Four bracelets made their way onto winners’ wrists on Day #27, including Santhosh Suvarna’s in the $250K Super High Roller. The casino mogul denied Phil Ivey a 12th bracelet and Chris Hunichen a second High Roller title in a row, while taking down the final table’s once-dominating force, Ben Tollerene, heads up to claim the $5,415,152 first prize.
Mostafa Haidary saw off his final three opponents in the $5,000 6-Max No-Limit Hold’em, while Patrick Moulder parlayed his near tournament-long chip lead into a win in the $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball. Finally, Frank Funaro won his first live WSOP bracelet (second overall) in the $10K Super Turbo Bounty along with $612,997 (plus bounties).
The entry numbers are in (though not, as yet, the payout info) for the $1,500 Millionaire Maker: 10,939 over three starting flights. There’s a long way to go yet until that seven-figure first prize is awarded (from a total pool of over $14 million), but chip leaders like Ye Yuan, way out in front of the majority of the 2,381 remaining players, must be feeling as confident as a tournament player can be for a Day 2.
With so many events wrapping up on Sunday, focus now turns to the prestigious $50,000 Poker Players Championship, currently led by James Obst. With registration still open, there is still time to join the likes of Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, Daniel Negreanu, John Hennigan and Viktor Blom, if playing one of the toughest tournaments of the year appeals.
Suvarna topples Tollerene to claim SHR victory
The line between skilled, fearless, plumply-bankrolled amateur and professional poker player was never a solid one, and the gregarious casino mogul Santhosh Suvarna has blurred it a little more with his win in the $250K Super High Roller.
Suvarna ended Phil Ivey’s dreams of a 12th bracelet (for now), and those of the other 13 players who made it through to Day 3 with him. Two super high rollers’ dreams were not even replaced with a $506,757 min-cash; Brian Kim lost the flip to end all flips to bust on the bubble (13th).
After Ivey was eliminated by Ben Tollerene in 11th, the latter moved on to prior SHR winner Adrian Mateos and then continued to wreak havoc on the final table. Tollerene held the chip lead for most of the day, going into three-handed play with Chris ‘Big Huni’ Hunichen and Survarna in a dominant position. Hunichen was denied back-to-back high roller titles, but took third and $2,397,312, while a dramatic comeback saw Suvarna stop what had looked to be a steamroller of a performance from his heads-up opponent.
Suvarna collected $5,415,152 along with his second WSOP bracelet, while Tollerene expressed a sanguine approach to the game: “If you’re not happy getting second, you’re going to be very unhappy playing tournaments.”
Five days, nine games, zero easy spots
The $50,000 Poker Players Championship, a pricey test of poker skill in nine variants, is one that the best of the best dream of winning. It has to be the toughest all-rounder tournament of the Series, and one glance down the entry list of the 75 Day 1 players confirms that there are no soft tables.
Registration is open until late into Day 2, but latecomers know what they’ll be getting: a seat next to, for example, Michael Mizrachi, Joao Vieira, Josh Arieh, Viktor Blom, Scott Seiver, John Hennigan or Dan Cates. Leading at the start of play Monday is James Obst with 1,208,000 chips, a whisker ahead of Aaron Katz (1,192,500). These two are the only chip millionaires so far, but top ten stacks are held by Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen and Phil Hui; it’s going to be one to watch.
Man from down under ends up on top
Mostafa Haidary entered the final day of the 817-runner Event #52: $5,000 6-Max No-Limit Hold’em with a healthy chip lead over his three remaining opponents Bernd Gleissner, Krasimir Yankov and Brandon Schwartz. It took the better part of five hours for Haidary to shake them off and take hold of his first bracelet and $656,747 in prize money, cheered on by a voluble rail.
Short stacked Schwartz busted first despite an early double, followed by Yankov whose elimination at the hands of Gleissner started what looked like an upset for the erstwhile chip leader. Gleissner fought from a large heads-up chip deficit all the way into the lead at one point, but in the end it was Haidary who won the final flip to secure his biggest live prize by a hefty margin. Haidary gave props to the Australian poker scene in general and his supportive friends in particular as he celebrated his victory.
Funaro embraces the madness
Frank Funaro has won his second bracelet (first live) in the $10K Super Turbo Bounty, playing through the truly international final table of nine on Sunday, denying Shota Nakanishi his own bracelet #2 heads up. The 20-minute blinds and action-generating bounties proved attractive to 486 players, making Funaro’s top prize worth $612,997, even without the knockout money.
Funaro said that he tried to ‘embrace the madness’ of the format, acknowledging that the swings were real and that luck had played its part in his victory. He had already collected over $2.7 million in live cashes, however, proving that his win was no fluke. Amongst his final opponents were Day 1 chip leader Aliaksei Boika (5th for $142,892), Antoine Saout and Ludovic Geilich (7th and 8th).
Patrick Moulder ends what he started
Patrick Moulder seized an early chip lead in the $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball and never looked back. He picked up his first WSOP bracelet and $177,045 after seeing off tricky final day opposition in the form of players such as Shawn Buchanan, Shaun Deeb and Chad Eveslage. The variety pack of lowball draw, a specialist’s delight if ever there was one, attracted a healthy 371 entries, paying out $825,475 in total.
Moulder had been giving this WSOP his all already, having set his sights on at least one final table. He’s now made three (he finished ninth in the $10K Omaha Hi-Lo and eighth in the $10K HORSE Championship).
Photo of the day
Hand of the day
Sure, it was all-in preflop, and the percentages are there for all to see, but this is still a rare run-out.
Tweet of the day
Mike Holtz has 40,000 reasons for a change of heart about Mystery Bounties online.
Video of the day
Sometimes you need that Jason Koon luck. Seems to have worked out for Santhosh Suvarna.
The day in numbers
14
The number of millionaires the $1,500 Millionaire Maker could make if it just picked names out of a hat now (the prize pool is $14,603,565)
75
Entries in the $50K Poker Players Championship - the same number as last year
5
Poker Hall of Fame inductees that have entered the Poker Players Championship - so far
Coming up on Day #28
The full field will come into focus in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, a who’s who of multi-discipline experts vying for one of the most coveted titles in the world. Though Phil Hellmuth has yet to make a stab at it, there are three levels of late registration left, and a whole lot of play in the structure. It’s hard to imagine he’ll turn it down.
Hall of Famers Phil Ivey, Daniel Negranu and John Hennigan all bagged big stacks on Day 1, chasing overnight chip leader James Obst. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, this one, so there is all to play for even for the shorter stacks like Dan Cates, Eli Elezra or Dan Smith.
The $1,500 Millionaire Maker’s 10,939-entry field will start to become more manageable, as the exact prizes everyone is playing for are revealed and the 2,381 players still vying for them start to knock each other out. Among those making it through Day 1C were Main Event champions Hossein Ensan and Jamie Gold, Shawn Buchanan, Ryan Leng and John Riordan.
The $1,000 Super Seniors (age 60+) will bring back a fair number of the 2024 Younger Seniors Event entrants to vie for another bracelet, if 2023's 3,121-entry mark is anything to go by. Last year Klaus Ilk took this one down, winning $371,603.
Also pitching its first cards will be the $3,000 NLH and $2,500 Mixed: Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better. Something for everyone (whatever variant is missing from these events can probably be found in the Poker Players Championship, if the line-up doesn't spook you).
Day #27 gallery
Results
Event #52: $5,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mostafa Haidary |
$656,747 |
| 2 | Bernd Gleissner |
$437,821 |
| 3 | Krasimir Yankov |
$300,293 |
| 4 | Brandon Schwartz |
$209,606 |
| 5 | Pedro Madeira |
$148,939 |
| 6 | Matthew McEwan |
$107,770 |
Full results on WSOP
Event #55: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santhosh Suvarna |
$5,415,152 |
| 2 | Ben Tollerene |
$3,537,135 |
| 3 | Chris Hunichen |
$2,397,312 |
| 4 | Matthias Eibinger |
$1,688,278 |
| 5 | Charles Hook |
$1,237,296 |
| 6 | Taylor von Kriegenbergh |
$945,219 |
| 7 | Jeremy Ausmus |
$754,052 |
| 8 |
Mikita Badziakouski |
$629,407 |
| 9 |
Sean Winter |
$550,878 |
Full results on WSOP
Event #56: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick Moulder |
$177,045 |
| 2 | Ian Chan |
$115,073 |
| 3 | Yuebin Guo |
$76,547 |
| 4 | Chad Eveslage |
$52,140 |
| 5 | Matthew Smith |
$36,387 |
| 6 | Shaun Deeb |
$26,033 |
| 7 | Anthony Hu |
$19,106 |
Full results on WSOP
Event #57: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty (8-Handed)
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank Funaro |
$612,997 |
| 2 | Shota Nakanishi |
$408,658 |
| 3 | Michael Rocco |
$282,983 |
| 4 | Oliver Weis |
$199,342 |
| 5 | Aliaksei Boika |
$142,892 |
| 6 | Steve Buell |
$104,261 |
| 7 | Antoine Saout |
$77,460 |
| 8 |
Ludovic Geilich |
$58,616 |
Full results on WSOP
Ongoing events
Event #54: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Day 1C
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Dilts |
462,750 |
| 2 | Sean An |
438,000 |
| 3 | Carl Masters |
419,000 |
| 4 | William Pollard |
416,000 |
| 5 | Sami Bechahed |
408,000 |
| Notables |
||
| 17 | Hossein Ensan |
315,000 |
| 118 |
Jeremy Becker |
204,500 |
| 132 |
Joseph Cheong |
197,000 |
| 181 |
Upeshka De Silva |
170,000 |
| 229 |
Wing Liu |
155,000 |
| 298 |
Ryan Leng |
136,500 |
| 307 |
Jamie Gold |
134,000 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #58: $50,000 Poker Players Championship (7-Handed)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Obst |
1,208,000 |
| 2 | Aaron Katz |
1,192,500 |
| 3 | Johannes Becker |
898,000 |
| 4 | Bryce Yockey |
780,000 |
| 5 | Phil Hui |
733,000 |
| 6 | Maksim Pisarenko |
693,000 |
| 7 | Gus Hansen |
652,500 |
| 8 |
Phil Ivey |
567,000 |
| 9 |
Chino Rheem |
544,000 |
| 10 |
Daniel Negreanu |
543,500 |
| 11 |
John Hennigan |
523,500 |
| 12 |
Rob Hollink |
515,500 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Bracelet winners
- Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion – Asher Conniff (USA)
- Event #2: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em – Jose Garcia (USA)
- Event #3: $500 Kickoff No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout – Daniel Willis (UK)
- Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better (8-Handed) – James Chen (USA)
- Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions - Malcolm Trayner (Australia)
- Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship – Darius Samual (UK)
- Event #7: $1,500 Dealer's Choice – John Hennigan (USA)
- Event #8: $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha (8-Handed) - Bryce Yockey (USA)
- Event #9: $1,500 Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Nick Guagenti (USA)
- Event #10: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship - Scott Seiver (USA)
- Event #11: $1,500 Badugi - David Prociak (USA)
- Event #12: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em - Simeon Spasov (Bulgaria)
- Event #13: $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship - Robert Mizrachi (USA)
- Event #14: $1,000 Super Turbo Bounty No Limit Hold'em - Thibault Perissat (France)
- Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better - Caleb Furth (USA)
- Event #16: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Brent Hart (USA)
- Event #17: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack - TJ Murphy (USA)
- Event #18: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha - Dylan Weisman (USA)
- Event #19: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship - John Racener (USA)
- Event #20: $300 Gladiators of Poker No-Limit Hold'em - Stephen Winters (USA)
- Event #21: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (6-Handed) - Brek Schutten (USA)
- Event #22: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw (6-Handed) - Aaron Cummings (USA)
- Event #23: Event #23: $1,500 SHOOTOUT No-Limit Hold'em - Dan Sepiol (USA)
- Event #24: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship - Sean Troha (USA)
- Event #25: $3,000 Limit Hold'em 6-Handed - Daniel Vampan (USA)
- Event #26: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Nick Schulman (USA)
- Event #27: $1,500 Big O - Michael Christ (USA)
- Event #28: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em - Evan Benton (USA)
- Event #29: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship (6-Handed) - Phil Ivey (USA)
- Event #30: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack - Alen Bakovic (Canada)
- Event #31: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed - Nicholas Seward (USA)
- Event #32: $1,500 Seven Card Stud - Richard Ashby (UK)
- Event #33: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack (8-Handed) - Alex Manzano (Chile)
- Event #34: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout - Antonio Galiana (Spain)
- Event #35: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. - Phillip Hui (USA)
- Event #36: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack (8-Handed) – Timur Margolin (Israel)
- Event #37: $10,000 Big O Championship – John Fauver (USA)
- Event #39: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Sergio Aido (Spain)
- Event #40: $1,500 Razz – Scott Seiver (USA)
- Event #41: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot - Xixiang Luo (China)
- Event #42: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship - James Obst (Australia)
- Event #43: $1,500 Mixed: PLO Hi-Lo 8; Omaha Hi-Lo 8; Big O - Magnus Edengren (Sweden)
- Event #44: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Jared Kingery (USA)
- Event #45: $10,000 HORSE Championship - Maksim Pisarenko (Russia)
- Event #46: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship - Khang Pham (USA)
- Event #47: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em - Chris Hunichen (USA)
- Event #48: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed) - Chris Vitch (USA)
- Event #49: $3,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em - Erlend Melsom (Norway)
- Event #50: $10,000 Razz Championship - George Alexander (USA)
- Event #51: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout - Peter Park (USA)
- Event #52: $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em – Mostafa Haidary (Australia)
- Event #53: $3,000 Nine Game Mixed - Yuri Dzivielevski (Brazil)
- Event #55: $250,000 Super High Roller – Santhosh Suvarna (India)
- Event #56: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball (2-7, A-5, Badugi) – Patrick Moulder (USA)
- Event #57: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em – Frank Funaro (USA)
