$3,500 Championship
Day 1a Completed
$3,500 Championship
Day 1a Completed
The $3,500 buy-in Wynn Millions Championship kicked off today with Day 1a as part of the 2024 Wynn Millions Poker Series in Las Vegas, drawing no shortage of poker notables. After ten hours of play, Georgia's Fikret Kovac bagged the chip lead over the 64 remaining players with a stack of 394,000.
The first of three starting flights in the Wynn Millions Championship, one of the most popular tournaments of the year, drew 236 runners who contributed to the $3 million guaranteed prize pool. Plenty of notables bagged on Day 1a, including Alex Foxen, Kristen Foxen, Landon Tice, John Riordan, James Romero and David "ODB" Baker.
RANK | NAME | COUNTRY | CHIP COUNT | BIG BLINDS | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Fikret Kovac | United States | 394,000 | 158 | |
2 | Steven Jones | United States | 340,000 | 136 | |
3 | John Betancourt | United States | 329,500 | 132 | |
4 | Jack Hardcastle | United Kingdom | 308,000 | 123 | |
5 | Dong Min Suh | United States | 285,000 | 114 | |
6 | Ardit Kurshumi | United States | 282,500 | 113 | |
7 | Mike Chiappetta | United States | 278,000 | 111 | |
8 | Chris Hak | Canada | 273,000 | 109 | |
9 | Rick Mechammil | United States | 264,000 | 106 | |
10 | Chad Lipton | United States | 259,500 | 104 |
There were big names in the Day 1a field from the beginning, with inaugural champion Andrew Moreno, Poker Hall of Famer Billy Baxter, soap opera star Farah Galfond and acclaimed author and Maria Konnikova all among the first players to take their seats. Konnikova took an early beat when her flopped nut flush was outdrawn by the runner-runner boat of Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy, but both players managed to stick around to bag.
The big names kept on coming as the hours rolled on, including those who busted Day 2 of the $2,200 NLH 6-Max like poker coach Jonathan Little, 2015 WSOP Main Event champion Joe McKeehen and 2023 GPI Player of the Year Bin Weng.
There were also moments of serendipity, like when 2023 WSOP Main Event runners-up Adam Walton and Steven Jones were seated side-by-side eight months after they both became millionaires. But the summer reunion ended in a cooler that saw Walton's set of aces crushed by the rivered straight of his WSOP companion.
Walton took the beat with a smile and even stuck around for several hours to sweat the 6-Max final table taking place across the room.
Some of the other players who didn't survive to bag include Ryan Laplante, Clemen Deng, Brock Wilson, Bill Klein, Justin Young and Jared Jaffee.
There are still two more starting flights to play out, including Day 1b that will kick off on Friday, March 8 at noon local time.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back on-site at Wynn Las Vegas tomorrow for continued coverage of the Wynn Millions Championship.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Fikret Kovac | 394,000 | |
|
||
Steven Jones |
340,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
||
John Betancourt
|
329,500
329,500
|
329,500 |
Jack Hardcastle |
308,000
308,000
|
308,000 |
Dong Min Suh
|
285,000
285,000
|
285,000 |
Ardit Kurshumi |
282,500
282,500
|
282,500 |
Mike Chiappetta |
278,000
278,000
|
278,000 |
Chris Hak |
273,000
273,000
|
273,000 |
Rick Mechammil |
264,000
264,000
|
264,000 |
Chad Lipton |
259,500
259,500
|
259,500 |
Edward Compton |
252,500
252,500
|
252,500 |
Bin Weng |
212,000
17,000
|
17,000 |
|
||
Joe Kuether |
206,500
206,500
|
206,500 |
Upeshka De Silva |
198,000
198,000
|
198,000 |
|
||
Zachary Donovan |
197,500
197,500
|
197,500 |
Joseph Casseus |
191,500
191,500
|
191,500 |
Anthony Spinella |
189,500
189,500
|
189,500 |
|
||
Tony Ruberto |
189,000
189,000
|
189,000 |
Andrew Hedley |
183,000
183,000
|
183,000 |
Ivan Ruban |
173,500
173,500
|
173,500 |
Justin Liberto |
173,000
173,000
|
173,000 |
|
||
Matt Hunt |
171,500
66,500
|
66,500 |
Louis Le Boisselier |
171,000
171,000
|
171,000 |
Michael Berk |
170,000
170,000
|
170,000 |
Mike Zulker |
168,000
168,000
|
168,000 |
Day 1a of the Wynn Millions Championship has wrapped up with 66 players remaining.
Stay tuned for a full recap of the day's action.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Farah Galfond | Busted | |
Nissar Quraishi | Busted | |
Joe McKeehen | Busted | |
|
||
Bill Klein | Busted | |
Billy Baxter | Busted | |
|
||
Justin Young | Busted | |
|
The tournament director has instructed dealers to deal four more hands before players will bag for the evening.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Fikret Kovac | 394,000 | |
|
||
John Riordan |
200,000
140,000
|
140,000 |
|
||
Bin Weng |
195,000
-5,000
|
-5,000 |
|
||
Alex Foxen |
170,000
-10,000
|
-10,000 |
|
||
Calvin Anderson |
135,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
||
Kristen Foxen |
125,000
-25,000
|
-25,000 |
|
||
James Romero |
110,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
||
Matt Hunt |
105,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
David "ODB" Baker |
90,000
-10,000
|
-10,000 |
|
||
Landon Tice |
65,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
||
Cliff Josephy |
65,000
-100,000
|
-100,000 |
|
||
Samuel Laskowitz |
60,000
-40,000
|
-40,000 |
|
||
Adam Hendrix |
50,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
||
Maria Konnikova |
42,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
Jake Ripnick |
40,000
-10,500
|
-10,500 |
Victoria Livschitz |
35,000
-5,000
|
-5,000 |
Peter Mugar |
20,000
-30,000
|
-30,000 |
Level: 10
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 2,000
Bin Weng opened in middle position and called as Alex Foxen three-bet in the hijack.
Weng checked on the flop of 6♦4♠K♥ and Foxen continued for 5,500. Weng called. Weng checked again on the 10♠ turn and Foxen checked back.
The 7♦ river completed the board and Weng took some time before betting around 53,000 to bring a snap-fold from Foxen.
"I was trapping you, Alex," Weng laughed before telling the table he had ace-king offsuit. "I normally always four-bet that hand."
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Bin Weng |
200,000
135,000
|
135,000 |
|
||
Alex Foxen |
180,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
In a heads-up pot, Jake Ripnick bet 12,000 from the small blind on a flop of 3♠6♠3♣ and Samuel Laskowitz called in the hijack.
Ripnick then checked on the 7♥ turn and Laskowitz took some time before betting the same 12,000. Ripnick laid it down.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Samuel Laskowitz |
100,000
-25,000
|
-25,000 |
|
||
Jake Ripnick | 50,500 |