WSOP 2026: Five Bracelets Awarded in Week One — Chun, Gheba, Neppl, Daly, and Wang Claim Gold
The 57th World Series of Poker has completed its first full week of bracelet play at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, with five champions crowned across five events ranging from a $400,622 mystery bounty tournament to a $595,388 PLO title won heads-up against one of the game’s top high rollers.
The short version:
- Event #1 — $550 Mini Mystery Millions: Philip Chun wins $400,622; the $1 million mystery bounty was claimed by Andrew Shelton, who finished 102nd in a field of 5,647 entries
- Event #2 — $5,000 8-Handed NLH: Daniyal Gheba wins $502,985 for his first career bracelet
- Event #3 — $500 Industry Employees NLH: Jerome Neppl wins $64,083 — the first bracelet awarded at the 2026 WSOP; Neppl had recorded just $603 in prior tournament earnings
- Event #4 — $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better: Jason Daly wins $191,362
- Event #5 — $5,000 PLO 8-Handed: China’s Yang Wang wins $595,388, defeating high roller Jesse Lonis heads-up
- The Player of the Year race carries a $1 million prize pool for the first time; Lithuania’s Marius Kudzmanas leads defending champion Shaun Deeb; Wang’s Event #5 victory is the first 2026 Las Vegas result to crack the top 10
Philip Chun’s victory in the Mini Mystery Millions immediately doubled his lifetime live tournament earnings. A coach at Chip Leader Coaching, Chun had finished 571st in the same event last year and made the money. His biggest prior WSOP result had come in the 2018 Main Event, where he finished 91st for $66,330 in a field of nearly 8,000 entries. The $1 million mystery bounty — the tournament’s signature prize — was claimed by Andrew Shelton, who ran deep enough to uncover the envelope before being eliminated in 102nd place.
Jerome Neppl’s victory in the Industry Employees event was one of the more remarkable stories of the opening week. A poker dealer by trade, Neppl had recorded just $603 in prior tournament earnings before winning the first bracelet of the 2026 summer series. He led 136 survivors going into Day 2 with 758,000 chips and converted the chip lead into the title, leaving 905 opponents behind.
Yang Wang’s PLO victory in Event #5 is the result with the most immediate significance for the Player of the Year race. Wang beat Jesse Lonis — a noted high roller with multiple six-figure scores — heads-up to claim $595,388, and the POY points from the victory have pushed him into the top 10 of the standings. Lithuania’s Marius Kudzmanas continues to lead defending champion Shaun Deeb, who has two second-place finishes from WSOP Europe already banked. The POY prize pool has been increased to $1 million for the first time in the series’ history, with $100,000 WSOP Paradise packages going to the top three finishers.
The 2026 WSOP runs through July 15 at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, with 95 bracelet events remaining including the $10,000 Main Event beginning July 2. The series is set to award its 3,000th gold bracelet during the summer — a milestone the WSOP has been tracking since the Prague European series in March.
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