The $10K 8-Game Championship Has an Identity Crisis

The $10,000 8-Game Mixed Championship is the kind of event where you expect a murderer's row at the top of the counts — but with 51 players left on Day 2, that's not what's on screen.

Brayden Gazlay — $6,940 in lifetime tournament cashes — is among the chip leaders. That's not a typo. A player whose entire recorded résumé is less than one buy-in for this event is stacking off against the best mixed-game players on the planet.

A player whose entire recorded résumé is less than one buy-in for this event is stacking off against the best mixed-game players on the planet.

Who's Actually Up There

The biggest confirmed stack belongs to Clayton Mozdzen, the Canadian grinder sitting on 720,000. Mozdzen has $883K in lifetime earnings and seven final tables — a legitimate mixed-game threat, but not exactly a household name.

Matthew Schreiber (225,000 chips, $1.26M lifetime, eight final tables) rounds out the known leaders. Anderson Ireland, a one-time bracelet winner with $269K in career cashes, is also near the top. Daniel Fuhs ($42K lifetime) completes a leaderboard that reads more like a $1,500 field than a five-figure buy-in.

Why This Matters

The 8-Game Mix rotates through eight poker variants — hold'em, Omaha hi-lo, razz, stud, stud hi-lo, no-limit hold'em, pot-limit Omaha, and 2-7 triple draw. It's the broadest skills test at the WSOP. When unknowns survive Day 1 and lead Day 2, either the field is softer than the buy-in suggests or these players are significantly better than their results show.

Either way, the next few levels should sort it out. Fifty-one players means roughly two more bust-outs before the money, and the rotation doesn't forgive leaks for long.

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