Non-Stop Action on Day 1 of Event #51: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold'em
Play has concluded on Day 1 of Event #51: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold'em at the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
A total of 1,282 teams participated, which surpassed last year’s entry total of 913 teams, and this year's field generated a prize pool worth $570,490, with first place being $95,331 for each person in the Team. Day 2 will start close to the bubble, with only 252 teams remaining and 193 making the money.
Mark Evangelista and his teammate bagged up a tournament-leading stack of 462,000 chips, with four other teams cramming more than 300,000 chips into their overnight bag. Kenneth Gallo (382,000), Richard Ali (325,000), the duo of Amber Donatelli - Marcus Stein (325,000), and the paring of Jeremy Palvini - Jean-Paul Pasqualini (305,000) being those teams.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player/Team | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Evangelista | United States | 462,000 | 185 |
| 2 | Kenneth Gallo | United States | 382,000 | 153 |
| 3 | Richard Ali | United States | 325,500 | 130 |
| 4 | Amber Donatelli - Marcus Stein | United States | 325,000 | 130 |
| 5 | Jeremy Palvini - Jean-Paul Pasqualini | France | 305,000 | 122 |
| 6 | Peter Zolnai - Patrik Ciklamini | United States | 286,500 | 115 |
| 7 | Jesse Sylvia - Ashley Sleeth | United States | 281,500 | 113 |
| 8 | Ronald Phipps | United States | 273,000 | 109 |
| 9 | Eduardo Nejaim - Marcello Serioz | Brazil | 266,000 | 106 |
| 10 | Shahin Shayesteh | United States | 261,000 | 104 |
After 11 levels of action, several teams bagged big numbers. Aside from the teams mentioned above, Peter Zolnai - Patrick Ciklamini (286,500), Jesse Sylvia - Ashley Sleeth (281,500), Roland Phipps (273,000), Eduardo Nejaim - Marcello Serioz (266,000), and Shahin Shayesteh (261,000) finished in the top ten of the chip counts.
The exciting start of the day was electric, especially with people in costumes, and all the teammates on the rail cheering on their partners. Phil Hellmuth made an appearance at the end of the night wearing a Pokémon costume and one team, Lou Salinas and Pyzza Teston, were wearing colonial costumes resembling Beethoven.
Some of the notables to look out for in our Day 2 updates include Alejandro Lococo - Martin Pineiro (205,000), Julie Marriott - Dara O'Kearney (191,000), Sarah Stefan - Kyna England (190,000), and the dangerous-looking duo of Sebastian Pauli and Jonas Lauck (165,000).
Victor Fryda - Paul Amsellem (157,000), Jessica Teusl - Stefan Lehner (152,500), Kenny Hallaert - Sylvain Loosli (122,000), Igor d'Ursel - Martin Jacobson (81,500), Nick Palma - Brandon Hamlet, Team Now We Are Cooking (71,000), and Jarred Gabin - Shaundle Pruitt (66,000) also made it through to Day 2.
Other duos that weren’t fortunate enough to make it through Day 1 included the team of Phil Hellmuth - Dan Cates, Brad Owen - Amber Laird, Tim Duckworth - Donnie Peters, and Benjamin Spragg - Henrik Hecklen.
Day 2 of the three-day tournament will commence on Friday, June 23, at 12 p.m. local time. Action begins on Level 12 with blinds at 1,000/2,500/2,500 and the day will break after 11 one-hour levels of play. There are no breaks except for color-ups since one member of each team is always on a "break." The player that bagged at the end of the night is the player that must start when play resumes.
Don’t go far, as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back, bringing you all of the updates from this event.