2021 WSOP Day 39: Main Event Breaks Through 4,500 Entrants; Ajayi Tops Counts

Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor
Christian Zetzsche
Live Reporter
3 min read
Adedapo Ajayi

The $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event World Championship was the only tournament running on Day 39 of the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP). november 7 saw Day 1d of the Main Event utilize all three cavernous tournament rooms at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, with more than 2,500 players choosing the fourth flight as the time to begin their quest for WSOP Main Event glory.

The 2,550 entrants on Day 1d were more than the previous three flights’ combined attendances. Some 4,518 players have bought in so far, and that number is set to increase with two more flights taking place on November 8 and November 9, flights that should be full of European stars after the United States lifted COVID-19 related travel restrictions.

Day 1d concluded after five two-hour levels. Some 1,933 players had chips in front of them when the curtain came down on proceedings, with some of poker’s biggest names being among those surviving players.

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Adedapo Ajayi Tops Main Event Day 1d Chip Counts

Adedapo Ajayi thoroughly enjoyed himself on Day 1d of the 2021 WSOP Main Event, a day he ended by cramming a tournament-leading stack of 340,900 chips into his overnight chip bag. The man from Colorado has been in hot form during 2021. Ajayi won the $3,700 WPT Choctaw Main Event for a career-best $558,610 in July, and finished fifth in the MSPT Blackhawk Showdown Series Main Event for $32,836 in mid-August.

Ajayi may have secured the chip lead on the fourth Main Event flight, but scores of elite players also punched their Day 2 tickets and gave themselves a chance of becoming this tournament’s champion.

Adedapo Ajayi (340,900), Zachary Grech (318,400), David "Bakes" Baker (247,300), Dan Shak (229,200), and David Stefanski (213,900) each bagged up large stacks at the close of play.

Further notables who will return with a big stack then are James Chen (209,400), Shyam Srinivasan (206,000), Cliff Josephy (198,600), Yevgeniy Timoshenko (194,800), Nick Petrangelo (180,000), Matt Berkey (179,800), Greg Mueller (176,700), Ben Heath (176,000), Roland Israelashvili (173,700), and Jun Obara (169,400).

Event #67: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event Day 1d Top 10 Chip Counts

PlacePlayerCountryChips
1Adedapo AjayiUnited States340,900
2Zachary GrechUnited States318,400
3Wooram ChoSouth Korea252,100
4David "Bakes" BakerUnited States247,300
5Dan ShakUnited States229,200
6Jill SodafskyUnited States224,500
7Alex GoulderUnited Kingdom218,500
8Taylor HowardUnited States214,200
9Ivan GalinecCroatia211,300
10Mike GaoUnited States210,000

More than 600 players saw the their dreams of becoming poker’s world champion lay in tatters throughout Day 1d. Adam Levy, Michael Ruane, Jason Somerville, Eric "BarstoolNate" Nathan, Joseph Cheong, Esther Taylor, Brandon Shack-Harris, Ryan Laplante, Julien Martini, Phil Laak, and David Williams all departed before play ended for another day.

Two former WSOP Main Event champions were also among the notable casualties on the fourth starting day. Joe McKeehen and Greg Raymer failed to make it through to Day 2 in pursuit of earning a repeat victory. Raymer's run ended in level three when his dominated ace failed to get there against Victor Peppe.

Two Main Event Flights Remain

There are two more flights remaining in the Main Event. Day 1e shuffles up and deals on November 8 with Day 1f commencing on November 9. Late registration remains open until approximately 3:40 p.m. local time on November 10, which is during Day 2cef.

Those last two flights should be brimming with international players with the United States relaxing its travel restrictions. Could we see a record turnout for the 2021 WSOP Main Event? Stick with PokerNews to find out.

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Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.

Christian Zetzsche
Live Reporter

In this Series

1 2021 WSOP Day 1: Series Underway With Star-Studded $25k H.O.R.S.E.2 2021 WSOP Day 2: Hellmuth In The Hunt For 16th Bracelet3 2021 WSOP Day 3: Drinan On Course For His Second Bracelet4 2021 WSOP Day 4: Cornell In Pole Position For First Bracelet5 2021 WSOP Day 5: Negreanu, Matusow, Seidel, and Hellmuth Advance in the $10K LO8 Championship6 2021 WSOP Day 6: Phil Hellmuth Chasing 16th Bracelet Deep in the $10K LO8 Championship7 2021 WSOP Day 7: Hellmuth Four Players Away From Bracelet #168 2021 WSOP Day 8: Deeb Looking For Bracelet #59 2021 WSOP Day 9: FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver Headlines $10K Limit Final Table; Racener Leads10 2021 WSOP Day 10: Brian Yoon Hunting for Fourth Bracelet11 2021 WSOP Day 11: Hellmuth In The Hunt Again; Reaches Another Final Table12 2021 WSOP Day 12: Negreanu Hunting for Seventh Bracelet13 2021 WSOP Day 13: Five Left in Milly Maker; Marle Cordeiro Among Last 17 in Ladies Event14 2021 WSOP Day 14: Vanessa Kade Racks Up Fifth Cash of the Series15 2021 WSOP Day 15: Zinno On Course For Fourth Bracelet16 2021 WSOP Day 16: Kornuth Reaches Back-to-Back $10K Short Deck Finals17 2021 WSOP Day 17: Phil Hellmuth Hunting for 16th Bracelet with 10 Remaining in $1,500 NL 2-7 Lowball18 2021 WSOP Day 18: Elezra in the Mix For His Fifth Bracelet19 2021 WSOP Day 19: David “Bakes” Baker Hunting for Third Bracelet at $1,500 Triple Draw Final Table20 2021 WSOP Day 20: Friedman After a Three-Peat as Negreanu and Hellmuth Advance to Final 10 in $10K Dealer's Choice21 2021 WSOP Day 21: Addamo Flying High In Yet Another High Roller22 2021 WSOP Day 22: Arieh Positions Himself For Bracelet #323 2021 WSOP Day 23: Gerhart, Johnson, and Shack-Harris Seeking Third Bracelets with Five Remaining in $10K H.O.R.S.E.24 2021 WSOP Day 24: JC Tran Flying High in the $10K PLO25 2021 WSOP Day 25: Elezra and Matusow Hunting for Fifth Bracelets in the $10K PLO Championship26 2021 WSOP Day 26: Soverel Leads the Charge in the NL 2-7 Single Draw Championship27 2021 WSOP Day 27: Glaser Leads Final 8 $10K NL 2-7 Championship as Negreanu Alive Hunting for Seventh Bracelet28 2021 WSOP Day 28: Stars Turn Out For $25K PLO High Roller; Deeb Flying High29 2021 WSOP Day 29: Lamb Registers Late In $25K PLO and Bags Lead30 2021 WSOP Day 30: Ka Kwan Lau On Course For $25K PLO Bracelet31 2021 WSOP Day 31: Kolev Leads the $10K 6-Handed NLHE Championship32 WSOP 2021 Day 32: Yockey Bags $50k Poker Players Championship Day 1 Chip Lead33 2021 WSOP Day 33: Volpe and Cates Lead Final 35 of the $50K Poker Players Championship34 2021 WSOP Day 34: Ryan Leng Leads Final 10 in the $50K PPC35 2021 WSOP Day 35: Eli Elezra Leads Final 5 in the $50K Poker Players Championship36 2021 WSOP Day 36: Main Event Underway, Brunson Up to Old Tricks37 2021 WSOP Day 37: Three Bracelet-Winners Crowned as Main Event Continues38 2021 WSOP Day 38: Aleksandr Shevlyakov Bags Overall Chip Lead on Day 1c of the Main Event39 2021 WSOP Day 39: Main Event Breaks Through 4,500 Entrants; Ajayi Tops Counts40 2021 WSOP Day 40: Joe Hachem Back in Form on Day 1e of the Main Event41 2021 WSOP Day 41: Rameez Shahid Leads Main Event as Phil Hellmuth Makes Grand Entrance42 2021 WSOP Day 42: Main Event Whittled to 2,362 Players43 2021 WSOP Day 43: Jessica Cai Leads After Main Event Bubble Bursts44 2021 WSOP Day 44: Ramon Colillas Bags Day 4 Chip Lead in WSOP Main Event45 2021 WSOP Day 45: Aldemir Claims Main Event Chip Lead After Day 546 2021 WSOP Day 46: Park Leads the Final 36 in the Main Event47 2021 WSOP Day 47: Yuval Bronshtein Leads Final Four in $10K Stud Hi-Lo Championship in Hunt for Third Bracelet48 2021 WSOP Day 48: Lisandro Leads Hellmuth After $10,000 Razz Championship Day 149 2021 WSOP Day 49: Hellmuth Hunting for Bracelet #17 as Dzivielevski Leads Final 14 in $10K Razz Championship50 2021 WSOP Day 50: Benny Glaser Hunting for 4th Bracelet with Heads-Up Lead in $10K Razz Championship51 2021 WSOP Day 51: Glaser, Schemion, Cowen and Wheeler Pick Up Bracelets; Mateos Chip Leads in $250K SHR52 2021 WSOP Day 52: Jason Koon Leads $50K High Roller53 2021 WSOP Day 53: Holz In Front In The $100K High Roller54 2021 WSOP Day 54: Michael Addamo Leads Final Five in $100K High Roller

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