Rogen Chhabra Owns a 2x Chip Lead With 18 Left in the $3K Mid-Stakes Championship

At 6:20 a.m. at the Horseshoe, Rogen Chhabra sat behind 6.625 million chips at the top of Event #89's leaderboard, more than twice the next closest player, in a $3,000 event that represents the biggest buy-in he's ever gone deep in.

Chhabra has $351,103 in lifetime tournament earnings and two prior WSOP final tables on his résumé. Solid numbers for a working tournament player. But nothing in that history predicted this: a commanding chip lead at two tables left in the $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship No-Limit Hold'em.

A $351K career grinder is sitting on 6.625 million chips, more than twice the next closest player, at two tables left in the $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship.

The Stack That Changed Everything

When Day 3 began, Chhabra was already in good shape. By the time the field thinned to 24, he was one of several big stacks jockeying for position. But somewhere in the stretch from 24 to 18, he pulled away from the pack in a way that nobody else could match.

At 18 remaining, Chhabra's 6.625 million represents a lead so wide that the article almost writes itself. The problem is that tournaments don't end at 18.

What makes the stack interesting isn't just its size. It's who built it. Chhabra isn't a high-roller regular with a bankroll built for $3K fields. His two career final tables suggest a player who knows how to navigate late stages, but navigating them with this kind of lead, in this kind of event, is new territory.

The Bracelet Hunter in the Room

Chhabra isn't the only story at these two tables. Maurice Hawkins, who held 13.5 million chips when the field was at 24, is still in the hunt. Hawkins has 25 WSOP Circuit rings and $5.6 million in lifetime earnings across 104 career final tables. He's the most decorated Circuit player in history, and the one glaring omission on his résumé is a gold bracelet.

Hawkins at 13.5 million when 24 remained was the dominant stack at that point. Whether he maintained that position into the final 18 is unclear from the available data, but his presence alone reshapes the dynamics of the endgame. If Chhabra and Hawkins collide in a major pot, it could be the hand that defines this tournament.

Greek player Vasileios Panagiotidis was also stacking well at 24 remaining with 6.1 million, working from a modest $68,743 lifetime bankroll. Jason Raber, who had 2.975 million at that same point, busted in 22nd place. Wooram Cho of South Korea ($125,235 lifetime, four final tables) fell in 19th.

What a Bracelet Would Mean

For Hawkins, a win would be the capstone of one of the most prolific Circuit careers ever played. Twenty-five rings. Zero bracelets. That's the kind of gap that defines a legacy until it doesn't.

For Chhabra, the math is simpler and more dramatic. A first-place finish in a field this size would likely exceed his entire $351K in career earnings in a single payout. One tournament. One night. More prize money than everything that came before it combined.

That's the situation at the Horseshoe right now: 18 players, two tables, and a chip leader who has never been in a spot like this before. Chhabra has the chips. He has the position. The only question left is whether the biggest stack he's ever held becomes the biggest score he's ever booked.