WSOP 2026 Week 3 Recap: Kihara Makes History, Foxen Wins $1.77M, and a 21-Year-Old Wanders In Off the Street
WSOP 2026 Week 3 Recap: Kihara Makes History, Foxen Wins $1.77M, and a 21-Year-Old Wanders In Off the Street
Three weeks in and the 2026 WSOP is already delivering storylines that will be talked about for years. Naoya Kihara did something only five players in WSOP history have ever done. Kristen Foxen banked the biggest score of her career. A 21-year-old stopped by on his way home from college and left with nearly $200K. Week 3 had everything.
Here’s what happened across Events #19–31 (roughly June 2–13).
The Biggest Story: Naoya Kihara Joins the All-Time Legends List
Let’s start with the one that belongs in the history books.
Naoya Kihara, a Japanese player who spent 14 years coming to the WSOP without a single bracelet, won two $10,000 championship events in the span of four days.
He won Event #17 ($10K NL 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship) first. Then, before anyone had fully processed that, he won Event #23 ($10K Seven Card Stud Championship) for $301,970, coming back from a single chip at one point during the tournament.
That’s two $10K championships in one series. The list of players who have done this in WSOP history: Doyle Brunson. Stu Ungar. Jason Mercier. Greg Merson. George Danzer. And now Kihara — the sixth player ever.
The final table of Event #23 wasn’t short on firepower: Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi (2025 Main Event champion), Allen Kessler, Jeremy Ausmus, and James Cheung (who had won Event #6 earlier in the series) all made the final. Kihara beat them all.
Asked about the achievement, Kihara’s response was characteristically understated: “I’m just playing for fun.”
Three bracelets now. Sole leader in Japanese WSOP history.
Kristen Foxen: Sixth Bracelet, Career-Best Payday
Event #19 was a $25,000 High Roller with 345 entries. Kristen Foxen won it, defeating Galen Hall heads-up, for $1,773,083 — the biggest score of her career.
Foxen now has six WSOP bracelets, a number that puts her in rare company historically. The win was not a fluky short-field result — a $25K High Roller draws a serious, talented field, and she navigated it from start to finish.
$50K High Roller: Suvarna’s Third Bracelet
Event #29 ($50,000 High Roller, 167 entries, $7.9M prize pool) went to Santhosh Suvarna, who won $1,922,870 and his third career bracelet. He beat Chang Lee heads-up when his 8-7 suited made trip eights on the river against Lee’s pocket kings.
His reaction after winning: “It’s like a dream, it’s magic.”
Same day, he registered for the $100,000 High Roller. That’s the high roller lifestyle.
Monster Stack Breaks Its Own Record: 11,933 Entries
Event #18 ($1,500 Monster Stack) drew 11,933 players — a record for the event. The winner was Richard Alsup, who took home $1,302,125 and his second career bracelet.
The decisive hand was heads-up against Salvatore DiCarlo: Alsup’s A-7 hit a seven on the flop against DiCarlo’s A-K. That’s WSOP poker — sometimes the math tells the full story.
The 21-Year-Old Who Stopped By After College
Event #25 ($500 Freezeout, 4,100 entries) was won by Brayden Lou for $196,066. Lou is 21 years old. Event #25 was only his fourth live tournament ever. He was on his way home from college, stopped at the WSOP, and left with nearly two hundred thousand dollars and his first bracelet.
There’s really nothing to add to that. Some stories tell themselves.
The Media Guy Gets His Bracelet
Event #31 ($1,500 Super Turbo Bounty NLH) was won by Mike Holtz for $238,097. Holtz co-hosts the PokerNews podcast — he spends a significant part of his professional life talking about other people winning WSOP bracelets. Now he has two of his own.
Rest of the Week 3 Bracelet Winners
| Event | Tournament | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| #20 | $1,500 Dealers Choice | Jeff Madsen | $161,057 (5th bracelet) |
| #21 | $1,500 PLO Hi-Lo 8-or-Better | Frederic Normand (Canada) | $235,377 |
| #22 | $1,500 Big O | Christopher Alcindor (Canada) | $387,110 (first bracelet) |
| #24 | $25,000 High Roller 6-Handed | Artur Martirosian | $1,286,285 (4th bracelet) |
| #26 | $2,000 NLH | Braxton Dunaway | $288,064 |
| #27 | $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship | Bryce Yockey | $371,664 |
| #28 | $600 Deepstack Mixed NLH/PLO | Kenneth Gregory | $204,140 |
| #30 | $1,500 Limit Hold’em | Dennis Weiss | 3rd bracelet |
Worth noting: Foxen, Normand, and Alcindor — Canada had a genuinely dominant week.
Where the Series Stands
Thirty-one bracelets awarded out of 100 scheduled. Cumulative entries through Week 3: over 72,800 players. The Colossus ($500 entry, typically one of the largest fields in the series) started June 10 and is currently underway.
The Main Event ($10,000 NLH) starts July 2. Final table is July 13. ESPN broadcasts the final table starting August 3.
We’re less than a third of the way through the bracelet schedule, and the series is already operating at a pace that suggests 2026 could be a record year for total entries and total prize money. The Main Event field size is always the number everyone watches — early indicators look strong.
Week 4 will include more championship events and the ongoing Colossus results. We’ll have the next update when the numbers are in.