Day #7 at the 2024 WSOP will mainly be remembered for DJ Buckley and Valentyn Shabelnyk claiming bounties that equal first prize in the $1,000 Mystery Millions: a million dollars apiece. The 18,409-runner monster of an event is still ongoing, with Jake Brown leading the last two tables.
That doesn’t detract from the excitement of the $10K Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship battle to and through (most of) the final table: Scott Seiver leads Jonathan Cohen, Calvin Anderson and Paul Zappulla into another surprise Day 4. The rest of the players you've heard of are in the $10,000 Dealer's Choice, with late registration in this rarified event open for the first level of Day 2.
Meanwhile the popularity of the 6-Handed format continues to soar, with a record-breaking 2,526 entries generating a $3,372,210 prize pool in Event #12: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em. 197 players remain heading into Day 2, led by China's Quan Zhou, while Eshaan 'Brown Balla' Bhalla sits in fifth.
Mystery Millions Day 3 bounty-hunters aim for 4, 5 or 6 figures
Both of the $1,000,000 bounties might already have been drawn in the $1,000 Mystery Millions, but there are still plenty of chunky prizes lurking in the treasure chest as the first mega-field event of 2024 moves into its Day 3. The smallest envelopes contain $1,000 bounties, good for the buy-in back, while there are still $10,000 and $25,000 bounties in the mix and a couple of six-figure ones, too.
Roberto Romanello has some gameplan advice for the last 18 players when it comes to choosing the right envelope, after sensing ‘the one’ and picking up a bounty worth $500,000:
Leading the pack is Jake Brown, followed by Carson Richards and Michael Miller. The chip counts still feature two bracelet winners, with Pei Li lying in 7th place and Alex Ziskin the short stack. Play resumes at 1pm today. The eventual champion will take home $1,000,000 of their own, and it won't be as quick as opening an envelope.
While reporters lurk by the bounty chest in the hopes of an emotional reaction video to a life-changing amount of prize money, they don’t always get what they want. Valentyn Shabelnyk (pictured) was more interested in getting back to his big blind than putting on a show, as you can watch here in the Mystery Millions recap. He accidentally stole Jeff Platt’s phone, that’s how much his head was in the game.
‘I’m worth more than a dollar’
See how Jared Bleznick viewed his exclusion from the $25K draft this year, according to this deadpan video:
As if to prove his point, he’s demonstrated his Omaha skills by finishing 8th in Event #10: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship for $44,864. This 197-entry event is still running, with four players, led by Scott Seiver, returning for an unscheduled Day 4. Also making the final table, but not the final day, were overnight chip leader Sami Saad El-Dein (5th for $101,853), Benny Glaser (6th for $75,678), and Jake Schwartz (7th for $57,570).
Leknes best at worst-hand poker
10 players remain in Event #11: $1,500 Badugi as Day 2 ended without setting a final table. Norwegian Tobias Leknes holds the chip lead with 2,225,000, a hair’s breadth from nearest rival David Prociak (2,175,000). Brandon Cantu rounds out the top three with 1,825,000, while Tomasz Gluszko and Edward Yam also bring seven-figure stacks through to the final day. Start-of-day chip leader Joseph Wagganer is still in the mix, although with a less healthy 540,000 (limits on return will be 40K/80K).
Entering the DC Universe
It’s easier to list which poker superstars didn’t make Day 2 of the $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship. Commiserations to Brian Rast, Shaun Deeb, Allen Kessler, Viktor Blom, Julien Martini and Jen Harman.
With a level of Day 2 left to register, the 124-strong field only needs seven more entrants to surpass last year’s, although it is a brave player who decides last-minute to take on chip leader George Alexander (277,000), Erick Lindgren (217,000), Nick Schulman (184,000), Phil Ivey (171,500), Daniel Negreanu (159,500) and more prior bracelet winners than you can shake a stick at (including yesterday’s $5K PLO winner Bryce Yockey, who bagged 144,500).
Even the bottom five chip stacks in this event all belong to bracelet-holders. This is one tough field. The 79 returning tomorrow (plus any late registrants) will find no easy spots, but this event will make for some excellent railing.
Photo of the day
Hand of the day
John Racener talks us through his thought process as he makes a big call against Scott Seiver in the $10K Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better:
Heroic behaviour notwithstanding, Racener finished in 11th place for $29,362, while Seiver leads the final four players on a currently-paused final table.
Tweet of the day
How to really spice up the Mystery Millions next year? Give them a proper sweat.
Videos of the day
Was the Nick Guagenti winner’s kiss just a spontaneous display of affection? Of course not! They go way back.
Lefty won’t let Jeff Platt forget.
The day in numbers
51
The percentage of the $10K Dealer’s Choice Championship field that already own at least one WSOP bracelet
2,526
Entries into the record-breaking $1,500 6-Handed NLH
3
The number of seconds it took $1 million bounty winner Valentyn Shabelnyk to realise he was walking away with Jeff Platt’s cell phone
Ongoing events
Event #5 $1,000 Mystery Millions No Limit Hold’em
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jake Brown | 76,525,000 |
| 2 | Carson Richards | 74,650,000 |
| 3 | Michael Miller | 68,425,000 |
| 4 | Christopher Battenfield | 59,650,000 |
| 5 | Eugene Tito | 55,200,000 |
| 6 | Jefferson James | 49,000,000 |
| 7 | Pei Li | 48,825,000 |
| 8 | Kyle Mizell | 48,625,000 |
| 9 | Christopher Castellan | 41,300,000 |
Event #10 $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
| Place | Player | Chips/Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Seiver | 3,945,000 |
| 2 | Jonathan Cohen | 3,670,000 |
| 3 | Calvin Anderson | 2,515,000 |
| 4 | Paul Zappulla | 1,695,000 |
| 5 | Sami Saad El-Dein | $101,853 |
| 6 | Benny Glaser | $75,678 |
| 7 | Jake Schwartz | $57,570 |
| 8 | Jared Bleznick | $44,864 |
| 9 | Patrick Moulder | $29,362 |
Event #11 $1,500 Badugi (final 10)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tobias Leknes | 2,225,000 |
| 2 | David Prociak | 2,175,000 |
| 3 | Brandon Cantu | 1,825,000 |
| 4 | Tomasz Gluszko | 1,575,000 |
| 5 | Edward Yam | 1,330,000 |
| 6 | Matt Grapenthien | 980,000 |
| 7 | David Stamm | 765,000 |
| 8 | Joseph Wagganer | 540,000 |
| 9 | Yuya Murata | 415,000 |
| 10 | Laurant A Boublil | 355,000 |
Event #12 $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quan Zhou | 966,000 |
| 2 | John Gordon | 942,000 |
| 3 | Michael Miller | 867,000 |
| 4 | Matthew Dodd | 752,000 |
| 5 | Eshaan Bhalla | 722,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 72 |
Brett Shaffer | 364,000 |
| 135 |
Chance Kornuth | 202,000 |
| 170 |
Landon Tice | 133,000 |
| 181 |
Daniel Lazrus | 100,000 |
Event #13 $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship (6-Handed)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Alexander | 277,000 |
| 2 | Brian Brunner | 246,000 |
| 3 | Michael Martinelli | 234,500 |
| 4 | Erick Lindgren | 217,000 |
| 5 | Nick Schulman | 184,000 |
| Notables | ||
| 9 |
Robert Mizrachi | 173,000 |
| 10 |
Phil Ivey | 171,500 |
| 13 |
Daniel Negreanu | 159,500 |
| 25 |
David 'Bakes' Baker | 134,000 |
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 #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)
What’s coming up on Day #8?
In short: everything. The Mystery Millions, Omaha Hi-Lo Championship and Badugi will award their bracelets, the star-studded $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship and $1,500 6-Handed NLH continue, and three fresh events get cards in the air: the $1,000 Super Turbo Bounty, $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha and $5,000 No Limit Hold’em.
Day 2 of the $1,500 6-Handed NLH will bring back 197 in-the-money players led by Quan Zhou. Notable pros remaining in the field include Chance Kornuth, JC Tran, Landon Tice, Ilija Savevski, Anton Wigg, Anson Tsang and David Pham.
If you have to pick one section of the Horseshoe today in which to rail the action, however, it has to be the high 600-tables, where the Dealer’s Choice has attracted poker’s top brass like a magnet (we are aware brass is not magnetic). Besides the (mostly American) luminaries mentioned earlier, there’s an international contingent of online and live mixed-game specialists including, but not limited to: Patrick Leonard, Greg Mueller, Nacho Barbero, Joao Vieira, Yuval Bronshtein, and Felipe Ramos.
Day #7 gallery
