The 2024 World Series of Poker is now in full swing with the usual excitement and anticipation of what is to come.
Day 1 saw the first two events kick off the action with the Champions Reunion showcasing plenty of great players from years gone by alongside the younger generation.
Then it was the turn of the Casino Employees to join the fray with an impressive 1,189 starters stumping up the $500 to play.
On Day 2 we had two more events hear the call to shuffle up and deal, but incredibly we are still waiting for the first champion to be crowned.
Here is a breakdown of the events so far:
Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion
This event has seen intense competition as you might expect with it being populated with previous Main Event winners who pay out free 2024 Main Event tickets to anyone able to knock them out.
Only ten players remain as they head into the final day’s play tomorrow.
Local boy Terry Fleischer is leading the pack with a hefty chip count of 5,610,000 (70bb) in front of Turkey’s Halil Tasyurek who is sitting with 3,995,000 (50bb).
The leader has an impressive record of 35 live tournament wins from a range of low to mid-stakes events. Although he isn’t used to playing $5,000 tournaments he certainly looks to be comfortable in the current field.
Event #2: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em
Initially expected to crown the first champion of the 2024 WSOP, this event has been extended to an unscheduled third day.
Only 179 players returned for Day 2, and now just four players remain.
The final four — Jose Garcia (13,795,000 chips), Richard Rothmeier (8,700,000 chips), Alexander Green (4,015,000 chips), and Lang Anderson (2,990,000 chips) — will resume play at 1:00 p.m. local time on May 30 to determine the winner.
Event #3: $500 WSOP Kickoff No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout
The $500 WSOP Kickoff is one of the new events added to the 2024 schedule. With the cut-price buy-in it’s no surprise to see how popular it has been.
We have seen 3,485 players signing up and generating a prize pool of $1,463,700.
Only 151 players have progressed to Day 2, showcasing the competitive nature of this affordable buy-in event but also just how fast players fall by the wayside with a 30-minute level structure.
China’s Qiang Xu currently leads the way. After five years of only playing in Asia, Xu tried his luck against a more varied field in last year’s WSOP where he picked up his first bracelet after winning Event #42: $800 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack in a field of 3,773 players.
Daniel Negreanu is still in the running with a stack of around 22bb. Other notable names left in the field are Dan Shak and Ryan Riess.
Event #3: $500 WSOP Kickoff End of Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Name | Country | Chips | |
| 1 | Qiang Xu | China | 2,130,000 | |
| 2 | Steven Borella | United States | 1,835,000 | |
| 3 | Gregory Snyder | United States | 1,665,000 | |
| 4 | Jason Wheeler | United States | 1,615,000 | |
| 5 | Addam Smith | United States | 1,565,000 | |
| 6 | John Hardin | United States | 1,435,000 | |
| 7 | Zhiyuan Xu | China | 1,385,000 | |
| 8 | Ishan Mohamed | United States | 1,350,000 | |
| 9 | Charles Tonne | United States | 1,345,000 | |
| 10 | Shawn Smith | United States | 1,320,000 |
Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo
The $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo is the first non NL hold’em event of the 2024 WSOP and unsurprisingly we saw a decent size field line up.
1,143 entries is respectable for this event and we had 275 of them left at the end of the day’s play with 140 to get paid.
Sammy Farha is one big name from the past who likes these tournaments. The Lebanese player famously played heads-up in the 2003 WSOP Main Event against winner Chris Moneymaker. He currently sits just outside the top 10.
The $25,000 NL Heads-Up Championship starts in less than 24 hours. Currently the field is at 32 players with a $2,700 NL HU Mega satellite tonight at 6pm. pic.twitter.com/C773BGIoGd
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) May 29, 2024
Day 3 of the 2024 WSOP will see at least two new champions crowned with Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions No-Limit Hold’em expected to have long registration lines after paying out two seven-figure prizes last year.
We will also get to witness some of the world’s elite battling in Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship, the first monster buy-in event of the series.
Finally, Event #7: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice (6-Handed) will kick off at 2:00 p.m.in Las Vegas where we expect to see all manner of poker variants that are not usually spread in casinos and card rooms around the world.
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