Bansal Bags Big in Event #78: $1,000 Mini Main Event; Miles Still in Contention
Day 1 of Event #78: $1,000 Mini Main Event at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas has come to a close. A total of 6,093 players showed up to battle it out on the baize today, generating a prize pool of $5,361,840. After twenty-two 30-minute levels of play, 486 players will come back for Day 2 tomorrow, already in the money and having locked up a payday of at least $2,257.
The guaranteed payday will be the least of their concerns, as a first-place prize of $555,075 and a prestigious gold bracelet await the eventual champion.
Leading the chip counts with 2,825,000 was Paawan Bansal of India. Bansal has nearly $800,000 in live tournament earnings and reached one WSOP final table where he achieved a career-high score of $378,765 by finishing second in the $1,500 Closer event during the 2018 series. He will be aiming to go one better and take home a bracelet by the end of this tournament on Thursday, June 4.
End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paawan Bansal | India | 2,825,000 | 71 |
| 2 | Jamie Dwan | United Kingdom | 2,700,000 | 68 |
| 3 | James Carroll | United States | 2,700,000 | 68 |
| 4 | Connor Rash | United States | 2,505,000 | 63 |
| 5 | Gustavo Kamei | Brazil | 2,300,000 | 58 |
| 6 | Shay Rozenbaum | Israel | 2,300,000 | 58 |
| 7 | Remi Derossi | France | 2,250,000 | 56 |
| 8 | Maher Al Mouselly | Canada | 2,202,500 | 55 |
| 9 | Marcello Del Grosso | Canada | 2,200,000 | 55 |
| 10 | Dragos Trofimov | United Kingdom | 2,155,000 | 54 |
After the money bubble burst in Level 20, the remaining 912 players had secured a payday of at least $2,002. Eliminations occurred swiftly during the final two levels of play, with nearly half of the field being sent to the cashier's desk in just over an hour. Bansal wasn't the only player to amass a significant stack today. Following closely at the top of the leaderboard are Shay Rozenbaum (2,300,000 chips), France's Remi Derossi (2,250,000 chips), Dragos Trofimov (2,155,000 chips), Adrian Winebarger (1,850,000 chips), and three-time bracelet winner Ryan Hughes (915,000).
The 2003 Main Event runner-up Sam Farha managed to secure a min-cash today. Despite doubling up with king-high in the penultimate level of the day, he couldn't build on that momentum to make it through to Day 2. Another notable Main Event runner-up who did navigate through to Day 2 is Tony Miles. Miles finished second for $5,000,000 in the 2018 Main Event. Although he only brings 650,000 chips through to Day 2, he has the experience competing against large fields for substantial sums of money, so he is definitely a player to watch out for.
Some of the notable players who entered but were unable to make it through to the cash or Day 2 included Shannon Shorr, Leo Margets, Shimizu Nozomu, Harry Lodge, Renji Mao, Khang Pham, and former boxing Olympic gold medalist Audley Harrison. Harrison exited during the twelfth level of play after a one-two punch of back-to-back hands left his stack on the ropes. Ultimately, it was Lukas Schoepper who delivered the knockout blow.
Players will resume with blinds at 20,000/40,000 and a big blind ante of 40,000 on Wednesday, July 3, at 11 a.m. local time. They will play down to five players, with levels lasting 30 minutes throughout. There will be 15-minute breaks every four levels and a dinner break scheduled after Level 34.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage of this and all remaining events at the 2024 World Series of Poker!