Casual Indifference and Hype on display during Main Event Money Bubble
Chris Hunichen, Michael Mizrachi and Isaac Haxton weren't sweating the min-cash.
Day 4 of the 2025 World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event returned to play with electricity in the ballroom as all but 15 returning players were guaranteed to cash. After an hour of play, with rampant stalling throughout the field, the clock was paused, and the tournament went hand-for-hand.
Before the clock was paused, Josh Arieh was concerned and talking to top WSOP exec Ty Stewart, and they called Jack Effel over. Arieh was mid-hand, with a short stack, and had a tough decision. He admitted that he wasn’t sure what to do because so many other players were stalling across the room.
Effel’s tableside manner was gruff at best, and he said to Arieh, “Let the clock burn, just play poker. If that’s how you want to play, then fine.”
No more than ten minutes later, WSOP officials announced they were starting hand-for-hand five players off the money bubble. The first round started at 1:06 pm, the entire process lasted five rounds and wrapped up at 2:22 pm.
During the 75 minutes, WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel, Floor Supervisor Shawn Lytle and a throng of media moved table to table, sweating each all in until the bubble burst as Chad Roedersheimer directed the process.
Emotions ran the gamut of emotions from players sweating their first Main Event cash, veterans looking to punish the bubble, short stacks hanging on for dear life, to a high roller with $55 million in earnings quietly reading a book. We even saw some stunning indifference to the situation.
While most of the attention was focused on the at-risk tables, the real story was on the outskirts of the traveling media circus, where experienced players knew the bracelet isn’t won on Day 3.
“I’m normally a punish the bubble guy, but I have a guy to my right beating me in every pot,” said Chris Hunichen. “I’m sitting back, once the bubble breaks players start dropping quickly. Tomorrow is when it really sets in – I’m here to win the tournament.”
Michal Mizrachi echoed Hunichen’s comments. The Grinder was on a 20 big blind stack and said he was waiting for the money to go for the kill. “The stalling doesn’t bother me at all. I tried to turn up the pressure yesterday and backed kings into aces late in the day,” Mizrachi said.
“I was in sixth gear on Day 1, on Day 2 it depended on the table; I had some tough spots then,” said Mizrachi. “My goal today is to make Day 4 with 3-5 million, I’m not playing for a min-cash.”
Isaac Haxton was deeply invested in his book “The Divided Self” by R.D. Laing, rather than all the commotion. “It’s pretty slow, I mean, I play a lot of poker tournaments,” he said. “I’ll hopefully play a lot of hands and run into some spots, but I’m not doing anything crazy. It’s a long tournament, I want to stick around and hope it goes smoothly.”
Jason Mercier was restless during the long breaks between hands. “This has been excruciating with the slow play,” he said. “I was at a slow table the last half of yesterday and probably didn’t get 20 hands an hour.”
“I have an average stack, I’m happy to still be in and hopefully make a deep run,” said Mercier. “I usually try to punish the bubble, but I’ve been getting punished today and chipped down from 690k to 480k.”
Tim Duckworth is best known with his work at PokerGO after a long career in poker media. He was the Main Event bubble boy in 2007 and played the Main for the first time since then.
“I lost queens into aces on the button into the small blind and I was a 21-year-old kid with broken dreams,” Duckworth said. “It’s great with what I’ve experienced in the last 17 years, as a player and in media, cashing in the Main is a cool accomplishment.”
“I had to get up early today and get a cowboy hat for the occasion,” Duckwoth added. While Duckworth hails from Australia, he’s fully embraced Americana.
Alaska’s favorite son, Adam Hendrix, contrasted with the experience of Haxton and Mercier. “People have been asking me how many hands it will take to burst the bubble, but I have no idea because I’ve never been in this position in the Main,” said Hendrix.
“There are two stacks at my table that cover me, so I’m going to try and slip in when I can,” Hedrix said. “I’m just looking to survive the day.”
The final round of hand-for-hand had nine all in hands and three players busted. Mathew Frankland, Marco Dickner and Sachin Joshi chopped up the $15,000 min-cash evenly and then played one hand flip to award a seat to the 2025 WSOP Paradise Super Main Event. Frankland won the seat, which features a $60 million guarantee that was announced before play on Day 4.
Photos by Paul Oresteen, except for Tim Duckworth’s breathtaking collage.
I thought 3 players chopped $30k ($15k + $15k) and then flipped for the paradise seat.
Can you clarify?