Nacho Barbero had raised to 35,000 preflop from the cutoff and was called by Santhosh Suvarna on the button and Ben Lamb in the big blind. The flop then fell 5♥10♦9♠ and Lamb checked.
Barbero made a bet of 55,000, which Suvarna raised to 300,000. Lamb then shoved all in, covering both of his opponents.
Barbero spent a few minutes in the tank before calling for roughly 540,000 chips, as did Suvarna for his stack of 433,000, leading to a three-way showdown.
Santhosh Suvarna: K♣10♣9♥8♦
Nacho Barbero: A♦Q♥J♥J♦
Ben Lamb: Q♦J♣10♠5♣
The 7♦ turn gave Barbero the nut flush draw in addition to his open-ender, but the A♣ bricked out for everyone.
Suvarna won the main pot with two pair, tens and nines, and Lamb won the small side pot with two pair, tens and fives.
Barbero got no part of any pot and headed out the tournament area with 15 minutes left on Day 1.
A large four-way pot was looming over on table 143 and the flop of K♥6♦3♠ saw Sam Soverel as well as Eric Kurtzman check. Jason Mercier in the cutoff then moved all-in for 317,000 and Evan Krentzman called all-in for 127,000. Sam Soverel called as well with a shorter stack and Kurtzman folded.
Sam Soverel: A♣8♣7♠6♠
Evan Krentzman: A♥K♦10♦5♥
Jason Mercier: K♣Q♥J♣3♥
Mercier was ahead with the top and bottom pair, which remained to be the case with the 5♣ turn. He asked for a queen and received the Q♦ river to scoop an enormous pot.
Krentzman re-entered shortly after while Soverel can still jump back in tonight or in the first level of Day 2.
Ren Lin raised from under the gun and Bogdan Capitan three-bet out of the big blind for Lin to call. On the K♥Q♠2♣ flop, Capitan bet the pot and Lin called with around ten big blinds behind. They got it in after the 4♥ turn with Lin at risk.
Ren Lin: J♠10♠10♦9♣
Bogdan Capitan: A♠A♦7♠7♥
The river was the blank 4♦ and that sent Lin to the rail just shy of bagging.
Daniel Negreanu was all-in already and the 8♥6♠2♥J♦ turn then also brought the last 149,000 of Petko Tsakov into the middle against Eric Kurtzman.
Daniel Negreanu: A♠K♠8♠3♥
Petko Tsakov: 10♠8♣7♥6♥
Eric Kurtzman: J♥9♣7♣6♦
The river brought the 9♠ and Negreanu was eliminated while Tsakov doubled through Kurtzman.
One table over, another big pot was brewing when Eric Garma back-raised to 220,000 preflop and then got it in against Michael Moncek on a flop of 10♣5♣5♦.
Moncek was the player at risk for 385,000 with the A♣6♦4♣2♣ and Garma tabled the A♥A♦Q♦7♥.
The flush didn't come, but Moncek got there with the 3♥ turn and 4♥ river.
"This is so fuckin stupid," Garma sighed as he took a massive hit just before bagging.
The most expensive Pot-Limit Omaha of the 2024 World Series of Poker has kicked off at the Paris and Horseshoe Casino Las Vegas, attracting some of the biggest names of the international poker scene. Among them were many specialists in the four-card variant, as can be expected for the elevated price tag in Event #79: $50,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha.
Thanks to 131 entries so far, the event has already generated a prize pool in excess of $6 million but both figures are subject to change due to the extended late registration. For the time being, the attendance is significantly lower than the record-breaking edition one year ago, which drew a staggering field of 200 entries.
Upon completion of 12 levels of 40 minutes each, the field was cut into more than half as just 61 players bagged up chips for the night. After a tumultuous final stage, the leaderboard saw several last-minute changes, and Jason Mercier climbed to the summit of the leaderboard with a stack of 1,575,000. He is followed by Jared Bleznick (1,470,000) and Santhosh Suvarna (1,360,000) with the trio all being involved in multi-way all-in showdowns at the end of the night.
Top Ten Chip Counts After Day 1
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Jason Mercier
United States
1,575,000
105
2
Jared Bleznick
United States
1,470,000
98
3
Santhosh Suvarna
India
1,360,000
91
4
Michael Moncek
United States
1,290,000
86
5
Tim Van Loo
Germany
1,280,000
85
6
Isaac Kempton
United States
1,250,000
83
7
Chase Steely
United States
1,240,000
83
8
Jonathan Azoulay
United States
1,235,000
82
9
Veselin Karakitukov
Bulgaria
1,185,000
79
10
Bryce Yockey
United States
1,135,000
76
Other notables with big stacks at their disposal when Day 2 begins include Michael Moncek (1,290,000), Bryce Yockey (1,135,000), David Benyamine (980,000), Jim Collopy (800,000), Richard Gryko (720,000), Noah Schwartz (705,000) and Isaac Haxton (665,000).
Defending champion Jesse Lonis endured a rollercoaster ride at the tables after starting his title defense from the very start of the tournament. He dropped to fewer than half the starting stack before knocking out Tomer Daniel. From there on, the two-time bracelet winner bounced back and advanced with 600,000. For the 2022 champion Robert Cowen, it was an even rougher day at the tables as he reentered and made it through with a short stack of just 180,000.
Jesse Lonis
Mercier's rise to the top came in the final level of the night when he came out on top of a three-way all-in to send Evan Krentzman and Sam Soverel to the rail. This hand came just moments after Suvarna's stack skyrocketed to seven figures in yet another explosive three-way all-in.
Daniel Negreanu was ousted during the final level as well. One table over, Michael Moncekdealt a heavy blow to the previously healthy stack of Eric Garma to shake up the leaderboard at the very end.
Further notable casualties throughout the day include Eelis Pärssinen, Ren Lin, Stephen Chidwick, Phil Ivey, Artur Martirosian, Dylan Weisman and the 2024 WSOP Player of the Year contender Jeremy Ausmus. Current Player of the Year leader Scott Seiver advanced with 585,000 after securing a double-up in the final level of the night.
The late registration for this high-stakes contest remains open for the next 40-minute level on Day 2, which is set to resume at 1:00 p.m. local time in the purple section of the Paris Casino Ballroom. Recommencing blinds will be 10,000-15,000 with a big blind ante of 15,000 to give all late entrants 20 big blinds worth of ammunition.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the four-card action en route to crowning another champion in the following two days at the 2024 WSOP in Las Vegas.
