Two Main Event Champions Bag Day 1a of Millionaire Maker
Day 1a of Event #54: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em managed to attract a field of 2,802 entries.
This puts the current prize pool at $3,740,670, a good start for an event with two more Day 1 flights to go of this five day event and a record-to-beat of 10,430 entries set by the 2023 incarnation of this event.
Ori Elul (673,500) heads up the 596 players who survived to Day 2. The Austrian is followed by Muaaz Gani (615,000) in second and Philip Verel (573,000) in third.
Among those who bagged today are notables like Landon Tice (308,500), Barny Boatman (183,000), Vivian Saliba (173,000), Matt Glantz (152,500), Jim Collopy (66,000), Shannon Shorr (57,000), and Dan Shak (53,500).
There were also two previous main event champs who found a bag — 2009 Main Event champion Joe Cada and 2014 Main Event champion Martin Jacobson (169,000).
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Position | Player | Country | Chipstack | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ori Elul | Austria | 673,500 | 269 |
| 2 | Muaaz Gani | United States | 615,000 | 246 |
| 3 | Philip Verel | United States | 573,000 | 229 |
| 4 | Justin Belforti | United States | 453,500 | 181 |
| 5 | Michael Hauptman | United States | 366,000 | 146 |
| 6 | Shiina Okamoto | Japan | 365,500 | 146 |
| 7 | Luis Dorneles | Brazil | 360,000 | 144 |
| 8 | Liran Betito | Israel | 334,500 | 134 |
| 9 | Felix Rabas | Austria | 330,000 | 132 |
| 10 | Roman Korenev | Russia | 329,500 | 132 |
Day 1b will kick off at 10 a.m. local time on Saturday, June 22. Play will continue for 11 levels of 60 minutes each. There will be a 20-minute break after every two levels and 75-minute dinner break after Level 8 (around 7 p.m.).
The survivors of all three Day 1 flights will return for Day 2 at 11 a.m. local time on Monday, June 24, when PokerNews will pick up its traditional live coverage. Blinds will be 1,000/2,500 with a 2,500 big blind ante.