The wait is over! Day 1 of the 2024 World Series of Poker is in the books, and the omens are looking good for another record-breaking year.
For all those noble players on a quest to slay the dragons of poker fate and find their fortune, this year’s events kicked off with a real life, honest-to-goodness knight. Sir David Beckham or Sir Lewis Hamilton would have done a great job, we’re sure, but in the end the WSOP organizers went for someone a little closer to home: Jonathan Marchessault of the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
The ‘Original Misfit’ Marchessault uttered the iconic ‘Shuffle up and deal’ to get the 55th WSOP underway. And while he may be a reigning NHL champion, Marchessault is less experienced when it comes to poker. Luckily his fellow Canadian Daniel Negreanu was on hand for a quick strategy lesson to help him tell his hockey sticks from a pair of 7s. Check out our Video of the Day below to grab a quick primer yourself.
Champ-on-Champ crime
The first bracelet event to get started on Day 1 was the $5K Champions Reunion, which saw 22 former WSOP Main Event champs join the fray. Each has a bounty on their head to the tune of a free entry to the $10K Main Event, which means we’re sure to be seeing Johnny Chan take his seat in the Big Dance. Incredibly, the ‘87-’88 back-to-back winner knocked out Chris Moneymaker, who got it in good with pocket kings only to fall to Chan’s 
when an ace came on the flop. Talk about keeping it in the family. This is how that went down:
But it looks like there may have been other forces at work.
The 493 entries have created a prize pool of over $2M - not including the 22x $10K bounties - and the 96 remaining players heading into Day 2 are led by 2016 World Champion Qui Nguyen (663,000). Other former Main Event champs still in the hunt include Dan Harrington (1995 – 395,000), Huck Seed (1996 – 88,000), Jamie Gold (2006 – 331,000), Greg Merson (2012 – 209,000) and Joe McKeehen (2015 – 139,000).
Reigning champion Daniel Weinman (269,000) is also still in, having doubled up late on Day 1 against Greg Merson. "I'm really good at all-ins,” Weinman was overheard to say, adding “I'm really bad at the actual poker-playing part."
Not the best day to order room service?
Rang down to the desk for more towels? Waiting for that cocktail waitress to come back with your drinks? You might be waiting a while, because it seemed like every casino employee in town was signed up for the $500 Casino Employee event.
Participation in this one has ballooned recently, from around 400 just a few years ago to just over a thousand last year, to 1,189 in 2024. There’s $499,380 in the pot and, heading into Day 2, 179 players left to go for it.
We’ve got to be honest here, it feels like the definition of ‘casino employee’ is getting a little stretched. Case in point: we know Kyna England as the former MSPT Player of the Year, plus one of our favorite contestants from Game of Gold - we’re not 100% sure she’s actually been moonlighting as a dishwasher at the Bellagio. But then, Kyna busted late on Day 1 (as did our own TJ Reid, who we believe works for us and not a casino), so I guess we’ll turn a blind eye on this occasion.
Caleb O'Donnell leads the pack into Day 2, and spare a thought for Christopher Surgen who will be returning for Day 2 with a stack of... 1. Never has the saying 'a chip and a chair' been so relevant.
Tweet of the day
Fresh from penning an 8-part guide for PokerOrg on how to get healthy for the WSOP, TJ Jurkiewicz is giving great aftercare. This is solid gold advice if you're looking to stay healthy during the grueling summer.
Hand of the day
You might know the situation: it’s late, one of the last hands of the night, and you look down to find a big pocket pair. You only hope someone will give you some action.
That’s what happened to three players at the same table, in the same hand, at the end of Day 1 in the Champions Reunion. All the chips – approx. 90 big blinds – went in preflop, with Qutami covering both his opponents and Wang the shortstack…
Danny Qutami: 
Yilong Wang: 
Liu Bin: 
You'd want the red aces in this scenario, right? But then came all the clubs.
Board: 
Wang walked away with the main pot of 70 bbs, while Bin took the side pot. Qutami went from hero to zero and was out shortly after with nothing but a story to tell.
Video of the day
If you’re overbetting the flop heads-up by 2.5x, you may be new to the game or a millionaire with money to burn. Or both.
The day in numbers
4%
Percentage of the field in the Champions Reunion who have previously won the Main Event
$408,468
First place prize money in the Champions Reunion. 74 of the remaining 96 players will finish in the money
1,189
The biggest field in the Casino Employees event for 18 years
Ongoing events
Event #1 $5,000 Champions Reunion
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qui Nguyen | 663,000 |
| 2 | Xiaohu Liu | 661,000 |
| 3 | Asher Conniff | 641,000 |
| 4 | Yuzu Wang | 574,000 |
| 5 | Yuzhou Yin | 567,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 15 | Dan Harrington | 395,000 |
| 24 | Jamie Gold | 331,000 |
| 26 | Maria Ho | 318,000 |
| 34 | Daniel Weinman | 269,000 |
| 46 | Greg Merson | 209,000 |
| 57 | Daniel Negreanu | 168,000 |
| 69 | Joe McKeehen | 139,000 |
| 90 | Huck Seed | 88,000 |
Check the full chip counts on the WSOP site.
Event #2 $500 Casino Employees No Limit Hold’em
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caleb O'Donnell | 583,000 |
| 2 | Bryan Lapham | 529,000 |
| 3 | Juan Latuff | 479,000 |
| 4 | Johnathan Sanchez | 468,000 |
| 5 | Willie Coleman | 451,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 85 | Nikki Limo | 140,000 |
| 108 | Lukas Robinson | 110,000 |
| 161 | Mike Holtz | 47,000 |
Check the full chip counts on the WSOP site.
What to look for on Day #2
Ever checked your seat draw and winced? Spare a thought for those in the Champions Reunion who will be sitting down today with no fewer than three former World Champions. Table 582 will play host to 2006 winner Jamie Gold and 1996 winner Huck Seed, plus 2016 champ and current chip-leader Qui Nguyen.
Elsewhere in the same event, Game of Gold alumni Maria Ho and David Williams will be table buddies, as will Daniels Negreanu and Weinman. No soft tables here.
Two other events get started today, with the $500 WSOP Kickoff NLHE Freezeout from 10am and the $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo (8-handed) from 2pm.
There's no live feed yet but that kicks in for the final table of the Champions Reunion on Thursday.
We’ll bring you all the latest news and updates in our daily recap tomorrow, as well as the biggest stories straight from the WSOP all day, every day.
Bracelet winners
Not yet! Check back soon.
WSOP 2024 Day #1 gallery
