Event #98: $1,500 The Closer
Day 1a Completed
2024 World Series of Poker
Event #98: $1,500 The Closer
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
2024 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$4,292,025
Entries
3,215
Level
42
Blinds
1,200,000 / 2,500,000
Ante
2,500,000
Entries
814
Players Left
84
The first flight of the penultimate tournament of the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP), Event #98: $1,500 The Closer No-Limit Hold'em, is done and dusted, with 84 of the 814 entrants progressing to Day 2. Leading the way right now is Austria's Daniel Rezaei (1,830,000), a serial crusher with over $7 million in live and online poker tournament earnings.
Rezaei is usually seen competing in High Roller and Super High Roller events, but the lure of a WSOP bracelet proved too strong for him to turn down. He came close to capturing some poker gold in 2022, finishing second in, ironically, The Closer's $400 online edition. What he would give to go one place deeper in this live event!
End of Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Rezaei | Austria | 1,830,000 | 92 |
| 2 | Robert Nemeskerikiss | United States | 1,435,000 | 72 |
| 3 | Kazuhiko Yotsushika | Japan | 1,335,000 | 67 |
| 4 | Valentino Konakchev | Bulgaria | 1,295,000 | 65 |
| 5 | Gianluca Cedolia | Canada | 1,280,000 | 64 |
| 6 | Mauricio Ramirez | Costa Rica | 1,240,000 | 62 |
| 7 | Rohit Kwatra | United States | 1,195,000 | 60 |
| 8 | Bradley King | United States | 1,085,000 | 54 |
| 9 | Jacob Powers | United States | 1,060,000 | 53 |
| 10 | Miguel Lopes | Portugal | 950,000 | 48 |
Nine of the top ten turned their 50,000 starting stacks into seven figures, including second-placed Robert Nemeskerikiss (1,435,000) and Japan's Kazuhiko Yotsushika (1,335,000).
A trio of bracelet winners lurk outside the top ten. Jaspal Brar (820,000), Daniel Smiljkovic (805,000), and $25K Fantasy Draft picks Yuval Bronshtein (720,000) and Brian Hastings (630,000).
Others who found themselves among the 84 survivors include Andrew Moreno (540,000), Kenny Hallaert (530,000), Marco Johnson (370,000), Ryan Riess (335,000), Brock Wilson (305,000), and Ryan Laplante (175,000).
Although Day 1a started at 4 p.m. local time, anyone wanting to enter Day 1b needs to be present and correct at the earlier hour of 12 p.m. local time on July 16. Day 1b players will grind out the same 20 levels, each lasting 30 minutes, with 15-minute breaks every four completed levels.
PokerNews traditional coverage starts on Day 2, so why not use MyStack to update your chip counts if you are entering Day 1b?
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,830,000
1,830,000
|
1,830,000 |
|
||
|
1,435,000
1,435,000
|
1,435,000 |
|
1,335,000
1,335,000
|
1,335,000 |
|
1,295,000
1,295,000
|
1,295,000 |
|
1,280,000
1,280,000
|
1,280,000 |
|
1,240,000
1,240,000
|
1,240,000 |
|
|
1,195,000
1,195,000
|
1,195,000 |
|
1,085,000
1,085,000
|
1,085,000 |
|
1,060,000
1,060,000
|
1,060,000 |
|
950,000
950,000
|
950,000 |
|
|
820,000
820,000
|
820,000 |
|
820,000
820,000
|
820,000 |
|
||
|
805,000
805,000
|
805,000 |
|
|
||
|
730,000
730,000
|
730,000 |
|
720,000
720,000
|
720,000 |
|
||
|
680,000
680,000
|
680,000 |
|
630,000
630,000
|
630,000 |
|
||
|
625,000
625,000
|
625,000 |
|
620,000
620,000
|
620,000 |
|
600,000
600,000
|
600,000 |
|
595,000
595,000
|
595,000 |
|
590,000
590,000
|
590,000 |
|
585,000
585,000
|
585,000 |
|
|
575,000
575,000
|
575,000 |
|
565,000
565,000
|
565,000 |
Busted
Table 414Seat 5
348,500
83,400
Table 416Seat 2
265,100
204,400
Table 416Seat 2
In what was intended to be a conversation about a slew of near misses over his career, Michael Rocco flipped the script when he revealed that the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) would be his last full series for many years.
And the reason why he'll be reducing his volume at the tables may come as a bit of a shock.
During a break in Event #94: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Championship, he told PokerNews that he has acquired a farm in the last year, and intends to shift his focus to that venture over his card-playing exploits.
Life Outside Poker is a new podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.
In the 12th episode, Connor speaks with actress and conservationist Shannon Elizabeth on the 25th anniversary of American Pie, in which she played the iconic role of Nadia. Elizabeth talked about her roles in films like Scary Movie and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, playing poker with the cast of That '70s Show, finishing third in the 2007 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship and taking part in Phil Hellmuth's 2024 WSOP Main Event entrance.
Elizabeth also spoke about her conservation efforts in South Africa through the Shannon Elizabeth Foundation, including caring for and providing a sanctuary for a blind black rhino named Munu.
The Life Outside Poker podcast is available on major streaming platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and iHeartRadio. You can also watch the interview with Shannon Elizabeth by heading to the PokerNews YouTube channel.
Welcome back to PokerNews, the official media partner of the 2024 World Series of Poker and home of live updates from all bracelet events.
Today sees the start of Event #98: $1,500 The Closer No-Limit Hold'em here at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
This two-day event, which features two Day 1 flights, gets underway at 4 p.m. local time with late registration open for 12 levels (~10:45 p.m. for 1a, ~6:45 p.m. for 1b). This event allows for unlimited reentry. There will be 15-minute breaks every four levels.
Day 1b has an earlier start time, getting underway at 12 p.m. on July 16.
The starting stack is 50,000 chips with the plan for Day 1 to play 20 30-minute levels. For the surviving players, Day 2 resumes at 11 a.m. on July 17 and plays down to a winner.
Last year’s event attracted a field of 3,531 entries generating a prize pool of $4,713,885. The winner was Pierre Shum who defeated Peter Nigh heads-up to win $606,810 and his first WSOP bracelet.
| Year | Entries | Winner | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3,531 | Pierre Shum | United States | $606,810 |
| 2022 | 2,039 | Minh Nguyen | United States | $536,280 |
| 2021 | 1,903 | Leo Margets | Spain | $376,850 |
| 2020 | - | Not held | - | - |
| 2019 | 2,800 | Abhinav Iyer | India | $565,346 |
| 2018 | 3,120 | Joe Cada | United States | $612,886 |
Planning on playing this event? PokerNews activates MyStack for every WSOP event, regardless of that tournament's buy-in, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting
MyStack is a free poker tool that puts you in control of your chip counts on our live reporting pages. Once you have created a free PokerNews account, you can use MyStack to update your chip counts in real time; hopefully, your stack will continue increasing throughout the event!
Event #98: $1,500 The Closer
Day 1a Started