Daniel Negreanu Chases Bracelet No. 8 at the Stacked WSOP $100K High Roller PLO Final Table

Last Updated on July 2, 2026 by Bala Kumar

There’s a particular kind of electricity that shows up whenever Daniel Negreanu WSOP 2026 headlines begin appearing near the top of a chip count, and this summer it’s back in a big way. Heading into the unofficial final table of the WSOP 100K High Roller PLO (Event #76), Negreanu is sitting second in chips with 11,465,000, chasing what would be the eighth WSOP bracelet of a career that’s already among the most decorated in poker history. Only Artur Martirosian stands ahead of him as the final table takes shape, adding even more intrigue to the Negreanu bracelet chase that has become one of the biggest storylines of the series.

It’s the kind of storyline that makes this event worth watching even if you’ve never bought into a $100K buy-in yourself. With a stacked field, massive payouts, and one of poker’s biggest stars still in contention, the WSOP final table 2026 promises high-stakes drama from the first hand to the last. Let’s break down where things stand, who’s actually leading, and what the latest WSOP High Roller results mean for Negreanu’s pursuit of bracelet number eight.

Where the Chip Counts Stand

Russian high-stakes regular Artur Martirosian holds the outright chip lead as the field heads toward its official final table, and he’s not a name that shows up at the top of a leaderboard by accident. Here’s how the unofficial final table currently shapes up:

Place	Player	Chip Count
1	Artur Martirosian	14,320,000
2	Daniel Negreanu	11,465,000
3	Sean Winter	6,130,000
4	Jeremy Ausmus	5,285,000
5	Philip Sternheimer	4,990,000
6	Sergio Martinez Gonzalez	2,375,000
7	Yosuke Miki	2,180,000
8	Robert Cowen	1,920,000
9	Chris Frank	1,140,000

With $2,257,718 waiting for whoever wins it outright, this is exactly the kind of payday that can flip an entire summer’s narrative on its head, and for Negreanu specifically, that’s precisely what’s at stake.

Why This Run Matters More Than Usual for Negreanu

Here’s the part that gives this story real weight: as of last week, Negreanu was down more than $500,000 for the 2026 WSOP. That’s not a small number even by high-roller standards, and it’s the kind of deficit that tends to follow a player around in commentary for the rest of the summer if it isn’t corrected.

A finish of fifth place or better in this event would completely erase that deficit and swing him back into the black for the series. That’s a genuinely rare situation, a single tournament with the power to rewrite an entire summer’s storyline , and it’s part of why this final table carries more drama than your average $100K event.

This also isn’t Negreanu’s first deep run of the series. It’s actually his third final table of the 2026 WSOP, following an eighth-place finish in the $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack for $24,347, and a seventh-place finish in the $25,000 High Roller PLO/NLH Mixed event for $152,954. Neither of those results moved the needle much against a $500K deficit, but they show a player who’s been consistently in the mix all summer even while the overall bankroll numbers stayed underwater. This final table is the one with the size to actually change that.

If he goes all the way and takes down the bracelet, it would be his first of the 2026 summer and the eighth of his career, moving him further up one of the most recognizable names in the sport’s bracelet history, and putting a definitive, profitable stamp on a series that’s otherwise leaned rough for him.

Martirosian’s Own Redemption Arc

While Negreanu’s storyline is getting most of the attention, Martirosian’s path to the chip lead has its own weight behind it. He’s chasing his second bracelet of the summer and fifth overall, and he arrives at this final table looking to avoid a repeat of what happened in the $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller earlier in the series, an event where he had pocket aces cracked twice in quick succession right on the money bubble, a brutal way to miss out on a major payday.

There was no repeat of that heartbreak here. Martirosian was never in real jeopardy of bubbling this event, and he was actually the one who burst the bubble himself, eliminating Naoya Kihara, who’s been enjoying a career-best summer,  in 14th place and locking up the minimum cash of $204,938 for the remaining field. For a player who’s had at least one bitterly unlucky exit already this series, taking control of the bubble himself rather than being on the wrong end of it again is a meaningful turn of fortune.

The Rest of the Field Isn’t Just Filler

It’s easy for a final table story to become entirely about the two chip leaders, but there’s real substance further down these counts too. Sean Winter has built a genuinely big stack in third place as he continues a career-long search for his first-ever WSOP bracelet,  a title that has somehow eluded a player of his caliber and results to this point. Jeremy Ausmus, sitting fourth, is already carrying one of the more stacked WSOP résumés in the field and is well within striking distance of adding to it.

That mix,  a legend chasing a bracelet-eight milestone, a high-stakes crusher trying to shake off a bubble nightmare, and a perennial winner still hunting his first title, is what makes this final table more than just another high-roller payout chart. Every stack at that table is carrying its own story into the next level of play.

What Comes Next

Play is still ongoing, with a few more levels scheduled before the field reaches its true nine-handed final table. Given how close Martirosian and Negreanu are stacked relative to the rest of the field, this one has the look of a two-horse race at the top, though PLO’s swingy nature means any of the nine remaining players are still live for the title and the $2.25 million top prize.

For fans following along, live updates from the $100K High Roller PLO are being tracked continuously as the event plays down to a winner over the coming sessions.

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