$10K Stud Hi-Lo Championship Down to Two Tables

Andrei Zhigalov, a one-bracelet winner from Russia with $349,725 in lifetime cashes, is leading the final 18 players in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship at the Horseshoe.

This is WSOP Event #75 — the priciest mixed-game bracelet event of the summer — and it's in its final session right now.

The Board

Zhigalov's stack isn't published to the chip, but he's atop the leaderboard heading into two-table play. Behind him, Matthew Grapenthien — nine career final tables, just under $959K in lifetime earnings — is sitting on 844,000 and very much alive.

The rail already lost some heavy names. Bryce Yockey ($6.76M lifetime, 30 final tables) and Jake Schwartz ($3.65M lifetime, 27 final tables) both busted before the field condensed to 18. When players with a combined $10.4M in career earnings can't survive to the final two tables of a stud hi-lo event, the remaining field isn't soft.

When players with a combined $10.4M in career earnings can't survive to the final two tables, the remaining field isn't soft.

Why You Should Watch

Stud hi-lo at a $10K buy-in draws the smallest, sharpest field of any WSOP championship. There are no recreational players accidentally registering for this one. Every pot is a fight on multiple boards — high hand, low hand, scoops — and the action reads completely differently than hold'em or PLO.

Zhigalov is hunting bracelet number two. Grapenthien is hunting his first. Eighteen players, one gold bracelet, and the kind of game that rewards patience and reading door cards over GTO charts.

Stream coverage is live from the Horseshoe. Final table play should run into the early-morning hours PT on July 1.