Punt of the 2026 WSOP Main Event
A Running Thread: Last Updated July 2nd 2026 at 7:07AM PST
We at POTD are trying to find the biggest punt of the 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event. This post will be a running thread of all the contenders. The comments will be open to all, so if you have a submission, please post it here or reply to this post. If you’d like to see last year’s top 10, you can do so here. If you suggest a hand, please link me to a live update or a video clip or legibly write out the HH. I don’t want to see a million messages that read “Mike Matusow’s bust out hand”. I will also briefly share my thoughts and give a grade, I normally grade on an A-F scale, but that is when I am grading my own play. Here I am grading the size of a punt and will be grading on a 0-100 scale. 0 is a perfectly played hand, 25 is a well played hand, anything over 50 is something with a clear mistake. Grades are a living breathing organism and may change throughout the tournament based on future play, changing my mind and persausion of readers like you. There is no tried and true formula for what makes an 100, but some criteria that will be considered
Stakes matter: Almost every hand played on stream on Day 1A is a hand that if I played myself, I’d give it a D or worse, but a true 100 needs to be for high stakes deep in the tournament. The gold standard for this type of hand is Joe Cheong’s bustout hand in 2010
Quality of player matters: I am going to be grading pros who “should know better” a lot harsher than Joe or Jo Pokers on the run of their lifetime. Kristen Foxen’s 2024 bustout hand is getting a higher score than Darvin Moon’s three bet calling QJs heads up in 20091
Hands where a player is eliminated will be graded harsher than ones where they lose a large chunk of their stack
However, hands where the punter manages to win the hand in spectacular fashion might get an upgrade such as Nicholas Rigby’s dirty diaper bluff in 2021
A hand where several players punt will get a bonus
Some hands have a particular Main Event Magic. An ineffable “I know it when I see it” quality. Mark Newhouse busting 9th again on a bluff(?) after declaring he wouldn’t do it again. That’s Main Event magic.
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July 2nd Day 1A