It’s not a WSOP without two things: bracelets and an Allen Kessler complaint, and we came close to one and bagged the other on Day #2.
We also got more champ-on-champ violence in the $5K Champions Reunion, first blood in the Tice vs. Becker super-bet, and a Daniel Negreanu stack in, of all events, the $500 Kickoff, where 3,485 players made up the first big field of the series. And a new WPT champion was crowned. Wait, what?
Kessler: “I hate to be a rat, but…”
You think the $500 Casino Employees tournament is easy? Tell that to the victims of the reigning and two-time WSOP online player of the year, Mike Holtz.
Holtz got his card by hosting a few podcasts and rode his ticket all the way to 11th spot. We’d have enjoyed watching him win it, if not just for the ensuing outrage from Allen Kessler. Kessler was not at all happy about it. Which, ironically, probably made him really happy.
Kyna England was quick to jump to Holtz’ defense.
Holtz sent his own message back to Kessler.
Spare a thought, too, for Brazilian player Fernando Macedo. He reportedly wasn’t aware it was a casino employees-only event and built up a stack over eight hours before being told he wouldn’t be eligible for any prizes.
Casino employees are used to pulling long hours, so it was fitting they were made to really work for the bracelet. In the end, the overtime wasn’t enough to find a winner, despite play going on until around 2.30am. Four bona fide workers and no podcast co-hosts (that we’re aware of) will return tomorrow to play for the bracelet, with Jose Garcia sitting on the biggest stack.
Nguyen wins bragging rights and three(!) bounties
The 5K Champions Reunion played down from 99 players to just 10, which was enough to see off all the former Main Event champs. But not before more champ-on-champ-on-champ violence.
This time it was Qui Nguyen who showed scant regard for history, eliminating Huck Seed in one of the first hands of the day before setting his sights on both Jamie Gold and Dan Harrington. Gold got it in with aces against Nguyen’s 
, but the 
runout was a long, long way from the boards Gold became accustomed to in 2006.
Once he'd also put paid to Harrington's chances, Nguyen’s stack had grown to just under a million, and he rode that to win bragging rights among all former Main Event champs. Three Main Event bounties, though? That’s just greedy.
Back among the mere mortals, Ren Lin went out on the bubble, despite putting his hotel keys in along with his chips in his final hand. He couldn’t win a race against Hall of Famer Brian Rast, but then, who can?
The remaining 74 players were all guaranteed $9,141, and the last of the champs went out in this order: Greg Merson (67th), Daniel Weinman (52nd), Harrington (37th), and Nguyen (21st).
Meanwhile, Jeremy Becker got his WSOP off to a start with a min-cash, while his opponent in the big crossbet battle, Landon Tice, was busy elsewhere in Vegas trying to win a WPT Championship (spoiler: he came second to Reichard for $550,000—and no, that doesn’t count towards the big summer bet.)
There are 10 players left, topped by Terry Fleischer, whose first recorded cash came back in a seniors event in 2001. Asher Conniff (fifth), Jonathan Pastore (seventh), Aram Zobian (eighth) and David Coleman (ninth) are the notables looking for the bracelet and the $408,468 first prize.
Quality over quantity?
Daniel Negreanu said he was going to pick and choose the events he played this year, and we didn't expect him to get out of bed for a $500 buy-in. However, this is the WSOP, baby, and Kid Poker paid his money and built up a decent stack of 650,000 in the $500 Kickoff event, good for 47th place.
He’s a way behind Qiang Xu, who’s leading the way with 2,130,000, but way ahead of Joe Cada, Greg Raymer, Shaun Deeb, and Josh Arieh, who all crashed and burned before the money. 523 players made the minimum cash, and just 151 bagged for Day 2. One word: carnage.
Maximize your toilet breaks
If you’re playing at the WSOP, forget solvers; the strategy you really need is all around your toilet breaks, where long lines can lead to stress during official breaks.
Take these top tips from PokerOrg’s Matt Hansen: “If you have the time, you can find several restrooms in the areas just outside where the WSOP is being held. On the Paris side, you can find one just inside of the casino portion near the Diamond Check-In desk. It will be on your left after Vanderpump Paris. If you're at the Horseshoe, you can find bathrooms on the right-hand side after the elevators if you are walking away from the Horseshoe Event Center. There are also a few scattered throughout the casino floor and near the Horseshoe's regular poker room.
“You can also discover a few secrets if you are mindful of the schedule. If the Horseshoe Events Center is open and there isn't a large tournament going on nearby, it's the best choice of them all. It's large and frequently forgotten.”
Photo of the day
A big shoutout to much-loved tournament director Bob Smith, who had surgery at the start of May for a replacement for his replacement hip. The poker world rallied with a successful GoFundMe campaign, the surgery was successful, and Smith promised to be back in action by the end of the month. That was a successful promise.
Hand of the day
The final table bubble in the $5K Champions Reunion has been a doozy, and it’s still ongoing. It’s unlikely anyone gets as lucky as Aram Zobian, though.
Zobian, who got his last chips in with 
on a 
flop, was called by Jonathan Pastore, who tabled 
.
The 
runout ensured that we didn’t reach the first big final table of the series last night, and 10 players will return on Thursday to try again.
Tweet of the day
Video of the day
Daniel Negreanu has kicked off his popular WSOP Vlog series and there's no better way to keep up with one of the biggest players in the game.
The day in numbers
$1,006,961
With his min-cash in the $5K Champions Reunion, Daniel Negreanu has already notched over $1 million in winnings for 2024. According to PokerGO, it’s the 16th calendar year he’s achieved this, the most of all time.
3,485
The biggest field of the 2024 WSOP so far, in the $500 WSOP Kickoff.
14
Number of years since Sammy Farha won a WSOP bracelet. He’s got a stack in the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better.
$9,141
First blood in the Tice vs. Becker crossbook bet goes to Becker, who cashed in the 5k Champions Reunion. Bragging right go to Tice, though, after a $550,000 cash for second in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship over the road at Luxor.
Ongoing events
Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion (final 10)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Terry Fleischer | 5,610,000 |
| 2 | Halil Tasyurek | 3,995,000 |
| 3 | Yuzhou Yin | 3,600,000 |
| 4 | Nenad Dukic | 2,700,000 |
| 5 | Asher Conniff | 2,040,000 |
| 6 | Michael Acevedo | 1,885,000 |
| 7 | Jonathan Pastore | 1,465,000 |
| 8 | Aram Zobian | 1,370,000 |
| 9 | David Coleman | 1,315,000 |
| 10 | Bryce Welker | 660,000 |
Event #2: $500 Casino Employees No Limit Hold’em (final four)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Garcia | 13,795,000 |
| 2 | Richard Rothmeier | 8,705,000 |
| 3 | Alexander Green | 4,015,000 |
| 4 | Lang Anderson | 2,990,000 |
Event #3: $500 WSOP Kickoff
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qiang Xu | |
| 2 | Steven Borella | |
| 3 | Gregory Snyder | |
| 4 | Jason Wheeler | |
| 5 | Addam Smith | |
| Notables | ||
| 40 | Dan Shak | 730,000 |
| 47 | Daniel Negreanu | 650,000 |
| 61 | Ryan Riess | 530,000 |
Check the full chip counts on the WSOP site.
Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Chen | |
| 2 | Upeshka De Silva | |
| 3 | Christopher Battenfield | |
| 4 | Igor Zektser | |
| 5 | Jeff Shulman | |
| Notables | ||
| 13 | Robert Mizrachi | 189,000 |
| 17 | Sammy Farha | 172,000 |
| 30 | Jamie Kerstetter | 149,000 |
| 66 | Barry Greenstein | 112,500 |
| 92 | Michael Mizrachi | 100,500 |
| 220 | Benny Glaser | 36,000 |
Check the full chip counts on the WSOP site.
What to look for on Day #3
The first big bracelet of the series will be won in the $5K Champions Reunion, and that also marks the very first live stream of the series on PokerGO. That kicks off a smorgasbord of live streams, and it starts at 5pm local time. There are ten players left in that, and play resumes at 1pm local time.
We’re expecting big numbers for the $1,000 Mystery Millions, which starts today with four Day 1 flights. Bounties kick in on Day 3, and someone will be lucky enough to pull the $1 million jackpot. Like Matt Glantz in 2022. The Mystery Millions could also answer the question as to whether 10-handed tables have been abolished, which has got some players excited after the nine-handed Kickoff event. We’re betting on no.
The other biggie kicking off today is the bound-to-be-star-studded $25K Heads-Up Championship. That’s capped at 64 runners, and if you’re thinking of sauntering down and regging near the start time of midday, you might be out of luck. As of 11pm local time, it already had 55 runners.
The $1,500 Dealers Choice rounds off the new events starting on Thursday.
Bracelet winners
No. We thought the Casino Employees would be won tonight, but play concluded at close to 3am with just four players remaining. Tomorrow… We promise.
WSOP Day #2 gallery
Additional image courtesy of WPT
