2024 WSOP Day 1: Qui Nguyen Starts the Series With an Early Chip Lead
Table Of Contents
- 2024 World Series of Poker Hub
- 2016 WSOP Main Event Champion Bags Day 1 Chip Lead
- Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion End of Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
- O'Donnell Shines the Brightest in the $500 Employees Event as the Kwong Pops the Bubble
- Event #2: $500 Casino Employees End of Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
- What Is Happening on Day 2 of the 2024 WSOP?
The long wait is over; the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has officially begun, and the first day's play is done and dusted.
Two events shuffled up and dealt on Day 1 of the 2024 WSOP, the $5,000 Champions Reunion and the $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em. Here's what went down on Day 1.
2024 World Series of Poker Hub
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2016 WSOP Main Event Champion Bags Day 1 Chip Lead
Qui Nguyen, the 2016 WSOP Main Event champion, has started the 2024 WSOP in hot form by bagging up the chip lead in Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion. Some 493 players bought in and created a $2,047,800 prize pool, but only 99 of those punched their Day 2 tickets.
This event is new for 2024. It offered free entry to all former Main Event champions, with those heroes playing with a bounty on their heads. Anyone eliminating a former Main Event champion receives a free $10,000 entry to this year's "Big Dance."
Twenty-two former Main Event winners were present and correct, including Tom McEvoy, Berry Johnston, Ryan Riess, Scott Blumstein, Espen Jorstad, Koray Aldemir, Greg Raymer, and Phil Hellmuth. All of those players handed over their bounty before the curtain came down on the day's action.
Qui Nguyen seemed determined not to let his bounty go and continually climbed up the chip counts over the course of 15 levels. Nguyen not only kept hold of his bounty but claimed the overnight chip lead courtesy of his 663,000 stack. However, Nguuyen's led is slender because China's Xiaohu Liu finished Day 1 with 661,000 chips while Asher Conniff bagged and tagged 641,000.
Others who made it safely to Day 2 on May 29 include Chris Hunichen (567,000), Aram Zobian (565,000), David Coleman (534,000), Brian Rast (505,000), the legendary Dan Harrington (395,000), Daniel Zack (341,000), Jamie Gold (331,000), Maria Ho (318,000), and reigning Main Event champion Daniel Weinman (269,000).
Day 2 commences at 12:00 p.m. local time, with the plan to play down to the final table. The top 74 finishers will receive a min-cash of $9,141, with the eventual champion taking home $408,468 and the all-important WSOP bracelet.
Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion End of Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Qui Nguyen | United States | 663,000 | 83 |
2 | Xiaohu Liu | China | 661,000 | 83 |
3 | Asher Conniff | United States | 641,000 | 80 |
4 | Yuzu Wang | China | 574,000 | 72 |
5 | Yuzhou Yin | China | 567,000 | 71 |
6 | Chris Hunichen | United States | 567,000 | 71 |
7 | Aram Zobian | United States | 565,000 | 71 |
8 | Roman Pumpernick | Austria | 558,000 | 70 |
9 | Alex Keating | United States | 554,000 | 69 |
10 | David Coleman | United States | 534,000 | 67 |
O'Donnell Shines the Brightest in the $500 Employees Event as the Kwong Pops the Bubble
Event #2: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em drew in a bumper crowd of 1,189 entrants, resulting in a $499,380 prize pool that the top 179 finishers will share. Sat proudly at the top of the overnight chips counts and with 179 players beneath them is Caleb O'Donnell.
O'Donnell bagged up 583,000 chips after the completion of 16 levels and goes into Day 2 with every chance of becoming a WSOP bracelet winner.
The returning 179 players are guaranteed a min-cash of $1,002 after the money bubble burst at the end of the first day. Allan Kwong earned the unwanted title of first bubble boy of the 2024 WSOP, three-bet shoving with pocket sevens after Michelle Christie opened, and losing to Christie's king-queen after she called. Kwong looked like he would double his short stack, but a queen on the river ended his hopes and dreams.
The chip leader aside, the likes of PokerNews' Claudio Elizalde (308,000), Tyler Boyer (292,000), Chance Castro (159,000), Nick Becker (113,000), Lukas Robinson (110,000), Connor Richards (82,000), and Tyler Foran (52,000) made it through to Day 2. All surviving players return to the action at 1:00 p.m. on May 29, with the tournament playing down to a conclusion and awarding the first bracelet of the summer.
Event #2: $500 Casino Employees End of Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Caleb O' Donnell | Canada | 583,000 | 97 |
2 | Bryan Lapham | United States | 529,000 | 88 |
3 | Juan Latuff | United States | 479,000 | 80 |
4 | Johnathan Sanchez | United States | 468,000 | 78 |
5 | Willie Coleman | United States | 451,000 | 75 |
6 | Andrew Rivero | United States | 443,000 | 74 |
7 | Alexander Green | United States | 436,000 | 73 |
8 | Michael Bailey | United States | 434,000 | 72 |
9 | William Mccool | United States | 421,000 | 70 |
10 | Eric Roberts | United States | 418,000 | 70 |
What Is Happening on Day 2 of the 2024 WSOP?
May 29 is the second day of the 2024 WSOP and will see four events take place. Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion will attempt to play down to its final table, while Event #2: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em will crown its champion and award the first of 99 live bracelets of the summer.
At 10:00 a.m. local time, Event #3: $500 WSOP Kickoff No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout begins with the first of three days of intense poker action. This brand new event is sure to attract a massive crowd, thanks to its affordable buy-in.
Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, the first non-Hold'em event of 2024, kicks off at 2:00 p.m. local time. Jim Collopy triumphed in this event in 2023, outlasting 1,142 opponents on his way to banking $262,542 and his third WSOP bracelet.
In this Series
- 1 2024 WSOP Day 1: Qui Nguyen Starts the Series With an Early Chip Lead
- 2 2024 WSOP Day 2: Sammy Farha Among Big Names in $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo
- 3 2024 WSOP Day 3: First Two Bracelets of the Series Awarded
- 4 2024 WSOP Day 4: Two More Bracelets And A Lot More Big Names
- 5 2024 WSOP Day 5: Massive Field in Mystery Millions; Yockey Eyes Second Title
- 6 2024 WSOP Day 6: Seiver Puts Himself in Contention for a Fifth Bracelet
- 7 2024 WSOP Day 7: Ivey and Negreanu Among $10K Dealer's Choice Survivors
- 8 2024 WSOP Day 8: Negreanu and Ivey Reach Final 11 in the $10K Dealer's Choice
- 9 2024 WSOP Day 9: $10K Dealer's Choice Requires an Unscheduled Fourth Day
- 10 2024 WSOP Day 10: Three Bracelets Awarded; Superstars Out in Force
- 11 2024 WSOP Day 11: Two Bracelets Won, Winter Leads $10k PLO H/L Event
- 12 2024 WSOP Day 12: Greenstein Bags In Gladiator, Hellmuth In $3k LHE
- 13 2024 WSOP Day 13: An Epic Comeback and a Legend Goes Deep
- 14 2024 WSOP Day 14: Six $25K Fantasy Draft Picks Progress to the NLHE High Roller Final Day
- 15 2024 WSOP Day 15: Ivey is in the Mix For His 11th Bracelet
- 16 2024 WSOP Day 16: Ivey Misses Flight Because $10K 2-7 Requires an Extra Day
- 17 2024 WSOP Day 17: Ivey's 11th Bracelet Win Dominates the Headlines on an Action-Packed Day
- 18 2024 WSOP Day 18: Ivey and Negreanu Make Day 2 Of $50k High Roller
- 19 2024 WSOP Day 19: UFC Announcer Bruce Buffer in Final 13 of $50k HR
- 20 2024 WSOP Day 20: Lang Leads All-Star Cast to Final Day of the $10K Stud
- 21 2024 WSOP Day 22: $100K High Rollers Beats Last Year's Numbers; Late Reg Still Open
- 22 2024 WSOP Day 23: Viktor "Isildur1" Blom Leads $100K High Roller Final Six
- 23 2024 WSOP Day 24: Four Champions Crowned on a Ridiculously Busy Day
- 24 2024 WSOP Day 25: Adam Friedman Close To Fourth Mixed Game Bracelet
- 25 2024 WSOP Day 26: Phil Ivey Makes The Final Day of Super High Roller
- 26 2024 WSOP Day 27: Obst Claims Early $50K PPC Lead
- 27 2024 WSOP Day 28: Negreanu Reaches Day 3 of the $50K PPC
- 28 2024 WSOP Day 29: PokerNews Deepstack Championship Smashes 2023's Attendance!
- 29 2024 WSOP Day 30: Brewer Leads the Final Five in the $50K PPC
- 30 2024 WSOP Day 31: Branden Shimamoto Leads the Final 5 in the PokerNews Deepstack Championship
- 31 2024 WSOP Day 32: Elezra Chases 6th Bracelet, Benyamine Final Tables
- 32 2024 WSOP Day 33: Gus Hansen Enters and Bags in the PLO High Roller
- 33 2024 WSOP Day 34: Jamie Kerstetter On Course for Her First Bracelet
- 34 2024 WSOP Day 35: Rast Positions Himself For Bracelet No. 7
- 35 2024 WSOP Day 36: Two More Bracelets Won as Foxen Eliminates and Tilts Hellmuth
- 36 2024 WSOP Day 37: $10,000 Main Event Explodes Into Action
- 37 2024 WSOP Day 38: Erik Seidel Soars on Day 1b of the Main Event
- 38 2024 WSOP Day 39: Negreanu and Hellmuth Make Day 2 of Main Event
- 39 2024 WSOP Day 40: Ivey Joins the Field of 2nd Biggest Main Event Ever
- 40 2024 WSOP Day 41: Five Main Event Champions Fall on Day 2abc
- 41 2024 WSOP Day 42: Reigning Champion Weinman Sails Through Record-Breaking Day 2d
- 42 2024 WSOP Day 43: Aldemir Reaches Day 4 of the Main Event as Six Champs Progress
- 43 2024 WSOP Day 44: Song And Mateos Thrive in the Main Event as Past Champions Bow Out
- 44 Poker Gods Punish Mateos on Day 5 of WSOP Main Event as Song Maintains Chip Lead
- 45 2024 WSOP Day 45: Gus Hansen is Deep in the $10K 8-Game
- 46 2024 WSOP Day 46: Joseph Cheong Slow Rolls the High Rollers
- 47 2024 WSOP Day 47: Christoph Vogelsang Leads High Roller Final Table
- 48 2024 WSOP Day 48: Adrian Mateos Could Capture His Fifth WSOP Bracelet
- 49 2024 WSOP Day 49: Scott Ball Bags Up 254 Big Blinds in the $3K PLO
- 50 2024 WSOP Day 50: Stars Turn Out for Day 1b of The Closer