The WSOP is all about the bracelets. But put the gold to one side and the numbers provide the headlines. The number of players (stretched out as far as the eye can see) and the eye-watering payouts. One of PokerOrgâs most watched videos of all time (with a reach of over 53 million, over 1.1 million engagements and close to 15K comments) is the stack of Main Event money being brought onto the TV set last year, guarded by security. All fake, of course, but what a spectacle!
This yearâs numbers will ramp up as we move through the series, but Day #12 saw the first payout over $1 million, and it was won by ICU nurse Brek Schutten. Elsewhere, Phil Hellmuth bagged a decent stack for Day 2 of the $3K Limit Hold'em event and is calling for #Positivity in his hunt for his 18th bracelet.
Hold the ambulance!
The biggest prize of the 2024 WSOP so far came in the $25K High Roller, where a swath of big-name players put their hats in the ring, creating a field of 272 runners and a first prize of $1,405,641. They were all licking their wounds well before the final table started on Saturday night. Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey both busted before the money; Andrew Lichtenberger ($64,249) went out in 22nd and Alex Foxen ($64,249) joined him on the rail in 18th.
Santhosh Suvarna was the wildcard. The player whoâs made his name on high-stakes cash shows and streams like High Stakes Poker and Hustler Casino Liveâs Million Dollar Game has proved he can hold his own even when you canât just keep rebuying, quietly racking up close to $8 million in tournament winnings since he started playing seriously in 2022. He went out in 13th for $79,084, or one mid-sized bet in his more usual games.
Japanâs Masashi Oya has a very similar number on The Hendon Mob. When the final table started, he was just $30K in front of Suvarna, and was looking for his second bracelet after winning the $100K buy-in at WSOP Paradise. He had to settle for sixth and $229,002, which takes his Hendon Mob over the $8 million mark. He couldnât win a race when it mattered, blanking with 
against Taylor von Kriegenberghâs 
.
Kriegenberghâs challenge ended in fourth and ICU nurse Schutten went on to win his first bracelet, his biggest career win to date ($1,405,641), and the biggest prize of the 2024 WSOP so far. He bagged it with 
that was always ahead of Tyler Stafmanâs 
.
Schutten might be focusing more on poker these days, but he still pulls the odd nursing shift, and weâd like to think this is karma for his commitment to helping those who really need it.
Dreams come true at the WSOP
Put your big names to one side for now. The real beauty of the WSOP is that anyone can play on the biggest stage of them all, for pokerâs biggest prizes. 574 hopefuls entered the $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw event and by the time 568 had been shaken out, it was odds-on that the event would make a dream come true for one player. Only Sean Yu had won a bracelet before. Heather Alcorn, 2019 Dealer of the Year, was in the mix.
Alcorn fell just short of adding a bracelet to her WSOP Circuit ring, losing to a three-outer from Alexander Wilkinson. Alcorn stood pat on the second draw, with Wilkinson drawing one on his third draw. He found the 
to send Alcorn to the rail.
Alcorn: 
Wilkinson: 
Wilkinson was taken out by eventual winner Aaron Cummings, who popped his WSOP cherry. Cummings has 38 cashes dating back to 2008, and this win is bigger than all of those combined. As quoted on WSOP.com, he said after winning, âWe had a blast; I just ran the best...There's not a whole lot of poker [in Montana], so I just sneak down here every once in a while for fun.â
Tice shot, sharpshooters remain in Shootout
Meanwhile, the $1,500 Shootout got down to the final 16. And, while thereâs not usually a whole lot of anti-sweating going on at the WSOP, Jeremy Becker will have been very happy to see Landon Tice go out on Day 2. Those two have a big 100% crossbook bet going on at the moment and weâre covering that live throughout the summer. The two have been trading blows for the first 12 days of the series, and Ticeâs cash in the Shootout extends his slight lead. Weâve not had a knockdown yet, but had Tice made Day 3, we would have been close to one.
Erick Lindgren, Espen Jorstad, Scott Seiver and Toby Lewis were names who couldnât find a second win to get them to Day 3. Maria Ho joined them on the rail, laid bare the agony of her bustout and had some great words for every player currently nursing wounds in Las Vegas.
There are some sharpshooters left in the final 16. Darius Samual raised some eyebrows when he admitted heâd sunk half his bankroll into the $25K Heads-Up Championship, and many more when he went on to win it. Jeremy Ausmus has six bracelets already and probably cares more about getting his seventh than the money. Scott Ball (2), Daniel Strelitz (2) and Vitor Dzivielevski (1) round out the players looking to add to their bracelets.
Brad Albrinck doesnât have a bracelet but will be looking for one to go with his three Circuit rings. Daniel Sepiol is also after his first but his name might ring a bell. He won the 2023 WPT World Championship for $5,282,954.
The final 16 here will combine and play out to the winner in standard tournament format. Which is a shameâwe prefer David Williamsâ idea.
Hands of the day
1. Schutten v Stafman
Brek Schutten had already experienced the agony of finishing second and missing out on a WSOP bracelet back in 2022 when he lost out to Jake Schindler in the $50K High Roller. He was behind to Tyler Stafman heads-up in the early hours of Sunday morning when the following hand went down.
Schutten raised preflop with 
and got a call only to see the dreamlike 
flop. The fact that Stafman had paired his ace with 
made it even better. Stafman bet 1,500,000 on the flop, Schutten check-raised to 3,500,000 and Stafman called.
Schutten checked the 
turn and snapped when Stafman moved all-in, drawing dead. That left Stafman with 11 big blinds, and although he doubled twice after, it was third-time lucky for Schutten.
2. Negreanu v Martinelli
This is an old hand (from June 5) but some new information came to light on Saturday and it needs re-airing.
It was in the $10K Dealers Choice, with just 10 players left, and the game was Limit Omaha High. Michael Martinelli raised from the cutoff and Daniel Negreanu called from a short stack. Negreanu check-called the 
flop and the turn. Martinelli bet again on the 
river and Negreanu folded with one single 5K chip left. Good fold? Ruh rohâŠ
Tweet of the day
The WSOP is serious stuff for a lot of people, but itâs always good to remember that the reason we all play poker is because itâs fun. And this table was having a ball in the $300 Gladiators of Poker event.
Video of the day
Looking at your hole cards is overrated.
The day in numbers
$1,405,641
The biggest prize yet at the 2024 WSOP, in the $25K High Roller won by Brek Schutten
13,778
The field in the $300 Gladiators of Poker with one Day 1 flight to come. Last year's total was 23,088.
11
These days, weâre up in arms at the prospect of playing 10-handed in the smaller buy-in events at the WSOP. One word: Snowflakes.
12
The number of bracelets held by the final 16 in the $1,500 Shootout: Jeremy Ausmus (6), Scott Ball (2), Daniel Strelitz (2), Vitor Dzivielevski (1) and Darius Samual (1). Who will win the 13th on June 13th?
Results
Event #21: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (6-Handed)
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brek Schutten | $1,405,641 |
| 2 | Tyler Stafman | $938,775 |
| 3 | Michael Rocco | $639,620 |
| 4 | Taylor von Kriegenbergh | $444,766 |
| 5 | Brandon Wilson | $315,771 |
| 6 | Masashi Oya | $229,002 |
| 7 | Ognyan Dimov | $169,719 |
| 8 | Chongxian Yang | $128,604 |
Event #22: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw (6-Handed)
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron Cummings | $146,516 |
| 2 | Yuichi Kanai | $95,981 |
| 3 | Alexander Wilkinson | $64,256 |
| 4 | Heather Alcorn | $43,984 |
| 5 | Sean Yu | $30,800 |
| 6 | Anthony Lazar | $22,075 |
| 7 | Danny Wong | $16,204 |
| 8 | Steven Gray | $12,188 |
Ongoing events
Event #23: $1,500 SHOOTOUT No-Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Sepiol | 2,880,000 |
| 2 | Alexander Farahi | 2,450,000 |
| 3 | Elia Ahmadian | 2,450,000 |
| 4 | Daniel Strelitz | 2,450,000 |
| 5 | Kyriakos Papadopoulos | 2,445,000 |
| 6 | James Davidson | 2,425,000 |
| 7 | Darius Samual | 2,410,000 |
| 8 | Aaron Pinson | 2,400,000 |
| 9 | Vitor Dzivielevski | 2,400,000 |
| 10 | Matthew Rosen | 2,400,000 |
Event #24: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Tanita | 2,990,000 |
| 2 | Joao Simao | 1,840,000 |
| 3 | Tyler Brown | 1,705,000 |
| 4 | Luis Velador | 1,700,000 |
| 5 | Sterling Lopez | 1,695,000 |
| 6 | Yuri Dzivielevski | 1,275,000 |
| 7 | Joshua Thibodaux | 1,030,000 |
| 8 | Jonathan Cohen | 855,000 |
| 9 | Brad Ruben | 565,000 |
| 10 | Magnus Edengren | 545,000 |
Event #25: $3,000 Limit Hold'em 6-Handed
| 1 | Brian Tate | 327,000 |
| 2 | Alex Keating | 306,000 |
| 3 | Florian Pesce | 294,000 |
| 4 | Jason Daly | 265,000 |
| 5 | Daniel Idema | 230,000 |
| 6 | Jared Bleznick | 226,000 |
| 7 | Xavier Kyablue | 218,000 |
| 8 | Jorge Ufano | 214,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 16 | David "ODB" Baker | 193,000 |
Note: For events with multiple starting flights, weâll bring you chip counts from Day 2 onwards.
Bracelet winners
- Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion â Asher Conniff (USA)
- Event #2: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Holdâem â Jose Garcia (USA)
- Event #3: $500 Kickoff No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout â Daniel Willis (UK)
- Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better (8-Handed) â James Chen (USA)
- Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions - Malcolm Trayner (Australia)
- Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship â Darius Samual (UK)
- Event #7: $1,500 Dealer's Choice â John Hennigan (USA)
- Event #8: $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha (8-Handed) - Bryce Yockey (USA)
- Event #9: $1,500 Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Nick Guagenti (USA)
- Event #10: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship - Scott Seiver (USA)
- Event #11: $1,500 Badugi - David Prociak (USA)
- Event #12: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Holdâem - Simeon Spasov (Bulgaria)
- Event #13: $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship - Robert Mizrachi (USA)
- Event #14: $1,000 Super Turbo Bounty No Limit Hold'em - Thibault Perissat (France)
- Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better - Caleb Furth (USA)
- Event #16: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Brent Hart (USA)
- Event #17: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack - TJ Murphy (USA)
- Event #18: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha - Dylan Weisman (USA)
- Event #19: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship - John Racener (USA)
- Event #21: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (6-Handed) - Brek Schutten
- Event #22: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw (6-Handed) - Aaron Cummings
Coming up on Day #13
Viktor âIsildur1â Blom crashed out right at the death in the $10K PLO Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. He got it in with 
but found himself up against Tyler Brownâs 
. The railbirds couldnât will a ten or enough clubs, and the 
runout saw the remaining 13 bag for Day 3. Joao Simao is in second and looking for his third WSOP bracelet. Brad Ruben is in ninth and after his fifth. Theyâll play to the winner on Sunday.
Spare a thought for Scott Seiver as well. He busted in 24th and, despite winning his fifth bracelet this summer, can never find âhappiness or satisfactionâ. Itâs the eternal burden of the player whoâs now cashed for over $26 million in tournaments.
Brian Rast busted late on in the $3K 6-Handed Limit, leaving 76 runners still fighting. Brian Tate takes the biggest bag through to Day 2, David âODBâ Baker has a stack, and a certain Phil Hellmuth will be cramming some #Positivity before bed. Heâs currently in 24th place and looking to officially come of age in the WSOP with bracelet number 18. Robert Mizrachi has already won one bracelet this summer and is after another here; Erik Seidel is still alive and kicking (just).
The $1,500 Shootout plays out as a standard tournament now, with 16 players left, including Jeremy Ausmus, Daniel Strelitz, and Scott Ball. Thereâs $305,849 up top.
New events starting on Sunday? Thereâs another $25K High Roller, and this oneâs eight-handed. The $1,500 Big O is going to be a lot of fun and the final flight of the $300 Gladiator will bring the masses out.
Day #12 gallery
