Thirty $25K Fantasy Players in Day 2 Field of $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship No-Limit Hold’em
Following the completion of Day 1a and Day 1b, today at 11 a.m. local time will see the merging of both days’ survivors, and some chancers jumping in during the last level of late registration in Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship No-Limit Hold’em at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), hosted at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
Day 1a saw 1,161 players enter the tournament, with 324 players advancing, and Jonathan Newman leading the pack with an impressive 573,500 in chips having started with only 40,000. Day 1b saw more than double the entrants with 2,811 buy-ins, and only 593 of those bagged to Day 2. Dusti Smith took through 492,000 and fell just two players short of the chip lead heading into Day 2 as Herve Gouzil also snuck above him in the counts, taking through (505,000).
| Position | Player | Country | Chipcount | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Newman | Canada | 573,500 | 229 |
| 2 | Herve Gouzil | France | 505,000 | 202 |
| 3 | Dusti Smith | United States | 492,000 | 197 |
| 4 | Zachary Zaret | Canada | 465,000 | 186 |
| 5 | Mantas Ungulaitis | Lithuania | 451,500 | 181 |
| 6 | Maher Achour | United States | 433,000 | 173 |
| 7 | Boris Kolev | Bulgaria | 417,000 | 167 |
| 8 | Florian Dimitrie Duta | Romania | 389,000 | 156 |
| 9 | Bahar Musa | Bulgaria | 381,500 | 153 |
| 10 | Brock Wilson | United States | 381,500 | 153 |
As Day 1b concluded, a total of 3,972 entries had been bought into this new tournament for WSOP 2024. A total of 917 of those battled their way to Day 2, although late registration is still open for the first level (Level 11) of Day 2, so this number may increase with players able to buy in for the first hour of today, sitting down with around 16 big blinds.
With the last week of the WSOP looming, $25K Fantasy Draftees are looking to score as many points as possible. Day 2 will see many of these familiar faces looking to bag big into Day 3 having successfully navigated their Day 1’s. Some of the big stacks going into Day 2 include, Brock Wilson (381,500), Jeff Madsen (362,500), Michael Moncek (357,000), Scott Ball (304,500), Chance Kornuth (304,500), Ryan Leng (302,000), Chris Hunichen (203,000), Adam Hendrix (166,500), Taylor Paur (161,500) and Samuel Laskowitz (156,000).
Some of the shorter-stacked fantasy players, looking to build back up are Paul Volpe (36,000), John Monnette (35,000), Chad Eveslage (34,000), Ryan Riess (31,000), Joseph Couden (30,000) and Anson Tsang (26,500).
More notable names that bagged and made it through include Frank Funaro (283,000), James Dempsey (148,500), Kathy Liebert(117,500), Faraz Jaka (112,000), and Ryan Laplante (53,500). Jamie Gold and also found a bag (92,000). Hall of Famer Billy Baxter (86,500) and Main Event winner Scott Blumstein (43,000) also have their eyes on Day 3.
Day 2 action kicks off today at 11 a.m. local time and will feature 60-minute levels, with a 15-minute break scheduled after every two levels. Play will resume at Level 11 with 1,000/2,500 blinds and a 2,500 big blind ante. A 60-minute dinner break is scheduled for approximately 5:30 p.m. or after Level 16.
For live updates on Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship No-Limit Hold’em and all other happenings at the 2024 WSOP at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, stay tuned to PokerNews.