Until late registration closed on Day 2 of Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship, everyone in the poker community was calling the tournament the second-largest WSOP Main Event in history. However, after all the entry slips were counted, and thanks to 562 players deciding to buy into the Main Event on Day 2d, the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event is the biggest ever.
Some 10,112 entries have created a $94,041,600 prize pool that the top 1,517 finishers will receive. Reaching that figure could take some time because 2,068 players made it through Day 2d unscathed. Combined with the 1,549 Day 2abc survivors, this gives us 3,617 returning players for Day 3 on July 9.
Alex Livingston (750,500) is the man bestowed with the honor of being called Day 2d chip leader. Livingston finished 13th in the 2013 WSOP Main Event and walked away with $451,398. Six years later, he went deep again, falling in third for a cool $4,000,000. Now Livingston has a big stack at his disposal; it would take a brave person to bet against him putting together another super-deep run.
Five-time bracelet winner and mixed game aficionado Adam Friedman (581,000) and Stephen Song (577,000) bagged up top five Day 2d stacks. Friedman told PokerNews shortly after bagging his substantial stack that he’s counting on a deep Main Event run to save his summer; it has been a frustrating 2024 WSOP for the poker great.
Finishing in the top 10% of Day 2d was none other than reigning champion Daniel Weinman (229,500). After a challenging Day 2, Weinman finished with 55,600 chips. The 2023 WSOP Main Event winner enjoyed a more fruitful Day 2d, finishing with four times as many chips as he started with.
Weinman’s progress in the 2024 WSOP Main Event is not too dissimilar to his 2023 run, where he finished Day 1d with 80,000 chips and built that to 362,000 on Day 2. The Atlanta, Georgia native will have his fingers crossed that his upward trajectory continues from this point onwards, and history repeats itself over the next eight days.
The reigning champion was not the only Main Event champ to punch their Day 3 tickets today. Joe McKeehen (309,500) finished above Weinman in the overnight chip counts, while Scotty Nguyen (206,000), Martin Jacobson (154,000), Espen Jorstad (133,000), and Ryan Riess (103,500) finished just below. Not since the late Stu Ungar won the WSOP Main Event for the third time in 1997 has a player captured two Main Event titles.
With over 1,700 players progressing from Day 2d, we suggest you head to PokerNews‘ chip count page and search for your favorite player’s name.
Some of the other superstars who kept the Main Event dream alive included Loni Hui (544,000), Brian Hastings (438,500), Aram Zobian (401,500), Ari Engel (334,500), the legendary Phil Ivey (283,5000, Brian Rast (229,000), and Kristen Foxen (181,000).
Play 3 starts at 12:00 p.m. local time on July 9 with 3,617 players planning to make it through another five two-hour-long levels. If they weren’t already, things are getting serious in the Main Event, so make sure you tune into PokerNews for all the Main Event action you can handle.
Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship Day 2d Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Livingston | Canada | 750,500 | 300 |
| 2 | Tyler Hatchel | United States | 679,000 | 272 |
| 3 | Donovan Dean | United States | 634,500 | 254 |
| 4 | Shuyang Han | United States | 604,000 | 242 |
| 5 | Charles Russell | Ireland | 602,000 | 241 |
| 6 | Emilien Pitavy | FRANCE, FR | 589,000 | 236 |
| 7 | Adam Friedman | United States | 581,000 | 232 |
| 8 | Stephen Song | United States | 577,000 | 231 |
| 9 | Jean Lhuillier | United Kingdom | 572,000 | 229 |
| 10 | Paulo Joanello | Brazil | 547,500 | 219 |
Racener Leads Final Seven in the $1,500 8-Game
Only seven players remain in Event #83: $1,500 Eight Game Mix as the tournament heads into its final day. Two-time WSOP bracelet winner John Racener (3,929,000) leads the final seven back into battle but will not have matters his own way.
Racener captured his second bracelet this year in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship. Although he’s in pole position going into Day 3, the chasing pack has 12 bracelets and millions of dollars in cashes between them.
Josh Arieh (2,732,000) returns second in chips, followed by Maxx Coleman (1,893,000). There’s little to separate Marco Johnson (1,228,000) or Garth Yettick (1,217,000) before a gap opens in front of Xiaochuan Zhang (740,000) and the legendary “Miami” John Cernuto (640,000).
These seven mixed-game heroes return to the action from 2:00 p.m. local time to play for the all-important bracelet and the $131,061 top prize.
Event #83: $1,500 Eight Game Mix Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Racener | United States | 3,929,000 |
| 2 | Josh Arieh | United States | 2,732,000 |
| 3 | Maxx Coleman | United States | 1,893,000 |
| 4 | Marco Johnson | United States | 1,228,000 |
| 5 | Garth Yettick | United States | 1,217,000 |
| 6 | Xiaochuan Zhang | China | 740,000 |
| 7 | John Cernuto | United States | 640,000 |
Huge Turnout For Day 1b of the $600 Ultra Stack
Day 1b of Event #84: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold’em saw another 4,038 players enter the mix but only 504 of those starters had chips requiring bagging and tagging at the end of 20 half-hour levels.
Argentina’s Andres Korn (520,000) may not be one of the biggest stacks left in the field but he is one of the most experience players. Korn has over $3.3 million in live poker tournament cashes and a WOP bracelet to show for his unwavering dedication to the game.
PokerNews will verify the chip count of the overnight chip leader Rohit Hukmani, who, according to the WSOP, crammed 4,125,000 chips into his overnight chip bag. Hukmani would have almost twice as many chips as anyone else in the field if that is the case.
Some of the other players to look out for on Day 2 from this flight include Jaka Coaching student Casey Glick (1,645,000), and bracelet winners Anthony Denove (685,000), Patrick Moulder (445,000), Harrison Gimbel (355,000), and Dan Heimiller (270,000).
Day 2 kicks off at 1:00 p.m. local time on July 9, with 788 players returning to their seats to play 17 more levels or until only five players remain.
Event #84: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold’em Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rohit Hukmani | United States | 4,125,000 | 165 |
| 2 | Vinay Gautam | United States | 1,910,000 | 76 |
| 3 | Micah Trexler | United States | 1,800,000 | 72 |
| 4 | Paul Bausch | United States | 1,690,000 | 68 |
| 5 | Casey Glick | United States | 1,645,000 | 66 |
| 6 | Joseph Larson | United States | 1,630,000 | 65 |
| 7 | Leonardo Drago | Singapore | 1,605,000 | 64 |
| 8 | Sungwoo Tae | United States | 1,565,000 | 63 |
| 9 | Oleksii Haievskyi | Ukraine | 1,500,000 | 60 |
| 10 | Howard Smith | United Kingdom | 1,445,000 | 58 |
Only 136 Won Their Flips on Day 1 of the $1K Flip & Go
Event #85: $1,000 Flip & Go No-Limit Hold’em Presented by GGPoker drew in 1,088 entrants for its flip stage, with 136 of those flippers progressed to Day 2, where the event continues as a traditional No-Limit Hold’em tournament.
The event is popular not only because of its fun, unique format, but also because it essentially bypasses grinding out a Day 1; all Day 1 survivors return to their seats with a min-cash locked in.
Unsurprisingly, this event attracted some of poker’s biggest names. Jason Wheeler, Chance Kornuth, Patrick Leonard, Scott Seiver, Chris Hunichen, and Shannon Shorr are just a handful of stellar names to look out for when PokerNews‘ coverage of this event begins on July 9.
If you want to see who wins this event, return to PokerNews from 11:00 a.m. local time on July 9 because that’s when the cards are back in the air. Play will continue until only one player remains.
What to Expect on Day 43 of the 2024 WSOP
Day 43 of the 2024 WSOP sees the Main Event continue whittling down its monster-sized field. Some 3,617 players will return to the Horseshoe and Paris, packing out all available space. We won’t see the bubble burst on Day 3 of the Big Dance, but it’s likely we shall get somewhere near.
While the Main Event is in action, Event #83: $1,500 Eight Game Mix will crown its champion, with Event #85: $1,000 Flip & Go No-Limit Hold’em presented by GGPoker doing the same.
Event #84: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold’em sees its Day 2 take place. The plan is to play 17 levels or down to five players, whichever happens first. With 788 players still in the hunt, we’d wager on the former.
Two new events begin on July 9. At 10:00 a.m. local time, Event #86: $1,000 Mystery Bounty No-Limit Hold’em, a brand-new event for 2024, shuffles up and deals. Two hours later, Event #87: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em commences. Alex Keating is the reigning champion, having navigated his way through 812 opponents to capture the event’s bracelet and $701,688 top prize.
