2024 WSOP Day 9: $10K Dealer's Choice Requires an Unscheduled Fourth Day

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Senior Editor
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Robert Mizrachi

What Day 9 of the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas lacked in bracelets awarded (compared to the previous day), it more than made up in the number of events in-play at any one time.

While only one new WSOP champion was forged on June 5, some seven events took place, making Day 9 of the series one of the busiest yet. Don't worry if you didn't have the time to sift through all of PokerNews' industry-leading live coverage because we're here with a handy recap of all the day's action.

The 12th live bracelet of the 2024 WSOP went to Simeon Spasov, the champion of Event #12: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em. Only 17 players from a starting field of 2,526 made it through to the final day, and Spasov left them all in his wake. Spasov received their second WSOP bracelet plus a Second-best career $439,815 cash prize.

Final Three Head Into an Unscheduled Fourth Day in the $10K Dealer's Choice

Robert Mizrachi
Robert Mizrachi

You would never have known Event #10: $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship had a bracelet and a $333,045 top prize on the line if you stopped by the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas in the early hours of June 6. Robert Mizrachi, Michael Martinelli, and Ryutaro Suzuki was in great spirits, and allowing the spectators on the rail select the games they played!

This event was scheduled to play down to a champion, but the tournament staff called time on proceedings with three players remaining and the time approaching 1:00 a.m. That trio returns to the action for an unscheduled Day 4 once they've had some much-needed sleep.

The day started with everyone dreaming about Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey reaching the same final table, but the two Hall of Famer's crashed out in tenth and 11th place, respectively.

Max Kruse, Venkata Tayi, George Alexander, Richard Bai, three-time bracelet winner David Bach, and $25K Fantasy Draft star Ben Lamb joined the list of busted players over the course of Day 3, but there were no more eliminations.

Day 4 kicks off at 2:00 p.m. local time on June 6, and we will have a winner regardless of how long it takes.

Event #10: $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChipsBig Bets
1Robert MizrachiUnited States3,620,00023
2Michael MartinelliUnited States3,290,00021
3Ryutaro SuzukiJapan1,555,00010
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Field Cut Down to 14 in the $1,500 PLO8 Event

Caleb Furth
Caleb Furth

Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better started with 1,277 players and now has only 14 remaining after two action-packed days of poker. Those surviving players have locked in at least $13,369 for their efforts, but one of them will walk away with $265,361 and a gold WSOP bracelet.

Caleb Furth goes into Day 3 armed with a tournament-leading stack of 7,450,000. Furth has eight previous cashes at the WSOP, with six stemming from PLO or NLHE/PLO mixed events.

Andrew Paterson and Walter Chambers round off the podium places.

Returning eighth in chips with 1.420,000 is Mike Holtz, who you will no doubt have seen playing a starring role in the recently revamped PokerNews Podcast. Holtz is predominately an online poker grinder, but plays more than his fair share of live events when the WSOP is in town. He is a bracelet-winner, having triumphed in the $777 No-Limit Hold'em Lucky 7s online in 2022 for $76,157. Amazingly, Holtz finished third in the same event last year!

Other bracelet winners through to Day 3 include Tom Koral, Sean Troha, and Jason Daly, while Christian Harder is set to pick up points for the $25K Fantasy Draft.

Play resumes at 12:00 p.m. local time on June 6, continuing until a champion is crowned.

Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Caleb FurthUnited States7,450,000124
2Andrew PatersonCanada3,980,00066
3Walter ChambersUnited States3,870,00065
4Andreas FrohliUnited States2,815,00047
5Jonathan LewisUnited States2,435,00041
6Daniel LoweryUnited States1,915,00032
7Tom KoralUnited States1,640,00027
8Mike HoltzUnited States1,420,00024
9Michael MachughCanada1,408,00023
10Mathias BayerGermany1,265,00021

Bracelet Winners Galore Reach Day 3 of the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em

Erik Seidel
Erik Seidel is one of the shortest stacks

Day 2 of Event #16: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold'em saw a surge of late entrants taking full advantage of late registration, resulting in an 823-strong attendance and a $3,785,800 prize pool. The day ended with only 41 players in their seats, several of which have already tasted WSOP success.

Shant Marashlian, Anthony Cierco, and Mark Tarich were the only three players to eclipse two million chips, although Nate Silver came close with his 1,885,000 stack.

Corey Thompson, Sam Soverel, Ivan Deyra, the legendary Brian Rast, Kartik Ved, Michael Perrone, Alexandre Reard, reigning Player of the Year Ian Matakis, and ten-time WSOP champion Erik Seidel are the players returning who are looking to add to their bracelet collection. Of those, Seidel has the most work ahead of him as he has around 15 big blinds.

The cards are back in the air from 1:00 p.m. local time on June 6, with the plan to whittle the field down to only five players.

Event #16: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Shant MarashlianUnited States2,785,000139
2Anthony CiercoFrance2,275,000114
3Mark TarichUnited States2,255,000113
4Nate SilverUnited States1,885,00094
5Brent HartUnited States1,750,00088
6Mitchell HalversonUnited States1,705,00085
7Did Not ReportUnited States1,685,00084
8Adam SavenUnited States1,290,00065
9Alex QueenUnited States1,270,00064
10Corey ThompsonUnited States1,220,00061

Another Incredible Turn Out for the $800 NLHE Deepstack

James Calderaro
James Calderaro

Low buy-in tournaments are always immensely popular at the WSOP, and Event #17: $800 No-Limit Hold'em DeepStack was no different. Before the cashier's desk stopped accepting buy-ins, 4,732 players had taken their seat, although only 310 will return for the second and final day's play.

James Calderaro is the chip leader going into Day 2, having crammed 2,440,000 chips into his overnight chip bag at the end of the 22nd level. Only Min Zhang (2,075,000) got near the WSOP and WPT champion.

Team Lady Gaga in the $25K Fantasy Draft will be delighted to see Yingui Li returning 12th in chips having only cost $1 to select when the draft was made. Similarly, Yueqi Zhu only cost $1 for Team Kalas, and Zhu returns in the top half of the chip counts.

Fantasy Draft legend Shaun Deeb is also in the mix, his 770,000 stack enough for 82nd place at the restart. That restart happens at 11:00 a.m. local time on June 6. It is hoped that a champion will be crowned, but a third day may be required if the eliminations do not come fast enough.

Event #17: $800 No-Limit Hold'em DeepStack Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1James CalderaroUnited States2,440,00081
2Min ZhangUnited States2,075,00069
3Matthew LasloCanada1,865,00062
4Lei YuChina1,750,00058
5Anton SmirnovRussia1,725,00058
6Ryuta OgawaJapan1,615,00054
7Yuvaraj RaiUnited States1,611,00054
8David RosenbloomUnited States1,580,00053
9Tzahi DaganUnited States1,555,00052
10Anatoly KorochenskyRussia1,540,00051

Mike Dentale Starts Well in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha

Mike Dentale
Mike Dentale

It is rare for Day 1 chip leaders to go all the way and take down the tournament, but Mike Dentale must fancy his chances of becoming the champion of Event #18: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed) after finishing Day 1 with a colossal 205 big blinds in his stack.

Dentale has almost 50 big blinds more than second-placed Daniel Zack as 161 of the 1,469 starters made it through to Day 2.

The $1,500 event drew some of the biggest names in poker. Among the surviving players are Michael Rodrigues Pires Santos, Chino Rheem, Erick Lindgren, Dylan Weisman, Scott Ball, Phil Ivey, and Jeff Madsen.

Right now, Dentale holds a significant advantage over the chasing pack, but it remains to be seen if he can build on his vast lead and top the chip counts once Day 2 is in the bag.

Day 2 shuffles up and deals at 12:00 p.m. local time on June 6, continuing until ten 60-minute levels are done and dusted.

Event #18: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed) Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Mike DentaleUnited States1,230,000205
2Daniel ZackUnited States953,000159
3Andreas ZampasUnited States833,000139
4Xiaoxiao SongUnited States635,000106
5Chino RheemUnited States624,000104
6Michael RodriguesPortugal620,000103
7Daniel SwartzUnited States620,000103
8Jonathan BowersUnited States599,000100
9Greg HimmelbrandUnited States578,00096
10Vladislav KlepikovRussia561,00094

Star-Studded Field Descends on the $10K Limit Hold'em Championship

Juha Helppi
Juha Helppi

As PokerNews predicted yesterday, Event #19: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship attracted a blockbuster field. All 104 entrants on Day 1 were well-known, established professionals.

One such pro, Finland's two-time bracelet winner Juha Helppi, shone the brightest and claimed the overnight chip leader. Only 54 of the 104 starters punched their Day 2 tickets at the first attempt, but that number could rise with late registration remaining open until the first level of Day 2.
Renan Bruschi
Helppi is a former professional paintballer who shot down several opponents on his way to capturing the chip lead. He won his first bracelet in this event in 2019 before adding a second a year later in a $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha online event.

Three of the top ten stacks are both bracelet winners and $25K Fantasy Draft picks. Michael Moncek, Chad Eveslage, and Andrew Kelsall have done their chances of adding to their WSOP hardware collection no harm at all.

Outside the top ten you find Dan Shak lurking, in addition to such luminaries as David "ODB" Baker, Maria Ho, six-time WSOP champion Josh Arieh, John Monnette, Nick Guagenti, Renan Bruschi, Marco Johnson, and Patrick Leonard. Check out the full chip counts if you get the chance because they read like a who's who of the poker world.

Day 2 shuffles up and deals at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 6, and it is scheduled to last eight levels.

Event #19: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship (8-Handed) Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChips
1Juha HelppiFinland254,000
2Max HoffmanUnited States237,000
3Michael LangUnited States218,000
4Anthony MarsicoUnited States216,500
5Shyamsundar ChallaUnited States196,000
6Emery MartindaleUnited States186,500
7Michael MoncekUnited States179,500
8Chad EveslageUnited States176,500
9Andrew KelsallUnited States175,000
10Jon KyteNorway162,500

What is Happening on Day 10 of the 20024 WSOP?

Cards, Chips, Branding. BRoll

Hold onto your hats if you thought today was busy because Day 10, on June 6, will blow today out of the water.

Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better will crown its champion after three days of intense split-pot action. Caleb Furth is the man with the chip advantage at the start of play, but we all know poker is a cruel mistress who likes to toy with her food.

After finishing with three players remaining, Event #10: Dealer's Choice Championship heads into an unscheduled fourth day, which will only end when its bracelet finds a new home.

The plan is to play down to only five players in Event #16: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold'em, which should be easier said than done with 41 elite-level players still in the mix, and huge payouts on the horizon.

We will also discover who wins Event #17: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack, which is pretty incredible considering 4,732 players bought in today!

Cards, Chips, Branding. BRoll

Two other tournaments play out their second of three days. Event #18: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha is expected to play ten 60-minute levels, with Event #19: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship scheduled to play eight levels. Four of those levels last 60-minuntes before extending to 90-minutes for the rest of the event.

Are you still with us? Good because we've not finished. A trio of new bracelet-awarding events shuffle up and deal on Day 10 of the 2024 WSOP; where are the staff going to put all these players?

It's a 10:00 a.m. local time start for Event #20: $300 Gladiators of Poker No-Limit Hold'em, which carries a $3 million guarantee on its prize pool. The inaugural Gladiators of Poker, which ran in 2023, attracted 23,088 entrants, so expect a similar field this time around.

Two hours after the Gladiators event begins, Event #21: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (6-Handed) kicks off. As you'd expect from such a high-stakes event, PokerNews expects every entrant to be a household name, and we cannot wait to cover this tournament. Swiss player Alexandre Vuilleumier is the reigning champion, having defeated Chance Kornuth heads-up last year, winning $1,215,864 in the process.

The first draw poker event of the 2024 WSOP commences at 2:00 p.m. local time. We are, of course, talking about Event #22: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw (6-Handed). More than 500 starts turned out in force in 2023, and John Monnette outlasted them all and joined the five-time bracelet winner's club.

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