The search for the 2024 World Champion continued apace on Friday with the field in the record-breaking $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event now reduced to its last 59 players. As is always the way, many of the top stars have been dimmed. But plenty of others continue to shine.
Without question, the best storyline in the making centers on Shundan Xiao and Kristen Foxen, the last two women standing in the Main Event. It hardly needs to be restated: no woman has ever won the WSOP Main Event, and only one has ever made the final. That was Barbara Enright, who finished fifth in 1995. There hasn't been a female winner in an open event during this year's WSOP either.
But between them, Xiao and Foxen have everything it takes to redress some of this imbalance.
Xiao has an enormous stack, second in the overall standings, while Foxen has the skills and the reputation. She has been mixing it in the elite echelons of poker for the best part of a decade, both at the online tables and in the live environment. Foxen currently sits 17th heading into Day 7 in the big one.
There would be another terrific story if Sweden's Niklas Astedt could find himself at the final. Astedt is arguably the greatest ever online tournament player, whose aliases (including 'Lena900') have close to 12,000 online tournament cashes, according to the databases that track these things, and nearly $50 million in winnings. By comparison, his live results are modest, but it would be some achievement if the ultimate online crusher could do the same on the biggest live stage. Astedt bagged the 14th biggest stack in the room.
Other superstars still involved don't come much more super than Brian Rast, a six-time WSOP bracelet winner who was last year inducted into the WSOP Hall of Fame. Rast is a crusher in all formats but has never finished better than 132nd in the WSOP Main Event, before this year. Rast is 22nd now and is one of few remaining who will be entirely unflustered heading into the very deepest stages.
None of those, however, head the counts right now. That honor belongs to Kevin Davis, whose superlative Day 6 ended with a stack of 26.25M and the outright lead. He is marginally ahead of Shundan Xiao (23.925M) and Malo Latinois (22.375M), but it's comparatively tightly bunched at the top. The Day 5 leader Stephen Song is still alive, but now sits in 53rd. It's a reminder, if one were needed, that it's very, very tough going in this enormous event.
There will be five more levels on Saturday. That's 10 more hours of the most extreme tension. And it won't let up for a few more days yet.
Wilhelm makes it three for Germany
It took until Event 79 until Germany won its first bracelet of the 2024 WSOP, but the country has lit up the dying embers of the series. On Friday, Sascha Wilhelm became the third German champion, taking down the top prize in Event #86: $1,000 Mystery Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha. It was worth $282,290, plus what he said was around $18,000 in bounties.
Wilhelm was the chip leader of 10 players coming back into an unscheduled day on Friday, and didn't see his dominance under much threat as short-stacked opponents hit the rail early. Two-time bracelet winner Bryce Yockey was perceived as the main threat, particularly as he started the day in second place, but after Yockey lost a major pot to Daisuke Ogita, his star faded. Instead, it was Ogita who became the dangerman.
Wilhelm suffered a few hits of his own, but managed to bounce back with a huge knockout of Brandon Caputo in eighth, and then a major pot against Ogita, which consolidated his position back at the top. James Cavanaugh managed to bust Ogita in third, which left Wilhelm versus Cavanaugh for the bracelet.
Cavanaugh was on the ropes throughout and on the final hand couldn't get a flopped straight to hold against Wilhelm's two pair. Wilhelm rivered a boat and this one was done. Wilhelm confessed he had "got lucky in the end". By by then, the bracelet was his.
No champ yet in Eight Game Mix; Anderson in pole position
It was always an ambitious target to slim a returning field of 22 down to a winner in Event #88: $10,000 Eight Game Mixed Championship. And it was getting on for 3am when tournament organizers finally called a halt to what had become a two-horse race, leaving Calvin Anderson and Dai Ishibashi yet to decide who takes the jewellery in this one.
Anderson, a four-time bracelet winner who already has one runner-up finish this year, leads the way, with 7.545M chips to Ishibashi's 3.905M. But that still represents a good deal of play, with the final stages to play out on Saturday.
Friday's long passage of play accounted for numerous leading lights, including Chris Brewer (16th), Maxx Coleman (13th), Adam Friedman (11th) and Yuri Dzivielevski (10th), before further stars such as Gus Hansen (ninth) and Mike Watson (fourth) got within sight, before perishing. That was mostly due to Anderson, who put on typically devastating show. However, Ishibashi refused to capitulate and a second Japanese title remains possible.
Come back tomorrow to find out how it finishes.
Cheong leads latest High Roller
The last massive buy-in event of the summer got started on Friday and once again the game's elite dipped into their bottomless bankrolls to find $50K to play. This was Event #92: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em, and attracted 150 entries on its opening day. (Registration closes after a couple of levels on Saturday.)
Joseph Cheong enjoyed the most prosperous day, bagging a barely believable 3.35M chips at this stage, which is a significant deal more than his closest challenger, Erik Seidel, who has 1.93M. From there it's a familiar who's who all the way down the list of the remaining 56 players, with the man in 26th of particular note. That's Isai Scheinberg, the PokerStars founder, who is now mixing it at the tables with the superstars he helped create.
Expect this tournament to really take shape on Saturday, when we'll know the prize pool and elimination really means elimination.
Thoroughbreds assemble in latest H.O.R.S.E.
It's never going to quite match the Main Event for star appeal, but the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event that played its Day 2 on Friday has quietly assembled a thoroughbred line-up heading into its final stages.
PoY contender Jeremy Ausmus is yet again deep, sitting in sixth of the remaining 17 players, while John Racener's exceptional WSOP continues. He is in second place overnight. David 'ODB' Baker (fourth), Luis Velador (10th), Adrienne Carter (12th) and Ismael Bojang (14th) retain an interest as well, with $206,321 on the line for the winner.
The leader at this stage is the Korean recreational player Wooram Cho, who took a year's sabbatical from his job in the HR department of a Korean car manufacturer to live his dream of playing poker. That year is officially up, but Cho seems to be living the life still and could be in line to cap it with a famous triumph.
PLO down to six
The $1,500 PLO Six Handed is down to its final table, which means six left to shoot it out on Saturday for a $269,530 first prize. Long Tran leads a field in which few players are household names, but most have at least $500K of documented tournament cashes to date. Long-time Canadian grinder Mike Leah, sitting in third, is the only previous bracelet winner left in the field, but Russia's Anatoly Zlotnikov (currently sixth) has won on the Triton Series and American Dustin Nelson (fifth) once won $297K from a $600 buy-in tournament at the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open. They can all play.
Photo of the day
Hand of the day
Two hands actually, although they were a near perfect mirror image. Both featured Kristen Foxen and Bradley Mercer, and both featured kings against ace-king.
In the first, Foxen's 
lost to Mercer's 
, but only after an ace had flopped, then a king appeared on the turn. Their chips were all in pre-flop, and Mercer doubled through Foxen.
Later on, however, the roles were reversed. Foxen had to Mercer's , but it was Foxen needing to hold to survive.There were fewer dramas this time and the kings stayed good. It kept Foxen in the hunt heading into Day 7, while Mercer bust in 99th.
Tweet of the day
Mike Matusow was asking for it.
Video of the day
It's the Duck Guy's mom!
The day in numbers
105
Big blinds in the chip-leading stack of Kevin Davis
2
Women remaining in the WSOP Main Event, heading into Day 7.
40,000
The next Main Event pay-jump, in USD, between 54th and 53rd place. And it only gets steeper from here.
What to look for on Day #47
Another day, another five levels in the Main Event as players now dare to dream. Of course, those dreams will be crushed in most cases, but the comfort blanket is at least $160,000 thick from now on.
There will be two champions named on Saturday, in the $1,500 PLO and the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E., and should the final tables get done quickly enough, those new champs can immediately reinvest in either Event #93: $777 Lucky 7's No-Limit Hold'em or Event #94: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship 6-Handed, both of which get under way. (It's the first of two starting flights in the Lucky 7s.)
Registration is also still open on Event #92: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em, which will aim to get down to five players on its second day. Meanwhile it's Day 2 of 4 in the Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes No-Limit Hold'em Championship, where they'll play 10 x hour-long levels.
Day #46 gallery
Results
Event #86: $1,000 Mystery Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sascha Wilhelm | $282,290 |
| 2 | James Cavanaugh | $188,190 |
| 3 | Daisuke Ogita | $138,670 |
| 4 | Amit Ben Yacov | $103,050 |
| 5 | Juan Lapido | $77,240 |
| 6 | Adam Adams | $58,390 |
| 7 | Bryce Yockey | $44,530 |
| 8 | Brandon Caputo | $34,250 |
| 9 | Oshri Lahmani | $26,584 |
Full results on WSOP
Ongoing events
Event #88: $10,000 Eight Game Mix
Paused overnight with two players left.
Calvin Anderson -- 7,545,000
Dai Ishibashi -- 3,905,000
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | TBC | $413,446 |
| 2 | TBC | $271,351 |
| 3 | Ali Eslami |
$182,938 |
| 4 | Mike Watson | $126,780 |
| 5 | Paul Gunness | $90,389 |
| 6 | Tom Koral | $66,353 |
| 7 | Andres Korn | $50,195 |
| 8 | Gus Hansen | $39,167 |
| 9 | Maksim Pisarenko | $39,167 |
Full results on WSOP
Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Davis | 26,250,000 |
| 2 | Shundan Xiao | 23,925,000 |
| 3 | Malo Latinois | 22,375,000 |
| 4 | Guillermo Sanchez Otero | 21,975,000 |
| 5 | Yake Wu | 20,875,000 |
| 6 | Yegor Moroz | 20,575,000 |
| 7 | Daniel Zadok | 20,325,000 |
| 8 | Orson Young | 18,350,000 |
| 9 | Jason Sagle | 17,350,000 |
| 10 | Adrian Lopez | 17,025,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 13 | Jason James | 15,825,000 |
| 14 | Niklas Astedt | 15,800,000 |
| 17 | Kristen Foxen | 14,500,000 |
| 20 | Joe Serock | 13,175,000 |
| 22 | Brian Rast | 12,675,000 |
| 29 | Brian Kim | 9,975,000 |
| 42 | Alex Keating | 5,250,000 |
| 47 | Brandon Cantu | 4,800,000 |
| 49 | Aliaksandr Shylko | 3,850,000 |
| 53 | Stephen Song | 2,175,000 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes No-Limit Hold'em Championship (Day 1b)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Kanel | 283,000 |
| 2 | Tom Gottlieb |
242,000 |
| 3 | Alon Eldar |
217,000 |
| 4 | Saar Wilf |
181,000 |
| 5 | Orion Gallagher |
173,000 |
| 6 | Terry Fleischer |
167,000 |
| 7 | LEI |
156,000 |
| 8 | Jordan Glazer |
135,700 |
| 9 | Tyler Hancock |
130,000 |
| 10 | Clayton Fletcher |
126,000 |
Full chip counts at WSOP
Event #90: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (last five)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Long Tran | 9,990,000 |
| 2 | Alfred Karlsson | 7,615,000 |
| 3 | Mike Leah | 5,960,000 |
| 4 | Joseph Sanders | 4,500,000 |
| 5 | Dustin Nelson | 2,540,000 |
| 6 | Anatoliy Zlotnikov | 2,105,000 |
Results so far on WSOP
Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. (last 17)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wooram Cho | 1,875,000 |
| 2 | John Racener | 1,765,000 |
| 3 | Gary Bolden | 1,650,000 |
| 4 | David 'ODB' Baker | 1,130,000 |
| 5 | David Tarbet | 940,000 |
| 6 | Jeremy Ausmus | 930,000 |
| 7 | Xiaochuan Zhang | 880,000 |
| 8 | Paul Campbell | 640,000 |
| 9 | Travis Trail | 610,000 |
| 10 | Luis Velador | 585,000 |
| 11 | Nghia Le | 560,000 |
| 12 | Adrienne Carter | 355,000 |
| 13 | Ahmed Mohamed | 345,000 |
| 14 | Ismael Bojang | 305,000 |
| 15 | Jared Hyman | 280,000 |
| 16 | Tom McCormick | 230,000 |
| 17 | Arash Ghaneian | 46,500 |
Event #92: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joseph Cheong | 3,350,000 |
| 2 | Erik Seidel | 1,930,000 |
| 3 | David Peters | 1,760,000 |
| 4 | Brek Schutten | 1,660,000 |
| 5 | Michael Moncek | 1,575,000 |
| 6 | Lander Lijo | 1,445,000 |
| 7 | Dominik Nitsche | 1,385,000 |
| 8 | Paulius Plausinaitis | 1,365,000 |
| 9 | Michael Rocco | 1,325,000 |
| 10 | Seth Davies | 1,275,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 11 | Christoph Vogelsang | 1,255,000 |
| 16 | Ben Lamb | 1,080,000 |
| 22 | Bryn Kenney | 905,000 |
| 25 | Sam Soverel | 850,000 |
| 26 | Isai Scheinberg | 775,000 |
| 36 | Daniel Negreanu | 510,000 |
| 43 | Jason Koon | 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)
- Event #74: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship - Arash Ghaneian (USA)
- Event #75: $1,000 TAG TEAM No-Limit Hold'em - Jimmy Setna & Jason James (Canada)
- Event #76: $10,000 Mystery Bounty No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Matthew Lambrecht (USA)
- Event #77: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet (6-Handed) - Wing Liu (Hong Kong/UK)
- Event #78: $1,000 Mini Main Event - Georgios Skarparis (Cyprus)
- Event #79: $50,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha - Daniel Perkusic (Germany)
- Event #80: $800 Independence Day Celebration - No-Limit Hold'em - Francis Anderson (USA)
- Event #82: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Aditya Agarwal (India)
- Event #83: $1,500 Eight Game Mix (6-Handed) - Garth Yettick (USA)
- Event #84: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold'em - Carsten Heidemann (Germany)
- Event #85: $1,000 FLIP & GO No-Limit Hold'em Presented by GGPoker - Chance Kornuth (USA)
- Event #86: $1,000 Mystery Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha - Sascha Wilhelm (Germany)
- Event #87: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Matthew Alsante (USA)
