Today ends day 2d of the 2024 WSOP Event #81: $10,000 Main Event No-Limit Hold’em Championship. A total of 3,823 players occupied the seats at the beginning of the day with a total of 562 new entrants for the day. These numbers, combined with the other flights, brought the total entrants to 10,112, which is now the record for the biggest main event ever.
A total prize pool of $94,041,600 and will be divided among the final 1,517 players. Each one of those lucky few will receive a minimum of $15,000. When the field is reduced to just nine players, each one of them will be guaranteed $1,000,000, but all eyes are firmly placed on the whopping $10,000,000 to first place and the illustrious WSOP Main Event Championship bracelet.
WSOP 2024 Main Event Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000,000 | 81-125 | $100,000 |
| 2 | $6,000,000 | 126-134 | $85,000 |
| 3 | $4,000,000 | 135-162 | $70,000 |
| 4 | $3,000,000 | 163-224 | $60,000 |
| 5 | $2,500,000 | 225-287 | $50,000 |
| 6 | $2,000,000 | 288-311 | $45,000 |
| 7 | $1,500,000 | 312-350 | $45,000 |
| 8 | $1,250,000 | 351-413 | $40,000 |
| 9 | $1,000,000 | 414-476 | $37,500 |
| 10-11 | $800,000 | 477-539 | $35,000 |
| 12-13 | $600,000 | 540-602 | $32,500 |
| 14-17 | $450,400 | 603-665 | $30,000 |
| 18-26 | $350,000 | 666-764 | $27,500 |
| 27-35 | $300,000 | 765-863 | $25,000 |
| 36-44 | $250,000 | 864-950 | $22,500 |
| 45-53 | $200,000 | 951-1,008 | $20,000 |
| 54-62 | $160,000 | 1,009-1,250 | $17,500 |
| 63-71 | $140,000 | 1,251-1,517 | $15,000 |
| 72-80 | $120,000 |
The day began with the legendary Jack Binion unveiling the 2024 WSOP Championship bracelet, custom-made from over 400 grams of 10-karat yellow gold. The bracelet also contains 2,253 precious stones, including almost 2,000 diamonds. This year’s design also includes a removable golden face plate intended to serve as a card protector.
Circling the top of the field is Alex Livingston who, according to the WSOP's Day 3 seat draw, amassed 750,500 chips on Day 2d. Livingston is a $25K Fantasy Draft pick and a one-time WSOP bracelet winner, having captured the bracelet in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud event at the 2022 WSOP. You may also recall that Livingston played his way to a third-place finish in the 2019 WSOP Main Event, banking $4 million, six years after finishing 13th for $451,398. The Canadian certainly has previous experience in this event.
End of Day 2d Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Livingston | Canada | 750,500 | 300 |
| 2 | Tyler Hatchel | United States | 679,000 | 272 |
| 3 | Donovan Dean | United States | 634,500 | 254 |
| 4 | Shuyang Han | United States | 604,000 | 242 |
| 5 | Charles Russell | Ireland | 602,000 | 241 |
| 6 | Emilien Pitavy | France | 589,000 | 236 |
| 7 | Adam Friedman | United States | 581,000 | 232 |
| 8 | Stephen Song | United States | 577,000 | 231 |
| 9 | Jean Lhuillier | United Kingdom | 572,000 | 229 |
| 10 | Paulo Joanello | Brazil | 547,500 | 219 |
Donovan Dean, who ended his day with 639,500, will be pleased with how Day 2 played out. A poker staple of the south and midwestern areas of the country, Dean spent much of the latter half of the day near the top of the chip counts. With two WSOP Circuit rings to his name and $1,307,953 in lifetime earnings, Dean’s poker aspirations have been and will continue to be set high.
“Was aiming for over 700,000. Had 506,000 after the second break, but I fell short. Can’t complain too much, I guess.” Dean’s bag for the day brings him ever closer to his first WSOP bracelet.
Sitting behind him in the counts is five-time WSOP bracelet winner Adam Friedman, with 581,000. Very few players alive possess a WSOP resume as decorated as the Ohio-born poker player, whose skill, experience, and patience rewarded him greatly with a stack worth over 200 big blinds. “It feels like a new tournament from here on out,” Friedman said when asked about the overall strategy for the following days. No stranger to main event deep runs, Friedman has cashed this event five times, with his first-ever live cash being his 43rd place finish in the 2005 Main Event for $235,390. With 20 years of poker knowledge at his disposal, this pro looks to capitalize on his big stack and, in his own words, “break even for the summer.”
Others that found their way to bags include Aram Zobian (401,500), Ari Engel (334,500), David “ODB” Baker (329,000), Phil Ivey (283,500), and Brian Rast (229,000). Each one is looking to cash in the biggest tournament of the summer. To do that and more, they must navigate many obstacles and pitfalls as the tournament progresses.
Cody Daniels ended up making Day 3 for the second year in a row. “The first deep run was obviously special, but this one I didn’t think I would make. I showed up to the WSOP only to play The Colossus, and to show up and make it here is still special.” As compared to last year’s bag of 82,000, Daniels put 310,500 into the bag at night's end. Daniels ended up in 635th place last year and will be looking to top that finish, starting with his bag here tonight.
“Survive and advance,” is a helpful piece of advice from the 2013 champion Ryan Riess (103,500). He is one of a six-player contingent of Main Event champions who made it through the day. Among them are 2015 champion Joe McKeehen (309,500), last year’s champion Daniel Weinman (229,500), 1998 champion Scotty Nguyen (206,000), Martin Jacobson (154,000), and Espen Jorstad (133,000). Each of them is still in the hunt and looking to achieve what has not been done in 27 years since Stu Ungar won the main event again.
Joe Cada will not be adding a third main event final table or second main event title to his resume this year. Huck Seed’s time in this event was short-lived as the 1996 champion made what was a first appearance in a tournament this summer. Chris Hunichen will not be adding any main event success to his already quite successful summer. They all fell throughout the day and joined the rail with players like Dario Sammartino, Jessica Teusl, Christian Harder, Allen Kessler, Jake Schwartz, as well as hundreds of others that fell throughout the day. Their hopes for a main event title will have to wait until next year as the final survivors return tomorrow, July 9, at 12 p.m.
Play will resume at Level 11, where blinds are 1,000/2,500 and a 2,500 big blind ante. The 2,068 survivors at the conclusion of Day 2d will combine with the 1,549 survivors of Day 2abc for the first time this tournament. Levels will last two hours each, with a dinner break set to happen after Level 13. Be sure to stick with PokerNews as we continue to bring you all the action in the coming days leading to the next Main Event champion!
