Two players received bracelets for the other wrist today, as Bryce Yockey and Nick Guagenti both claimed their second in PLO and Limit Hold’em respectively. While the $10K Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better has reached the sharp end – Sami Saad El-Dein leads a star-studded field into Day 3 – the gargantuan $1,000 Mystery Millions attracted over 7,600 entries on Day 1d alone and is only just getting really juicy, as bounties come into play starting tomorrow.
Yockey has eyes on the (next) prize
Bryce Yockey saw off a 733-strong field to claim $606,654 and his second WSOP bracelet in the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha (his first was in the $10K Hi-Lo version of the game back in 2017). Proving that hard work pays off, he told reporters that, “It shows the first one wasn’t a fluke… I put a lot of hard work specifically into studying Omaha over the past three years and I feel like it all paid off.”
Yockey saw off Farid Jattin heads up ($404,430) after the pair of them built stacks head and shoulders above the rest of the final table, which featured multi-bracelet winners Joao Simao and Joao Vieira. He admitted that the end game was ‘tough’ but, fired up by the win, has set his sights all the way forward to Player of the Year (after a second 2024 bracelet, naturally).
Sometimes you really have to work for it
The final table of Event #9: $1,500 Limit Hold’em was down to six when Day 3 commenced, with eventual champion Nick Guagenti in the chip lead. He was not so far in front of even the shortest-stacked player, double bracelet-winner Juha Helppi, however, that victory was assured. His soon-to-be heads-up opponent, Joseph Brodsky, surged into the lead four-handed, but this reversal of fortune turned out to be brief.
Guagenti built back a sizeable chip advantage, but in the fast-paced but world of the limit game, that isn’t enough to force out a tenacious opponent like Brodsky. Heads up was a lengthy and hard-fought affair with top prize of $121,074 finally falling to Guagenti, who received some unprecedented love from the floor (see: Photo of the day). Guagenti leaped straight into the $1,500 Badugi, where he's made Day 2 in 15th place overall.
Explaining Badugi to your grandma
“What exactly is Badugi?”
“It’s a four-card game, where the point is to get the 'worst' hand.”
“So, like Omaha?”
“No, it’s a draw game.”
“Oh. So any ace to four is the nuts?”
“No, it’s all about the suits – only one of each counts towards your hand.”
“You can have a three-card hand?”
“Yes – you know what? Just read this simple guide and you’ll be good to go.”
Last year saw the first WSOP Badugi bracelet awarded to Michael Rodrigues, who won $144,678 after 516 players took a shot at this somewhat niche variant that has been steadily growing in popularity. This year will see a new Badugi champion (Rodrigues having busted), one of 139 players to have made it through Day 1.
Joseph Wagganer leads the field with 268,500 chips, ahead of Oscar Johansson (218,000) and Mark Roland (217,000) – and everyone else, including Frank Kassela (175,000), Nick Guagenti (153,000) and Kevin Gerhart (144,500).
Check out mixed-game lover David DiCarlo's First-hand Hand to get a taste of the action:
Crushing SCOOP doesn't immunize you from the bubble
The money was hit in the $10K Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, with the stone bubble spot falling to none other than online beast Patrick Leonard, forced in on the big blind and called in enough spots to near-enough guarantee a payday for the rest of the field. He may have just topped the SCOOP high leaderboard, but there was no miraculous comeback in the cards for him in this event, which made 30 other players very happy (to the tune of at least $20,309).
Among them were min-cashers (and multi-bracelet winners) Steven Wolansky and Anthony Zinno, while chip leader Sami Saad El-Dien can start eyeing the $426,744 top spot, returning tomorrow with a stack of 1,350,000. Two other players topped the million-chip mark, Jared Bleznick and Scott Seiver, while this eye-wateringly tough field still has in its number Calvin Anderson (810,000), Shaun Deeb (610,000), Robert Mizrachi (300,000), John Hennigan (250,000) and Benny Glaser (225,000).
Photo of the day
Hand of the day
The flop: 
. Three-way all-in situation: top two vs. set vs. straight. Who wins? (Hint: "Good gamble," is the final comment.)
Tweet of the day
Nothing prepares you for the competition of a WSOP final table like more competition (with a WSOP Main Event champion).
Videos of the day
It's good to spread the love around...
But sometimes you only have eyes for one.
The day in numbers
7,609
Day 1d entrants for the Mystery Millions. This is going to take some beating (although the Series is just warming up)
40
The number of events Bryce Yockey says he's aiming to play at this year's WSOP
487
Players in the second ever Badugi bracelet event
Results
Event #8 $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha (8-Handed)
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bryce Yockey | $606,654 |
| 2 | Farid Jattin | $404,430 |
| 3 | Zachary Schwartz | $283,221 |
| 4 | Aditya Sadhu | $201,419 |
| 5 | Jason Berilgen | $145,504 |
| 6 | Joao Vieira | $106,795 |
| 7 | Joao Simao | $79,661 |
| 8 | Paul Radcliffe | $60,405 |
See WSOP site for full payouts
Event #9 $1,500 Limit Hold’em (8-Handed)
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Guagenti | $121,074 |
| 2 | Joseph Brodsky | $80,717 |
| 3 | George Chen | $54,708 |
| 4 | Juha Helppi | $37,880 |
| 5 | Qinghai Pan | $26,807 |
| 6 | Bradley Carter | $19,400 |
| 7 | Abdulrahim Amer | $14,363 |
| 8 | John Kim | $10,886 |
See WSOP site for full payouts
Ongoing events
Event #5 $1,000 Mystery Millions Day 1d (total entries and prize pool to be announced on Day 2)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adrian Puccio | 3,360,000 |
| 2 | Jesse Rockowitz | 2,600,000 |
| 3 | Mircea Ionescu | 2,595,000 |
| 4 | Maher Al Mouselly | 2,460,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 18 | Scott Ball | 1,745,000 |
| 52 | John Riordan | 1,290,000 |
| 134 | Nick Schulman | 845,000 |
Event #10 $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sami Saad El-Dein | 1,350,000 |
| 2 | Jared Bleznick | 1,200,000 |
| 3 | Scott Seiver | 1,055,000 |
| 4 | Paul Zappulla | 965,000 |
| 5 | Calvin Anderson | 810,000 |
| 6 | Shaun Deeb | 610,000 |
| 7 | Jonathan Cohen | 610,000 |
| 8 | Jake Schwartz | 485,000 |
Event #11 $1,500 Badugi
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joseph Wagganer | 268,500 |
| 2 | Oscar Johansson | 218,000 |
| 3 | Mark Roland | 217,500 |
| 4 | Nicholas Marsico | 215,500 |
| 5 | Hanh Tran | 203,500 |
| 6 | Maksim Pisarenko | 196,500 |
| 7 | Jerry Wong | 191,000 |
| 8 | Frank Kassela | 175,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 15 | Nick Guagenti | 153,000 |
| 20 | Kevin Gerhart | 144,500 |
| 33 | Yuri Dzivielevski | 120,000 |
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 #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)
What to look out for on Day #7
It's time to shine for the Mystery Millions. With the unconfirmed total entries standing at an enormous 18,418, there are going to be some very large figures hidden inside the mystery bounty envelopes tomorrow. The bumper Day 1d field was topped by Adrian Puccio, whose 3,360,000 chips make him unbustable - at least for the first hand which will be dealt at 11:00am local time.
Though the payouts are going to be announced at the start of Day 2, it is a pretty good bet that last year's seven-figure bounties will once again be in the mix, with over $4.4 million in the prize pool.
The $1,500 Badugi continues with the Day 2 fight to the money spots (74 will be paid a minimum of $3,000, with $129,676 up top for the eventual winner). The top end of the chip counts is stacked with seasoned players including Hanh Tran, Frank Kassela, Jerry Wong and newly-minted two-time bracelet winner Nick Guagenti.
Cards hit the air for the first time in Event 12: $1,500 6-Max No Limit Hold'em and Event #13: $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship (6-Handed) whilch will give both fans of 'the Cadillac of poker' and mixed-game specialists an event suited to their talents.
Day #6 gallery
