The premier event of World Series of Poker Paradise (WSOPP) kicked off today with Day 1a of Event #11: $25,000 Super Main Event, a tournament with a record-setting $60 million guaranteed prize pool that was always sure to draw many of poker's biggest names.
That has certainly been the case with the first starting flight, which drew poker's most popular player, Daniel Negreanu, not once, not twice, not three times ... but six times. The Poker Hall of Famer and seven-time bracelet winner put up a staggering $150,000 today in the $25,000 buy-in event and now finds himself with a stack of 1,105,000.
The first starting flight drew 869 runners, putting the event more than a third of the way toward its lofty guarantee. Leading the field of 295 remaining players is Canada's Leonardo Song-Carrillo with 4,485,000, while other big stacks include Alejandro Ganivet, Bartley Dowling, Franco Spitale, and Sean Suh, who was propelled by a late-night double that was certainly the loudest of the day.
Meanwhile, plenty of fresh faces found bags at the end of ten one-hour levels of play, including reigning Main Event champion Michael Mizrachi, fellow champions Chris Moneymaker, Hossein Ensan, Ryan Riess, Joe Cada and Max Neugebauer, Viktor Blom, and Kristen Foxen.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leonardo Song-Carrillo | Canada | 4,485,000 | 179 |
| 2 | Alejandro Ganivet | Spain | 4,430,000 | 177 |
| 3 | Bartley Dowling | United States | 4,400,000 | 176 |
| 4 | Franco Spitale | Argentina | 4,325,000 | 173 |
| 5 | Sean Suh | United States | 4,210,000 | 168 |
| 6 | Rodrigo Seiji | Brazil | 3,965,000 | 159 |
| 7 | John Barr | United States | 3,950,000 | 158 |
| 8 | Ruben Suarez | Venezuela | 3,935,000 | 157 |
| 9 | Raoul Kanme | Netherlands | 3,850,000 | 154 |
| 10 | Christopher Nguyen | Germany | 3,805,000 | 152 |
Whole Lotta Bullets
There was plenty to follow on Day 1a, including five members of the Mizrachi family — Robert, Eric, Paul, Daniel and reigning Main Event champion Michael — but Negreanu stole the show with his seemingly infinite bullets.
His shortest bullet lasted just ten minutes and the others didn't last much longer. Perhaps the worst beat of the day came on Bullet #2 when he open-jammed 15 big blinds right into the pocket aces of Bryce Yockey.
Yinan Zhou, the first-ever Super Main Event champion, had less luck than last year and busted two bullets on Day 1a.
Others to fall on Day 1a include GPI Player of the Year frontrunner Jesse Lonis, Jean-Robert Bellande, Brandon Steven, Faraz Jaka, David Jackson, Roman Hrabec, recent WSOP Circuit Championship Mystery Bounty winner Mark Darner, and Shaun Deeb, who recently made waves by predicting Phil Hellmuth will never win another bracelet.
Day 1b will follow the same schedule as Day 1a, kicking off at noon local time and playing for ten one-hour levels. Another big field is expected in the quest to hit the record-breaking $60 million guarantee.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back tomorrow for more coverage of the Super Main Event. Check out the WSOP Paradise live reporting portal in the meantime.
