Day 1b of Event #86, the $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold’em, got underway at 10 a.m. local time on July 6 at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
According to PokerNews, entrants begin with 60,000 chips, and the three Day 1 flights run through July 7 before surviving players merge for Day 2 on July 8.
Each starting flight runs for 22 levels of 30 minutes, with a break after every four levels and a 75-minute dinner break after Level 12, around 5 p.m. local time.
Day 2 is set for 1 p.m. on July 8, when the levels stretch to 40 minutes and play ends after 17 levels or when the field is down to five players.
Breaks on Day 2 come every three levels, with a 60-minute dinner break scheduled to start around 7:30 p.m., and PokerNews said its traditional live reporting begins that day.
The Ultra Stack format is pitched as one that gives players a lot more chips than usual for a $600 event, and the same tournament is described as attracting both recreational players and professionals.
Day 1a drew 1,366 players and was reduced to 98 survivors after 22 levels, with Rajan Patel leading the survivors on 2,690,000 chips.
Five players finished Day 1a above 2 million chips: Patel, Wade Gillett, Ming Chen, Son Ho and Zahor Maymon, while Ryan Bambrick bagged 1,315,000 and Naoya Kihara advanced with 590,000.
Bambrick won his first bracelet in 2018 in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event for $217,123 and added another title at the 2025 WSOP in the $10,000 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship for $470,437.
Kihara also moved on from Day 1a after a run that, according to the WSOP LIVE app summary, already included 14 cashes, five final tables and two bracelets.
The event’s recent history shows why it draws such a large crowd. Justin Fawcett won the 2025 edition after outlasting 7,057 entrants for $355,110, and Carson Heidemann won in 2024 by beating 6,628 players for $343,010.
The champion of this year’s Event #86 will be determined on July 9.
