Ambitious $10k tournament gets 1,328 runners and goes well beyond the $10 million guaranteed prize pool
The 2021 live poker boom hit new heights over the weekend, with massive attendance for an unprecedented high-stakes tournament at Wynn/Encore.
The Wynn Millions went big with an ambitious $10,000 buy-in, $10 million guaranteed event. That guarantee marked one of the biggest for a $10k tournament in Las Vegas history, outside of the annual World Series of Poker events.
The final three of a trio of starting flights wrapped up Sunday, and the numbers left that $10 million mark in the dust. A total of 1,328 entries registered for Day 1A, 1B, and 1C combined, with the prize pool pushed to $12,483,200.
The tournament needed 1,064 entries to avoid an overlay, and went far past that figure. The attendance numbers are even more impressive given the one re-entry per flight rule.
The eventual winner of the Wynn Millions will take home $2,018,666.
$10,000 Wynn Millions payout structure
| Place | Prize |
| 1 | $2,018,666 |
| 2 | $1,248,886 |
| 3 | $871,314 |
| 4 | $619,160 |
| 5 | $456,629 |
| 6 | $360,140 |
| 7 | $289,361 |
| 8 | $240,302 |
| 9 | $202,765 |
Poker’s biggest names turn out for the Wynn Millions
If Poker Twitter offered any indication, it looks like just about every big name in the game headed to Las Vegas to play the Wynn Millions over the weekend. Daniel Negreanu was one of the first notable players to tweet from the event, as the GGPoker Ambassador got into the action early by registering for Friday’s Day 1A flight:
Negreanu didn’t end up making it through Day 1A, but the poker icon did manage to advance through to Day 2 by surviving Sunday’s Day 1C flight.
The registration numbers for Day 1A and 1B pointed to a strong possibility that the Wynn Millions would exceed the $10 million guarantee. The Day 1A flight drew 263 entries, while Day 1B saw 389 more entries added to the field.
Multi-flight poker tournaments generally see a big upswing in attendance for the final starting flight. That standard held true for the Wynn Millions, with 676 entries coming out for Sunday’s action.
Of the 1,328, some of poker’s finest advanced through to Day 2:
Wynn Millions notables in the hunt on Day 2*
| Player Name | Start of Day 2 Chip Count |
| Bryn Kenney | 376,500 |
| Joseph Cheong | 301,500 |
| Alex Foxen | 295,500 |
| Kristin Bicknell | 282,000 |
| Jason Koon | 236,500 |
| Vanessa Kade | 168,000 |
| Dan Smith | 160,000 |
| Shaun Deeb | 145,500 |
| Connor Drinan | 142,500 |
| Nick Pupillo | 139,000 |
| Jared Jaffee | 129,500 |
| Ryan Riess | 121,500 |
| Darren Elias | 107,000 |
| Damian Salas | 103,000 |
| Tony Dunst | 90,500 |
| Daniel Negreanu | 77,500 |
Americas Cardroom Team Pro Vanessa Kade, fresh off an impressive showing in the 2021 U.S. Poker Open, is in the hunt as the Wynn Millions proceeds to Day 2:
“1 bullet and we’re on to Day 2 of the $10k $10M GTD Monday @WynnPoker,” Kade tweeted Saturday.
Today’s Day 2A + 2B flight sees the combined survivors from Day 1A and Day 1B return as a combined field. Tuesday’s Day 2C flight returns all players that made it through Day 1C.
Wynn Millions $10 Million Guaranteed remaining schedule
| Wynn Millions Flight | Date* |
| Day 2A + 2B | Monday, June 28 |
| Day 2C | Tuesday, June 29 |
| Day 3 | Wednesday, June 30 |
| Day 4 | Thursday, July 1 |
| Day 5 | Friday, July 2 |
Stay tuned to Poker.org for continuing coverage of the Wynn Millions, which is scheduled to crown a champion this Friday, July 2.
Featured image source: Twitter
