2024 WSOP Day 40: Ivey Joins the Field of 2nd Biggest Main Event Ever

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Jul 07, 2024 5 min read Last updated Jul 08, 2024

There were no bracelets awarded on Day 40 of the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP). Instead, today was mostly about the Main Event playing out ten full hours of poker all across the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

As expected, Day 1d of Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship was the biggest Day 1 flight yet, with around 5,014 players joining the event. It was so busy in fact that it became the biggest Day 1 field in Main Event history.

In the shadow of the Main Event, Event 82: $1,000 No Limit Hold'em also kicked off, giving the players who bust the Main Event — or who are planning to join during the Day 2 late registration period — something to keep their chip shuffling hands busy.

Biggest Day 1 In Main Event History

This surge in turnout for the Main Event has brought the total field to 9,288 players and tipped this into being the second-biggest Main Event ever.

The turnout also put the event within reach of surpassing last year's record-breaking turnout of 10,043.

Anyone with the over on that record being broken will want to watch the late registration numbers on Days 2abc and 2d very closely.

John Mcdonald leads the 3,823 Day 1d survivors with a stack of 496,000 in chips with Brian Hastings (252,100) and Aram Zobian (231,400) just outside the top ten.

Phil Ivey, the name everyone has been waiting to see on the chip count lists, entered the Main Event on Day 1d and finished with 162,500 in his stack.

Ivey was joined by other big names with big stacks, including Ari Engel (209,400), Anson Tsang (205,900), Adam Friedman (177,400), Alex Livingston (174,500), and Greg Mueller (144,800) who all finished with plenty of chips.

After the slew of Main Event champions who bagged yesterday, it was nice to see another half dozen join them.

Some of these previous winners included the Main Event champion from 2009, Joe Cada (32,800); 2013, Ryan Riess (81,500); 2014, Martin Jacobson (117,800); 2015, Joe Mckeehen (121,300); 2022, Espen Jorstad (150,800); and last year's winner, Daniel Weinman (55,600).

Several Hall of Famers also played today of whom John Juanda (96,000), Brian Rast (130,500), Barry Greenstein (35,000), and Scotty Nguyen (104,200) managed to find a bag.

These legends were joined by other old school pros like David "ODB" Baker (137,600), Phil Laak (74,400), and Humberto Brenes (28,900), and online crusher Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (64,700) will come back for Day 2.

Other notables who survived the day with better than starting stacks included Ryan Leng (113,500), Jared Jaffee (96,700), Joao Vieira (112,000), Ana Marquez (94,400), Jake Schwartz (41,000), Kane Kalas (64,400), and Dario Sammartino (23,800).

Writer turned poker pro Maria Konnikova (74,400) and chess influencer and WFM Alexandra Botez (39,200) both also got through with solid stacks. So did Game of Gold star Olga Iermolcheva (106,300), poker commentator Brent Hanks (123,800), and husband and wife team Kristen Foxen (122,200) and Alex Foxen (83,000).

Some big names who will have a bit more work to put in on Day 2 included Matt Glantz (35,000), Allen Kessler (22,000), Cherish Andrews (25,000), and Kathy Liebert (15,000).

July 7 will see the survivors from Day 1a, 1b, and 1c return to play Day 2abc at 12 p.m local time.

The remaining players from today's flight will then progress to Day 2d on July 8.

Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship Day 1d Top 10 Chip Counts

Chance Kornuth Has Huge Stack After Long Day In $1k NLH

While the Main Event stands astride the poker world with its massive Day 1 flight, sprightly little Event #82: $1,000 No Limit Hold'em played out its own Day 1.

It didn't stay sprightly for long. When late registration closed 1,424 players had bought in for a prize pool of $1,253,120. It took almost two full blind levels after late registration just to finish seating all the players. The event was a long one, taking sixteen half-hour blind levels before the field got down to 214 players and event could wrap up for the day.

Chance Kornuth had an excellent run in the event, finishing near the top of the leaderboard with a chip stack of 501,000.

Other notables who found a bag included the chip leader Daniel Olsen (677,000), Sam Farha (190,000), David Peters (63,000), Dara O'Kearney (45,000), Jessica Teusl (40,000), Shannon Shorr (35,000), Stephen Song (30,000), and David "ODB" Baker (30,000).

Meanwhile, Upeshka De Silva, Josh Arieh, Chino Rheem, and reality TV star Princess Love all entered the event, but busted before the money was reached.

Play ended with the bubble breaking, so all players who did survive are guaranteed a min-cash of $2,004 when they return at 3 p.m. on July 7, at which time the event will play down to a winner.

What to Expect on Day 41 of the 2024 WSOP?

Day 41 of the WSOP (July 7) will see the combined fields from Days 1a, 1b, and 1c file back into the Paris and Horseshoe to play another five levels of two hours each. Players can still register for the first two blind levels, so there is still plenty of room for the second biggest WSOP Main Event ever to tilt the scales and become number one.

While the last few days have been heavily focused on the Main Event, the shrinking field is making room for a few more events on the schedule. So, Day 41 will see one bracelet awarded and two new events start up.

The bracelet for Event #82: $1,000 No Limit Hold'em will be hard earned. After a very long day of play today, the survivors will return to play down to a victor at 3 p.m. on July 7.

There will also be another smaller stakes hold'em tournament kicking off with Event #84: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold'em starting the first of four days of play, two of which are Day 1 flights.

Event #83: $1,500 Eight Game Mixed (6-Handed) also kicks off. Last year's champion Shaun Deeb busted the Main Event on Day 1c, so will be available to defend his title and chase his seventh bracelet.

You can follow all the action live on PokerNews.

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