WSOP 2023: Main Event Attendance Record Continues to Grow on Day 2abc, Negreanu in Contention in PLO Bounty

The 2023 WSOP Main Event already holds the distinction of being the largest $10,000 buy-in tournament in history after four starting flights, so the question heading into Day 2abc wasn’t if the record would be broken, but by how much. 3,865 players returned to Horseshoe and Paris casinos in Las Vegas, along with a few new faces to try and navigate a monumental field in search of a date with a consolidated field on Day 3. The Main Event wasn’t the only tourney on the docket on the day, as two new tournaments started up for players looking for a smaller buy-in or trying to recoup after busting the mother of all poker tournaments.

Brammer Hammers the Field Again For Second End-of-Day Chip Lead

Christopher Brammer came into Day 2abc second overall in chips after bagging up 386,100 in Day 1c. Not content with a silver medal, Brammer more than doubled his stack to the tune of 879,000, good for the clubhouse chip lead with one more Day 2 flight to go. 

Brammer was already having a solid day going into the final level of play, and the United Kingdom native picked off a massive river bluff for 121,500 with on an runout to boost his stack up to over 700,000. A few more pots and Brammer earned the chip lead in his flight for a second consecutive day.

Julio Belluscio (825,500) and Nick Marchington (716,000) round out the podium positions of the big stacks, while Patrik Antonius (584,500), Ronnie Bardah (519,000), Day 1a chip leader Shota Nakanishi (500,500), Stephen Chidwick (472,500), Doug Polk (433,000) and John Duthie (431,000) all put away impressive stacks into their Day 3 bags. Faraz “The Toilet” Jaka also had a big day on one of the PokerGo feature tables, with this hand a prime example of how he spun up a stack of 375,000 to end the day with.

It's been the @FarazJaka show on the @WSOP Main Event Day 2 stream.

He eliminates Yale Hamrick to increase his stack to nearly 400K.

? – Day 2 Replay: https://t.co/URCaXanoa9 pic.twitter.com/733TVso4pC

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) July 8, 2023

The first two levels of play in Day 2abc brought an additional 196 entrants into the field, including Liv Boeree, Isai Scheinberg, and Igor Kurganov. As the new entrants trickled in, familiar faces began finding themselves on the rail, and one of the first was the reigning WSOP Player of the Year Daniel Zack, who was swiftly joined by Nacho Barbero as opening level casualties. The early exits likely excluded them from the presentation of this year’s Main Event Bracelet, brought in by the purveyor of “Donkey Sauce” itself, Guy Fieri.

The Mayor of Flavortown, @GuyFieri, revealing the 2023 WSOP Main Event Bracelet! ? pic.twitter.com/tKdeCGfO0t

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) July 8, 2023

It was a tale of two extremes for former Main Event champs during Friday’s action, as defending champ Espen Jorstad couldn’t find any traction, losing his last 64,000 with a flopped set against the flopped straight of Julien Aguirre. Jorstad would fail to fill up, and he joined Greg Raymer on the rail. Johnny Chan (372,000), Jamie Gold (248,000), Joe Cada (241,500), Joe McKeehen (220,000), Ryan Riess (151,000), Damian Salas (147,500), Martin Jacobson (128,000), Tom McEvoy (20,000) and Scott Blumstein all survived the day.

Nearly 2,000 players saw their Main Event dreams go down in flames today, among them Daniel Negreanu, who couldn’t work any short-stack magic, and Brian Yoon, who hero-called off his stack with fours on a runout only to be up against the eights of Nick Marchington. Scott Seiver, Day 1b chip leader Jean-Pierre van der Spuy, David Peters, Nick Schulman, Justin Bonomo, John Hennigan, Isaac Haxton, and a very zen Brian Rast also found themselves felted by day’s end.

Sometimes the cards just say you get to lose today, and that’s that.
The dream is over for me folks, but for everyone out there still in the mix:
Do not go gentle into that good night!
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Try to foil you as your opponents might,
Take your 2…

— Brian Rast (@tsarrast) July 7, 2023

With 9,538 entrants now accounted for in the 2023 WSOP Main Event, perhaps the final question other than “Who will emerge victorious?” among poker fans is, “Will the number of entrants break 10,000?” A total of 462 more players are needed to hit the mythical five-figure entrant total, which may sound out of reach given the low number of Day 2abc entrants, but never count out Poker Boom 2.0 and its ability to bring the throngs of players into Vegas for a taste of poker history.

“KidPoker” in Contention in PLO Bounty

A late start was no deterrent for the 1,214 bounty hunters who fired in Event #78: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha, with $500 bounties up for grabs for every elimination. Casey Wassell (694,000) ended the night on top of the 184 remaining players, but the big story is Daniel Negreanu (271,000); he commands an above average stack on his quest for WSOP redemption. 

A miserable 2023 for the six-time WSOP bracelet winner seemed to come to a head after a dismal performance in the Main Event, but Negreanu chose to keep firing on a day many players would soon forget, and was rewarded with a fighting chance at bracelet number seven heading into tomorrow’s Day 2 action.

Blanton Leads Opening Flight of Lucky Sevens

The opening flight of Event #77: $777 Lucky Sevens brought a robust field of 1,470 players to the felt, already pushing the prize pool just over the seven-figure mark. A total of 64 players survived a lengthy 22-level day, which saw Thomas “Chase” Blanton (2,265,000) bag a narrow lead over the dangerous, hard to beat and especially hard to read “Did Not Report” (2,200,000). Jerry Yang (1,350,000), Jon Turner (740,000), Kevin Song (540,000), and Max Steinberg (390,000) all made it through Day 1a, while Lexy Gavin-Mather and Allen Cunningham did not.

Daniel Negreanu took time out from play at the table to call for drinks. PokerGO needed nothing more to put together a little Kid Poker remix.

The ? "Coffee, Soda, Juice." ? Remix you've all been waiting for…

(cc: @RealKidPoker) pic.twitter.com/uxBcTWCQxw

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) July 7, 2023

Matt Waxman pointed out a very odd similarity between his opponents at ‘Table Matrix’ in the Main Event Day 2abc field. 

Main event day 2 starting table:

– 8 opponents
– 8 white males
– 8 wearing regular (not sun) glasses
– 4 European
– 7 on cell phone
– 3 pairs of headphones
– oldest opponent: 41
– one opponent has shaved in the last 48 hrs

Anyone got reads?!

— MW (@Matthew_Waxman) July 7, 2023

Is this the best troll of the 2023 World Series so far? 

A technician has been fired after this profane tirade appeared on the new MSG Sphere in Las Vegas. pic.twitter.com/oRYXQpEQUB

— Thomas Keeling (@SrslySirius) July 7, 2023

Greg Jennings posted a neat chip update after the Day 1s concluded for all nine 2022 WSOP final table players… who somehow all survived! 

2022 wsop main event final table. end of day 1 chip counts pic.twitter.com/IIcjY6aPLS

— Greg Jennings (@ZGregJennings) July 7, 2023

Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov decided to break the poker simulation by re-enacting a classic from 2019’s Main Event coverage. 

Somehow I just got busted by Igor AGAIN in a >3500 player tournament.

I’m literally only playing three tournaments this entire year, what is going on pic.twitter.com/12p5wHTxIY

— Liv Boeree (@Liv_Boeree) July 8, 2023

Finally, for what reason would you abandon a stack on Day 2 of the Main Event? Family member on deathbed? Dog taken to emergency vets? You’re one of several groomsmen at a wedding in another state? Wait a minute…  

This was the rapper @HoodieAllen’s seat on my right in @wsop Main Event. He just left for a red eye flight to New York to be a groomsman in a wedding tomorrow with 145kish & 105 min left in Day 2

Lands back in Vegas Sunday morning at 10am. This better be a damn good friend….. pic.twitter.com/coQ2IKjVoH

— Mintzy (@DestroyerMintzy) July 8, 2023

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