Stool Mintzy's road to Day 2 of the WSOP Main Event was never a smooth one. He had to scramble to scrounge up the $10,000 entry with barely an hour to spare on July 5, calling himself "an old withered veteran" grinding through poker's biggest marathon while everyone else got "sky jacked" on Day 1.
That scramble turned into a survive-and-advance stack. He made it through the dinner break sitting on 62,000 chips with "nothing crazy to report," ground down to 55,000 heading into the last level, and punched his ticket to Day 2 with 56,400 chips in the bag. Mintzy himself joked he "can't win Main on Day 1" but could "damn sure lose it" the way he did back in 2024 — a line that reads a lot more prophetic in hindsight.
Day 2 started with chaos before a single card got dealt. Mintzy admitted to a "near Mintzy disaster" that morning, forgetting which condo he was staying in and leaving his phone behind after a trip to the sauna and pool. He shrugged it off as "super standard" — the kind of self-deprecating aside that's become his brand — but it set an appropriately chaotic tone for what was coming.
Near Mintzy disaster this morning. Forgot which condo # I was staying in when I went to sauna/pool & left my cell phone in condo. Super standard
Through it all, Mintzy had a support system checking in. He shouted out Ethan Kamps for calling him at every break to check on his progress, noting Kamps "sounded great" despite a rough late-level stretch of his own. It's the kind of small detail that shows how much of the Main Event grind, for a stable of Barstool poker guys, happens off the felt just as much as on it.
Got @EthanKamps calling me at every WSOP Break to check in. He just sounded great. Took a rough one last level but that’s gonna happen. Still doing very well
The end came fast and it came ugly. Mintzy got JJ in against QQ on a 9-high flop, the kind of spot that looks fine getting the money in but turns into a gut punch the second the cards flip, and watched a 100,000-chip pot go the other way. His own recap doubled as a eulogy: he compared himself to a sports team's social media account that goes quiet after a blowout loss, signing off with "better luck next year."
I feel like those sports team social media not wanting to tweet the score after a bad loss. Busted Main JJ < QQ on 9 high flop in 100k pot. Better luck next year.
Confirmation of the bust came from Eric Nathan, who relayed that Ben Mintz had officially busted the World Series of Poker Main Event and was "not pleased about it," adding that his bag would be waiting at security whenever he wanted it. Nathan, notably, sat this year's Main out after playing the last 9 or 10 straight, so he watched this one from the rail — and got a small dose of vindication for skipping it, joking that you can't bust the Main and get told how much you suck if you never play it in the first place.
For Mintzy, it's another chapter in a career that's had its share of Main Event heartbreak, and it won't be the last. The bag sits at security, the story gets filed away, and the only real move left is the one he already made: shrug, own the exit, and start counting down to next July.