Kyle Montgomery Has $25K to His Name and 2.6 Million Chips

Kyle Montgomery has $25,000 in lifetime tournament earnings, and right now he's sitting on 2.6 million chips with 16 players left in a $5,000 bracelet event.

That's not a typo. The buy-in for Event #73, the $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em, is worth one-fifth of everything Montgomery has ever cashed for in his entire recorded tournament career. And as Day 3 plays down to two tables at the Horseshoe in Las Vegas, he's holding one of the bigger stacks in the room.

He's not alone in the "where did this guy come from" category, either. Markus Gonsalves, another American with just $14,771 in lifetime earnings, is sitting on 5,445,000 chips. That stack is currently larger than Montgomery's.

The buy-in for Event #73 is worth one-fifth of everything Montgomery has ever cashed for in his entire recorded tournament career.

The Stack That Matters Most

None of those numbers belong to the chip leader.

Xiaoyao Ma, a Chinese player with $549,731 in lifetime earnings and two career final tables, holds the commanding stack: 11,370,000 chips. That's more than double the next-closest player. Ma has never won a bracelet, but this isn't a player operating without a track record. Half a million in cashes and two final-table appearances suggest someone who has been here before, or at least close to here.

Behind Ma, France's Jean Lhuillier sits on 4,355,000 chips. Lhuillier's résumé ($551,529 lifetime, four final tables) mirrors Ma's profile: experienced enough to be dangerous, anonymous enough that most American rail birds won't recognize the name.

Then there's the outlier in the other direction.

The Bracelet Winner in the Room

Andrew Lichtenberger is at one of these two remaining tables with 3,355,500 chips. His credentials make everyone else's look like a first deposit: one WSOP bracelet, two Circuit rings, 45 career final tables, and $12,314,652 in lifetime tournament earnings.

Twelve million dollars. Forty-five final tables. Lichtenberger has been grinding high-stakes tournaments since the mid-2010s, and his presence here creates the kind of contrast that makes a final table worth watching. He knows exactly what these spots feel like. Montgomery, presumably, does not.

Lichtenberger currently sits fifth among the five named stacks, but in a 6-max format with 16 players left, the distance between fifth and first compresses fast. A single double-up puts him in contention. A single cooler sends anyone home.

What Makes This Table Different

The $5,000 6-Handed is the most expensive open event still running at this stage of the 2026 WSOP. The field it attracted is a mix of seasoned tournament professionals and players whose entire career earnings wouldn't cover two buy-ins.

That's the tension sitting inside these last two tables. Montgomery and Gonsalves are playing for a payday that would redefine their careers. Ma and Lhuillier are playing for international recognition and a first bracelet. Lichtenberger is playing for a second.

Sixteen players. Two tables. One bracelet.

And the player with the thinnest résumé in the room isn't sweating the rail. He's stacking chips.