Champions Reunion
The first WSOP tournament was the Champions Reunion, where all the champions got a free entry and whoever knocked one of them out got a ticket to the Main Event. The buy-in here was $5,000 and the total number of entries here reached 493, which meant a prizepool of $2,047,800.
Turkish player Halil Tasyurek made it to the final heads-up with a 5-1 advantage against American Asher Conniff. However, Asher was able to defeat the Turkish player in the end and took home his first bracelet, which came with a $408,468 bounty.
Casino Employees
Traditionally at the start of the festival, casino employees also have the opportunity to receive their bracelet. Now, this tournament was number two and the buy-in was $500. 1,189 entries took care of the prizepool of $499,380 and $79,134 was waiting for the winner. Dealer Jose Garcia won his first bracelet here.
NLH Kickoff
The third tournament was the $500 Kickoff NLH Freezeout, which brought in a whopping 3,485 entries and thus a prizepool of $1,442,960. This new tournament on the schedule also featured names like Joe Cada, Greg Raymer, Brad Owen, Shaun Deeb, Josh Arieh, Jeremy Ausmus, Maria Ho, Ryan Riess and Daniel Negreanu. Daniel finished in 16th place here with a payday of $8,541.
None of the aforementioned players made the final table. British player Daniel Willis was the chipleader, and he didn't let the chance to win a bracelet go to his head and emerged as the winner. He also bagged $175,578 to go along with the valuable jewel.
Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better
The fourth tournament on the schedule has already seen its winner. The $1,500 buy-in Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better tournament produced 928 entries and a prizepool of $1,238,880. American player James Chen won his first bracelet here, taking home $209,350.
Phil Ivey in the running for another bracelet
The legendary Phil Ivey made his first appearance in the game yesterday, barely making his late registration for the $5,000 PLO 8-Handed. Earlier, he was held up by a game at the Aria Casino, where he played with the legendary Tiger Woods.
The GOATS @TigerWoods and @PhilIvey! pic.twitter.com/Q6rfRNiN14
- Matt Savage (@SavagePoker) June 1, 2024
Phil has 10 WSOP bracelets to his name, but he won his last one a decade ago. Since then, he's won a number of valuable titles. This gives Ivey a chance to win his 11th gold bracelet at this year's WSOP, overtaking the likes of Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson.
The PLO tournament, which also attracted Ivey, brought in 733 entries and a prizepool of $3,371,000. There is $606,654 waiting for the champion and 130 players made it through to the next day. Among them are names like Farid Jattin, Julien Sitbon, Joao Simao, Anthony Zinno, Joao Vieira, Chance Kornuth, Brian Rast, Dan Zack and of course Phil Ivey.
Source - wsop, pokernews, twitter (x)
