearest competitor, Randall Lack of the United States, who finished second with 762,500 chips. Nicholas Bond rounded out the top three with 724,500 chips, still trailing Kravchuk by a significant 85 big blinds.
The Ukrainian’s massive chip accumulation throughout the day established him as an early favorite to make a deep run in poker’s most prestigious tournament. His ability to build such a commanding stack while maintaining discipline suggests the kind of poker acumen that could carry him deep into the later stages of the tournament.
Women Warriors Making Their Mark
The Main Event showcased the incredible talent of poker’s female contingent, with several accomplished players punching their Day 3 tickets in impressive fashion. Leading the charge was Juliet Hegedus, who parlayed her recent sixth-place finish in the $1,000 Ladies Championship into a formidable 627,000-chip stack, good for eighth place overall.
Hegedus wasn’t alone in her success. Susan Faber accumulated 435,000 chips, while Norway’s Marte Sandberg bagged 403,000. Other notable female survivors included Lara Eisenberg (214,000), Katie Lindsay (170,000), and three-time bracelet winner Vanessa Selbst, who advanced with 160,500 chips.
Legends and Champions Still in the Hunt
As expected in poker’s premier event, the surviving field reads like a who’s who of tournament poker excellence. Former world champions and bracelet winners littered the Day 2abc leaderboard, each carrying their own unique path to potential glory.
Max Neugebauer sits comfortably with 435,000 chips, while 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer holds 226,000. The legendary Phil Hellmuth, still chasing his second Main Event title, bagged 187,000 chips to keep his dreams alive. Other former world champions in the mix include Damian Salas (129,000), Greg Merson (123,000), and Johnny Chan (94,500).
The $25,000 Fantasy Draft selections also showed their mettle, with 19 elite grinders advancing to Day 3. James Obst leads this prestigious group with 501,000 chips, followed by Kevin Gerhart (362,500), Calvin Anderson (312,500), Viktor Blom (287,000), and Jason Mercier (245,000). High-stakes regulars Stephen Chidwick (144,000), Yuri Dzivielevski (135,000), Adrian Mateos (94,500), and Daniel Negreanu (71,000) also survived, though they’ll need to find their top gear to make serious noise in the later stages.
Two New Bracelet Champions Emerge
While Main Event fever dominated the headlines, two other events reached their thrilling conclusions, crowning deserving champions who will forever be etched in WSOP history.
In Event #83: $2,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em, PokerGO founder Cary Katz captured his first WSOP bracelet along with $449,245 in prize money. The victory was particularly notable for Katz, who almost didn’t play the event but decided to register late. Four days later, his decision proved brilliant as he navigated through a tough field to claim poker’s most coveted prize.
The second bracelet of Day 41 went to Czech backgammon professional Zdenek Zizka, who conquered Event #84: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em for his first WSOP bracelet and a career-best $232,498 payday. Zizka’s victory was particularly significant as he denied Shaun Deeb his eighth bracelet, keeping the 2025 WSOP Player of the Year race wide open.
Ultra Stack Action Heats Up
Day 1a of Event #85: $600 Ultra Stack concluded with 213 survivors from an impressive 2,718-entry field. Texas’s Phillip Pope emerged as the chip leader with 2,210,000 chips, but Venkatara Ganne of the United States finished just one small blind behind with 2,190,000 chips, setting up a fascinating battle for supremacy.
Pope brings solid tournament credentials to the table, having captured a WSOP Circuit ring in the $1,700 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event in Tulsa during March 2019 for $215,000. His aggressive chip accumulation throughout Day 1a suggests he’s ready to add a bracelet to his collection.
Ganne, also armed with a WSOPC ring from November 2015, proved equally formidable in building his massive stack. Robert Laird of Illinois rounded out the top three with 1,870,000 chips, ensuring the Day 2 battle will be fierce from the opening hand.
The survivor list includes five bracelet winners, headlined by David Williams (1,160,000), the 2004 WSOP Main Event runner-up. Other notable survivors include Henrieto Acain (1,075,000), David Moses (995,000), Men “The Master” Nguyen (235,000), and Dieter Dechant (200,000).
Day 42 Preview: More Main Event Madness
The excitement continues to build as Day 42 promises another action-packed slate of events. The Main Event takes center stage once again with Day 2d beginning at noon local time, where at least 3,776 players will return to their seats. Late registration remains open for the first two levels, potentially swelling the field even further.
Two new bracelet-awarding events kick off at 10:00 a.m. local time. Day 1b of Event #85: $600 Ultra Stack will attempt to match or exceed the impressive 2,718-entry field from Day 1a, while Event #86: $1,000 Mystery Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha promises to deliver the kind of action-packed poker that PLO enthusiasts crave.
The day’s most explosive event launches at 2:00 p.m. local time with Event #87: $5,000 Super Turbo Bounty. This one-day tournament features lightning-fast 20-minute blind levels and $1,500 bounties on every player’s head, creating a perfect storm of aggression and opportunity. With chips flying from the first hand to the last, this event promises to be a white-knuckle ride from start to finish.
The Road Ahead
As the 2025 WSOP continues its relentless march toward poker immortality, Day 41 served as a perfect reminder of why this series remains the pinnacle of tournament poker. From Kravchuk’s commanding Main Event performance to the breakthrough victories of Katz and Zizka, every day brings new heroes and heartbreak in equal measure.
The Main Event’s journey toward its final table continues to captivate the poker world, with each surviving day creating new storylines and eliminating old favorites. As the field continues to shrink and the stakes continue to rise, every decision becomes magnified, every bluff more crucial, and every champion more deserving.
With thousands of players still chasing their WSOP dreams across multiple events, the coming days promise to deliver the kind of poker drama that has made Las Vegas the epicenter of the tournament world. Whether you’re following the Main Event’s march to glory or tracking the next breakout star in the smaller buy-in events, one thing remains certain: the best is yet to come.
