2024 World Series of Poker

Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship
Day: 1d
Event Info

2024 World Series of Poker

Event Info
Buy-in
$10,000
Prize Pool
$71,526,300
Entries
9,288
Players Left
6,966
Average Chip Stack
80,000
Total Chips
557,280,000
Level Info
Level
5
Blinds
300 / 600
Ante
600
Players Info - Day 1d
Entries
5,014
Players Left
3,823

Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship

Day 1d Completed

Second-Biggest WSOP Main Event in History So Far Emerges After Record Turnout on Day 1d

Level 5 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Aram Zobian among the big stacks after Day 1d
Aram Zobian among the big stacks after Day 1d

The crown jewel of the 2024 World Series of Poker welcomed poker enthusiasts from near and far to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas for what has traditionally been the busiest flight of the elusive WSOP $10,000 Main Event. After the previous three flights had been coming up short of last year's record-breaking attendance figures, Day 1d more than made up for it, becoming the record Main Event flight for entries.

5,014 entries were recorded to put the flagship tournament on track to nearly match the 2023 numbers throughout the four Day 1 fights. With late registration still open for the first two levels on both Day 2s, the 10,043 unique players from one year ago may still be reached. One thing is already certain: The 2024 WSOP Main Event is the second-largest in history thus far, with more than 9,200 entries, and the next two days will tell if five figures will be reached once more.

Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship Day 1d Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1John McdonaldUnited States496,000620
2Scott StewartUnited States370,200463
3David MillerUnited States332,200415
4Jeff BeckleyUnited States312,000390
5Victor FrydaFrance310,000388
6Michael DanleyUnited States295,000369
7Ruslan NazarenkoUnited Kingdom282,800354
8Jayphong NguyenUnited States280,700351
9Endrit GeciUnited States267,500334
10Dau LyUnited States261,500327

When it came to bagging and tagging for Day 1d, Scott Stewart emerged among the biggest stacks across the three tournament areas in play. Seven years ago in 2017, Stewart was one of the fan favorites as he made it all the way to 13th place for a payday of $535,000, he enjoyed a very successful day at the tables to bag up 370,200 to find himself among the chip leaders.

Jeffrey Beckley made it through with 312,000 while other notables with big stacks include Brian Hastings (252,100), Aram Zobian (231,400), Anson Tsang (205,900), Pedro Marques (190,000), and Phil Ivey (153,500). Zobian is no stranger to a deep run in the WSOP Main Event as he finished sixth back in 2018 for $1,800,000. He spent most of the day on the same table as John Juanda (96,000) and Triple Crown Winner Davidi Kitai (81,600).

Bestselling writer and poker aficionado Maria Konnikova delivered the shuffle up and deal in the Horseshoe Event Center for the "single most exciting day of the year" for poker players from all over the world.

"I mean, this is incredible. And every single year I have to pinch myself and say, you get to play in a $10,000 buy-in tournament and you get to compete and you get to have this dream. And how many people get to be there? So no matter what happens, please have fun, and the number two piece of advice which I'm giving to myself in my head all the time is - please do not punt."

During the final tournament break, Konnikova added; "I saw some of the hands from the other days and you should not go broke there. I think people don't realize how deep the tournament is. When I speak with other people, I always tell them, the only hand you should get it in preflop with in level one is pocket aces and I don't want to hear anything else. ”

The Freezeout format and the history of the WSOP makes the tournament so special for Konnikova, as it only gives everyone one shot at glory every year. She described her day as up and down without any major confrontation that would eventually lead to a small profit with 74,400 in the bag.

Maria Konnikova
Maria Konnikova

Among the former champions, Martin Jacobson entered the fray today. Ten years ago, the Swede etched his name into the history books of the WSOP when he topped a field of 6,683 entries to claim the top prize of $10,000,000. He has done the first step and advanced with 117,800 after somewhat of a roller coaster ride, bumping fists with several opponents right upon bagging and tagging.

"You know, you just gotta survive day by day, kind of take one day at a time. And I know it sounds cliche, but it's really what it is." Said Jacobson.

It was an eventful day for Jacobson as he peaked at two and a half times the starting stack, picking up pocket kings six or seven times. One of those times brought a major setback as even another king on the board was not enough to beat pocket queens. So far, he cashed three times during the 2024 WSOP without any earth-shattering results.

"I had a few deep runs, but, nothing major. So, I'm about break even. Which, you know, it's bittersweet. Better than being back down. But still, I'll say it could be another 11 million coming your way at the end of the Main Event."

Martin Jacobson
Martin Jacobson

Further WSOP Main Event winners to advance from Day 1d were the WSOP Europe Main Event winners Jack Sinclair (128,400) and Alexandros Kolonias (183,400), Joe McKeehen (121,300), defending champion Daniel Weinman (55,600), as well as Joe Cada (32,800).

Throughout the five levels of 120 minutes each, hundreds of hopes to become the next Main Event champion were crushed and that also included some of the biggest names in poker. Chance Kornuth exited in level two after his set was run down by a straight. He was joined on the rail by the likes of Sean Winter, Ludovic Geilich, Jeff Madsen, Pierre Calamusa, Jason Koon, David Williams, Dan Sepiol, Vanessa Kade, and online legend Viktor "Isildur1" Blom to name all but a few.

Nicholas Rigby and his "dirty diaper" made the headlines in the WSOP Main Event before, but he didn't make it out of Day 1 this time. In a three-way all-in, his pocket jacks came up third-best against pocket queens and pocket tens to send the jovial American to the rail in the fourth level.

The final numbers for the 2024 WSOP Main Event will be set in the following two days when all survivors of the four starting days return to their seats at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Day 2abc will recommence at noon local time on Sunday, July 7, 2024 with initial blinds of 400/800 and a big blind ante of 800.

The late registration will be open for the first two 120-minute levels and the same scenario repeats one day later for Day 2d, after which the official numbers are known. Hundreds of poker enthusiasts from all over the world are expected to take advantage of the late registration period in the most-prestigious live poker event of the year with the deepest structure.

Stay tuned right here on PokerNews for all of the action from Las Vegas in the next two weeks as another World Champion will be crowned on July 17, 2024.

Tags: Alexandros KoloniasAnson TsangAram ZobianBrian HastingsDaniel WeinmanDavidi KitaiJack SinclairJoe CadaJoe McKeehenJohn JuandaMaria KonnikovaMartin JacobsonPhil IveyScott Stewart

End of Day 1d Chip Counts (full)

Level 5 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Player Chips Progress
John Mcdonald
John Mcdonald
496,000
496,000
496,000
Day 1D Chip Leader
Scott Stewart us
Scott Stewart
370,200
370,200
370,200
David Miller us
David Miller
332,200
332,200
332,200
Jeff Beckley us
Jeff Beckley
312,000
Victor Fryda fr
Victor Fryda
310,000
205,000
205,000
Michael Danley us
Michael Danley
295,000
10,000
10,000
Ruslan Nazarenko ua
Ruslan Nazarenko
282,800
282,800
282,800
Jayphong Nguyen us
Jayphong Nguyen
280,700
280,700
280,700
Endrit Geci gb
Endrit Geci
267,500
267,500
267,500
Dau Ly us
Dau Ly
261,500
261,500
261,500
Mark Evangelista us
Mark Evangelista
259,300
259,300
259,300
Americ Stiller de
Americ Stiller
257,000
2,000
2,000
Michael Englert us
Michael Englert
252,600
252,600
252,600
Brian Hastings us
Brian Hastings
252,100
12,100
12,100
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 6X Winner
Run It Once
Albert Luna us
Albert Luna
250,700
250,700
250,700
Joseph Carden us
Joseph Carden
247,000
247,000
247,000
Jack Roser us
Jack Roser
246,600
-3,400
-3,400
Ryan Gianquitti us
Ryan Gianquitti
246,400
246,400
246,400
Adam Kharman au
Adam Kharman
246,000
246,000
246,000
Domenico Micillo gb
Domenico Micillo
244,900
244,900
244,900
Francisco Paniagua mx
Francisco Paniagua
243,100
243,100
243,100
Eric Medved us
Eric Medved
242,000
242,000
242,000
Rémy Murcia fr
Rémy Murcia
241,300
9,300
9,300
Zachary Matson us
Zachary Matson
241,000
241,000
241,000
Brandon Barlow us
Brandon Barlow
239,800
239,800
239,800

Read full

Play Concluded

Level 5 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
WSOP 2024 Bracelet
WSOP 2024 Bracelet

Play has concluded in a record-breaking Day 1D. Those who have bagged will return Monday, July 8 at 12 p.m. local time for Day 2D. Below are some highlights from the final level of play.

Stay tuned to PokerNews for chip counts and full recap of the day.

Keating Chips Up at End of the Night

Level 5 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Alex Keating
Alex Keating

Alex Keating raised to 1,500 in late position and the player in the big blind defended.

The flop came 728 and the big blind check-called a bet of 3,000 from Keating.

The turn landed the 4 and the big blind check-called again, this time for 8,000.

The Q river went check-check and Keating tabled JJ, besting the 1010 of the big blind.

Player Chips Progress
Alex Keating us
Alex Keating
67,000
21,000
21,000
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Alex Keating

Sinclair Loses a Pot at the End of the Day

Level 5 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Jack Sinclair
Jack Sinclair

Jack Sinclair raised to 1,200 from early position and was called by a player in middle position.

The 1077 flop saw Sinclair put out a bet of 1,500 and his opponent call.

Both players checked the A on the turn to see the 5 appear on the river. Sinclair check-called a bet of 3,000 from his opponent and was shown AK for two pair, which was good enough to take down the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Jack Sinclair gb
Jack Sinclair
95,000
-9,000
-9,000
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Jack Sinclair

Volpe and Hui Chip Up Late

Level 5 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

The player in the cutoff raised to 1,300 and Paul Volpe called on the button. The flop fell K6A and Volpe called the 1,500 continuation-bet of his opponent.

The J turn slowed down the cutoff as he checked, and he subsequently folded when Volpe bet 4,200 chips.

On an adjacent table, Loni Hui bet 2,500 from the small blind on a board of AKJ6. Her opponent in the big blind called, and then also called for the same amount on the 9 river.

Hui tabled AJ for two pair and her opponent mucked his cards.

Player Chips Progress
Loni Hui us
Loni Hui
112,000
12,000
12,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Paul Volpe us
Paul Volpe
63,000
8,000
8,000
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 3X Winner

Tags: Loni HuiPaul Volpe

Ahuja Spikes the River

Level 5 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Ankit Ahuja
Ankit Ahuja

Ankit Ahuja opened from under the gun to 1,200 and the cutoff three-bet to 4,000. Once the action got back to Ahuja, he called.

On the 947 flop, Ahuja check-called a bet of 4,500.

The 3 turn and K river went check-check and the cutoff showed QQ, but Ahuja had the winner with AK after he paired his king.

"I'm surprised you checked back the turn," said Ahuja to his tablemate.

Player Chips Progress
Ankit Ahuja in
Ankit Ahuja
75,000
-11,000
-11,000

Tags: Ankit Ahuja

Four More Hands

Level 5 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

The clock has been paused with 10:00 remaining in Level 5, and the floor has announced that each table will be playing four more hands before players bag and tag for the night.