Siegel and Watson Bag Huge on Day 1 of Inaugural Edition of $10,000 Eight Game Mixed Championship
Stud Games: 1,000 Ante, 1,000 Bring-In, 3,000 Completion 3,000-6,000 Limits
No-Limit & Pot-Limit: 1,500/2,500 Ante, 1,000/1,500 Blinds
After 10 hours of play and nine levels, Day 1 of Event #88: $10,000 Eight Game Mixed Championship at the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is in the books. Leading the way is Jordan Siegel with 336,500. Coming in a close second is Mike Watson with 332,500. Rounding out the podium in third is Daniel Tafur with 320,000
Some 158 players made their way to the Paris Convention Center today for the inaugural edition of this event, which is making its debut after a large turnout at the $1,500 price point for this format. Out of the starting field, 76 found a bag for Day 2. There is no reentry allowed in this event. However, late entry is available to new players for one hour on Day 2 Thursday, through the end of Level 10 at around 2 p.m. local time.
End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jordan Siegel | United States | 336,500 |
| 2 | Mike Watson | Canada | 332,500 |
| 3 | Daniel Tafur | Spain | 320,000 |
| 4 | Ali Eslami | United States | 282,500 |
| 5 | Calvin Anderson | United States | 280,500 |
| 6 | Marco Johnson | United States | 274,500 |
| 7 | Dai Ishibashi | Japan | 271,000 |
| 8 | Ian Johns | United States | 251,000 |
| 9 | Tomasz Gluszko | Poland | 224,000 |
| 10 | Danny Noam | United States | 222,500 |
The Eight Game Mix combines the traditional H.O.R.S.E. limit games with No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, and 2-7 Triple Draw. It can be much more volatile than H.O.R.S.E. with the inclusion of the big-bet games and this was seen in the early levels as multiple players were eliminated during the first two hours of play.
Many of the biggest stars in the poker world made an appearance today, including Daniel Negreanu, Eli Elezra, Viktor Blom, Benny Glaser, and Yuri Dzivielevski.
Some who were less fortunate and will not advance to Day 2 include Mike Matusow, Dylan Weisman, Chris Moneymaker, Shaun Deeb, and Brad Ruben.
The Day’s Action
With many of the best mixed game players in the world playing, there was action from the first shuffle.
Siegel and David Benyamine got tied up in a big hand of Pot-Limit Omaha. With almost 70 big blinds in the middle already, Benyamine fired a half-pot bet and was met with a jam from Siegel, and Benyamine snap-folded.
The hand of the day occurred during No-Limit Hold’em between David Funkhouser and Vanessa Selbst. Funkhouser had flopped top-top in a three-bet pot from the small blind against Selbst in the big blind. Selbst continued to fire on the turn and Funkhouser jammed. After several minutes in the tank, Selbst called with just ace-king high and did not improve on the river as she exited, having lost a 265,000 chip pot.
Later on in the day, Marco Johnson and Nick Pupillo played a hand of stud hi-lo in which three bets went in before fourth. Johnson ended up making quad deuces and got paid along the way by Pupillo, including on seventh street.
Late in the night, Negreanu lost a big one in Pot-Limit Omaha. He led from the big blind and then called after Tom Koral potted in position. After a queen paired on the turn, Negreanu check-folded to an all-in bet to leave himself short.
Daniel Weinman will not be repeating as champion of the Main Event. However, once he busted after dinner, he joined this field and quickly accumulated chips. He bagged for Day 2 with a stack of 103,000.
The remaining players return to action at 1 p.m. local time on July 11 in the Horseshoe Ballroom Red section. Play resumes in Level 10 with limits at 3,000-6,000 and blinds at 1,000/1,500 in the big bet games.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as we provide coverage through the end of Event #88: $10,000 Eight Game Mixed Championship and all other events at the 2024 World Series of Poker.