Can Daniel Negreanu make a deep Wynn Millions run?

Geoff Fisk
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Posted on: June 30, 2021 6:11 pm EDT

Day 2C of Wynn’s massive $10k tournament ends with Negreanu on a healthy stack

Daniel Negreanu stands as one of poker’s most influential and polarizing figures. A fan favorite to some and a poker villain to others, Negreanu’s place as one of the game’s biggest icons can’t be questioned.

Big wins have eluded the GGPoker Ambassador and six-time WSOP bracelet winner as of late. That could change in the Wynn Millions, however, as Negreanu goes into today’s Day 3 flight with plenty of chips to work with.

Negreanu made it through Day 2C with 621,000 chips, giving him more than 100 big blinds going into Day 3. The $10,000 buy-in Wynn Millions resumes today at Level 16 (3000/6000 blinds), with Day 3 action beginning at noon at Wynn/Encore in Las Vegas.

Negreanu’s stack puts him in the top 20 counts among the 162 players remaining in the Wynn Millions field.

Wynn Millions Day 2C recap

Day 2C saw 246 players (survivors of the Day 1C flight) come back to Wynn/Encore Tuesday, with that field trimmed to 86 players by night’s end. Those 86 players will join the 76 names that made it through Monday’s Day 2A + 2B flight for today’s Day 3 action.

Negreanu finished Day 2C as one of the top ten stacks from Tuesday’s flight. Other big gainers from Day 1C included Thomas Boivin (926,000), Dylan Linde (849,000), and Farid Jattin (662,000).

Other big names coming out of the Day 2C flight include Maria Ho (500,000), Robert Mizrachi (436,000), Tom Marchese (419,000), and Ari Engel (286,000).

$10,000 Wynn Millions Day 3 notable chip counts

Player Name*Chip Count**
Frank Funaro953,000
Dylan Linde926,000
Alex Foxen787,000
Daniel Negreanu621,000
Maria Ho500,000
Jared Jaffee462,000
Connor Drinan449,000
Robert Mizrachi436,000
Tom Marchese419,000
Cliff Josephy394,000
Chris Moorman359,000
David “ODB” Baker353,000
Ari Engel286,000
Ryan Riess266,000
Kristen Bicknell244,000
*Selected chip counts from 162 players; **Chip counts courtesy of PokerNews

The names listed above represent just a few of the dangerous players that remain in the hunt in the Wynn Millions. With the tournament resuming with the blinds at 3000/6000, all of the players on the chip count table come back today with at least 60 big blinds to play with.

The Wynn Millions drew 1,328 entries, making it one of the most successful $10,000 buy-in live tournaments in the history of poker. You would have to look at the history of the World Series of Poker Main Event to find any $10k tournament that exceeds the 2021 Wynn Millions in attendance and prize money.

The prize pool started at $10 million guaranteed but ended up at $12,483,200. The top 134 players get paid, with places 118 through 134 going home with a minimum cash of $25,091.

The money bubble will likely burst early in today’s Day 3 flight. Players like Negreanu, tournament chip leader Frank Funaro (953,000 chips), Alex Foxen (787,000), Jared Jaffee (462,000), and Kristen Bicknell (244,000) will be looking to move up the payout ladder for much more than a min-cash.

Day 3 sees the field play through six more 90-minute levels. Today’s flight ends at the conclusion of Level 21, in which the blinds will be up to 10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 big blind ante.

Day 4 resumes Thursday at noon, with play beginning at Level 22 (15,000/25,000/25,000). Day 4 plays through six 90-minute levels, and Day 5 (Friday, July 2) plays down to a nine-handed final table.

Those nine players come back for the final table on Saturday, June 6, and the tournament will play until a champion is crowned. The eventual winner of the Wynn Millions earns $2,018,666, with the runner-up taking home $1,248,886.

Featured image source: Poker.org staff