WSOP 2026 Diary. No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up Championship – Day 1A

A report from Day 1 of the 2026 World Series of Poker. We're starting with heads-up championship. A recap of the day's events, results, and best hands are in this article.

WSOP-2026 Jun 1, 2026 95 Add to Reading List

WSOP 2026 Diary. No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up Championship – Day 1A

The 2026 World Series of Poker has officially kicked off in Las Vegas. Two rounds have already been completed in the Heads-Up Championship. Here are the quick highlights:

Daniel Negreanu — as always, surrounded by an aura of invincibility and enjoying a relatively smooth path to the next round. Michael Mizrachi — a thousand missed bluffs and still a victory. Yokosawa, who by his own admission is Japan’s best poker player, brilliantly survived Martin Kabrhel’s nonstop table talk and promised to win the tournament, only to crash out in the very next match against Justin Saliba. Phil Hellmuth won one match before falling to Mizrachi. And the cherry on top: the appearance of the patron saint of recreational players, Chris Moneymaker. Not at the tables, though. A reporter simply found him on a regular cash table.

Inside the article: a couple dozen of the most interesting hands with commentary, plus results from the day.

David Baker vs. Phil Hellmuth

Blinds: 800/1600

Baker (D): 7♠2♥. Raise to 3.2K.
Hellmuth (BB): K♦Q♠. 3-bet to 4.8K.
Baker: 4-bet to 18.2K.
Hellmuth: Fold.

Everyone knows about Hellmuth’s tight and fairly straightforward style, and Baker is no exception. It's not entirely clear from the broadcast why he decided that this was the exact moment Phil would fold. Presumably, it had something to do with previous hands.

In any case, Baker’s bluff was extremely confident, and Phil folded quickly. Baker even showed the cards afterward, apparently hoping to put psychological pressure on the notoriously emotional Hellmuth. It looked impressive, but ultimately it didn't work — Phil advanced to the next round.

^{Phil Hellmuth. Photo: Wikipedia}

Martin Kabrhel vs. Masato Yokosawa

Kabrhel ran into a brutal cooler and lost the maximum possible amount.

Blinds: 1.5K/3K. Pot 4.5K

Kabrhel (D): J♥4♦. Raise to 9K
Yokosawa: Q♥J♠. Call 6K. Pot 18K

Flop: J♦4♥Q♣

Y: Check.
K: Bet 10K. Pot 28K
Y: Raise to 33K. Pot 61K
K: All-in to 223K
Y: Call

Pot: 463.6K. Kabrhel is left with 136K.

Turn and River: J♦4♥Q♣10♠5♥

A painful and, in many ways, decisive pot for Kabrhel, one in which he probably had no escape route. Two pair versus two pair in heads-up is often a death sentence. Yokosawa takes the chip lead with a stack three times larger than his opponent’s and eventually wins the match.

^{Martin Kabrhel. Photo: Wikipedia}

Martin Kabrhel vs. Masato Yokosawa

A hand where Kabrhel picked up a stronger holding but chose not to raise — and paid dearly for it.

Kabrhel (D): 4♥4♦. Call 2K
Yokosawa: 3♣2♥. Check. Pot 8K

Flop: 3♥6♥K♠

Y: Check
K: Bet 4K
Y: Call 4K. Pot 16K

Turn: 3♥6♥K♠ 3♦

Y: Check
K: Bet 8K
Y: Raise to 28K. Pot 52K
K: Call 20K. Pot 72K

River: 3♥6♥K♠3♦ 2♦

Kabrhel loudly celebrates the river card and declares that this casino has the best dealers in the world.

Y: Bet 26.5K. Pot 98.5K
K: Raise to 101K. Pot 199.5K
Y: 3-bet to 181K. Pot 353.9K

Kabrhel has 80K behind. Yokosawa has 166K.

K: Fold.

Kabrhel made a desperate river move, committing more than half of his remaining stack. I couldn't understand why he refused to believe his opponent throughout the hand when Yokosawa had been showing strength on every street — and increasingly so.

Considering that Yokosawa simply checked his big blind preflop, a trip three was just as plausible as almost anything else. By limping with pocket fours, Kabrhel was probably hoping to induce a preflop raise from the Japanese player, but that never happened, and from there he seemed to get carried away.

From Kabrhel’s perspective, the hand isn't particularly impressive. Starting on the turn, he was effectively beating nothing. By the river, he was representing little more than trips or perhaps 4-5 for a straight.

After this hand, Kabrhel was left with 80K chips against more than 500K for Yokosawa.

Brock Wilson vs. Daniel Negreanu

An extremely aggressive hand from Wilson, but the timing could not have been worse. We joined this table after the hand had already begun.

Blinds: 2K/4K. Pot: 18K

Flop: Q♠Q♥J♥

Wilson (BB): 7♠5♠. Check
Negreanu (D): Q♦4♣. Check

Turn: Q♠Q♥J♥ J♠

W: Large semi-bluff of 20K with a flush draw. Pot 38K
N: Raise to 45K. Pot 83K

At this point it's already clear that even if Wilson completes his flush, he only beats a bluff. Nevertheless, he doesn't believe Negreanu.

W: 3-bet to 100K. Pot 163K
N: Call 55K. Pot 218K

As they say, the hand plays itself. Negreanu doesn't need to do anything because the pot is already so large that if Wilson has something, he's not going anywhere.

Of course, we know that Brock has absolutely nothing — except an ironclad determination to win this pot at any cost.

River: Q♠Q♥J♥J♠ 8♥

W: Bet 108K

Wilson continues to represent either a jack or a queen. If he had actually put Negreanu on at least a jack, he obviously wouldn't be betting here or on the turn. But since he doesn't believe his opponent has a full house, his own story can still credibly include both a queen and a jack.

It would have been fascinating to see what Negreanu would do with something like ace-high in this spot. Instead, everything worked out so simply for him that he was probably a little bored.

N: All-in
W: Fold

^{Daniel Negreanu. Photo: Wikipedia}

David Baker vs. Phil Hellmuth

A hand that initially looked like the turning point. Hellmuth barely had to break a sweat, and it seemed as though the match was already over. However, Baker would later fight his way back into the lead.

Blinds: 3K/6K. Pot: 9K

Hellmuth (D): A♥5♥. Limp 3K. Pot 12K
Baker: 5♠2♥. Check

Flop: 2♣5♣A♦

B: Check
H: Bet 6K. Pot 18K
B: Raise to 15K. Pot 33K
H: Call 9K. Pot 42K

Turn: 2♣5♣A♦ 4♠

Check - Check

River: 2♣5♣A♦4♠ 5♦

B: Bet 44K. Pot 86K
H: Raise to 155K. Pot 241K
B: Call 111K

Hellmuth wins a 352K pot, climbing to 448K chips while Baker is left with 152K.

David Baker vs. Phil Hellmuth

This hand, however, was probably the true turning point. Baker folds the best hand, and after the match, when Hellmuth reveals what he had, you can see the pain on Baker’s face.

Blinds: 4K/8K. Pot 12K

Baker (D): J♦9♠. Raise to 16K. Pot 24K
Hellmuth (BB): 9♥4♠. Raise to 32K. Pot 40K
B: Call 24K. Pot 64K

Flop: 9♣6♠8♦

H: Bet 30K. Pot 94K
B: Call 30K. Pot 124K

Turn: 9♣6♠8♦ 2♣

H: Check
B: Bet 70K. Pot 194K
H: All-in to 234K. Pot 428K
B: Fold

Throughout the match, Baker had Hellmuth’s tight style firmly in mind, and in this case that image ended up working in Phil’s favor. Most likely, Hellmuth was simply extracting value with top pair rather than bluffing.

Baker tanked for a very long time before eventually folding. He was left with 164K against Hellmuth’s 428K. He never managed to recover.

Harvey Castro vs. Daniel Negreanu

This was already the next round. Castro had defeated Justin Dykes, while Negreanu had advanced past Wilson.

Blinds: 1K/2.5K. Pot: 3.5K

Negreanu (D): A♠3♠. Raise to 6.5K. Pot 9K
Castro (BB): A♦7♦. 3-bet to 24K
N: 4-bet to 58K. Pot 82K
C: Call 34K. Pot 116K

Flop: Q♠9♦2♦

C: Check.
N: Bet 35K
C: Call 35K. Pot 186K

Turn: Q♠9♦2♦ K♠

C: Check
N: Bet 90K. Pot 276K

Both players have roughly 450K at this point.

C: Fold.

Negreanu suppressed him. Despite being out of position, Castro had an excellent opportunity to take down the pot by raising the flop with the nut flush draw. It was the natural play.

But perhaps he feared a monster hand from Negreanu that could shove. Calling was certainly easy from a pot-odds perspective, as Negreanu’s flop bet was very small — 35K into 116K, less than one-third pot.

On the turn, Daniel picks up his own nut flush draw, and after showing aggression on the previous streets, continuing to apply pressure became very comfortable for him.

A Brief Nostalgia Break

During a break, a reporter spotted Chris Moneymaker in the tournament area. He wasn’t playing any event; apparently, he was just grinding cash games.

Chris is the legendary winner of the 2003 WSOP Main Event. What made him famous was that, as an amateur player, he qualified for the Main Event through an online satellite and then went on to win the bracelet.

After that victory, thousands upon thousands of new players flooded into online poker after seeing that an ordinary guy could make that kind of money playing cards. Moneymaker earned $2.5 million, and the phenomenon became known as the “Moneymaker Effect.”

The conversation, however, was brief. Chris wasn’t particularly thrilled by the attention and quickly returned to his game.

^{Chris Moneymaker. Photo: Wikipedia}

Justin Saliba vs. Masato Yokosawa

In this hand, the Japanese player falls victim to the same deadly holding he used to crush Kabrhel in the previous round: suited 3-2.

Blinds: 4K/8K. Pot: 12K

Saliba (D): 3♦2♦. Raise to 20K. Pot 28K
Yokosawa (BB): A♥3♠. Call 12K. Pot 40K

Flop: 4♦5♥A♠

Y: Check
S: Bet 10K. Pot 50K
Y: Call 10K. Pot 60K

Turn: 4♦5♥A♠ 4♣

Y: Check
S: Bet 23K. Pot 83K
Y: Call 23K. Pot 106K

River: 4♦5♥A♠4♣ J♠

Y: Check
S: Bet 91K. Pot 197K
Y: Call 91K. Total pot 288K

Essentially, Yokosawa was playing a guessing game. Saliba raised preflop and fired all three streets.

The board texture was such that the Japanese player was probably focused on a single question: does my opponent have an ace or not?

The turn bets were still manageable. On the river, however, Saliba fired a substantial 91K. Yet the paired four on the turn and the jack on the river protected Yokosawa from a significant portion of Saliba’s value range. All aces with kickers from six through ten were now splitting the pot: two pair with a jack kicker on the board.

Perhaps that was why Yokosawa eventually found the call. Reading Saliba for 3-2 was, of course, virtually impossible.

Harvey Castro vs. Daniel Negreanu

Negreanu pulls off a powerful river bluff, forcing Castro to fold Big Slick. In Castro’s defense, very few players would have found a call on this river.

Blinds: 6K/12K. Pot: 18K

Negreanu (D): A♥6♣. Limp 6K. Pot 24K
Castro (BB): A♠K♦. Raise to 60K. Pot 72K
N: Call 48K. Pot 120K

Flop: K♥5♦7♥

C: Bet 50K. Pot 170K
N: Call 50K. Pot 220K

Turn: K♥5♦7♥ 6♥

The turn completely changes the landscape. Castro is no longer a clear favorite because the board now offers both straight and flush possibilities. Negreanu picks up a pair and the nut flush draw.

C: Check
N: Bet 90K. Pot 310K
C: Call 90K. Pot 400K

River: K♥5♦7♥6♥ 4♦

A brutal river for Castro. Almost everything now beats him: flushes, trips, an eight for a straight, and various connectors that have improved to two pair.

It's difficult to imagine what hand Negreanu could have that Castro still beats, considering the line he took: call on the flop, bet on the turn.

C: Check
N: Bet 297K. Pot 697K

Perhaps Castro had one last chance to invent a happy ending for himself. Negreanu is famous for small sizing, and suddenly he fires a massive bet — effectively putting his opponent all-in.

Castro couldn't come up with enough hands he could beat, chose not to risk elimination, and folded. He still had around 25 big blinds left afterward. A playable stack, though it ultimately wasn't enough. Negreanu advanced.

Ryuta Nakai vs. Cary Katz

What stands out in this hand is Nakai’s razor-thin value raise on the river. As the saying goes, a missed value is a loss. Nakai squeezed 101% out of this spot.

Blinds: 8K/16K. Pot: 24K

Nakai (D): K♠4♦. Raise to 32K. Pot 48K
Katz (BB): A♠4♠. Call 16K. Pot 64K

Flop: K♥6♦4♥

K: Check
N: Bet 26K. Pot 90K
K: Call 26K. Pot 116K

Turn: K♥6♦4♥ 5♥

Check - Check

River: K♥6♦4♥5♥ 2♦

After this river, Nakai’s two pair loses to any flush and any 3.

K: Bet 16K. Pot 132K

Unlike Negreanu in the previous hand, who polarized his range with a huge bet, Katz wagers just one big blind.

Ultra-thin river value bets have become fashionable lately, but here this looks more like a blocking bet disguised as value.

In any case, Nakai seems to have recognized that. He apparently concluded that if Katz was value betting this thinly, perhaps he only had a single pair — maybe just kings or just sixes.

So Nakai doesn't merely call. He raises. And it's an excellent decision. The Japanese player isn't risking very much. The board is so coordinated that if Katz were somehow to re-raise, Nakai could instantly throw away his two pair.

N: Raise to 40K. Pot 172K
K: Call 24K. Total pot 196K

It's difficult to understand what hand Katz assigned to his opponent in order to justify the call. Perhaps the size of the pot simply pulled him in.

Nakai wins a healthy pot, although he still remained slightly behind Katz in chips and ultimately lost the match.