Phil Ivey eyes history at WSOP $50K PPC final table

Posted on: June 25, 2026 02:43 PDT

The 2026 WSOP $50K Poker Players Championship is down to its final six players, who return on Thursday to play for what many regard as the most prestigious title in all of poker.

Unlike the WSOP Main Event, which sees a scattering of big names at its final table from year to year, the PPC draws only the elite of the elite, the very best at nine separate variants of poker, guaranteeing a star-studded lineup year after year.

But this year, one name stands above the rest, Phil Ivey.

This year, a first-time PPC champion will be crowned, and it could well be one of the biggest names to have never won the event as he goes for bracelet number 12.

Here's a look at where Ivey and his final five competitors stand for the final levels of play on Thursday.

Benny Glaser (Chip leader - 8,610,000)

Previous best PPC results: 4th (2022), 5th (2018)

Benny Glaser leads the final six of the 2026 PPC.

He’s been at or near the top of the chip counts since Day 1, and now Benny Glaser will take the lead into the final day of the 2026 Poker Players Championship.

Glaser is unquestionably one of, if not the most talented mixed game player in the world right now, with eight bracelets to his name, all in mixed variants.

He was a hurdle short of claiming his ninth bracelet earlier this summer in the $10K Limit Hold‘em Championship, but if that bracelet comes in the most prestigious mixed game event in poker, it would be the highlight of an already illustrious career both live and online.

SPECIAL OFFERS

Maxx Coleman (2nd - 5,565,000)

Previous best PPC results: 13th (2023), 14th (2024)

Maxx Coleman is already further than he's ever been in a PPC.

To a resume that includes a pair of WSOP bracelets and mixed game wins from just about every other major tour or venue, Maxx Coleman and his $6M+ in career tournament earnings have now added a PPC final table. He now looks to end his best-ever run in the event with a victory.

After sneaking into the money twice before, but falling short of the final table each time, this run is already Coleman’s best PPC result. Now he'll be looking to close it out, entering Day 5 with the second-biggest stack.

Josh Arieh (3rd - 5,265,000)

Previous best PPC results: 2nd (2019), 6th (2021), 9th (2023), 13th (2011)

Josh Arieh staged a rally to enter the final day second in chips.

Josh Arieh staged a rally to enter the final day third in chips.

Already a strong contender for the 2026 WSOP Player of the Year title, Josh Arieh’s run to the final five of the PPC has solidified his candidacy and could see him atop the leaderboard depending on his finish.

Already with four top 10 finishes this summer, including a runner-up finish in the $10K HORSE, Arieh might be the hottest player returning Thursday to battle for the Chip Reese trophy.

He used some of that heat on Wednesday, going from a short stack with 10 left up to the third-biggest count for the final six.

Arieh has come as close as second in 2019, and with so many close calls this summer already, anything less than a win likely won’t satisfy this future Hall of Famer.

Kristopher Tong (4th - 5,180,000)

Previous best PPC results: 5th (2023)

Kristopher Tong leads entering the final day of the PPC

Kristopher Tong is on the verge of his best-ever PPC.

If you hadn't heard of Kristopher Tong until now, you're going to get to know him.

Maybe the least heralded, but no less talented, member of the final six is this Californian whose tournament resume may be the shortest of those returning Thursday, but it contains results almost exclusively from WSOP $10K+ events. He earned his first bracelet last summer in the $10K HORSE Championship.

Tong went on an impressive run Wednesday to rocket into the chip lead before falling back a bit near the end of play. He'll look to reclaim that heat on Thursday as he looks to topple the titans to claim the title for himself.

Phil Ivey (5th - 5,135,000)

Previous best PPC results: 3rd (2006) 6th (2023), 7th (2024), 8th (2019), 9th (2019)

Phil Ivey's Hall of Fame career could be adding a PPC title on Thursday.

The man that many see as the absolute G.O.A.T. in poker is back at the final table of the PPC in his record sixth time cashing the event.

Across his half-dozen trips to the PPC pay window, Phil Ivey has earned just over $1.4M, but the title has eluded him, with his closest run coming in the inaugural edition in 2006 when the tournament was played as HORSE. In its current nine-game iteration, Ivey has come as close as sixth in 2023.

Ivey was in danger of missing the final day in the last two levels of Day 4, sitting with the shortest stack, but he heated up near night's end to put himself among the contenders for Thursday's finale.

Could this finally be the year that Ivey adds the Chip Reese trophy and a 12th WSOP bracelet to his Hall of Fame career?

Paul Volpe (6th - 2,725,000)

Previous best PPC results: 3rd (2021), 6th (2017), 11th (2016)

Paul Volpe may be the short stack, but he's far from out of it.

Philadelphia’s finest mixed gamer, Paul Volpe, returns to the final day of the PPC for the first time since 2021 when he finished 3rd in the first of Dan Cates’ back-to-back wins.

Another mixed game star with deep online roots, Volpe is still a fixture in the $10K Championship events at the WSOP with wins in No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw and Limit Omaha 8 or Better, along with a $1,500 8-game bracelet.

A PPC win on Thursday would be his first bracelet since 2018.