Welcome to Live Coverage of Event #88: $1,500 The Closer No-Limit Hold'em
Event #88: The Closer No-Limit Hold'em, will have its second and final starting flight today with Day 1b kicking off at 10 a.m. local time at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Day 1a was filled with action and plenty of big names came to play for one of the last bracelets of the 2023 World Series of Poker.
A total of 76 players advanced from Day 1a out of a total of 1,141 entries and they will merge with the players who advance from today's proceedings, reconvening on Sunday, July 16th at 10 a.m. for the finale. The total prize pool generated from Day 1a was $1,523,235.
Last year’s Day 1a attracted 929 players and this year’s Day 1a surpassed that number with 1,141 entrants. Day 1b is also expected to smash last year’s total of 1,110 runners.
The target for today's players is to surpass end of Day 1a chip-leader Benson Tang, who bagged a sensational 2,185,000. Alan Hamza with 1,910,000 and Jeffrey Tanouve with 1,865,000 round out the top three.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benson Tang | United States | 2,185,000 |
| 2 | Alan Hamza | United States | 1,910,000 |
| 3 | Jeffrey Tanouye | United States | 1,865,000 |
| 4 | Lisa Hamilton | United States | 1,605,000 |
| 5 | Faizal Khoja | United States | 1,580,000 |
| 6 | Mohommed Khan | United States | 1,475,000 |
| 7 | Yann Perron | France | 1,445,000 |
| 8 | Renmei Liu | Canada | 1,445,000 |
| 9 | Jason Wheeler | United States | 1,360,000 |
| 10 | Michael Noori | United States | 1,355,000 |
Whoever is lucky enough to bag this evening will also be competing against Michael Noori (1,355,000), Preston McEwen (1,115,000), Chris Moorman (835,000), and Ethan Yau (565,000) for the top prize and the bracelet.
Day 1b will be a repeat of Day 1a, playing 22 levels. Players will sit down with 50,000 chips in their starting stacks. Blinds will start at 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante. Levels last 30 minutes, with a 20-minute break scheduled after every fourth level. The payouts begin near the end of the day and all the players who bag at the end of the day will advance to Day 2.
There will be a 75-minute dinner break after Level 16, expected to be around 7 p.m. local time. Players can rebuy only once, with late registration closing at the end of Level 12, approximately 5 p.m. local time.
Be sure to keep it here for the rest of the week as PokerNews will be on hand to provide live updates from the floor.