2024 WSOP Day 23: Viktor "Isildur1" Blom Leads $100K High Roller Final Six

Jun 20, 2024

No fewer than nine bracelet-awarding events were in-play during Day 22 of the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Of those nine tournaments, two concluded and awarded their coveted bracelets, four reached their respective final tables, and the others reduced their field to more manageable numbers.

Event #43: $1,500 Mixed Omaha crowned its champion a day later than expected, with Magnus Edengren coming out on top. The tournament was scheduled to finish on June 18, but play was paused with three players remaining, and that trio had been grinding for 13 hours. Edengren collected $196,970 and their first WSOP bracelet.

Jared Kingery also got his hands on a gold bracelet and a cool $410,359 after being crowned champion of Event #44: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em. Seventeen players returned to their seats for the final day's play, and Kingery emerged victoriously.

All But Seven Slain in the Monster Stack; Pedro Neves Leads

Only seven players remain in Event #38: $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold'em, and one of them will get their hands on a mammoth-sized $1,098,220 cash prize, plus the all-important bracelet.

Right now, that lucky individual looks set to be Pedro Neves of Portugal, as he has amassed 172,200,000 chips, or 86 big blinds, some 35 big blinds more than Aaron Johnson in second-place.

Victory for Neves is far from a foregone conclusion because the likes of Brian Roff, Jerry Maher, Tim Reilly, Neves' fellow countryman Jose Carlos, and Guangming Li have all reached the final table on merit, and will not be giving up on the bracelet without a fight.

The final table action commences at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 20, with PokerNews' coverage being on a delay due to PokerGo selecting this event for streaming.

Event #38: $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold'em Final Day Chip Counts

No More Horsing Around as $10K H.O.R.S.E. Championship Reaches Final Five

Event #45: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship is down to only five players, and what a quintet they are. When the action resumes on June 20, Benny Glaser will lead the charge as he does everything in his power to reel in his sixth WSOP bracelet.

Glaser is one of the best mixed-game players to have ever picked up cards, so it will take some stopping in his quest for yet more glory.

Russia's Maksim Pisarenko is only a single big bet behind Glaser in the overnight chip counts; he is the only returning player without a bracelet to their name, although he is a $25K Fantasy Draft pick.

Lawrence Brandt, veteran Steve Zolotow, and Canada's Mike Leah will fancy their chances of halting Glaser in his tracks, although the odds are stacked against them.

Event #45: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship Final Day Chip Counts

Huge Day 1b Turn Out Sets New Seniors Championship Record

Another huge field turned out for the second and final flight of Event #46: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship. The WSOP is still verifying the number of Day 1b entrants, but everything points towards it being a record-breaking field.

After the end of 11 levels, "only" 914 players progressed from Day 1b to tomorrow's Day 2. William Elliott thoroughly enjoyed himself, bagging up 530,000 chips, or a colossal 212 big blinds.

Stephen Shaw and John De Klerk finished on the podium, with living legend Sammy Farha cramming enough betting tokens into his overnight chip bag to occupy fourth place on the night's leaderboard.

Joining the awesome foursome mentioned above are such luminaries as Gary Benson, Waheed Ashraf, John Kabbaj, Farzad Bonyadi, and $25K Fantasy Draft selections Matt Glantz, Mike Matusow, and John Hennigan.

Some 1,558 players return to the tables from 11:00 a.m. local time on June 20, with the plan to complete another ten 60-minute levels.

Event #46: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts

Viktor Blom is the Man to Catch in the $100,000 High Roller

Sweden's Viktor Blom is better known for frequenting the nosebleed cash games online, but he is no slouch in the live poker tournament realm, either. The man affectionately known as "Isildur1" is the chip leader going into the six-handed final table of Event #47: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em.

Blom bagged up the equivalent of 92 big blinds at the close of play, some 37 more than Chris Hunichen in second place. Both Blom and Hunichen are the only finalists without some WSOP hardware in their collection.

Chance Kornuth returns in third place mere days after finishing second in the $50,000 High Roller, while Aleksejs Ponakovs, Jeremy Ausmus, and Justin Saliba, are hunting for another bracelet to keep theirs company. Saliba is the shortest stack with only five big blinds in his arsenal.

These six poker Goliaths head to the main feature stage at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 20, where PokerGO will start streaming from 2:00 p.m. local time. PokerNews' coverage will also be on a delay as to protect the integrity of this high-stakes affair.

Event #47: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em Top 10 Chip Counts

$1,000 PLO Event Cut Down to a Final Table

It has taken only two days to reduce the 2,212 entrants in Event #48: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed to the final table of eight. Despite this tournament having one of the more affordable buy-ins, the final table is stacked with top-tier players.

David Prociak is one such player. Having recently captured his second bracelet, Prociak goes into this final table with all his opponents in his wake. Christopher Vitch, another two-time WSOP champion is hot on Prociak's heels, with Thomas Taylor occupying third place.

Between those three players, they hold three-quarters of the chips in play, so one would assume this event's bracelet is heading to one of them. However, anything can happen in poker, especially in a game as crazy as PLO.

Germany's Christopher Frank, Kharlin Sued, Jay Harwood, and Ioannis Angelou Konstas make up the final table but are not only there to make up the numbers.

Day 3 starts at 2:00 p.m. local time on June 20, continuing until a champion is crowned.

Event #48: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed Final Day Chip Counts

Sami Bechahed Gets Off to a Blistering Start in the $3,000 NLHE Freezeout

Event #49: $3,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em saw 1,252 players buy in and generate a $3,342,840 prize pool. By the close of play, only 187 payers remained, each of them in the money.

Sami Bechahed put his one bullet to good use, finishing the night fourth in the overall chip counts. Bechahed has more than $1.3 million in live tournament earnings, which would swell to over $1.8 million if he comes out on top and bags the $523,195 top prize.

Russia's Ivan Ruban, David Stamm, and John Kenner were the only players to eclipse Bechahed's end-of-day chip count.

A host of familiar faces remain in contention in this event, including Eric Afriat, Martin Jacobson, Chris Brewer, Jeremy Becker, Maxx Coleman, Stoyan Madanzhiev, and Marco Johnson.

Cards are back in the air from 12:00 p.m. local time on June 20. The returning players aim to make it through another ten 60-minute levels.

Event #49: $3,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em Top 10 Chip Counts

Star-Studded Razz Championship Gets Underway

There is little to separate Eric Rodawig and Ren Lin at the top of Event #50: $10,000 Razz Championship's chip counts, although it appears Lady Luck me be on the side of the former. Lin battled with Daniel Negreanu throughout Day 1, and referred to himself as being a "very lucky player" after one such encounter.

Lucky he may be but don't let that take anything away from Lin because progressing to Day 2 in this specialist tournament is no mean feat. Indeed, 44 of the 98 starters failed to follow in his footsteps.

Arthur Morris and Brian Yoon did make it through to Day 2, as did such luminaries as Denis Strebkov, Nick Schulman, John Monnette, the aforementioned Negreanu, Phillip Hui, Robert Campbell, Alex Livingston, Jeff Madsen, Scott Seiver, and Calvin Anderson, among other.

Players return to the action from 1:00 p.m. local time on June 20, with late registration open until the completion of the first level of play around 2:00 p.m. local time.

Event #50: $10,000 Razz Championship Top 10 Chip Counts

What to Expect on Day 23 of the 2024 WSOP

Five freshly minted bracelets will be handed out on Day 23 of the 2024 WSOP if everything goes to plan.

Event #38: $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold'em is set to crown its champion, as is Event #45: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship. One lucky player in Event #47: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em will see their poker bankroll swell by a quite ludicrous $2,838,389, while Event #48: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed will also play to completion.

We should also see one of the new events, Event #51: $1,500 Super Bounty No-Limit Hold'em finish in its scheduled one day. Play there starts at 10:00 a.m., featuring short 20-minute levels.

Running alongside those tournaments are Event #46: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship, which will see another ten 60-minute levels, Event #49: $3,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em, and Event #50: $10,000 Razz Championship.

In addition to the Super Bounty one-day tournament, Event #52: $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em begins at 12:00 p.m. local time. This event's reigning champion is China's Weiran Pu, who came out on top of 1,198 opponents to win $938,244 in 2023.

Japan's Ryutaro Suzuki will attempt to defend his Event #53: $3,000 Nine Game Mix title, which shuffles up and deals at 1:00 p.m. local time.

Senior Editor

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