Four-card aficionados from near and far headed to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas to join the latest bracelet event of the 2024 World Series of Poker. It turned out to be a massive field that emerged in Event #66: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, as Day 1 produced a total of 726 entries. That is just five entries shy of the attendance one year ago and late registration remains open for another two levels on Day 2 to likely smash that figure.
When the ten levels of 60 minutes each were completed, the field was nearly cut into one-third as just 245 players advanced. Sitting at the top of the leaderboard is PLO cash game specialist James Chen, who won his first gold bracelet earlier this year in Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-Better. Chen increased his starting stack more than tenfold and ended the night with 675,500 with three-time WSOP bracelet winner Jim Collopy on 636,500, trailing by only a handful of big blinds .
Shawn Stroke is in third place with 546,500 and another two players surpassed half a million in chips including Nino Pansier (514,500) and Daniel Barriocanal (505,500). Likewise, Josh Arieh (410,000) and Michael Mizrachi (405,000) also had a smooth ride at the tables as they finished in the overnight top ten.
End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Chen | United States | 675,500 | 225 |
| 2 | Jim Collopy | United States | 636,500 | 212 |
| 3 | Shawn Stroke | United States | 546,500 | 182 |
| 4 | Nino Pansier | Netherlands | 514,500 | 172 |
| 5 | Daniel Barriocanal | Spain | 505,500 | 169 |
| 6 | Fahredin Mustafov | Bulgaria | 455,000 | 152 |
| 7 | Cuba Levenberry | United States | 421,000 | 140 |
| 8 | Josh Arieh | United States | 410,000 | 137 |
| 9 | Michael Mizrachi | United States | 405,000 | 135 |
| 10 | Kazuhiko Yotsushika | Japan | 400,500 | 134 |
Other notables with big stacks include Richard Gryko (398,000), Juha Helppi (376,500), Xixiang Luo (376,500), Maxx Coleman (361,000), Danny Tang (315,000), Kahle Burns (290,500) and David Williams (257,500).
Defending champion Lou Garza started his title defense with a solid performance at the tables and advanced with 287,000. In contrast, last year's runner-up Arthur Morris is ahead of that with 335,500. The third-place finisher from 2023, Ukraine's Stanislav Halatenko, won't be able to repeat his result as he bowed out very early on in level four.
One participant in particular who was not expected to join this tournament was Justin "Boosted J" Smith. He has not participated in a WSOP event in nine years, but showed that his skills have not diminished throughout the years. In Level , he cracked pocket aces when he flopped a set of kings, and Smith ended the night with a respectable 197,000 in chips.
One of the first players to bust was China's Yingui Li, who ran out of chips in the first level. Other big names on the rail were Barny Boatman, Farid Jattin, Tommy Le, Brandon Shack-Harris, Jason Mercier, Anson Tsang, Ben Lamb, Shaun Deeb, Jesse Lonis, Viktor Blom, and Robert Mizrachi to name just a few out of a field filled with notables of the international poker scene. Since this tournament offers no reentry option, they will all have to try again in a different WSOP tournament.
The $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship continues with Day 2 on Thursday, June 27, at 1 p.m. local time in the Gold and Silver sections of the Horseshoe Event Center. Recommencing blinds will be 1,500-3,000 with a big blind ante of 3,000. All those who have not registered for this event can do so during the first two sixty-minute levels and the following break until 3.15 p.m. local time.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back on the floor to provide as many key hands as possible.
