Sunday is a day of rest for millions of people worldwide, but that is not the case if you are playing at the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. June 16 was the 20th day of the 2024 WSOP, which saw two events award their bracelets, and five other bracelet-awarding tournaments whittle their fields.
Sergio Aido won the first bracelet of Day 20. Aido came out on top in Event #39: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em (8-Handed), capturing his first piece of poker gold and a career-best cash haul worth $2,026,506. Aido denied a bunch of elite-level players glory, most notably Chance Kornuth, who finished as the runner-up. Kornuth missed out on a fourth bracelet but raked in $1,351,000, which is the largest score of his career.
Bracelet number two went to Scott Seiver in Event #40: $1,500 Razz. This was Seiver’s second victory in as many weeks and it takes his bracelet tally to six. Seiver half-joked he wanted to win five more bracelets this summer, but was deadly serious when he stated he is going all out to win the coveted Player of the Year award.
Mike Lang Leads Star-Studded Final 11 in the $10K Stud; Paul Vople Second
Only 11 players remain in Event #42: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship, where one player will win a bracelet and the $260,658 top prize. Of the 11 players through to Day 3, nine have previously won bracelets, while seven are $25K Fantasy Draft picks.
Mike Lang is one of those two players without a bracelet, but he goes into the final day with the chip lead in tow and a realistic chance of becoming a WSOP champion. Lang bagged up 1,189,000 chips, or 30 big bets, and is the only player with a seven-figure stack.
Paul Volpe, and Yuri Dzivielevski round out the podium places, with Australia’s James Obst and Israel’s Yuval Bronshtein occupying chip counts positions four and five.
Also still in the mix are Jason Daly, Juha Helppi, Kane Kalas, Andre Akkari, Robert Mizrachi, and Alex Livingston.
Day 3 shuffles up and deals at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 17, continuing until only one man has all of the chip in play.
Event #42: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Lang | 1,189,000 | 30 |
| 2 | Paul Volpe | 923,000 | 23 |
| 3 | Yuri Dzivielevski | 801,000 | 20 |
| 4 | James Obst | 732,000 | 18 |
| 5 | Yuval Bronshtein | 650,000 | 16 |
| 6 | Jason Daly | 602,000 | 15 |
| 7 | Juha Helppi | 586,000 | 15 |
| 8 | Kane Kalas | 414,000 | 10 |
| 9 | Andre Akkari | 406,000 | 10 |
| 10 | Robert Mizrachi | 231,000 | 5 |
| 11 | Alex Livingston | 192,000 | 5 |
The Monster-Sized Monster Stack Only Gets Smaller From This Point
Day 1c of Event #38: $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold’em, the third and final flight, is in the bag. A staggering 3,648 players bought in, more than took place across the entire 2021 edition of this tournament, with 1,147 players bagging and tagging at the close of play.
That takes the total attendance to 8,703 and means 2,831 players return for Day 2 on June 17. The WSOP will confirm the number of entrants, the prize pool, and payouts early into Day 2.
Topping the Day 1c chip counts was French star Julian Milliard-Feral with 651,000 chips or 217 big blinds! Milliard-Feral was joined at the chip counts’ summit by Michael Estes (585,500), Marc Bernal (555,500), Skylar Leblanc (547,500), and Steven Goodemote (541,000).
Plenty of big names and established professionals chose Day 1c to start their quest for Monster Stack glory, including Brian Yoon, Jeremy Ausmus, Chris Hunichen, Mustapha Kanit, and Barry Greenstein.
Day 2 commences at 11:00 a.m. local time on June 17, with Day 1b chip leader Changfeng Fan (1,403,500) leading the massive field back into battle.
Event #38: $1,500 Monster Stack Day 1c Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julian Milliard-Feral | France | 651,500 | 217 |
| 2 | Michael Estes | United States | 585,500 | 195 |
| 3 | Marc Bernal | United States | 555,500 | 185 |
| 4 | Skylar Leblanc | Canada | 547,500 | 183 |
| 5 | Steven Goodemote | United States | 541,000 | 180 |
| 6 | Owen Satran | United States | 509,000 | 170 |
| 7 | Loic Dobrigna | France | 498,000 | 166 |
| 8 | Mario Llapi | Albania | 490,000 | 163 |
| 9 | Alfredo Garza | United States | 489,000 | 163 |
| 10 | Joshua Robbins | United States | 481,500 | 161 |
Xixiang Luo Leads Final 16 in the Double Board Bomb Pot
Event #41: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit/Pot-Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot was a new addition to the 2024 WSOP schedule. It has proved popular, with 1,312 players entering on Day 1. After two days of play, only 16 of those starters remain in contention for this event’s bracelet and $270,820 first-place prize.
China’s Xixiang Luo is the man to catch going into Day 3. However, Luo won’t have matters his own way because some talented players are hot on his heels. They include Daniel Hachem, the son of 2005 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem, Quan Zhou, and bracelet winners William Kopp, Joseph Dulaney, Dejuante Alexander, Gabriel Schroeder, and Dario Alioto, the latter also being a $25K Fantasy Draft selection.
The surviving 16 players sit down at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 17. This event will crown its champion on Day 3, so stay tuned to PokerNews to discover who that champion is.
Event #41: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xixiang Luo | China | 4,265,000 | 71 |
| 2 | Daniel Hachem | Australia | 4,065,000 | 68 |
| 3 | Quan Zhou | China | 3,875,000 | 65 |
| 4 | David Funkhouser | United States | 2,735,000 | 46 |
| 5 | Marcos Exterkotter | Brazil | 2,550,000 | 43 |
| 6 | William Kopp | United States | 2,075,000 | 35 |
| 7 | Robert Cote | United States | 1,900,000 | 32 |
| 8 | Aaron Frank | United States | 1,760,000 | 29 |
| 9 | Joseph Dulaney | United States | 1,740,000 | 29 |
| 10 | Dejuante Alexander | United States | 1,550,000 | 26 |
Bookmark this page! All you need to know about the 2024 WSOP is here.
Dylan Lambe Chops His Way Through Mixed Omaha Field
If you love Omaha, you must check out Event #43: $1,500 Mixed Omaha. Day 1 saw 854 players buy in and create a $1,140,090 prize pool that the top 129 finishers will share. After the first day’s action, only 215 players punched their Day 2 tickets, with Dylan Lambe claiming the overnight chip lead.
Lambe holds a narrow lead over Joshua Adcock, Grantel Gibbs, and Jonathan Cohen.
Specialist mixed games always draw stellar players out of the woodwork, and this event was no different. Allyn Shulman, James Chen, and Ismael Bojang finished among the chip leaders. Philip Sternheimer, Bin Weng, Michael Rodrigues, Shaun Deeb, and a certain Phil Hellmuth are just a handful of the household names to look out for in PokerNews‘ coverage of this event.
The 215 surviving players return to their seats from 1:00 p.m. local time on June 17, with the plan to complete another ten hour-long levels.
Event #43: $1,500 Mixed Omaha Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dylan Lambe | United States | 317,000 |
| 2 | Joshua Adcock | United States | 309,500 |
| 3 | Grantel Gibbs | United States | 301,500 |
| 4 | Jonathan Cohen | United States | 296,500 |
| 5 | Anthony Moyers | United States | 271,500 |
| 6 | Allyn Shulman | United States | 267,000 |
| 7 | Samantha Perryman | United States | 263,500 |
| 8 | Daniel Anton | United States | 262,500 |
| 9 | James Chen | United States | 259,500 |
| 10 | Aleksey Filatov | United States | 253,500 |
What to Expect on Day 21 of the 2024 WSOP
Day 21 of the WSOP sees this year’s series almost reach the halfway stage, and the action continues around the clock.
Event #38: $1,500 Monster Stack will see another ten levels played as the tournament staff try to reduce the 2,831 returning players to a more manageable number.
A champion will be crowned in Event #41: $1,500 Mixed Double Board Bomb Pot and in Event #42: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship, with Event #43: $1,500 Mixed Omaha reaching its scheduled third and final day.
Two more events join the list of in-play tournaments. A 10:00 a.m. start is on the cards for Event #44: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em. Last year, Yuan Li outlasted 1,961 opponents on his way to winning his first bracelet and a career-best score of $524,777.
Event #45: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship kicks off at 2:00 p.m. local time, and should be another event packed with top pros from top to bottom. The 2023 edition of this tournament saw Mike Gorodinsky come out on top of a 185-strong field to win his third gold bracelet and $422,747.