A player in middle position opened to 400 and Tony Dunst was the only caller on button.
The flop came K♥A♥7♦ and Dunst called a 600 continuation-bet from his opponent. On the J♣ turn, the player in middle position checked and Dunst fired a bet of 1,110.
His opponent quickly folded and Dunst raked in some early chips.
2006 Main Event winner Jamie Gold has just shared a few words before announcing the iconic, "Shuffle up and deal!"
Gold, who WSOP Vice President Jack Effel joked was the only person who doesn't want the Main Event attendance record broken, called the World Series a "Herculean feat" that gets pulled off each year and said he hoped to see the 2006 attendance record surpassed, "which I was so lucky and fortunate to win."
"I'm just so happy to be here, I'm so proud to be here, and I really do feel lucky and fortunate, and I'm so excited to get into this event in a few minutes," he told a crowd of players and poker media in the Horseshoe event center. "Everyone, I wish you all the good fortune that I have had, all the run-good that I have had, all the luck that I have had — except when you're the last person at the final table against me, then I do not wish you so well."
With 785 players to start things off, Day 1a of the 2023 World Series of Poker Main Event is officially underway!
Phil Hellmuth now has 17 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets, seven more than anyone else. He's won enough bracelets to likely hold onto that record throughout his lifetime. But he'll almost certainly tack on some more before he calls it a career.
The record alone is tournament poker's greatest accomplishment, and yet there's so much more to his WSOP resume than perhaps you even knew. Take, for starters, the fact that he's the only player to win bracelets in five separate decades (1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s) and one of two players, along with Josh Arieh, to win at all three host venues (Binion's, Rio, and Bally's/Horseshoe).
The 2023 World Series of Poker has attracted more poker players than ever before and many tournaments have set records for the number of entries. Now is the time for the grandest spectacle of them all as Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event No-Limit Hold'em World Championship gets underway with Day 1a at 12 noon.
The most talked-about event in the poker world will take place over the next two weeks, with both poker pros and amateurs battling it out on the felt, all on a level playing field. As many say, it's a marathon, not a sprint, in an attempt to be the last player with chips, earning the glory and title of WSOP Main Event champion.
Last year, poker pro Espen Jorstad overcame a field of 8,663 players and defeated Adrian Attenborough heads-up to win $10,000,000 and the coveted WSOP Main Event bracelet. It was the second bracelet for Jorstad in the span of a month in what was his first trip to the WSOP in Las Vegas. With record numbers being recorded daily throughout the summer, many are expecting this could be the year where the 2006 record of 8,773 players will finally be broken.
Each player begins with a stack of 60,000 chips and each Day 1 will play five 120-minute levels. There will be a 20-minute break after each level and a 75-minute dinner break after Level 3.
Day 1a Schedule
LEVEL
ESTIMATED START
DURATION
SMALL BLIND
BIG BLIND
BIG BLIND ANTE
1
12:00 p.m.
120 minutes
100
200
200
2:00 p.m.
20-minute break
2
2:20 p.m.
120 minutes
200
300
300
4:20 p.m.
20-minute break
3
4:40 p.m.
120 minutes
200
400
400
6:40 p.m.
75-minute break
4
7:55 p.m.
120 minutes
300
500
500
9:55 p.m.
20-minute break
5
10:15 p.m.
120 minutes
300
600
600
This is the first of four starting flights for the 54th WSOP Main Event and late registration will remain open for seven levels, allowing players to register through the first two levels of either Day 2. This is a freezeout event so only one entry per player is permitted. Players who bag today on Day 1a will return on Friday, July 7, 2023. They will combine with players who bag on Days 1b and 1c for Day 2abc. (View the complete structure sheet here.)
Over the next couple of weeks, the rest of the world will be glued to their screens, waiting to see who will claim the prestigious bracelet and become immortalized as the 2023 WSOP Main Event champion in what could likely be the largest World Championship ever. The final day of play is slated for Monday, July 17, where the winner will be crowned.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for our comprehensive tournament coverage throughout the Main Event, providing you with all of the daily updates and exciting highlights over the next couple of weeks.
