Nikita Bakarjiev Is Wire-to-Wire in the $250 Deepstack Past 6 AM

It's 6:36 a.m. in Las Vegas, 24 players remain in WSOP Event #436, and Nikita Bakarjiev is sitting behind 1,400,000 chips — the same spot he's held since the field was four times this size.

Wire-to-Wire

The $250 Daily Deepstack No-Limit Hold'em has been bleeding players all night at the Horseshoe. Here's Bakarjiev's arc across three chip-count snapshots:

• 96 players left (4:20 a.m.): The chip lead belonged to Kirk Wilson at 275,000. Bakarjiev wasn't yet among the reported top stacks.
• 47 players left (5:50 a.m.): Bakarjiev surfaces at 1,145,000 — a massive accumulation that vaulted him past the entire field. Joshua Jackson sat second with 790,000.
• 24 players left (6:36 a.m.): Bakarjiev adds another 255,000 to reach 1,400,000. Charles Culpepper, with $1,200 in lifetime WSOP earnings, is the closest reported stack at 730,000.

That's a run from outside the frame to a commanding lead in roughly 90 minutes, then a steady build from there. In a $250 buy-in daily, where stacks are shallow and variance is king, holding the top spot across two full milestones is unusual.

In a $250 daily where stacks are shallow and variance is king, holding the top spot across two full milestones is unusual.

The Field Around Him

The early chip leader, Kirk Wilson (275,000 at the 96-player mark), busted by the time the field hit 47. Joshua Jackson, who held 790,000 at 47 players, has either slipped or exited — he doesn't appear in the 24-player snapshot. Franck Rene of France is clinging to life at 100,000.

Bakarjiev is a U.S.-based player without prior WSOP bracelet or ring hardware on record. This is a deepstack daily, not a bracelet event — but 24 players past 6 a.m. means real money is at stake and the finish line is close.

The stream should wrap within the next couple of hours as the field plays down.