Frederic Normand Leads Day 1d After Guarantee Reached in WSOP Paradise Super Main Event
The fourth and final starting flight of Event #11: $25,000 Super Main Event at the World Series of Poker Paradise (WSOPP) inside Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas wrapped up early Monday morning with 178 players remaining and Canada's Frederic Normand leading the way over big stacks like four-time bracelet winner Chad Eveslage and five-time bracelet winner Robert Mizrachi, the older brother of the reigning Main Event champion.
Among those notables who bagged on Day 1d are poker power couple Jennifer Tilly and Phil Laak, cash game hero Alan Keating, high-stakes pros Seth Davies, Viktor Blom and Nacho Barbero, Main Event champions Espen Jorstad and Martin Jacobson, and Daniel Negreanu, who has proven to have more lives than the feral cats of Paradise Island after advancing on his tenth bullet.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frederic Normand | Canada | 5,795,000 | 232 |
| 2 | Alberto Speranzoni | Italy | 5,500,000 | 220 |
| 3 | Aaron Mermelstein | United States | 5,400,000 | 216 |
| 4 | Chad Eveslage | United States | 4,215,000 | 169 |
| 5 | Wai Kiat Lee | Malaysia | 3,890,000 | 156 |
| 6 | Dong Chen | China | 3,855,000 | 154 |
| 7 | Lou Garza | United States | 3,435,000 | 137 |
| 8 | Isaiah Goldman | United States | 3,340,000 | 134 |
| 9 | Aylar Lie | Norway | 3,040,000 | 122 |
| 10 | Alvaro Puchol | Spain | 3,000,000 | 120 |
$63 Million & Counting
The overlay counter displayed on the tournament clocks was all the rage on Sunday, with WSOP staff and media members waiting eagerly for the event to reach and surpass the $60 million guarantee.
That happened well before dinner break as the overlay ticked to zero, and the entries kept coming to bring the prize pool up to $63 million so far. Registration remains open into Day 2b, so expect the field and prize pool to grow further.
Chucky actress Tilly and Poker Boom personality Laak took their seats early, and the latter made friends at the table before putting a tough beat on an opponent with a rivered four-outer.
Across the room, plenty of attention was paid to a stacked final table in the $50,000 High Roller as Josh Arieh chased an eighth bracelet before going out in fifth place ahead of a marathon heads-up battle between Charles Hook and Michael "Texas Mike" Moncek.
Later in the evening, Negreanu joined the field with a wine glass in hand on his ninth bullet after notoriously firing eight times on Day 1a. The poker superstar yelled, smacked the table, put on a Russian accent, and went all in on his first hand to put on quite the show in the Super Main Event, later rushing across the room to vlog the $50,000 PLO High Roller heads-up battle.
A frisky Negreanu would go on to bust that ninth bullet to bring his entries up to double digits. With his tenth entry, he earned a spot in Day 2b after a few big hands in the final level of play.
Other highlights from the day include Alex Difelicele tripling up with pocket queens, poker legend David Benyamine putting a gross beat on an opponent after another opponent's mistake and retired NBA star Tony Parker getting his aces cracked.
Those who failed to bag include statistician and Life Outside Poker podcast guest Nate Silver, reigning Main Event champ Michael Mizrachi, GTO Wizard ambassador Samuel Mullur, and high-stakes pros Nick Petrangelo and Yuri Dzivielevski.
Action will resume with Day 2b on Monday at noon local time. The plan is to play into the money and down to 7% of the field.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team is on-site here in the Bahamas and will continue providing updates in the Super Main Event.
2025 WSOP Super Main Event Field
| Day | Entries | Survivors |
|---|---|---|
| 1a | 869 | 295 |
| 1b | 378 | 124 |
| 2a | 722 | 108 |
| 1c | 476 | 138 |
| 1d | 508 | 178 |