Ralph Perry is no stranger to deep runs in the World Series of Poker Main Event.
The longtime poker pro and Las Vegas resident finished third in 2002 and had a mountain of chips Saturday on Day 6 of the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em World Championship at Paris Las Vegas.
Perry held the unofficial lead with 22.5 million chips at the 6:30 p.m. break with 90 players still standing from the starting field of 9,208.
The Main Event continues Sunday at Paris Las Vegas with Day 7 as the tournament inches closer to the final table. All the remaining players are guaranteed at least $75,000.
Perry has played in some of the biggest cash games ever and his son Sean is a well-known high-stakes gambler and poker player.
Ralph Perry won the $1,500 buy-in Pot-limit Omaha event at the 2006 WSOP for his lone bracelet, which are awarded for tournament victories. He has more than $3.675 million in career live tournament earnings, according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database.
Here are some of the other notable names remaining in the Main Event field:
Will Givens
The professional poker player from Colorado is making his first appearance at the WSOP since 2022 after being trespassed from Caesars properties because of an incident during a baccarat game at Harrah’s. His suspension was lifted this year after he secured the services of a lawyer.
Givens won a bracelet in 2014 in a $1,000 No-limit Hold’em event and has more than $4.1 million in career live tournament earnings. He is one of the most entertaining players left and isn’t afraid to needle his opponents with relentless table talk.
Givens arrived almost 30 minutes late on Day 6 but was unofficially in fourth place at the 6:30 p.m. break with 13.5 million.
Shaun Deeb
The nine-time bracelet winner tried his best to punt off his stack early in the tournament so he could enter other events in an effort to accumulate points for the WSOP Player of the Year race and was the subject of ridicule from many of his fellow pros.
But Deeb was near the top of the leaderboard for much of the past two days, though he was stuck in neutral and getting low on chips late on Day 6.
The resident of Wynantskill, New York, is almost a shoo-in for the Poker Hall of Fame, and a Main Event bracelet would guarantee his place.
Hossein Ensan
The 2019 Main Event winner is the lone remaining former champion left in the field and had a healthy stack at the 6:30 p.m. break.
Since his victory, the German has continued to crush tournaments across Europe and has more than $15.2 million in career live tournament earnings.
At 62, he would be the first two-time champion since Johnny Chan and the oldest winner of the Main Event since Johnny Moss took it down in 1974 at age 66.
Todd Brunson
No father-son duo has ever won the Main Event, but Brunson is doing his best to change that.
The son of legendary poker pro and two-time Main Event champion Doyle Brunson was inside the top 50 in chips at the 6:30 p.m. break. Brunson is a member of the Poker Hall of Fame and owns one WSOP bracelet of his own.
If Brunson can’t make history, Daniel Hachem also has a chance. The son of 2005 winner Joseph Hachem was still going strong at the break.
Dutch Boyd
Best known for his 12th-place finish in the 2003 Main Event, Boyd is a three-time bracelet winner who once boasted he and his friends were going to take over the poker world.
That didn’t happen, and the former Las Vegas resident fought a longtime public battle with bipolar disorder.
Boyd now lives in Missouri where he works as a lawyer. He has two children and rarely plays poker except for a small home game. This is his first cash in a WSOP event since a second-place finish in the $10,000 buy-in Dealers Choice 6-Handed Championship in 2023.
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.
