Zero Bracelets, Zero Public Earnings, 462,500 Chips: Christopher Carlson Leads the $10K PLO Hi-Lo Championship

Christopher Carlson has never won a WSOP bracelet, has no recorded lifetime earnings on the WSOP's public ledger, and right now he holds 462,500 chips at the final table of the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship.

That's Event #33 of the 2026 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe — a $10K buy-in championship, nine players remaining, and a ghost leading the count.

The Gap That Isn't

Call Carlson unknown if you want. The chip counts don't care about your résumé.

But look one line down the leaderboard and the contrast is absurd. Marco Johnson sits second with 461,500 — a gap of exactly 1,000 chips, which in a PLO Hi-Lo pot might not survive a single hand. Johnson has two WSOP bracelets, $5.03 million in lifetime tournament earnings, and 37 career final tables. He has been here before, many times, and he knows what the air tastes like at this stage of a $10K championship.

Marco Johnson sits second with 461,500 — a gap of exactly 1,000 chips, which in a PLO Hi-Lo pot might not survive a single hand.

The Table Behind Them

Third place belongs to Christopher Costa, who holds 452,000 chips and $464,835 in lifetime earnings across four career final tables. Costa isn't a household name either, but he has a paper trail — and he's within a pot of the lead.

Fourth is Jordan Spurlin at 375,000. Spurlin has never won a bracelet but owns three WSOP Circuit rings, $1.72 million in lifetime earnings, and 37 final tables — the same count as Johnson. He's the kind of player who converts deep runs into deep runs. Getting from fourth to first in a split-pot game is a different puzzle than Hold'em, though. Scooping changes stack trajectories in a hurry; getting quartered erases them.

Fifth is Dylan Weisman at 365,000. Weisman carries two bracelets, one Circuit ring, $3.31 million in lifetime earnings, and 18 final-table appearances. He's the second multi-bracelet winner at this table, which means Carlson and Costa are navigating a final nine where at least two opponents have already closed out a championship before.

Why This Event Is Different

Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better is the kind of game that punishes fakers by the river. You can't bluff a qualifier into existence. You can't fold your way to a scoop. The $10K buy-in thins the field to specialists and high-stakes crossover players — the kind of lineup where everyone at the table knows the math cold and the edges come from discipline on fifth street, not preflop aggression.

That makes Carlson's position all the more interesting. A player with zero public WSOP earnings leading a $10K championship final table means one of two things: he's a cash-game player whose tournament record doesn't capture his ability, or he's on the run of his life. Either way, the 462,500 in front of him is real.

What Comes Next

The final nine will play down to a champion. Johnson's 461,500 makes this effectively a dead heat at the top — the kind of margin that evaporates on a single three-bet pot. Spurlin and Weisman lurk close enough to capitalize if either leader stumbles.

And Carlson? He'll sit down with more chips than anyone at a table full of players who, on paper, have done more than he has. Paper doesn't play. Chips do.

The $10,000 PLO Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship bracelet is sitting on the rail. Somebody at this final table is about to pick it up — and right now, the guy with the biggest stack is the one nobody saw coming.