No chance of hitting the $60 million guarantee?
Everyone is backpedaling after another big day in the WSOP Super Main Event.
We didn’t think it had a shot before the tournament started. However, a monster Day 1A changed everything, and after 1,550 played the first half of the bracket, we said that if Day 1C got to 400, hitting the guarantee was a lock.
By the third break of the day, the tournament had hit that milestone.
Biggest guarantee in poker history
Whichever side of the unlimited reentries debate you sit on, it’s an impressive achievement.
Remember that the WSOP needed 2,000 entries to hit its $50 million Super Main Event guarantee last year, and it fell short, albeit marginally. The tournament broke 2,000 entries this year before the final break of Day 1C. By bagging time, overall entries were up to 2,026 – just 374 short of hitting the $60 million guarantee.
Day 1D plays on Sunday, and we’d be surprised if we don’t sail past the magic 2,400 mark then, with three levels of max-late-regging still to come on Day 2B. With some players already in for double figures in bullets, we’re expecting Monday to be wild.
Today, the WSOP bigwigs will have a smile on their faces.
Kristen draws on Kabrhel for inspiration
There were plenty of smiles in the room, too.
One memorable moment saw Alex Foxen sweating his wife Kristen as she looked on the brink of putting her last 150K chips in the pot. Two to her left, Maksim Paniak suddenly looked like he wanted to beat her into the pot, and that made her pause and chuckle.
“This is embarrassment,” she said, stealing a catchphrase from Martin Kabrhel.
She slid the chips in regardless, and Paniak retreated into his shell, all enthusiasm for the pot gone. He eventually made the call. Both players had a pair of eights. Kristen had an ace kicker; Paniak just a nine.
The dealer put a nine on the turn.
“Not like that!” exclaimed Kristen.
An ace followed on the river.
“Just like that,” Alex said, before walking off laughing. The table joined in. All except for Paniak, who looked distinctly unamused.
Big names bag big
There were more smiles at Jesse Lonis’ table as he busted his first bullet of the day, and fourth in total, in brutal fashion. You can watch that play out below.
And the following players will still be smiling tomorrow.
- Jans Arends has had a quiet 2025, but he could end it with a bang. He bagged the biggest stack of the night (5.4 million) after spending most of the day in the #1 spot.
- Kayhan Mokri has already won over $8 million at this year's WSOP Paradise, and he bagged a big stack of 2.9 million for Day 2.
- Triton regular Ben Heath enjoyed a late spin-up to bag 2.4 million.
- Ike Haxton will don his mask again on Day 2 with a stack of just over 2 million.
- Kristen Foxen spun up that final 150K bet into a 2.7 million stack on her third bullet of the day. She’s already cashed once on Day 2A.
- PokerOrg's Terrance Reid bagged 1,610,000 for just under average.
Spare a thought for Viktor Blom, who fired five bullets today without success.
How high will the Super Main Event prize pool go?
The action was wild today. Was it the winter sunshine that was making people frisky? Was it the fact that players had the safety net of unlimited reentries? The Super Main is clearly playing very differently than the summer’s Main Event.
There was no Daniel Negreanu (who was busy in the $50K PLO High Roller) and no Phil Hellmuth today – we’re expecting both to play tomorrow.
We’re expecting the guarantee to be hit tomorrow, too. And that leaves one big question: how high will the 2025 prize pool go?
2025 WSOP Super Main Event Day 1C – top 10 stacks
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jans Arends | 5,400,000 |
| 2 | Raoul Kanme | 4,930,000 |
| 3 | Lars Garp | 4,020,000 |
| 4 | Ramiro Petrone | 3,970,000 |
| 5 | Andre Moreira | 3,890,000 |
| 6 | Martin Zamani | 3,840,000 |
| 7 | Florian Lohnert | 3,800,000 |
| 8 | Chanracy Khun | 3,800,000 |
| 9 | Hui Chen | 3,765,000 |
| 10 | Sergio Da Silva Veloso | 3,700,000 |
