Yaser Al-Keliddar Leads Monster Stack Day 3 With 11.5M Chips

Yaser Al-Keliddar has a bracelet, a Circuit ring, and $394,742 in career earnings. Right now he's sitting on 11,500,000 chips atop 94 survivors in the $1,500 Monster Stack, the WSOP event specifically designed to let big stacks bully.

That combination of hardware puts Al-Keliddar in rare company. Holding both a WSOP gold bracelet and a WSOP Circuit gold ring is a credential most full-time tournament grinders never assemble. He's done it on $394,742 in lifetime cashes and just three career final tables, which means the results he does post tend to end with trophies.

Holding both a WSOP gold bracelet and a WSOP Circuit gold ring is a credential most full-time tournament grinders never assemble.

The Monster Stack Setup

Event #18 at the 2026 World Series of Poker is the $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold'em, and Day 3 opened with 94 players remaining. Al-Keliddar's 11,500,000 chips put him at the top of the counts, but his nearest challenger is close. Marc Fiorentino, a one-ring Circuit winner with $90,978 in lifetime earnings and two career final tables, sits on 11,000,000. The margin between first and second is just 500,000 chips, thin enough that a single preflop three-bet could flip the leaderboard.

The Monster Stack's structure rewards exactly this kind of position. With 300 big blinds in starting stacks and a slow level progression, the event attracts a wider recreational field than most $1,500 freezeouts. That depth also means a chip leader on Day 3 has genuine leverage over shorter stacks who are navigating pay jumps.

Who Didn't Make It

The bubble and early Day 3 claimed some notable resumes. Brian Yoon, who holds $4,453,528 in lifetime earnings across nine career final tables, busted as the field crossed below 100. Lukas Pazma, a bracelet winner from Slovakia with $240,181 in career cashes, also fell just short. Riley Dieckhoff, a Circuit ring holder with $153,027 lifetime, joined them on the rail.

Those exits cleared some experienced competition from Al-Keliddar's path. Of the remaining field, few can match his combination of WSOP hardware and Monster Stack chip position.

What a Second Bracelet Would Mean

A win here would roughly double Al-Keliddar's career earnings and make him a two-time bracelet winner with a ring on top. For a player who has built his resume through efficiency rather than volume (three final tables, two pieces of WSOP jewelry), the Monster Stack represents a chance to cement a record that already punches above its dollar figure.

Ninety-four players remain. Al-Keliddar has the chips, the hardware, and the format working in his favor.