2024 WSOP Day 44: Song And Mateos Thrive in the Main Event as Past Champions Bow Out

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Jul 11, 2024 5 min read

Another exciting and action-packed day is over, with Day 44 of the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas concluding in the early hours of July 11. Since it shuffled up and dealt, the Main Event has been the primary focus of the community, and that continued on Day 44 with the bursting of the money bubble.

There will be no two-time WSOP Main Event champion this year because the six former champs who returned for Day 4 all fell by the wayside before the day concluded.

Aside from the Main Event, two players became WSOP champions on July 10.

The first bracelet of the day went to Carsten Heidemann, the champion of Event #84: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold'em. Day 3 started with only 19 players from the 6,628 starters, and Heidemann defeated Ramana Epparla heads-up, capturing a $343,010 top prize and their first WSOP bracelet.

Event #8: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold'em also crowned its champion, and Matthew Alsante is that man. The 1,042-strong crowd was reduced to only 88 runners on Day 1. After just over eight hours of action on Day 2, Alsante had all 52,100,000 chips in play in their stack, which they exchanged for a cool $785,486 and their first bracelet.

Song is Singing in Going Into Day 5 of the Main Event

Only 464 players remain in contention for the $10 million top prize in Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship, and none of them have more chips than Stephen Song (4,745,000). Soong won a bracelet in 2019 when he took down a $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em event for $341,854 and looks set for another deep run having crammed 190 big blinds into his overnight chip bag.

Spanish superstar Adrian Mateos (4,500,000) is Song's nearest opponent as he hunts a fifth WSOP bracelet. Everything went right for the Spaniard on Day 4, with Mateos telling PokerNews, "I won many pots. All my value-bets got paid, all my bluffs were folded to." Mateos is a formidable opponent at the best of times, but especially so when he's wielding a big stack.

Judging by the overnight chip counts, the 2024 WSOP Main Event could be the Year of the Pro because dozens of elite-level grinders are through to Day 5.

Ryan Hoenig (3,665,000) returns in the top ten, while Boris Kolev (3,045,000), Aleksejs Ponakovs (2,935,000), Matt Stout (2,910,000), David Prociak (2,880,000), and Alex Keating (2,875,000) are all in the upper echelons of the counts.

If you're following the $25K Fantasy Draft, there are 18 picks still in the mix, including the aforementioned Song, Mateos, and Hoenig. Among the others are Josh Reichard (2,540,000), Main Event specialist Alex Livingston (1,995,000), Nacho Barbero (1,620,000), Brian Rast (1,605,000), Kristen Foxen (1,320,000), Phil Ivey (650,000), and Maria Ho (340,000).

Sadly, all six returning past Main Event champions bowed out on Day 4. Espen Jorstad and reigning champion Daniel Weinman crashed out along with Scott Blumstein, Robert Varkonyi, Koray Aldemir, and Joe McKeehen.

Day 5 starts at 12:00 p.m. local time on July 11, with another five two-hour levels scheduled. That should be enough time to whittle the field down to around 200 players. Matters have become serious in the record-breaking Main Event.

Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship Top 10 Chip Counts

Ajez Comes Out On Top in the $1,000 PLO Mystery Bounty

Day 1b of Event #86: $1,000 Mystery Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha drew in 2,582 entrants, with 270 progressing to Day 2. Australia's Najeem Ajez (1,454,000) claimed the Day 1b chip lead, and is the man to catch overall when Day 2 begins.

Ajez has over $1.5 million in live poker tournament cashes, an impressive sum helped by his six cashes during the 2024 WSOP. He may currently hold the title of chip leader, but some seriously talented individuals progressed with him from Day 1b.

Tyler Brown (1,239,000), James Carroll (1,230,000), Chance Kornuth (1,230,000), and Giuseppe Pantaleo (1,187,000) each finished in the top ten of the overnight counts.

Such luminaries as Ryan Leng (780,000), Jake Schwartz (697,000), Leo Margets (508,000), Ryan Riess (445,000), John Riordan (274,000), and JC Tran (153,000) also find themselves in contention for this event's bracelet.

Day 2, which plays down to a winner, starts at 11:00 a.m. local time on July 11.

Event #86: $1,000 Mystery Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts

Inaugural Eight Game Championship Attracts 158 Entrants

Event #88: $10,000 Eight Game Mixed Championship saw 158 players enter on Day 1, a number that could rise with late registration remaining open until the end of Day 2's first level.

Bagging up the chip lead on Day 1 was Jordan Siegel (336,500). The New Yorker has eight cashes at this series, and a long history of going deep in non-Hold'em events. Sigel looks on course for a ninth cash of the summer and, perhaps, his first gold bracelet.

Mike Watson (332,500) finished a handful of chip behind the leader as he searches for a long overdue bracelet, while Ali Eslami (282,500), Calvin Anderson (280,500), Marco Johnson (274,500), and Ian Johns (251,000) are hopeful of adding to their jewelry collection.

Several other bracelet winners and $25K Fantasy Draft players also navigated their way to Day 2. They include Yuri Dzivielevski (218,000), Maxx Coleman (209,500), Rob Hollink (200,000), Robert Mizrachi (16,000), Scott Seiver (103,500), and Daniel Weinman (103,000), the latter entering immediately after busting from the Main Event.

Day 2 starts at 1:00 p.m. local time on July 11, with eight levels planned. The first four levels last 60 minutes before extending to 90 minutes until a champion is crowned on Day 3.

Event #88: $10,000 Eight Game Mixed Championship Top 10 Chip Counts

What to Expect on Day 45 of the 2024 WSOP

Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship completed its fourth day, and only 464 of the 10,112 starters remain in the hunt for the $10 million top prize. Day 5 starts at 12:00 p.m. local time on July 10, and the plan is the same as it has been on previous days: another five two-hour levels.

Event #86: $1,000 Mystery Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha is scheduled to play down to a winner despite 463 players returning for Day 2. There is a chance this will require an unscheduled Day 3, although the 11:00 a.m. local time start should help.

We also have Day 2 of Event #88: $10,000 Eight Game Mixed Championship, so you now where to head if mixed games are your thing.

Three new events have Day 1s on July 11 if you didn't think the Horseshoe and Paris was busy enough. Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship, a new event for 2024, starts at 10:00 a.m. local time and should see a huge crowd on both flights. PokerNews' traditional coverage starts on Day 2 (July 14 at 1:00 p.m. local time).

Love short-handed Pot-Limit Omaha? You'll adore Event #90: $1,500 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha, which begins at 12:00 p.m. local time. Like the $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship, this is a brand-new event for 2024.

Last but not least is Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E., an event that drew in 331 entrants in 2023. Ryan Miller is the reigning champion; his victory came with his second bracelet and $208,460 in prize money.

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• Tags $25K Fantasy WSOP24 Adrian Mateos Aleksejs Ponakovs Ali Eslami Brian Rast Calvin Anderson Carsten Heidemann Chance Kornuth Daniel Weinman Espen Jorstad Giuseppe Pantaleo Joe McKeehen Jordan Siegel Josh Reichard Koray Aldemir Kristen Foxen Leo Margets Mari
• Related Players Chance KornuthAli EslamiBrian RastLeo MargetsGiuseppe PantaleoKristen Foxen