The $25,000 Super Main Event has captured the imagination of the poker world. With an incredible $50 million prizepool almost met, anyone and everyone have landed in The Bahamas to play and the story so far reads like a page-ripping thriller. Legends of the game have fallen painfully, other big names have returned and a poker legend is flying very high indeed.
The Poker Brat Bursts the Bubble
“Don’t split that cash with him!”
While the sheer number of entries in the $25,000-entry event is remarkable and warrants mention, the money bubble was the first point of the overwhelming drama of the tournament, which has a $6 million top prize. A total of 1,978 players put up $25,000 or some of them sold their action on PokerStake. The first 100 to do so would guarantee that anything they didn’t sell was bought by PokerStake itself – with one British player proving incredibly popular.
Back to that bubble, however, and what a painful one it was. Phil Hellmuth is the most successful player in WSOP history with 17 bracelets and the kind of Main Event entrances that make Elton John look like a camera-shy recluse. The Poker Brat is a World Series legend so when he was all-in and at risk on the bubble with ace-king against Alex Keating’s seven-six.
Several other tables featured players who faced elimination or at the very least a shared bubble with Hellmuth, but all of them survived ahead of Hellmuth’s board. A board of Q-5-2-4-3 gave Keating a seven-high straight to bust Hellmuth, much to the amusement of the 2024 Player of the Year Scott Seiver, who was cheering all the other double-ups and laughed himself silly at Hellmuth’s demise, cheering “Don’t split that cash with him!”
The Poker Brat will be back but admitted afterwards that it was a painful one.
Liv Boeree-Animates
Ask poker fans to name a 2010s player and many of them will choose the self-confessed science geek and poster girl for PokerStars, Liv Boeree. Back in that decade, Boeree’s EPT San Remo victory in 2010 catapulted her into the realms of poker stardom. Winning big events, playing in every major tournament going, she was everywhere.
After adding a WSOP title to her resume, meaning she is only a WPT Main Event away from becoming the first ever female Triple Crown winner, Boeree took a step back. Building as much of a career presenting about her degree subject of science that she used to enjoy in poker, Boeree looked to have permanently transitioned out of poker when she began presenting her successful podcast Win Win.
That was until she heard about the $50m guarantee on offer in The Bahamas. A veteran of many PCAs of the past, Boeree seemlessly slipped right back into the old routine, performed brilliantly and survived to Day 2 from her opening flight. From there, she bagged a top 10 stack to fly into Day 3 and last night, she became the final female player in the field when she made it to Day 4 of the event with a $6 million top prize. Win the whole thing and Boeree might be tempted back to poker more permanently.
Then again, this could all be some kind of science experiment. She hasn’t forgotten the method.
Michael Addamo Might be Unstoppable
With some of the biggest names in poker making the final 36 players, the standout name is the one right at the top. The Year of Addamo may technically have been pre-pandemic, but the Australian is roaring into the penultimate day of proceedings. Piling up a frankly ludicrous stack of 85.35 million chips, Addamo’s stack is a considerable way clear of his nearest challenger, Marcelo Aziz.
Addamo isn’t the only player for whom a big win would guarantee headlines in the mainstream media too. Chris Moneymaker’s victory in the 2003 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas kicked off what is now referred to as ‘The Poker Boom’. Sitting in 10th place on the leaderboard with 34 million chips, another win for Moneymaker would be incredible – he only needs to finish fourth to beat his score back in 2003 and win $2.8 million on Thursday.
Finally, there could be a big change at the top of the All-Time Money List on The Hendon Mob. Justin Bonomo bagged up 22.45 million at the end of Day 3 to sit in 14th from the 36 remaining players. While he currently sits over $8 million behind Bryn Kenney in winnings, a Bonomo victory would narrow the gap considerably.
Want to back your favorite players in paradise? Check out the official WSOP Paradise staking page right here.
