Day 5 of the Main Event was a tough affair, whittling 522 players down to just 202 hopefuls, with Germany’s Sebastian Schulze leading the way. Damian Salas (2020 champion), Max Neugebauer (2023 WSOP Europe champion) and Alexandros Kolonias (2019 WSOP Europe champion) were all early casualties, meaning 2012 champ Greg Merson is the last remaining winner still in the mix.
Busted!
It was a brutal day for many players, none more so than Michael Hawker. The young US player returned from dinner holding the chip lead – 20 minutes later he was on the rail!
His chips all went the way of Sebastian Schulze, the first chunk in a house over house cooler and the rest in the very next hand…
Hawker: K♥ 6♠
Schulze: J♣ 9♣
Flop: 7♣ 8♣ 5♣
Turn: 9♦
When Hawker’s 4-bet shove was insta-called, he asked: “You didn’t flop a flush, did you?” and was stunned when Schulze tabled exactly that. The river came an inconsequential …
River: J♠
..and Hawker was left counting the cost of his fall from grace with the poker gods.
The big names still in were having a mixed time of things, Brian Hastings starting out happily enough…
4.1m going to 50k, 1 more level today pic.twitter.com/wKBBf7iMAY
— Brian Hastings (@brianchastings) July 11, 2025
… but eventually falling with turned top pair to a flopped set…
Two of the best in the game clashed, and it led to a double KO for Ike Haxton
Jeremy Kottler: A♥ J♥
Stephen Chidwick: 5♥ 5♦
Isaac Haxton: K♦ K♣
Chidwick’s button jam saw both Kottler and Chidwick come along, both at risk…
Flop: 3♥ K♠ 6♥
Turn: 9♥
River: 6♦
That river helped Haxton to bag a stack going into day 6.
Other notables who fell included Viktor Blom and Matt Affleck.
Bagged!
No woman has ever won the Main Event but that will almost certainly change someday. This year has potential, with Leo Margets, Esther Taylor, Heather Hardie and Lindsey McDougall all bagging for day 6.
Last time a woman won an open event at the WSOP, it was 2021 and @LeoMargets lifted her 1st gold bracelet in the air after winning "The Closer" for $376,850.
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) July 11, 2025
Leo is still cruising on Day 5 of the Main Event, currently sitting with 2.1M (52bb) in the 20K/40K level with 290 left. pic.twitter.com/pqnKR56QXU
Alongside Margets, there are several other bracelet winners in contention, none more so than Mike “The Grinder” Mizrachi. Mizrachi has already scooped the highly-coveted Poker Player’s Championship this year and if he added the Main Event it would be the most remarkable double in WSOP history.
Others who bagged include William Kassouf, Kenny Hallaert, and the son of Celine Dion, Rene-Charles Angelil.
Top 10 Chip Counts (end of day 5)
1 | Sebastian Schulze | Germany | 12,745,000 |
2 | Chad Power | USA | 9,540,000 |
3 | Braxton Dunaway | USA | 8,600,000 |
4 | Sergio Veloso | Portugal | 8,200,000 |
5 | Richard Buckingham | USA | 7,625,000 |
6 | Albert Calderon | USA | 7,365,000 |
7 | Muhamet Perati | Italy | 7,010,000 |
8 | Will Kassouf | England | 6,900,000 |
9 | Pedro Padilha | Brazil | 6,835,000 |
10 | Michael Garner | USA | 6,505,000 |
