The World Series of Poker began at noon on May 27, with the first starting flight of the $1,000 Mystery Millions. Before it’s over, there will be 100 bracelets awarded — give or take — but there are some that attract more attention than others. And one that draws the most scrutiny of all.
It could only be the Main Event. It’s the biggest and most prestigious tournament of the year — an event that costs $10,000 to enter and draws crowds of five figures.
The past two years have seen attendance in the WSOP Main Event top 10,000 entries, so the days of everyone sitting down together for Day 1 are far in the past. Besides, more options are always welcome, and provide more opportunities for people to enter and more satellites to award seats, not to mention more room to move at the tables, the restrooms and the food outlets.
Today’s Day 1a provided the first opportunity to play the Main Event. While it’s true that no one can win the tournament on Day 1, it’s equally true that anyone can bust from the first hand. And as the most famous freezeout tournament of them all, when you’re out, you’re out.
No one wants to go first
Paying $10,000 only to run into a cooler in level one is no one’s idea of fun, but it’s almost a given that it’ll happen every year. Former WSOP champion Chris Moneymaker witnessed just such a hand early on today’s Day 1a. Here’s how he described it to us:
“Joey [Joseph Gargiulo], under the gun, limps with A-A, a player makes it 1,100 and Joey ships all-in. The guy has pocket kings, and tanks for a good minute and a half, which is a long, long while."
“Unfortunately for him, he had already lost quite a bit of his chips, he was down to 13K. He didn’t get off to the start that he wanted, obviously. But I mean, even so, there’s still plenty of bigs.
“It’s just a tough situation because you know, aces vs kings at anytime during the Main is terrible, but when it happens on level 1, when you’re already short, it’s rough. If he had a full stack I think he could find a fold there probably.”
Killer queen
As for Moneymaker, it wasn’t quite level 1, but he also hit the rail on Wednesday.
We bumped into the former champ in the hallways on Wednesday afternoon, and he shared the story. It was a one-outer, just a few hours into Day 1 of the tournament he famously won in 2003 and, in his words, he “wasn’t good enough to fold.”
Calling a preflop raise with Q-J, Moneymaker flopped trips when J-J-6 came down, and called a small bet on the flop. The turn was checked through, and a queen came on the river, which saw both players get the rest of their stacks in the middle.
There was only one hand that could beat the former champ's jacks full of queens — Q-Q — and lo and behold, that’s exactly what his opponent had. Exit Moneymaker, and see you next year.
Boatman won’t ship it this time, but Kabrhel might
Barny Boatman is another legend of the game who won’t be back for Day 2. In his words, it was his ‘most efficient exit ever’. Also in his words: ‘No need to ask what I had.’ We didn’t.
Altogether there are four starting flights in the Main Event this year, with registration open right up to a couple of levels into Day 2. Day 1a drew 923 players in total, compared with 915 on the equivalent day in last year’s record-breaking Main Event.
One of those Day 1a entries was Martin Kabrhel, fresh from his victory in the $1,000 Mini Main Event earlier on Wednesday afternoon. Kabrhel is looking to go one bigger than his ‘mini’ win, and has invested $10,000 of his $841,140 prize money in what could be the ultimate spin-up.
Kabrhel’s performances in Las Vegas this summer have made him one of the most talked-about players of the WSOP. What’s more, his victory in the Mini Main has catapulted him to the front of the race for Player of the Year (PoY).
PoY winners famously get their face on a banner for all future series. The idea of Kabrhel becoming a permanent fixture in the rafters of the WSOP appeared to be too much for some.
Who's still in?
Of the 923 players who entered Day 1a, 634 made it through to Day 2. Survivors of the first three starting flights will combine for Day 2a on July 6.
Among those who made it through this first day of Main Event action with top-100 stacks are Stanislav Zegal, winner of the 2023 WSOP Paradise Main Event, ACR Poker pro Jon Pardy, German high roller Leon Sturm, and Martin Kabrhel. The overnight chip leader, as reported in the WSOP+ app, is Victor Vo with 352K chips.
Day 1b starts at noon on July 3. We'll see you there.
