Never miss a Sunday? For many it’s a traditional day of rest, but most poker players know better. Online players may know it as the day when most of the biggest prizes are up for grabs, but for those at the World Series of Poker there’s no let-up when it comes to opportunities to win the big money.
On any given Sunday you’re gonna win or you’re gonna lose. Let’s take a look and see who’s starting the week on a high, and who caught a case of the Sunday blues.
What do you get the man who has everything?
Or, what do you get the man who has a WSOP Circuit Online ring, a PGT title, an MSPT title and is the reigning WPT World Champion?
The answer, as Daniel Sepiol now knows, is a WSOP winner’s bracelet. Sepiol won over $5M in last year’s WPT World Championship, having outmaneuvered one of the toughest final tables you’ll ever see. And on Sunday he added a WSOP title to his rapidly growing resume, taking down $305,849 in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout after a comeback for the ages.
The Shootout format all-but-ensures a talent-stacked final table, as each player making it to Day 3 has to have conquered two tables already. And so it proved, with the likes of multiple WSOP-winners Jeremy Ausmus (4th, $109,071) and Daniel Strelitz (5th, $81,298) standing in his way. Yet it was during the heads-up duel with Robert Natividad (2nd, $203,889) of the Philippines that Sepiol would face his greatest challenge.
Outstacked by 2-to-1, Sepiol did his best to make some moves to even the score, but pushed one bluff too far and got picked off by Natividad. That left Sepiol at a huge 17-to-1 chip disadvantage, but he refused to throw in the towel.
"It doesn't feel good, especially when you just bluffed off your entire stack,” Sepiol said after he’d completed his epic comeback, “but I played my stack that was in front of me, and just tried to make the best decisions." Watch our hand of the day, at the top of this page, to see how it all came together.
3 in 3: Troha hits the PLO hat-trick
Seeing Sean Troha’s name at the top of the PLO chip counts is becoming an annual tradition. To say the Ohio native has form when it comes to the four-card game would be an understatement, seeing as he won the $10K PLO Championship in 2022, followed by the $1.5K PLO bracelet in 2023.
It seems Troha’s added another string to his bow, as he’s just taken down the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Championship for $536,713. Yep, he’s now a beast at the split pot version of the game, too. Good news for him, bad news for the people of Omaha (the game, not the city), especially as his plans for the rest of the series include playing “almost any PLO event.”
“I imagine I’ll be back next year,” Troha said after his win. Traditions are traditions, after all.
Gladiators going for gold
The $300 Gladiators of Poker is certainly the cheapest direct path to a WSOP title, but it’s a crowded one. Its four starting flights have now been and gone, the field has been cut down and all remaining players return on Monday for the combined Day 2. So that leaves only… 754.
Last year’s winner, Jason Simon, picked up close to half a million dollars for the win, so the prize at the end of this year’s road is likely to be one of - if not the - best returns on investment at 2024’s WSOP. But whoever gets there is sure going to have to earn it. 17 x 40-minute levels are scheduled for Day 2, with Tuesday’s Day 3 expected to produce a winner.
Over five thousand Gladiators played the final Day 1 on Sunday, including two with first-hand experience of playing for all the marbles: 2006 WSOP Champion Jamie Gold and the UK’s Audley Harrison. Neither made it through the bloodbath to Day 2, but we expect to see both cropping up in more events this summer. Should Harrison win a WSOP bracelet we’re not sure it will be his favorite piece of jewelry; after all, he does already own an Olympic gold medal from his victory in the 2000 Sydney summer games. What for, you ask? Super Heavyweight boxing. If he's at your table, maybe give him an extra few seconds before you call the clock on him?
Photo of the day
The Great Las Vegas Gun Show takes place later this week over at the Convention Center, but for our money WSOP VP Jack Effel is a one-man mobile gun show all on his own.
Hand of the day
Daniel Sepiol had to fight his way back from a disastrous deficit in the $1,500 Shootout, but fight back he did, eventually gaining the upper hand and putting away the win in style. As recounted by PokerOrg’s Terrance Reid:
With blinds at 250k/500k/500k, Natividad with 
limped the button and Dan Sepiol checked his option with 
.
The flop came 
. Sepiol checked, and Natividad bet 750,000. Sepiol check-raised to 2,300,000. Natividad three-bet to 3,900,000.
Sepiol announced raise but threw out too few chips to do so. He was forced to four-bet to 5,500,000. Natividad five-bet shoved for his entire 16,300,000, and Sepiol basically snap-called to put Natividad at risk.
The turn 
and river 
gave Sepiol the flush to complete the comeback and win his first WSOP bracelet to go along with $305,849.
Tweets of the day
The WSOP has made a helpful tweak to the late registration process.
And a reminder that, whether you win or lose, always celebrate/commiserate responsibly.
The day in numbers
99
Players remaining in the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller. Late registration runs to the end of the first level of Day 2, if you’ve got a spare $25K lying around and time to kill.
16
Players who made it to the final round of the $1.5K Shootout. How does 960 entries boil down to 16 in a Shootout format? Whoever did the math for this one deserves a bracelet just for crunching the numbers.
21
Years since Sammy Farha lost the WSOP Main Event to Chris Moneymaker. Farha is currently chip leader in the $1,500 Big O (see below).
Results
Event #23: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Sepiol | $305,849 |
| 2 | Robert Natividad | $203,889 |
| 3 | James Davidson | $148,196 |
| 4 | Jeremy Ausmus | $109,071 |
| 5 | Daniel Strelitz | $81,298 |
| 6 | Richard Dixon | $61,380 |
| 7 | Sean Ragozzini | $46,948 |
| 8 | Scott Ball | $36,385 |
| 9 | Aaron Pinson | $28,577 |
Event #24: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sean Troha | $536,713 |
| 2 | Tyler Brown | $357,807 |
| 3 | Joao Simao Peres | $247,874 |
| 4 | Yuri Dzivielevski | $175,321 |
| 5 | Robert Tanita | $126,662 |
| 6 | Tsz Shing | $93,512 |
| 7 | Brad Ruben | $70,585 |
| 8 | Luis Velador | $54,499 |
Ongoing events
Event #20: $300 Gladiators of Poker No-Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Heimiller | 3,875,000 |
| 2 | Nao Yang | 3,220,000 |
| 3 | Caleb Levesque | 3,145,000 |
| 4 | Giovanny Rodriguez Ocampo | 3,010,000 |
| 5 | Thomas Osmun | 2,780,000 |
| 6 | Rami Hammoud | 2,760,000 |
| 7 | Charles Jones | 2,690,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 23 | Roberto Romanello | 2,200,000 |
| 68 | Michael Moncek | 1,575,000 |
| 133 | Dan Lowery | 1,190,000 |
| 303 | Men Nguyen | 800,000 |
| 332 | Conrad Simpson | 750,000 |
| 495 | Barry Greenstein | 525,000 |
Event #25: $3,000 Limit Hold'em 6-Handed (Final 10)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Vampan | 2,470,000 |
| 2 | Frank Yakubson | 1,650,000 |
| 3 | Daniel Maczuga | 1,500,000 |
| 4 | Lucas Wagner | 940,000 |
| 5 | Roland Israelashvili | 875,000 |
| 6 | Robert Wells | 675,000 |
| 7 | Daniel Budovsky | 590,000 |
| 8 | Nick Caltabiano | 565,000 |
| 9 | Yi Klassen | 545,000 |
| 10 | Daniel Idema | 130,000 |
Event #26: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samuel Laskowitz | 1,211,000 |
| 2 | Chino Rheem | 1,101,000 |
| 3 | Noel Rodriguez | 1,099,000 |
| 4 | Dario Sammartino | 1,030,000 |
| 5 | Galen Hall | 1,026,000 |
| 6 | Dean Lyall | 983,000 |
| 7 | Alex Queen | 910,000 |
| 8 | Ognyan Dimov | 866,000 |
| 9 | Phil Ivey | 838,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 13 | Dan Smith | 719,000 |
| 21 | Justin Bonomo | 595,000 |
| 22 | Jason Koon | 589,000 |
| 24 | Stephen Chidwick | 573,000 |
| 26 | Kristen Foxen | 535,000 |
| 27 | Chance Kornuth | 531,000 |
| 29 | Daniel Negreanu | 482,000 |
| 46 | Martin Kabrhel | 366,000 |
Event #27: $1,500 Big O
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sammy Farha | 590,000 |
| 2 | Scott Bohlman | 579,000 |
| 3 | Mehmet Cetinkaya | 574,000 |
| 4 | Damjan Radanov | 520,000 |
| 5 | Qinghai Pan | 499,000 |
| 6 | Artem Bilous | 494,000 |
| 7 | Frederic Normand | 487,000 |
| 8 | Philip Tanner | 485,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 34 | Calvin Anderson | 335,000 |
| 42 | Michael Mizrachi | 301,000 |
| 64 | Brad Ruben | 213,000 |
| 88 | Todd Brunson | 176,000 |
| 127 | Mike Matusow | 111,000 |
Bracelet winners
- Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion – Asher Conniff (USA)
- Event #2: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em – Jose Garcia (USA)
- Event #3: $500 Kickoff No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout – Daniel Willis (UK)
- Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better (8-Handed) – James Chen (USA)
- Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions - Malcolm Trayner (Australia)
- Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship – Darius Samual (UK)
- Event #7: $1,500 Dealer's Choice – 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 Hold’em - 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 (USA)
- Event #22: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw (6-Handed) - Aaron Cummings (USA)
- Event #23: Event #23: $1,500 SHOOTOUT No-Limit Hold'em - Dan Sepiol (USA)
- Event #24: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship - Sean Troha (USA)
Coming up on Day #14
Two weeks in, that winners’ list above is already packed with first-time winners and repeat offenders, and is only going to get longer in the next 24 hours. Canada’s Daniel Idema is the only bracelet-holder among the 10 still fighting in the $3,000 Limit Hold’em event, sitting on a baby stack at the bottom of the chip counts (130,000). David Vamplan (2,470,000) is the chip leader going into Day 3, which will play to a winner who will receive a first prize of $148,635.
Over in the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller there are 10 hours of play to be had, kicking off at noon, as 99 players aim to make it through to Day 3. As expected there’s a Who’s Who of elite players in the mix, including the likes of Justin Bonomo (21st, 595,000), Jason Koon (22nd, 589,000), Stephen Chidwick (24th, 573,000) and Daniel Negreanu (29th, 482,000).
Samuel Laskowitz is currently top of the pile with 1,211,000 chips, while Phil Ivey will be coming back to a top 10 spot with a stack of 838,000.
232 of 1,555 entries will be returning for Day 2 of the $1,500 Big O event, led by the familiar face of Sam Farha. The 2003 Main Event runner-up has a healthy 590,000 chips, good for 98 big blinds, while the chasing pack contains some big names including Calvin Anderson (335,000), Michael Mizrachi (301,000) and Todd Brunson (176,000).
Back in the arena, 754 Gladiators will be returning for the combined Day 2 in event #20: $300 Gladiators of Poker, while two events begin on Monday: the $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em event starts at 10am, with the $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship commencing at 2pm.
Both are scheduled to run for three days, and as always we’ll bring you the latest news, big hands and updates in our daily briefings (we never miss a Monday, either).
Day #13 gallery
