Listen up, sailor: at the 2024 World Series of Poker, there be monsters. Some we know are real - monster stacks, monster hands, monster pots - while others live only in our heads. Or so we hope.
When an apex predator like Phil Hellmuth, Benny Glaser or Phil Ivey joins your table, is your best hope of survival to stay out of its way, or do you sharpen your sword, stand your ground and do your best to slay the beast?
Or, do you become the monster?
As the WSOP’s number one winner over the years, Phil Hellmuth will always have a target on his head and eyes on his back. If ever there was a monster to be slain at the tables of the Horseshoe and Paris, it’s surely the man with 17 bracelets.
So, is he afraid of monsters at the table, or does he consider himself the biggest monster of them all? Silly question, right?
Freezeout heats up
As the Dragonborn points out above, the $1,500 NLH Freezeout got started yesterday and will return for 10 x 60-minute levels from 11am.
Brian Barker (951,000) is way out in front, with a lead of over a hundred thousand chips over Nick Maimone (830,000). Meanwhile, the likes of Ebony Kenney and Kathy Liebert remain in the hunt alongside Phil Hellmuth, as the 215 survivors of Day 1 attempt to make it to Wednesday’s final table. A pot of gold worth $412,484 awaits the winner.
Vampan is the $3K LHE winner
Daniel Vampan is a cash game player from California with a long history playing the less-popular limit variants of poker, and that experience paid off big time in the $3,000 Limit Hold’em event.
10 of 248 entries made it through to the third and final day, including Roland Israelashvili who celebrated his 501st WSOP cash when he went out in 5th spot for $33,387. He has over $4.5M in career earnings, and no bracelets to date, but if tenacity is anything to go by he’ll eventually slay his own monster and grab that Series win for which he’s been fighting so hard, and so long (his first WSOP cash came back in 2005).
Roland Israelashvili: his quest continuesVampan, who at one point during Day 2 had been reduced to less than half a big bet, hit the heads-up finale with a chip lead of 6-to-1. His opponent Robert Wells was unable to mount a comeback, and Vampan took it down with a pair when Wells missed his draw. The win paid $148,635, with Wells taking home $99,578 for his runner-up finish.
Hands up who won the $3K LHE?Half the field remains in the $10K Limit 2-7 Championship
125 went in, only 65 came back. The 2-7 Triple Draw Championship is not for the faint of heart. If seeing a monster like Negreanu or Chidwick at your table is enough to get your knees knocking, spare a thought for any civilians who somehow wandered into this nest of vipers.
Let’s look at the top end of the chip counts after Day 1: of the top 20 players, 14 have WSOP bracelets, and those who don’t include Dustin Dirksen (40x WSOP cashes, live and online, in the past three years), Chino Rheem (almost $15m in career tournament earnings) and Bin Weng (current WPT Player of the Year).
Sat atop this pile of killers at the end of Day 1 is Japan’s Naoya Kihara (237,000), a double event-winner at the Asia Series Poker Tour’s Korea stop in January, and who’s made two deep runs in Omaha events already in this year’s WSOP. He’ll have his work cut out keeping ahead of a chasing pack which includes Marco Johnson (227,000), Bryce Yockey (213,000), Jason Mercier (206,500) and defending champion Benny Glaser (195,500).
They’ll all be back to play 8 x 60-minute levels from 1pm, with a winner expected to emerge tomorrow to claim the $294,285 top prize.
Ivy’s aces cracked as Deeb goes deep in the High Roller
19 of 318 still stand in the $25,000 NLH High Roller (8-handed), after some big names fell by the wayside during Day 2. Recent Shootout champion Dan Sepiol (21st, $62,737), Phil Ivey (22nd, $62,737), Espen Jorstàd (28th, $53,169) and Chance Kornuth (36th, $50,637) were all among the fallen.
Ivey got it all-in preflop with 
late in day 2, and was happy to see Yingui Li turn over 
. He was less happy when the 
came on the flop, no help came, and another scary monster was banished to the rail.
Yingui Li leads the $25K High Roller heading into the final dayWith that, Yingui Li took the lead (5,600,000) and carries it into Day 3. Also among the big stacks is Shaun Deeb (4th, 3,510,000), who is looking to pay back those who made him such a prime buy in the WSOP Fantasy Draft, with Samuel Laskowitz (7th, 2,885,000), Nick Schulman (8th, 2,815,000) and Jared Bleznick (10th, 2,425,000) all poised for a late charge at the $1,667,842 up top.
PokerOrg caught up with Deeb for some advice on… toilet training (not that kind).
Photo of the day
Some wear their heart on their sleeve. Others wear Allen Kessler on their… everything.
All business
All businessHand of the day
Even a beast can run into a monster.
With 43 of 318 left in the $25K High Roller, Justin Bonomo ($68M+ in career earnings) opened from early position with 
, Englishman Philip Sternheimer called from the cut-off, as did the big blind.
The flop of 
was checked around to Sternheimer, who bet small. The big blind folded and Bonomo called with his middle set. So far, so cute.
A 
on the turn brought a flush draw. Bonomo check-called a big bet from Sternheimer, then made a full house when another came on the river. Bonomo checked again to elicit a bet from Sternheimer, who obliged by betting around half the pot.
Bonomo shoved over the top with his full house, Sternheimer snap-called with for quads and lo, Bonomo the beast was bust.
Tweets of the day
Poker content? Jared Jaffee is having none of it. Like, literally none of it. At all.
Who hurt you, Jared?
Meanwhile, as public nominations open for the Poker Hall of Fame, Norman Chad has a brief history lesson for the whippersnappers out there.
Video of the day
Poker strategy has its trends and fads like anything else. The newest, most effective strat on the block? The old ‘shove-blind’ routine.
The day in numbers
15
Bracelets in the possession of the current top 5 players in the $10K 2-7: Naoya Kihara (1), Marco Johnson (2), Bryce Yockey (2), Calvin Anderson (4) and Jason Mercier (6)
7
Women who entered the $25K High Roller this week (more on this here)
27
Big blinds in the stack of the overnight chip leader in the $300 Gladiators of Poker, Simon Britton
Results
Event #25: $3,000 Limit Hold'em 6-Handed
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Vampan | $148,635 |
| 2 | Robert Wells | $99,578 |
| 3 | Nick Caltabiano | $67,919 |
| 4 | Lucas Wagner | $47,179 |
| 5 | Roland Israelashvili | $33,387 |
| 6 | Frank Yakubson | $24,078 |
| 7 | Daniel Maczuga | $17,704 |
| 8 | Yi Klassen | $13,276 |
Full results on WSOP
Ongoing events
Event #20: $300 Gladiators of Poker No-Limit Hold'em (Final 14)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simon Britton | 67,100,000 |
| 2 | Stephen Winters | 64,975,000 |
| 3 | Rami Hammoud | 64,950,000 |
| 4 | Brendon Herrick | 63,500,000 |
| 5 | Quang Vu | 61,825,000 |
| 6 | Steve Foutty | 58,000,000 |
| 7 | Caleb Levesque | 49,450,000 |
| 8 | Mario Lopez | 41,025,000 |
| 9 | James Morgan | 38,900,000 |
Event #26: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed - Final 19)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yingui Li | 5,600,000 |
| 2 | David Stamm | 4,955,000 |
| 3 | Andrew Ostapchenko | 4,215,000 |
| 4 | Shaun Deeb | 3,510,000 |
| 5 | Roberto Perez | 3,185,000 |
| 6 | Chongxian Yang | 2,885,000 |
| 7 | Samuel Laskowitz | 2,885,000 |
| 8 | Nick Schulman | 2,815,000 |
| 9 | Krasimir Yankov | 2,545,000 |
Event #27: $1,500 Big O
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tomoki Matsuda | 4,285,000 |
| 2 | John Bunch | 4,005,000 |
| 3 | Michael Christ | 3,335,000 |
| 4 | Paul Fehlig | 3,310,000 |
| 5 | Lucas Zwingmann-Gocht | 3,075,000 |
| 6 | Seth Frederici | 2,700,000 |
| 7 | James McWhorter | 2,460,000 |
| 8 | Matthew Bretzfield | 2,400,000 |
| 9 | Damjan Radanov | 1,875,000 |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #28: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Barker | 951,000 |
| 2 | Conor Hannan | 950,000 |
| 3 | Scott Stewart | 831,000 |
| 4 | Nick Maimone | 830,000 |
| 5 | Fausto Valdez | 817,000 |
| 6 | Evan Benton | 774,000 |
| 7 | John Riordan | 755,000 |
| 8 | Nikolay Yosifov | 754,000 |
| Notables |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #29: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship (6-Handed)
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naoya Kihara | 237,000 |
| 2 | Marco Johnson | 227,000 |
| 3 | Bryce Yockey | 213,000 |
| 4 | Calvin Anderson | 210,500 |
| 5 | Jason Mercier | 206,500 |
| 6 | Danny Noam | 201,500 |
| 7 | Danny Tang | 199,000 |
| 8 | Bin Weng | 196,500 |
| Notables |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Bracelet winners
- Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion – Asher Conniff (USA)
- Event #2: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em – Jose Garcia (USA)
- Event #3: $500 Kickoff No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout – Daniel Willis (UK)
- Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better (8-Handed) – James Chen (USA)
- Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions - Malcolm Trayner (Australia)
- Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship – Darius Samual (UK)
- Event #7: $1,500 Dealer's Choice – John Hennigan (USA)
- Event #8: $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha (8-Handed) - Bryce Yockey (USA)
- Event #9: $1,500 Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Nick Guagenti (USA)
- Event #10: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship - Scott Seiver (USA)
- Event #11: $1,500 Badugi - David Prociak (USA)
- Event #12: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em - Simeon Spasov (Bulgaria)
- Event #13: $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship - Robert Mizrachi (USA)
- Event #14: $1,000 Super Turbo Bounty No Limit Hold'em - Thibault Perissat (France)
- Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better - Caleb Furth (USA)
- Event #16: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Brent Hart (USA)
- Event #17: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack - TJ Murphy (USA)
- Event #18: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha - Dylan Weisman (USA)
- Event #19: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship - John Racener (USA)
- Event #21: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (6-Handed) - Brek Schutten (USA)
- Event #22: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw (6-Handed) - Aaron Cummings (USA)
- Event #23: Event #23: $1,500 SHOOTOUT No-Limit Hold'em - Dan Sepiol (USA)
- Event #24: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship - Sean Troha (USA)
- Event #25: $3,000 Limit Hold'em 6-Handed - Daniel Vampan (USA)
Coming up on Day #15
A number of new champions will be joining the list above on Tuesday, as events scheduled to play to a conclusion include the $25K High Roller, the $300 Gladiators of Poker and the $1,500 Big O.
China’s Lingui Li leads the High Roller field, as mentioned above, while the epic Gladiator event sees Simon Britton hold a precarious lead. Britton of the USA has the big stack, but just 27 big blinds to play with; the short stack Alain Macabulos has closer to 6. The last Gladiator standing gets $401,210. Expect fireworks.
The Big O field is down to 20, led by Japan’s Tomoki Matsuda (4,285,000). Sammy Farha (10th, 1,420,000) and Nathan Gamble (19th, 455,000) are the only former bracelet winners left in the field, competing for the top prize of $306,884.
The $1,500 NLH Freezeout and $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship will both play a Day 2 today, while Day 1s begin for the $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack, the $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em (6-Handed) and the $1,500 Seven Card Stud events.
In short, Tuesday is going to be another monster day at the WSOP; don’t have nightmares.
WSOP Day #14 gallery
