Ren Lin built up a big stack on Day 1 of Event #50: $10,000 Razz Championship and he had a lot of fun doing it at the 2024 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
The ever-loquacious Lin engaged in several battles with tablemate Daniel Negreanu over the course of the day on his way to finishing second in chips with 250,500. “Very lucky player,” Lin called himself after one such encounter as everything worked in the popular Chinese pro's favor on Day 1.
He’s looking up only at chip leader Eric Rodawig. Rodawig, who won his lone WSOP bracelet 13 years ago in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Championship, bagged up 276,500 as he leads 54 survivors into Day 2.
Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Rodawig | United States | 276,500 | 46 |
| 2 | Ren Lin | China | 250,500 | 42 |
| 3 | Arthur Morris | United States | 225,000 | 38 |
| 4 | Brian Yoon | United States | 218,500 | 36 |
| 5 | Carlos Chadha | United States | 207,500 | 35 |
| 6 | Sean Akhavi | United States | 190,500 | 32 |
| 7 | Andrey Zhigalov | Russia | 189,500 | 32 |
| 8 | Robert Massman | United States | 172,500 | 29 |
| 9 | David Funkhouser | United States | 164,000 | 27 |
| 10 | Denis Strebkov | Russia | 159,000 | 27 |
Other top stacks include Arthur Morris (225,000), Brian Yoon (218,500), and last year’s runner-up Carlos Chadha (207,500). Nick Schulman (147,000), John Monnette (130,000), Negreanu (126,000), Phillip Hui (110,000), and Robert Campbell (108,500) also survived the day, while further down the leaderboard are Alex Livingston (99,000), Brandon Shack-Harris (96,500), Chad Eveslage (90,000), and $1,500 Razz champion and six-time bracelet winner Scott Seiver (83,000). Defending champion Jerry Wong managed to make it through the day with 69,000.
A total of 98 players entered the tournament over the course of nine levels on Day 1. Among those to depart early were Shaun Deeb, Brian Hastings, Patrick Leonard, Yuri Dzivielevski, David "ODB" Baker, Jesse Lonis, and $10,000 Seven Card Stud champion James Obst.
Late registration remains open for one hour into Day 2, so there is still an opportunity for the event to match last year’s total of 123 entries. Those who enter tomorrow will take their seat with a stack equal to 10 big bets. Action on Day 2 picks up on Level 10 with limits of 3,000-6,000. Levels will remain 60 minutes long until Level 14, when they will be extended to 90 minutes for the remainder of the tournament.
PokerNews will be back tomorrow providing live updates as this talent-packed field returns to the felt to play down past the money bubble and on toward the final table.
