In a marquee day at the 2024 WSOP, nine events all had cards in the air (at least for a few hours). They crowned champions (Maksim Pisarenko in the $10K HORSE, Erlend Melsom in the $3,000 Freezout, and George Alexander in the $10K Razz), whittled fields in tournaments of many disciplines (the $3,000 9-Game, $5,000 6-Max and $1,000 Seniors Event) and started the run on both the largest buy-in and (probably) largest field competitions this summer.
Day 1A survivors in the currently 2,802-entrant $1,500 Millionaire Maker have a very long way to go to before that guaranteed millionaire is made. The more bijou $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball still brought 371 entrants to the tables on its starting day, continuing the trend of edging ahead of field sizes in 2023.
Meanwhile, the $250,000 High Roller, the highest buy-in event of the WSOP, attracted 58 entries and heads to Day 2 with Sean Winter topping the chip counts. Late registration remains open for two more levels, but the player list is already such that it’s hard to imagine which of poker’s nosebleed-stakes glitterati is still left in the queue.
‘Mr. Min-Cash’ beats ‘The Phoenix’
The minimum number of players for a poker game had Day 5 of the 181-runner $10K HORSE Championship all to themselves: Maksim Pisarenko vs. Mike Leah heads up for the bracelet and the $399,988 first prize. Having seen off final table opposition on Day 4 from Lawrence Brandt, Steve Zolotow and Benny Glaser, the pair of mixed-game pros duked it out on their own extra day starting with near-level stacks.
Pisarenko took it down in four hours to claim his first bracelet (especially sweet as he had started to be ribbed as ‘Mr. Min-cash’ by his mates); Leah took $266,658 for second place. Had Leah been asked at the start of Day 4 if he’d settle for second, he’d have snap-agreed; he returned with just two big bets and doubled his way back into contention, earning a nickname of his own: ‘The Phoenix’.
Erlend Melsom claims victory in the $3K Freezout; might get more into NLH
The classic one-player-one-shot freezout format has proven it still has some cachet as 1,252 entrants tried their hand at Event #49: $3,000 Freezeout NLH. It was Norwegian (and PLO specialist) Erlend Melsom who claimed his first WSOP bracelet – and first live title – after seeing off Nikolay Yosifov in second. The $523,195 top prize was, however, one thin river card away from being handed to Yosifov heads up (see Hand of the day); it’s tough to win poker tournaments without a bit of help from the deck now and then.
Of the cashers, notables include finalists David Stamm (5th for $132,053), Maxx Coleman (6th for $98,128) and mid-pack finishers Martin Jacobson, Punnat Punsri, Christopher Brewer, and Stoyan Madanzhiev.
George Alexander fends off Ivey and Negreanu to win Razz Championship
It’s been a long time coming for George Alexander, serial WSOP finalist with seven top-10 finishes under his belt but no bracelets on his arm – until this year. He defeated Dzmitry Urbanovich heads up to win the $10,000 Razz Championship and $282,443, seeing off a rarified field of 118 low Stud specialists.
Among them were Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu, who both fell just shy of the final table (in 9th and 11th place respectively), John Racener (6th for $50,915), Brandon Shack-Harris (5th for $67,783) and a full-of-beans Ren Lin (3rd for $130,447; see Video of the day).
Make way for the Super High Rollers
The $250K High Roller has as its buy-in what would be a decent first prize in most other tournaments and attracts the sort of field that is undaunted by such a price tag. Day 1 saw 58 entries, on track to beat the 69 from 2023, and has already built a prize pool of nearly $14.5 million.
Sean Winter leads overnight with 4,475,000 chips, with Adrian Mateos just behind him (4,210,000); top ten stacks are also currently held by Leon Sturm, Jason Koon, and Chance Kornuth. Further down the chip counts are Nick Schulman, Dan Smith, Daniel Negreanu, Chris Hunichen, Talal Shakerchi and Espen Jorstad – although it would be easier to list players no one’s ever heard of (there aren’t any).
Justin Bonomo was the beneficiary of a huge three-way all-in pot against Isaac Haxton and Jason Koon (his aces vs. kings and queens) which put him in good shape relatively early on; he ends Day 1 with 2,600,000 chips. New players (or single re-enterers) have two levels on Day 2 during which to join this most elite of WSOP events.
Seniors prove endurance as Wolpert leads Day 4
Just three tables remain in the 7,954-entry $1,000 Seniors NLH Championship after Day 3 saw off (and paid out) places 208 ($4,907) to 27 ($23,077). In the lead is Marc Wolpert with 17,900,000 chips (72 big blinds at the returning level), ahead of Andrew Bradshaw (14,700,000), and Shawn Stuart (12,275,000). Also returning for Day 4 is double bracelet winner Mark Seif, whose composure was not as shaken as it may have appeared after his hand was declared dead earlier in a controversial situation.
Amongst those exiting on Day 3 were Greg Raymer, Samuel Kobrinsky, Bill Chen, Shawn Rice and Farzad Bonyadi. The soon-to-be-crowned (braceleted?) champion will take home $677,326 from a $6,999,520 total prize pool.
The business end of the $5K 6-Max and $3K 9-Game
Both Events #52 and #53 have now entered official ‘deep run’ territory with Day 3 set in both. The $5,000 6-Handed NLH brings 37 players, led by Turbo Nguyen, back to fight for a spot at the final (and, eventually, the $656,747 top prize) at 12:00 on Friday. Among the contenders are Georgios Sotiropoulos (currently in third), Jake Schwartz, and David Coleman.
The $3,000 9-Game Mixed (2-7, A-5 and Badugi) saw the bubble burst on Day 2, with just 16 players left, now guaranteed at least $9,004 in prize money. Leading the way for Day 3 is Ashish Gupta with 2,629,000 chips, a solid margin ahead of his nearest rival Adam Friedman (1,814,000). Also still in the running in this game-of-nearly-all-games are Yuri Dzivielevski, Scott Bohlman, Phil Hui and Ben Yu.
Photos of the day
Spare a thought for the sheer tonnage of chips that's going to be needed in the Millionaire Maker, which has already brought in over 2,800 entries on Day 1A.
Meanwhile, Caitlin Comeskey makes her own weather:
Hand of the day
Erlend Melsom’s bracelet in the $3K Freezeout and half a million dollars in prize money hinged, at one point heads up, on the turn of a river card. Nikolay Yosifov had Melsom all in with 
holding 
. The board ran out giving Yosifov a set of kings – but at the same time brought in the rivered broadway straight for Melsom: 
. Emotions (of very different sorts) were clearly displayed as the chip lead swung yet again, this time permanently towards the winner.
Tweets of the day
From Barny Boatman. At least in the running for Tweet of most days.
Video of the day
Ren Lin runs deep in the $10K Razz Tournament (eventually finishing third). There’s laughing, there’s crying, there’s singing, there’s miming fishing. A lot going on.
The day in numbers
$5,000,000
The first prize the $250K Super High Roller winner is likely to receive, based on last year’s entries (which look to be surpassed in 2024)
480
The number of dollars shy of $7 million the $1,000 Seniors Championship’s prize pool is
90
Seconds before Mark Seif's opponent called the clock on him on Day 2 of the Seniors
Coming up on Day #26
It's another full house for Day #26, with more would-be millionaires gearing up for a shot at the $1,500 Millionaire Maker’s Day 1B and five events restarting where they left off. Several of this year’s WSOP tournaments – including the $250K High Roller (restarting with Sean Winter topping the chip counts, with late registration still open) – qualify as makers of millionaires, but only one calls itself out directly, and most of the tournament tables in action are going to be dedicated to it.
Elsewhere, the $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball brings back 103 players from its 371 starting field, led by Ryan Ko with 343,000 chips. The bracelet in this event comes with a $177,045 first prize, and fighting Ko for it will be the likes of Shaun Deeb (currently in seventh place with 254,000), Chad Eveslage (243,000), Julien Martini (221,000) and Ari Engel (181,000).
Starting fresh (as fresh as players can be, after 26 days of World Series action already) are the $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty Freezeout and WSOP Online Event #10: NLH Monsterstack.
Day #25 gallery
Results
Event #45: $10,000 HORSE Championship (8-Handed)
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maksim Pisarenko |
$399,988 |
| 2 | Mike Leah |
$266,658 |
| 3 | Lawrence Brandt |
$183,049 |
| 4 | Steve Zolotow |
$128,863 |
| 5 | Benny Glaser |
$93,094 |
| 6 | Maria Ho |
$69,063 |
| 7 | Robert Wells |
$52,651 |
| 8 |
Patrick Moulder |
$41,281 |
Full results on WSOP
Event #49: $3,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Erlend Melsom |
$523,195 |
| 2 | Nikolay Yosifov |
$348,784 |
| 3 | Ben Hoy |
$249,005 |
| 4 | Jonathan Schwartz |
$180,127 |
| 5 | David Stamm |
$132,053 |
| 6 | Maxx Coleman |
$98,128 |
| 7 | Joseph Carden |
$73,925 |
| 8 |
Uri Reichenstein |
$56,472 |
Full results on WSOP
Event #50: $10,000 Razz Championship
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Alexander |
$282,443 |
| 2 | Dzmitry Urbanovich |
$188,296 |
| 3 | Ren Lin |
$130,447 |
| 4 | Hal Rotholz |
$92,774 |
| 5 | Brandon Shack-Harris |
$67,783 |
| 6 | John Racener |
$50,915 |
| 7 | Jared Bleznick |
$39,350 |
| 8 |
Denis Strebkov |
$31,317 |
Full results on WSOP
Ongoing events
Event #46: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marc Wolpert |
17,900,000 |
| 2 | Andrew Bradshaw |
14,700,000 |
| 3 | Shawn Stuart |
12,275,000 |
| 4 | Khang Pham |
10,000,000 |
| 5 | Ahmed Amin |
9,400,000 |
| 6 | Renmei Liu |
8,850,000 |
| 7 | William Byrnes |
8,525,000 |
| 8 |
Ray Devita |
8,525,000 |
| 9 |
Lavern Fross |
8,125,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 18 |
Mark Seif |
3,525,000 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #52: $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turbo Nguyen |
2,700,000 |
| 2 | Lucas Blanco |
2,645,000 |
| 3 | Georgios Sotiropoulos |
2,190,000 |
| 4 | Yang Zhang |
2,170,000 |
| 5 | Nenad Dukic |
2,100,000 |
| 6 | Bogdan Munteanu |
1,800,000 |
| 7 | Jake Schwartz |
1,690,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 13 | Bernd Gleissner |
1,450,000 |
| 16 |
David Coleman |
1,045,000 |
| 23 |
Simon Wiciak |
725,000 |
| 24 |
Dong Chen |
660,000 |
| 31 |
Max Kruse |
520,000 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #53: $3,000 9-Game Mixed (7-Handed)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ashish Gupta |
2,629,000 |
| 2 | Adam Friedman |
1,814,000 |
| 3 | Scott Bohlman |
1,538,000 |
| 4 | Warwick Mirzikinian |
1,420,000 |
| 5 | Yuri Dzivielevski |
1,361,000 |
| 6 | Bradley Jansen |
1,337,000 |
| 7 | Tomasz Gluszko |
1,0070,000 |
| 8 |
Nicholas Julia |
809,000 |
| 9 |
Richard Ashby |
750,000 |
| 10 |
Phil Hui |
700,000 |
| 11 |
Masafumi Iijima |
699,000 |
| 12 |
Ben Yu |
569,000 |
| 13 |
Koray Aldemir |
552,000 |
| 14 |
John Esposito |
550,000 |
| 15 |
Lee Markholt | 350,000 |
| 16 |
Joshua Rhodes |
136,000 |
Event #54: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Day 1A
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ori Elul |
673,000 |
| 2 | Muaaz Gani |
615,000 |
| 3 | Philip Verel |
573,000 |
| 4 | Justin Belforti |
453,500 |
| 5 | Michael Hauptman |
366,000 |
| 6 | Shiina Okamoto |
365,500 |
| 7 | Luis Dorneles |
360,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 15 | Landon Tice |
308,500 |
| 30 |
Melanie Weisner |
268,000 |
| 42 |
Boris Kolev |
239,500 |
| 90 |
Barny Boatman |
183,000 |
| 115 | Martin Jacobson |
169,000 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #55: $250,000 Super High Roller
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sean Winter |
4,475,000 |
| 2 | Adrian Mateos |
4,210,000 |
| 3 | Aram Oganyan |
3,935,000 |
| 4 | Jonathan Jaffe |
3,395,000 |
| 5 | Alex Kulev |
3,020,000 |
| 6 | Leon Sturm |
2,960,000 |
| 7 | Jason Koon |
2,830,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 9 |
Chance Kornuth |
2,690,000 |
| 12 |
Alex Foxen |
2,610,000 |
| 13 |
Justin Bonomo |
2,600,000 |
| 31 |
Nick Schulman |
1,225,000 |
| 32 |
Dan Smith |
1,205,000 |
| 36 |
Daniel Negreanu |
1.025,000 |
| 41 |
Espen Jorstad |
645,000 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #56: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Ko |
343,000 |
| 2 | Mark Roland |
317,000 |
| 3 | Masayoshi Tanaka |
304,000 |
| 4 | Gary Benson |
280,000 |
| 5 | Nicolas Milgrom |
275,000 |
| 6 | Matthew Schreiber |
267,000 |
| 7 | Shaun Deeb |
254,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 9 |
Chad Eveslage |
243,000 |
| 14 |
Julien Martini |
221,000 |
| 20 |
Ari Engel |
181,000 |
| 39 |
Allen Kessler |
135,000 |
| 98 |
Todd Brunson |
32,000 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
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 #20: $300 Gladiators of Poker No-Limit Hold'em - Stephen Winters (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)
- Event #25: $3,000 Limit Hold'em 6-Handed - Daniel Vampan (USA)
- Event #26: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Nick Schulman (USA)
- Event #27: $1,500 Big O - Michael Christ (USA)
- Event #28: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em - Evan Benton (USA)
- Event #29: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship (6-Handed) - Phil Ivey (USA)
- Event #30: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack - Alen Bakovic (Canada)
- Event #31: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed - Nicholas Seward (USA)
- Event #32: $1,500 Seven Card Stud - Richard Ashby (UK)
- Event #33: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack (8-Handed) - Alex Manzano (Chile)
- Event #34: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout - Antonio Galiana (Spain)
- Event #35: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. - Phillip Hui (USA)
- Event #36: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack (8-Handed) – Timur Margolin (Israel)
- Event #37: $10,000 Big O Championship – John Fauver (USA)
- Event #39: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Sergio Aido (Spain)
- Event #40: $1,500 Razz – Scott Seiver (USA)
- Event #41: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot - Xixiang Luo (China)
- Event #42: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship - James Obst (Australia)
- Event #43: $1,500 Mixed: PLO Hi-Lo 8; Omaha Hi-Lo 8; Big O - Magnus Edengren (Sweden)
- Event #44: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Jared Kingery (USA)
- Event #45: $10,000 HORSE Championship - Maksim Pisarenko (Russia)
- Event #47: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em - Chris Hunichen (USA)
- Event #48: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed) - Chris Vitch (USA)
- Event #49: $3,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em - Erlend Melsom (Norway)
- Event #50: $10,000 Razz Championship - George Alexander (USA)
- Event #51: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout - Peter Park (USA)
