WSOP Day #38: Seidel among sharks leading the Main Event

With fireworks popping across the American skies in celebration of July 4, players made their now daily pilgrimage to the tournament rooms of Horseshoe/Paris Casinos for the 2024 World Series of Poker, which is inching towards its conclusion.

You wouldn't necessarily know it from a look around the room, however, where 831 players stepped up to play Day 1B of the $10,000 Main Event, aka the World Championship, and two more players earned themselves the most sought-after silverware in the game.

This was the second of four starting flights in the Main Event which, when coupled with the day of a typical American holiday, might suggest a comparative slowdown in interest in poker. But even a quiet WSOP day is mayhem, and those 831 players duly slugged it out through five two-hour levels to leave only 616 remaining from the day.

Erik Seidel headlined the feature table and bagged one of the biggest stacks

They include a whole host of well-known players, including former champions Koray Aldemir and Hossein Ensan, alongside Hall of Famers, including the well-stacked Erik Seidel. But the very summit belongs to George Dolofan, a grinder from Miami Beach, Florida, who told PokerOrg, "I just played it right today."

It is, of course, the very definition of early days and Dolofan was keen not to get too carried away despite his lofty position. They're still a long way from even knowing how many entries this tournament has, let alone reaching the money bubble or the serious cash. But with players such as Greg Raymer, Erick Lindgren, Josh Arieh and Kevin Rabichow among those who have busted already, anyone with a bag can consider a job well done on the opening day.

Perkusic makes debut splash in PLO High Roller

The final table in the $50K High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha event was awash with bracelets: seven among the last five players, who contested the final day, only after seven more had departed late the previous day to bring us to that final.

But true to form in a World Series that has celebrated emerging talent alongside the seasoned veterans, the new bracelet found a home with the only previously jewelry-free member of the last five: Germany's Daniel Perkusic.

Daniel Perkusic: First bracelet and first WSOP live cash

Omar Sader

This was a breakout performance in all senses from Perkusic, whose previous documented tournament cashes have all come from events either in his native Europe or online. It represents his first cash in the United States and a first cash at the WSOP. (It's also a first win this year for Germany.) Weighing in at $2,100,325, it's a fine way to start.

Perkusic is not a total rookie. Those Europe-based results weighed in at more than $600K, which is an excellent total for a PLO expert. But this tournament represented a new high, and a new level of difficulty against a field of superstars. The last of those to depart was Danny Tang, the Hong Kong/UK talent who has made his name on the Triton Super High Roller Series. But Tang, who held the chip lead going into the final day, couldn't cope with Perkusic's heads-up masterclass and took second, for $1,400,217.

Perkusic got the ball rolling on Thursday with the early elimination of Santhosh Suvarna in fifth, then saw Tang eliminate Ronald Keijzer in fourth. Perkusic then knocked out Jim Collopy in third in an aces vs. kings collision, before a this-way, that-way battle against Tang sealed the deal -- and that debut bracelet.

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Skarparis adds Cyprus to 2024 WSOP winner's list

The name Menikos Panayiotou is not necessarily one that trips off the tongue of many people, poker fans or not. But until Thursday night, Panayiotou was the sole representative of Cyprus among the many hundred World Series of Poker bracelet winners.

He is alone no more.

After three long days in the $1,000 Mini Main Event, Georgios Skarparis became the second player from Cyprus to strap a WSOP bracelet around his wrist, completing the job over a field of 6,076 entries and banking $554,925 in the process. Skarparis prevailed over a cosmopolitan final table, beating Italy's Alexandre Barbarabelli into second place, ahead of Russia's Mikhail Zavoloka, Kyle Williamson of the United States, and Germany's Dirk Bruns.

Georgios Skarparis: A famous night for Cyprus

Hayley Hochstetler

Skarparis told WSOP that he began his working life in the legal profession, before transitioning to poker a few years ago. He said his parents supported the decision, and he now has evidence that he made the right move.

Skaparis also paid tribute to a former friend and student Kyriakos Oxinos, who died in a car crash aged 24 in 2023. Skaparis said he promised to win a bracelet in Oxinos' memory, and duly delivered on an emotional night in Las Vegas, carrying Oxinos' photo with him to pose for his own winner's picture.

Celebrating Independence Day with a chaotic turbo

As Independence Day celebrations ramped up outside on the Las Vegas Strip, cashiers nonetheless accepted 3,928 entries to Day 1B of Event #80: $800 Independence Day Celebration No-Limit Hold'em, presenting a chance for patriots to let their chips do the celebrating. By the end of a rapid-fire 22 levels, only 206 players remained.

The man with the most from this turbo flight was William Zaiss, whose 2,280,000 chips represent a 57-time increase on his 40,000 starting stack. He sits ahead of three-time WSOP bracelet winner Nipun Java in the overnight counts, with the field now combining with the 150 who made it through Day 1A on Wednesday. Ivan Denev's stack of 2,480,000 remains the largest of the two starting flights, while there will be plenty of eyes on Jeremy Becker, who bagged and will return to nine big blinds.

The plan is to play to a champion in this one on Friday, which will mean some short-stacked, hyper-turbo thrills and spills. Surviving that kind of carnage is what it takes sometimes to win a bracelet.

Photo of the day

Daniel Perkusic looks down the table at Danny Tang, his last opponent between him and a bracelet

Tweet of the day

Very nice of you to say so, Dara O'Kearney. He's right, of course.

Hand of the day

You can't win the Main Event on Day 1. But you can definitely lose it. Starr Valdez clearly had that old truism ringing in her ears as she made an exceptional fold on Day 1B to avoid losing what could have been an enormous pot.

Video of the day

There's a lot of down time at the WSOP. But thankfully, everyone has chips.

The day in numbers

831

Entries in Day 1B of the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event. That brings the running total, through first two opening flights, to 1,726.

21

Number of countries whose players have won bracelets at 2024 WSOP. Cyprus and Germany were added to the list on Thursday.

0

Previous cashes at the World Series of Poker for Daniel Perkusic, who won more than $2 million on Thursday in the $50K Omaha High Roller.

Day #38 gallery

Alejandro Guerrero

Coming up on Day #39

Survivors from the two starting flights of the Independence Day Celebration No-Limit Hold'em come together to play down to a winner. That's 356 players down to one. Thank goodness for 30-minute levels. Meanwhile, two WSOP Online events get started: a $555 buy-in PLO Mystery Bounty event and Day 1A of a $400 Colossus.

There's a good reason those other events are either a turbo or played online, of course. That's because the biggest field and the biggest draw will be Day 1C of the $10,000 Main Event, with every seat in Horseshoe/Paris required for the many thousands who will come looking to begin their shot at joining the poker legends.

This is the third of four starting flights, and typically the second biggest. We'll soon have a better idea of how close to a record we're getting, but with registration open right to the start of the final Day 2 (Monday) there is still plenty of potential for this one to make history.

Results

Event #78: $1,000 Mini Main Event

Place	Player	Prize
1	Georgios Skarparis	$554,925
2	Alexandre Barbaranelli	$369,994
3	Mikhail Zavoloka	$276,695
4	Kyle Williamson	$208,444
5	Dirk Bruns	$158,191
6	Joshua Prager	$120,950
7	Kaihung Hu	$93,171
8	Stefan Widmer	$72,316
9	Hunter Frey	$56,557

Full results on WSOP

Event #79: $50,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha

Place	Player	Prize
1	Daniel Perkusic	$2,100,325
2	Danny Tang	$1,400,217
3	Jim Collopy	$973,882
4	Ronald Keijzer	$692,232
5	Santhosh Suvarna	$503,085
6	Gabriel Andrade	$374,020
7	David Benyamine	$284,604
8	Brian Rast	$221,778