Fear the Reard: Frenchman Leads 52 Players in $50,000 High Roller
The highest buy-in event of the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) so far got underway with Event #32: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em, which drew 124 players on Day 1. France's Alexandre Reard bagged the chip lead over 52 remaining players.
Other big stacks at the end of Day 1 include American pros Jason Koon and Brock Wilson, Brazil's Joao Simao and online poker legend Viktor Blom.
Also among those who bagged are oil and gas magnate Kathy Lehne, PokerGO founder Cary Katz and high-stakes pros Chino Rheem, Kristen Foxen, Sam Soverel, Jeremy Ausmus and Joao Vieira, who got a late-night boost by hitting quads to crack the aces of Vinny Lingham.
End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexandre Reard | France | 2,335,000 | 195 |
| 2 | Viktor Blom | Sweden | 1,810,000 | 151 |
| 3 | Joao Simao | Brazil | 1,636,000 | 136 |
| 4 | Jack Roser | United States | 1,496,000 | 125 |
| 5 | Brock Wilson | United States | 1,495,000 | 125 |
| 6 | Joao Vieira | Portugal | 1,380,000 | 115 |
| 7 | Brandon Steven | United States | 1,300,000 | 108 |
| 8 | Marius Gierse | Austria | 1,270,000 | 106 |
| 9 | Oliver Weis | Germany | 1,155,000 | 96 |
| 10 | Jason Koon | United States | 1,049,000 | 87 |
Day 1 Action
The $50,000 buy-in event started off slowly enough, with just one table that gradually multiplied to around a dozen.
There were a few highlights on Day 1, including Spanish poker star Adrian Mateos getting aces cracked by the kings of Alexandros Theologis, Alex Kulev having kings cracked by Michael Gathy, and a table-wide discussion about Phil Hellmuth.
Ren Lin and Martin Kabrhel were seated at adjacent tables for much of the day, but the two rowdy poker players were a lot quieter than usual. Kabrhel piped up a bit later in the evening as his chip stack grew, at one point telling an opponent he busted, "Good luck on your rebuy."
Despite Lin's good behavior, he did at one point give Gathy a playful slap on the wrist after three-betting Lin one too many times.
There is no sign yet of defending champion Sergio Aido, who won this event last year for $2,026,506 and his first bracelet.
Day 2 will kick off at noon local time on Level 9 with blinds of 8,000/16,000/16,000. Late registration will remain open until the end of Level 10 at approximately 2:15 p.m.
The plan is to play ten levels with 15-minute breaks every two levels and a 60-minute dinner break after Level 14, around 6:30 p.m.
Stay tuned as PokerNews will be back tomorrow for continued coverage of Event #32: $50,000 High Roller at the 2025 WSOP.