The second day of the 54th World Series of Poker (WSOP) at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas is wrapping up and just saw the end of Day 1 of Event #5: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice Six-Handed, an event that drew a spectacular number of bracelet winners, Hall of Famers, and otherwise poker superstars.
Just a few of the legendary players who made their way into the Black section in Paris include Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Eli Elezra and Barry Greenstein, all of whom belong to the exclusive group that is the Poker Hall of Fame and all of whom but Elezra advanced to Day 2.
Among the big stacks at the end of Day 1, which ended with 150 players, are bracelet winners Phillip Hui (175,000), Marco Johnson (168,00) and Scott Bohlman (167,500), as well as Larry Tull (217,000) and Tomasz Gluszko (205,500), who are both after their first.
Other notable players who made it through the day include 2015 champion Carol Fuchs (42,500) and 2022 runner-up Jaswinder Lally (105,000), as well as John Racener (140,000), Brian Rast (47,000), Benny Glaser (28,500) and 2004 Main Event champion Greg Raymer (38,000).
End of Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Larry Tull | United States | 217,000 |
| 2 | Tomasz Gluszko | Poland | 205,500 |
| 3 | Andrew Donabedian | United States | 190,000 |
| 4 | Phil Hui | United States | 175,000 |
| 5 | Amnon Filippi | United States | 174,000 |
| 6 | Denis Nesterenko | Russia | 172,500 |
| 7 | Clayton Mozden | Canada | 170,500 |
| 8 | Nick Kost | United States | 170,500 |
| 9 | Dylan Smith | Canada | 169,500 |
| 10 | Marco Johnson | United States | 168,000 |
Day 1 Action
While it took a while for big pots to brew with so many split-pot games in the mix, there was never a dull moment during the 15 levels of play on Day 1, which attracted 456 runners for a prize pool of $608,760.
There were several notable matchups at various tables throughout the day. John Monnette, David "ODB" Baker and Maxx Coleman, all of whom have won multiple bracelets, battled it out at Table 46 as Norman Chad and Mike Matusow were paired up at an adjacent table.
Later in the day, Chad Eveslage sparred and laughed with Hellmuth as he looked to prevent the all-time bracelet winner from earning a record-extending 17th bracelet.
It wasn't all smooth sailing for the big names and plenty of them failed to advance to Day 2. Four-time bracelet winner Scott Seiver was eliminated after a testy hand with Philip Sternheimer, while five-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb fell after failing to improve in a Limit 2-7 Triple Draw hand.
Other players who were eliminated on Day 1 include Ben Yu, Chris Vitch, Christina Hill, Peter Dirksen and defending champion Brad Ruben.
Day 2 action will get underway on June 1 at 1 p.m. local time and will pick up on Level 16. The plan is to play ten levels with 15-minute breaks every two levels and a 75-minute dinner break after Level 21 at approximately 7:30 p.m.
