With 60,000 in the middle the flop read A♥Q♠4♣, and Zhiyuan Xu check-called a bet of 12,000 from Artur Martirosian.
Both players checked the 6♥ turn, and checked again on the 10♣ river before Xu rolled Q♣7♣ for a pair of queens. Martirosian mucked his hand as the dealer pushed the pot to Xu.
Isaac Haxton opened to 20,000 on the button, and Kahle Burns defended in the big blind.
Burns checked on the 6♠6♣7♠ flop, then called a 12,000 continuation from Haxton.
The Q♠ turn saw Burns check again, with Haxton opting to continue to grow the pot with a 27,000 bet. Burns still did not lay down his hand but instead chose to call.
Burns checked one last time once the A♦ river completed the board but could not get to showdown as Haxton bet enough to force the Australian all in. He quickly folded to leave himself short late on Day 1.
Day 1 of Event #39: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) has come to end after eight 60-minute levels with 68 players managing to survive the day from the 134 entries. The tournament boasts one of the biggest buy-ins of the series and took place at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
Japan's Masashi Oya sits alone at the top of the leaderboard after he accumulated 1,570,000 chips throughout the day and one was of only five players to break the million-chip milestone. Japan's number one ranked tournament player already has a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet to his name after the he took down the Ultra High Roller event at Atlantis Paradise Island last year for a cool $2,940,000 and will be looking to navigate his way through the field on Day 2 to set up a run at bracelet number two.
Another player that tops their country's all-time money list is James Chen, who bagged up big with a stack of 1,120,000 chips. The Taiwanese player emerged victorious in the Super High Roller event at the WSOP Europe back in 2019, so is no stranger to large buy-in events and will be looking to use his vast experience to make another deep run.
End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Masashi Oya
Japan
1,570,000
131
2
Marius Gierse
Germany
1,516,000
126
3
[Removed:554]
Netherlands
1,467,000
122
4
Alex Kulev
Bulgaria
1,358,000
113
5
James Chen
Taiwan
1,120,000
93
6
Artur Martirosian
Russian Federation
1,015,000
85
7
Philip Sternheimer
United Kingdom
965,000
80
8
Nacho Barbero
Argentina
948,000
79
9
Brandon Wilson
United States
945,000
79
10
Sergio Aido
Spain
937,000
78
The top ten stacks feature players from eight different countries, demonstrating the WSOP's wide international appeal. This diverse mix of competitors highlights how the WSOP attracts top talent from all over the world, making it a truly global event.
With the huge price tag attached to the tournament, it was no surprise to see some of the world's best players clashing with each other on the felt. Phil Ivey, who just won his eleventh bracelet, managed to bag up a prosperous amount of 888,000 chips which puts him in a good position to make a deep run.
Phil Ivey
The likes of Viktor Blom (866,000), Ben Heath (859,000), Adrian Mateos (844,000), Andrew Lichtenberger (764,000), Isaac Haxton (740,000), David Coleman (613,000), and Daniel Negreanu (458,000) are just a few of the names who found a bag at the end of Day 1.
Bracelet winners Brek Schutten (151,000), Kahle Burns (110,000), and Justin Bonomo (79,000) all have some work to do when Day 2 gets underway as they find themselves at the bottom of the counts.
Play will begin at 12 p.m. on Saturday, June 15 at Level 9 (6,000/12,000/12,000) with the intention to play ten more 60-minute levels. Registration will remain open until the end of Level 10, which allows new players just over two hours to join the field once Day 2 starts.
Keep it right here with PokerNews for the latest updates in the high-stakes arena to see who can make a run towards the final table.
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