On Day five of the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, two more players joined the roster of bracelet-winners — one for the seventh time and one for the first.
John Hennigan‘s seventh bracelet came at the star-studded final table of Event #7: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice, while Darius Samual risked it all — or half of it — to earn his bracelet in the Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship.
Elsewhere at the series, the first $10,000 championship of the series kicked off and the Mystery Millions passed 10,000 entries.
Bookmark this page! All you need to know about the 2024 WSOP is here.
Darius Samual Played Heads Up For Half His Roll… And Won
Typical bankroll management usually dictates that you don’t risk half your bankroll on one single poker tournament. This is especially true when that tournament has a small field that is densely packed with some best players in the world.
However, Darius Samual did just that, putting down 50% of his bankroll to enter Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship. Don’t try this at home but for Samual, it paid off. He took the whole thing down.
The 64-player event had a prize pool of $1,504,000 and one of the toughest fields of the series. To get to his win, Samual had to duel heads-up and win against James Chen, Ian Matakis, Matthew Wantman, John Smith (5th – $86,000), Artur Martirosian (4th – $180,000), and Faraz Jaka (2nd – $300,000).
Other notables who didn’t cross paths with Samual included high-stakes tourney regulars like Cary Katz, Stephen Chidwick, Jeremy Ausmus, and Scott Seiver.
“The match with John Smith I think was [my favorite],” Samual said in his post-event interview. “His small ball style was a lot of fun and it lasted a long time.”
Samual won $500,000 for his half-bankroll gamble.
Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship Final Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Darius Samual | United Kingdom | $500,000 |
| 2nd | Faraz Jaka | United States | $300,000 |
| 3rd | Nikolai Mamut | United Kingdom | $180,000 |
| 4th | Artur Martirosian | Russian Federation | $180,000 |
| 5th | John Smith | United States | $86,000 |
| 6th | Marko Grujic | Serbia | $86,000 |
| 7th | Owen Messere | United Kingdom | $86,000 |
| 8th | Patrick Kennedy | United Kingdom | $86,000 |
Seventh Bracelet For Hennigan In Dealer’s Choice
The bracelet for Event #7: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice joins six others in the trophy cabinet of John Hennigan. Hennigan joins an elite group. Only eight other players in the world have seven or more bracelets.
When asked about his achievement Hennigan was pretty sanguine about it, saying, “It’s interesting to know, I guess, just like any other number.”
To earn his win Hennigan had to beat Robert Wells heads up and outlast a field of 530 players. Among the names of those players who cashed were Brandon Shack-Harris (69th – $3,017), Chino Rheem (34th – $4,122), Benny Glaser (24th – $4,779), Jeff Madsen (12th – $6,998), Shaun Deeb (8th – $11,422) who bubbled the final table, and Viktor Blom ($41,237) who made it all the way to the final table and fourth place.
Altogether the prize pool came to $707,550, of which $138,296 went to Hennigan for first place and $90,339 to Wells for second.
Event #7: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Hennigan | United States | $138,296 |
| 2 | Robert Wells | United Kingdom | $90,339 |
| 3 | Peter Gelencser | Hungary | $60,343 |
| 4 | Viktor Blom | Sweden | $41,237 |
| 5 | Brayden Gazlay | United States | $28,845 |
| 6 | Clint Wolcyn | United States | $20,665 |
| 7 | Ryan Pedigo | United States | $15,182 |
Day 1c Of The Mystery Millions Nearly Doubles Field Size
The Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions field has a new chip leader as Day 1c saw Antonio Galiana of Spain bag a 3,230,000 stack. He overtook the previous chip leader Pete Chen who bagged 3,150,000 on Day 1a.
Day 1c of the Mystery Millions saw another 5,290 entries join the 5,519 players who had already entered. This brings the number of entries up to 10,809 entries and the prize pool up to $4,665,460.
Last year’s Mystery Millions hit 18,188 entries after getting 8,067 on Day 1d. It is a close thing, but this year’s event looks on track to just about beat 2023’s numbers.
Among the 268 players who survived Day 1c are David “ODB” Baker (1,630,000), Eric Wasserson (1,500,000), Lawrence Brandt (1,500,000), Christopher Vitch (795,000), Mike Leah (670,000), and 2007 WSOP Main Event champion Jerry Yang (555,000).
Day 1d begins at 10:00 a.m. local time on June 2. Day 2 starts at 11:00 a.m. local time on June 3, when PokerNews‘s traditional live-coverage of this event will start. There are currently 789 players (and counting) with a Day 2 stack.
Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions Day 1c Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antonio Galiana | Spain | 3,230,000 |
| 2 | Justin Geronsin | United States | 2,705,000 |
| 3 | Femi Fashakin | United States | 2,600,000 |
| 4 | Christopher Lewis | United States | 2,540,000 |
| 5 | Simon Levy | United States | 2,470,000 |
| 6 | David Kim | United States | 2,370,000 |
| 7 | Chuanshu Chen | China | 2,230,000 |
| 8 | Brandon Huynh | United States | 2,055,000 |
| 9 | Champie Douglas | United States | 1,945,000 |
| 10 | Calvin Le | United States | 1,900,000 |
Bryce Yockey Leads Final 11 In $5k PLO Event
Eleven players remain after Day 2 of Event #8: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed). Leading the pack is Bryce Yockey (6,530,000) in his stack. Aditya Sadhu (5,825,000) is close behind in second.
Jose Vieira (870,000) is just outside the top ten, trailing shortly behind Gabriel Andrade (1,500,000).
The 11 players who have made it to Day 3 represent all that is left of a field of 733 entries. The prize pool of $3,371,000 has generated a first-place prize of $606,654 for first.
Among those who were eliminated during Day 2 were Matt Glantz, Shannon Shorr, David Prociak, Tim Grau, Phil Ivey, and Scott Eskenazi.
Day 3 will start at 12:00 p.m. local time on June 2. The returning players are guaranteed a min-cash of at least $36,526.
Event #8: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed) Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bryce Yockey | United States | 6,530,000 |
| 2 | Aditya Sadhu | United States | 5,825,000 |
| 3 | Farid Jattin | Columbia | 5,510,000 |
| 4 | Jason Berilgen | United States | 3,640,000 |
| 5 | Zachary Schwartz | United States | 3,240,000 |
| 6 | Joao Simao | Brazil | 2,995,000 |
| 7 | Naoya Kihara | Japan | 2,740,000 |
| 8 | Paul Radcliffe | United States | 2,265,000 |
| 9 | Brian Rast | United States | 2,065,000 |
| 10 | Gabriel Andrade | Equador | 1,500,000 |
Six Players Remain In Event #9: $1,500 Limit Hold’em
Day 2 of Event #9: $1,500 Limit Hold’em (8-Handed) ended with just six players left.
The event attracted 443 players and a prize pool of $591,405, of which $121,074 is earmarked for whoever among the remaining players takes first place. At the moment, the most likely candidate is chip leader Nick Guagenti (2,800,000) who has a commanding chip lead going into Day 3.
Day 2 saw 121 players return, with 67 making the money. Among those who booked a cash on the way out today were Ryan Hansen (14th – $5,483), JJ Liu (23rd – $4,590), and Renan Bruschi (32nd – $3,484).
Day 3 will play down to a winner starting at 1 p.m. local time on June 2 in the Horseshoe Event Center. The blinds will be 25,000/50,000.
Event #9: $1,500 Limit Hold’em (8-Handed) Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Guagenti | United States | 2,800,000 |
| 2 | Joseph Brodsky | United States | 1,885,000 |
| 3 | Qinghai Pan | United States | 1,845,000 |
| =4 | George Chen | United States | 1,645,000 |
| =4 | Bradley Carter | United States | 1,645,000 |
| 6 | Juha Helppi | Finland | 1,285,000 |
Scott Seiver Leads $10k Omaha H/L Event
Only one new event started on Day 5 of the 2024 World Series of Poker, it was Event #10: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship (8-Handed).
There were 171 entries on Day 1 of which 104 found a bag. As a result, the prize pool currently stands at $1,590,300.
Scott Seiver leads the field with 296,500 in chips. He is closely followed by Matt Glantz (285,000) in second.
Defending champion Ben Lamb entered the event, but was eliminated during the day. Other notables who did make to Day 2 are Phil Hellmuth (85,000), Daniel Negreanu (48,500), Eli Elezra (36,000), Yuri Dzivelevski (39,000), Josh Arieh (82,000), Erik Seidel (138,000), and Chino Rheem (180,000).
The prize and entry numbers are still provisional as late registration continues until Day 2 starts at 1 p.m. local time on June 2.
Event #10: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship (8-Handed) Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Seiver | United States | 296,500 | 99 |
| 2 | Matt Glantz | United States | 285,000 | 95 |
| 3 | Steven Loube | United States | 257,500 | 86 |
| 4 | Chino Rheem | United States | 248,000 | 83 |
| 5 | Robert Yass | United States | 243,000 | 81 |
| 6 | Patrick Moulder | United States | 238,500 | 80 |
| 7 | Ray Henson | United States | 233,000 | 78 |
| 8 | Jeffery Stepaniuk | Canada | 209,000 | 70 |
| 9 | Christopher Logue | United States | 195,000 | 65 |
| 10 | Damjan Radanov | United States | 188,000 | 63 |
What Is Happening on Day 6 of the 2024 WSOP?
June 2 will be Day 6 of the 2024 World Series of Poker. You can expect one new event to kick off and two to finish.
The new starter is Event #11: $1,500 Badugi — only the second WSOP badugi event ever — which starts at 2 p.m. local time.
Event #8: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed) and Event #9: $1,500 Limit Hold’em (8-Handed) are scheduled to play down to a winner on Day 6. These events will restart at 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. respectively.
The other ongoing action on Day 6 of the series will be Day 1d of the Mystery Millions and Day 2 of Event #10: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship (8-Handed). The Mystery Millions in particular is expected to be a big one, taking up a ton of floor space for its final Day 1 flight.
As always, you can follow the day’s action — and that of the whole WSOP — on PokerNews.