It’s here: the $10,000 WSOP Main Event starts on Wednesday and doesn’t stop for two weeks. The excitement is palpable, and players have swarmed on the $1,000 Mini Main to warm up, unable to sit on their hands until the NL Championship begins (or just fancying a taste of the action for a tenth of the buy-in). A room-packing, queue-forming monster of an event, the Mini Main has attracted 6,093 entries and will pay the winner $555,075, one of 486 players restarting the grind at 11am.
While the Mini Main seems like the new $400 Colossus, the old 19,337-runner version has awarded its bracelet and $501,250 in prize money to Martin Alcaide, while David Eldridge picked up his second bracelet in the $25K High Roller PLO.
High rolling Omaha action continues in the form of the $50K version that ended Day 1 with 133 entries – a healthy field with late registration still open. Jason Mercier leads the 61 chip-baggers representing the elite of the four-card game, including $250K Super High Roller winner Santhosh Suvarna, Bryce Yockey, David Benyamine, Joao Vieira, Scott Seiver and Nick Schulman. The last two players' names were bandied around today in the inevitable discussion about the Hall of Fame nominations that happens every year:
A total of 44 players (22 teams) remain in the $1,000 Tag Team NLHE after Day 2, with the combo of Joan Perez and Javier Rodriguez in the lead with 3,730,000 chips (around 3x average) to take turns betting on Wednesday. They’re nine-handed in the $10,000 Mystery Bounty, with Tauan Naves leading the way into Day 3. Meanwhile, there's a small Day 4 afoot in the $10K Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, where Richard Sklar and Arash Ghaneian will return to decide on which wrist the bracelet will end up glittering.
David Eldridge beats Brian Rast in the $25K High Roller PLO
David Eldridge fended off Brian Rast at the last to secure his first live WSOP bracelet (his prior one was claimed in an online Mini Main in 2021) along with $2,246,728 – almost 10x-ing his previous biggest cash. This giant High Roller attracted 476 entries and few, if any, mere four-card dabblers. This was a tough tournament with a hefty price tag, and the $1 million plus prizes for runner up Rast and third place Ethan Cahn were hard earned.
The final day saw just five players return, with Eldridge in the lead. Short-stacked Omaha stalwart Juha Helppi fell first to Rast, who’d doubled up early against the chip leader. It looked like the deck was on the six-time bracelet winner’s side as he kept pace with Eldridge, who busted Yang Wang (fourth for $731,819). When Rast took out Cahn in third ($1,038,097), it looked like curtains for Eldridge – he was all in and at risk - but found the board he needed to flip the stacks. After this key moment, Eldridge slowly but surely built a towering lead and finally got a sweat-free run-out for his final hand.
“This win doesn’t change anything,” said Eldridge, according to WSOP, “I’m just going to play the Main Event and then go home.” The ‘just’ in this sentence says it all – the sanguine Pennsylvania resident is taking it all in stride. “I’m feeling good. It was a long four days, but things worked out.”
Alcaide topples $400 Colossus
Martin Alcaide’s prize for collecting all the chips from 19,336 others in the $400 Colossus is a cool half million dollars, and his first WSOP bracelet. Live fields like this come around once in a blue moon, and the Bulgarian player, whose total live winnings to date were $23,200, has outlasted one in style.
Joel Vanetten, start of day chip leader, ended up finishing in fourth place ($188,510), a very creditable performance considering that Day 3 brought back 92 players, among them Ari Engel (68th), Men Nguyen (27th), and Matt Glantz (19th). While Nguyen might have been attracting the wrong sort of attention from Glantz in the middle of the day, the focus on the final fixed on Alcaide and the man who was to be his final opponent, Yujian Eugen Zhou.
Five-handed, Zhou cracked Alcaide’s aces with jack-ten offsuit (all-in preflop in a sizeable pot) to start his challenge for the title that proved ultimately unsuccessful. Zhou did, however, bust Vanetten and third place Brooks Floyd ($247,030) in quick succession, fast-forwarding the final table to heads up. Though they started fairly even in chips, Alcaide pulled away and finally cleanly saw off Zhou with pocket sevens vs. pocket fives; the runner-up received $325,640.
Near-even stacks for final duo in $10K Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo
One opponent remains for each of Richard Sklar and Arash Ghaneian, as Day 3 simply wasn’t long enough to decide a winner in the $10K Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. Sklar holds a slight lead – 5,530,000 chips to Ghaneian’s 4,495,000 – and everyone knows that split pot games cannot be relied upon to finish in a timely manner, middle of the night or not. So, it’s 1pm on Wednesday for the final battle, in which either Sklar will win his first WSOP bracelet, or Ghaneian his second, along with $376,476 in prize money. Knowing you come back guaranteed $250,984 can’t hurt either.
The Championship events at the Series can be relied upon to bring in the heavyweights of whatever discipline is being tested, and this Stud one was no exception. Almost half of the 18 players returning for Day 3 already had at least one bracelet, including the first three to bust – Naoya Kihara, Owais Ahmed and Michael Noori. Norman Chad finished 15th ($21,000), Andrey Zhigalov seventh ($49,715), and the final table was rounded out (in reverse finishing order) by Dario Alioto, Eric Wasserson, Todd Brunson and Thomas Taylor.
Top $250K bounty softens pre-bubble exit for Ketzer
Day 2 in the $10,000 Mystery Bounty has neatly ended at the final table, with Tauan Naves leading the last nine from a field of 965. Guaranteed $80,238, one of them will win over a million dollars and, unless they’re Simas Karaliunas (currently 5th), their first WSOP bracelet.
That is some healthy prize cash, even with the total pot spread between finishing position payouts and bounties – the largest of which have already been awarded. Felipe Ketzer pulled the $250,000 bounty, worth as much as fifth place in the event overall (although he failed to get through the bubble), while Christopher Puetz, Bruno Lopes and Robert Heidorn all received $100,000 bounties. The latter collected a dozen of the things, guaranteeing that however he finishes up on Day 3, he will already have over $175,000 in boosted prize money.
Finishing in paid positions were notables including Erik Seidel, Shaun Deeb, Christopher Brewer, Adrian Mateos and Dan Shak (who finished on the final table bubble, tenth for $62,942).
Foxen busts Hellmuth in the $2,500 Mixed Big Bet
The $2,500 Mixed Big Bet (Pot-Limit and No-Limit games only) will bring back 19 players for Day 3, led by Wing Liu with 2,387,000 chips. Liu already has a PLO bracelet and experience navigating the top of the chip counts in this tough field, as he started the day in the same position. Narrowly behind him is Alex Foxen, the only other player to bag over two million chips. Above average stacks are also in the hands of bracelet winners Allan Le, Xixiang Luo and Chris Klodnicki, while Andres Korn, Lawrence Brandt and Kane Kalas return with short stacks.
Foxen put an end to yet another Phil Hellmuth deep run, drawing one card in 2-7 Single Draw to outdo his pat ten (with an eight); this was taken with characteristic calm and in silence by the man dubbed ‘the poker brat’. Just kidding: juicy loud expletives and a bit of a rant came from Hellmuth on what must have been, to be fair, a frustrating walk to be paid $8,660 for 21st place, when a bracelet was once again within hailing distance.
Other notables making the cash but not the final were defending Main Event champion Daniel Weinman, Ben Yu, Calvin Anderson, Chino Rheem, Ari Engel and Ryan Riess.
Photo of the day
Hand of the day
This is notable both because of the unusual $2,500 Mixed Big Bet action and because the videographer is Phil Hellmuth, consuming (and apparently, somehow, enjoying) a truly bizarre snack.
Tweet of the day
Sometimes it is a good thing to meet your heroes.
Video of the day
"Thank you for hosting this tournament."
"Shut up."
The day in numbers
$25.92
The amount every player in the Colossus contributed to first prize ($501,250) if you divide it by the total entries
15,000,000
The big blind at the end of play in the Colossus
81
The event # for the $10,000 Main Event (World Championship)
Coming up on Day #37
Every poker enthusiast, whether stalking the halls of the Horseshoe/Paris, watching PokerGO or refreshing internet coverage, knows what’s coming up on Day #37. It’s the $10,000 WSOP Main Event. If NLHE is the Cadillac of poker, the WSOP ME is the biggest possible custom version with a string of paparazzi chasing behind it. To win a bracelet is a huge achievement in the poker world. To win the World Championship bracelet is a dream come true.
Daniel Weinman won $12.1 million when he picked up last year’s title; if attendance in the run-up to this Big One is a good indicator, 2024 is going to put the 10,043-entry record to the test. There are four starting flights, running July 3-6, before the quartet of second days (2A/B/C on July 7 and Day 2D on July 8). Registration remains open for two levels on Days 2.
The more modestly bankrolled can take part in the $800 Independence Day Celebration (a day early) with Day 1A starting at 10am. What better way to congratulate the nation on its independence than playing 22 half hour levels of No-Limit Hold’em?
The $10K Seven Card Stud 8 or Better Championship bracelet will go to either Richard Sklar or Arash Ghaneian, while the final table of the $10K Mystery Bounty still has more chests to open for chip leader Tauan Naves (in all likelihood) and those of his remaining eight opponents who perform knockouts on the crucial final day.
Alex Foxen and Wing Liu lead the last few tables in the $2,500 Mixed Big Bet Event, with play restarting at 1pm. Anyone looking to rail 2-7, Big O, Five Card Draw etc. – this is your last chance for a few days.
Day #36 gallery
Results
Event #70: $400 Colossus No-Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Alcaide |
$501,250 |
| 2 | Yujian Eugen Zhou |
$325,640 |
| 3 | Brooks Floyd |
$247,030 |
| 4 | Joel Vanetten |
$188,510 |
| 5 | Ricky Andino |
$144,700 |
| 6 | Bohdan Slyvinskyi |
$111,740 |
| 7 | Caleb Powell |
$86,800 |
| 8 |
Trevor Brown |
$67,840 |
| 9 |
Nicholas Richards |
$53,354 |
Full results on WSOP
Event #73: $25,000 High Roller Pot Limit Omaha (8-Handed)
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Eldridge |
$2,246,728 |
| 2 | Brian Rast |
$1,497,824 |
| 3 | Ethan Cahn |
$1,038,097 |
| 4 | Yang Wang |
$731,819 |
| 5 | Juha Helppi |
$524,911 |
| 6 | Billy Tarango |
$383,191 |
| 7 | Liran Twito |
$284,794 |
| 8 |
Anuj Agarwal |
$215,563 |
Full results on WSOP
Ongoing events
Event #74: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
| Place | Player | Chips/Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Sklar |
5,530,000 |
| 2 | Arash Ghaneian |
4,495,000 |
| 3 | Thomas Taylor |
$122,663 |
| 4 | Todd Brunson |
$731,819 |
| 5 | Eric Wasserson |
$88,686 |
| 6 | Dario Alioto |
$65,620 |
| 7 | Andrey Zhigalov |
$49,715 |
| 8 |
Michael Rocco |
$38,589 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #75: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joan Perez/Javier Rodriguez |
3,730,000 |
| 2 | Joshua Hopkins/Charles Honkonen |
3,305,000 |
| 3 | Sheraton Hall/Malcolm Trayner |
2,545,000 |
| 4 | Julio Cacoilo/Christian Husou |
2,155,000 |
| 5 | Richard Ali/Patsy Altomari |
1,570,000 |
| 6 | Aaron Thomas/Burcu Dagli |
1,445,000 |
| 7 | Marcos Exterkotter/Henry Fischer |
1,440,000 |
| 8 |
Min Ji/Hung Xu |
1,330,000 |
| 9 |
Mark Bagin/Kevin Bagin |
1,160,000 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #76: $10,000 Mystery Bounty No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed)
| Place | Player | Chips/Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tauan Naves |
16,300,000 |
| 2 | Damrjai Davenport |
10,000,000 |
| 3 | Matthew Lambrecht |
9,900,000 |
| 4 | Vladimir Minko |
7,475,000 |
| 5 | Simas Karaliunas |
6,875,000 |
| 6 | William Jia |
2,125,000 |
| 7 | Robert Heidorn |
1,975,000 |
| 8 |
Andrei Konopelko |
1,775,000 |
| 9 |
Eshaan Bhalla |
1,675,000 |
Event #77: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet Event (6-Handed)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wing Liu |
2,387,000 |
| 2 | Alex Foxen |
2,243,000 |
| 3 | Allan Le |
1,500,000 |
| 4 | Xixiang Luo |
1,370,000 |
| 5 | Senovio Ramirez III |
1,192,000 |
| 6 | Chris Klodnicki |
1,053,000 |
| 7 | Craig Hartman |
1,048,000 |
| Notables |
||
| 9 |
Denis Strebkov |
842,000 |
| 10 |
Andy Black |
756,000 |
| 13 |
Andres Korn |
420,000 |
| 15 |
Lawrence Brandt |
273,000 |
| 16 |
Kane Kalas |
267,000 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #78: $1,000 Mini Main Event
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paawan Bansal |
2,825,000 |
| 2 | Jamie Dwan |
2,700,000 |
| 3 | James Carroll |
2,700,000 |
| 4 | Connor Rash |
2,505,000 |
| 5 | Gustavo Kamei |
2,300,000 |
| 6 | Shay Rozenbaum |
2,300,000 |
| 7 | Remi Derossi |
2,250,000 |
| Notables |
||
| 126 |
Landon Tice |
965,000 |
| 138 |
Ryan Hughes |
915,000 |
| 277 |
Steve Gross |
575,000 |
| 449 |
Stoyan Madanzhiev |
260,000 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #79: $50,000 High Roller Pot Limit Omaha
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Mercier |
1,575,000 |
| 2 | Jared Bleznick |
1,470,000 |
| 3 | Santhosh Suvarna |
1,360,000 |
| 4 | Michael Moncek |
1,290,000 |
| 5 | Tim Van Loo |
1,280,000 |
| 6 | Isaac Kempton |
1,250,000 |
| 7 | Chase Steely |
1,240,000 |
| Notables |
||
| 10 |
Bryce Yockey |
1,135,000 |
| 15 |
David Benyamine |
980,000 |
| 18 |
Jim Collopy |
800,000 |
| 24 |
Joao Vieira |
645,000 |
| 29 |
Jesse Lonis |
600,000 |
| 31 |
Scott Seiver |
585,000 |
| 36 |
Ben Lamb |
485,000 |
| 47 |
John Riordan |
345,000 |
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 #38: $1,500 MONSTER STACK No-Limit Hold'em - Pedro Neves (Portugal)
- 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 #54: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em - Franco Spitale (Argentina)
- 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)
- Event #58: $50,000 Poker Players Championship - Daniel Negreanu (Canada)
- Event #59: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em - Sean Jazayeri (USA)
- Event #60: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Paolo Boi (Italy)
- Event #61: $2,500 Mixed: Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better - Dario Sammartino (Italy)
- Event #62: $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship - Hector Berry (UK)
- Event #63: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw - David Funkhouser (USA)
- Event #64: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack - Chris Moen (USA)
- Event #65: $5,000 Seniors High Roller No-Limit Hold'em - Mark Checkwicz (USA)
- Event #66: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship - Elie Nakache (France)
- Event #67: $500 Salute to Warriors - No-Limit Hold'em - Ben Collins (UK)
- Event #68: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em - Colin Robinson (USA)
- Event #69: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better - Nikolay Fal (Russia)
- Event #70: $400 Colossus - Martin Alcaide (Bulgaria)
- Event #71: $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship - Shiina Okamoto (Japan)
- Event #72: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship - Scott Seiver (USA)
- Event #73: $25,000 Hit Roller Pot-Limit Omaha - David Eldridge (USA)
