WSOP 2024: The Main Event Begins and Four Bracelets are Won on Poker Players’ ‘Christmas Day’ in Las Vegas

The WSOP Main Event began on Day 37 of the 2024 World Series of Poker. With seven other events in progress, there were packed tables at both Horseshoe and Paris casinos. Who topped the leaderboard in the World Championship after Day 1a, and who won gold? We’ve got the latest from Las Vegas.

Feiger the Leader after Main Event Day 1a

The World Championship began in Las Vegas as Daniel Weinman returned to the action and announced: ‘Shuffle Up and Deal!’ to kick off this year’s World Championship 12 months after he won $12m. With a total of 916 entries on Day 1a, Joshua Feiger (311,900) bagged the chip lead, with Israel’s Assaf Zeharia (276,600) not too far behind. Other big names such as Frank Funaro (265,000), Naoya Kihara (228,300) and Pedro Bromfman (224,600) all made the top ten.

While players such as Brad Owen, Kahle Burns, Kyle Julius, Upeshka De Silva and Freddy Deeb all busted the biggest freezeout in the world, others used their 60,000 starting chips to survive. Around 620 players survived to Day 2, with Rayan Chamas (162,000), Matt Affleck (161,700), Jon Pardy (also 161,700), Bin Weng (152,000), Kevin Gerhart (150,700), Rob Kuhn (130,700), Parker Talbot (106,700), Ian Simpson (72,300), Barny Boatman (70,000), and two former world champions in Qui Nguyen (39,000) and Greg Merson (36,800) all making the cut.

With Day 1b tomorrow expected to break the 1,000-entry barrier by some margin, the four starting flights in 2024 are hoped to exceed 10,000 entrants in total, just like it did last year.

Arash Ghaneian Gets Glory in Heads-Up Return

Arash Ghaneian won the second WSOP bracelet of his career, claiming the $376,476 top prize after beating Richard Sklar in Event #74, the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. Coming back to the action with just two players remaining, the stacks were fairly level, and both Ghaneian and Sklar won pots early.

It took several hours for Ghaneian to take control of the final duel and he ground Sklar down to just two bets. The latter managed one double-up but Ghaneian recovered his composure and made a wheel to beat Sklar’s pair and eight-six low taking the title and prompting his rail to roar in approval.

“We came in today, we battled,” Ghaneian told PokerNews in the aftermath of victory. “When the blinds went that high, you know, I talked to him right after dinner and said, ‘Hey, this could go either way.’ And the cards fell my way at the end, and I’m grateful to win the second one.”

Setna and James Take Tag Team Title  

In the $1,000-entry Tag Team Event #75, Jimmy Setna and Jason James won their first bracelets as an early victory in a hand where they needed a lot of luck helped them overcome a talented final table. All-in with ace-queen against Javier Rodriguez’ pocket kings, the duo were boosted and Setna credited it as a major step forward in their pursuit of the title.

“I thought they were formidable foes,” said Setna afterwards. “After I scored that knockout, I felt our experience helped a lot. We’re roommates right now.”

“I always had a lot of belief,” James added, saying “I knew it was gonna happen for Jimmy as well.”

Lambrecht Grabs Gold in Mystery Bounty Event for $1m

Matthrew Lambrecht won an all-American heads-up to take the title in the $10,000-entry Mystery bounty event in Las Vegas last night, winning the top prize of $1,018,933. At a dramatic final table, players such as German Robert Heidorn (8^th for $103,942) and Vladimir Minko (5^th for $248,174) fell short as Damarjai Davenport reached the heads-up stage with only a third of his opponent’s chips.

In the final hand, Davenport’s J♥ 9♠ was no match for Lambrecht’s K♦ 9♣ and no help on the board gave Lambrecht the million-dollar top prize. He also had a great time with the bounties and plays to take on the Day 1c field in the Main Event.

“I feel great; I recently just had my biggest score, and this is another one, so maybe I’ll play more of the bigger stuff later this year or next year, like the $25ks. I’ve done very well in Mystery Bounties. I think I might have pulled four today, and maybe four yesterday. I think the biggest I got was a $25,000 at the end just now.”

Liu Takes Mixed Big Bet Gold as Foxen Falls Short

A stunning conclusion to then $2,500-entry Mixed Big Bet Event #77 saw Wing Liu take gold as the Hong Kong player outdid stars such as Kane Kalas, Alex Foxen and Allan Le at the final table. Taking his first-ever bracelet in Vegas and second overall, Liu credited his amazing rail after the event, as 19 players played down to a winner and he beat American Hye Park to the top prize of $209,942 and the WSOP bracelet. It took 12 hours of play and Liu was clearly shattered at the close of the action.

“While it was exciting in Europe [when I won] in Vegas it is really special. The field is bigger and this is my first mixed game final table. I use my own way to think about the games. More exploitative and less theory-based strategies. It’s already July in the series and our Hong Kong team was not doing very well. They all came out to support me on the rail and now I won a bracelet.”

Tang on Top in PLO High Roller

Danny Tang leads the final five players in the $50,000-entry PLO High Roller Event #79. The Hong Kong player, who is based in Britain, has a massive stack of 20.7 million chips to play with on the final day, as many as are shared between Santosh Survarna (4.85m), Jim Collopy (5.1m) and Daniel Perkusic (12.1m) combined. Closest to Tang is Ronald Kejzer (13.27m) and the Dutchman is sure to be a formidable opponent when play resumes tomorrow to find a winner for the $2.1m top prize and the bracelet.

Williamson On Course for the Win in Mini Main Event

Kyle Williamson (146.3m) holds the chip lead in the $1,000-entry Mini Main Event as he bids to become the one of five potential first-time winners to claim gold in Event #78. A short way behind Williamson is his main challenger, Georgios Skaparis on 143.7m. But behind the top two, three outsiders gather with less expectation and more hope, each of them having less than a quarter of either of the chip leaders’ stacks.

Independence Day Denouement Waits Until July 5^th

The two-day ‘Independence Day’ Event #80 saw 2,864 entrants battle for 22 levels and left only 150 players in seats. Top of the pile after Day 1a was Bulgarian player Ivan Denev (2.48m) with Michael Phillips (2m) and Mark Seif (1.89m) close behind him. The popular British professional Brandon Sheils (1,865,000) also sits inside the top five, with all survivors, including legends such as Men ‘The Master’ Nguyen, Martin Zamani, Kevin MacPhee, and Ari Engel coming back a day after July 4^th on Friday after tomorrow’s Day 1b takes place.

With thanks to PokerGO for their official WSOP photography. The 2024 World Series of Poker is available to watch exclusively on PokerGO. Subscribe today and watch all the drama play out in Las Vegas!

This article originally appeared on PokerStake.com