On the soft bubble, Renji Mao open ripped his stack of 110,000. Small blind Zachary Grech then ripped, covering Ryutaro Suzuki in the big blind. Suzuki then tanked for over four minutes, before folding Q♣Q♥ face up.
Renji Mao: A♥J♦
Zachary Grech: 9♣9♦
The dealer had evil intentions, putting out 8♣Q♠9♥ on the flop, giving Grech a set, and Mao a straight draw. Suzuki looked sick as the board ran out 5♠5♦ as he would've had top boat. Either way, Mao was heading home just before cashing.
With 216 players remaining and 214 spots paid, there were six all-in and calls during the same hand of hand-for-hand play, with five players total being eliminated.
Table 281
Manas Gandhi opened from under the gun and Yita Choong three-bet to 70,000 from the button, leaving one T-1,000 chip behind. Gandhi called.
The flop came K♦5♥2♠. Gandhi bet and Choong called off with his last chip.
Yita Choong: Q♣Q♦
Manas Gandhi: K♠J♣
Gandhi was ahead with top pair and held on the 2♥J♥ runout to eliminate Gandhi.
Table 298
Ronald Slucker shoved for 35,000 from under the gun and Todd Rosenthal called from the button with a covering stack.
Ronald Slucker: A♣5♥
Todd Rosenthal: A♦Q♣
Slucker was dominated and couldn't catch up on the 2♥Q♠J♠8♦4♣ runout, resulting in his elimination.
Table 291
There was roughly 60,000 in the pot on a board of 5♠9♥7♣6♣8♠. Pierce Mckellar led for 10,000 on the river and said "you're dead, you should save that 1 chip".
Abdul Rahim Amer only had a 1,000 chip behind ended up making the call and showed K♥Q♥. Mckellar tabled 10♣3♣ for the ten-high straight and this call eliminated Amer on the stone bubble.
Table 280
Benjamin Underwood raised to 22,000 on the hijack, and Joe Serock three-bet all in from the big blind for 37,000. Underwood made the call.
Joe Serock: A♥8♥
Benjamin Underwood: A♦10♠
The board came out with hope for Serock with 10♠8♦Q♠, but the turn 6♥ and the river J♥ gave Underwood, also known as the Deepstack King from last year's Deepstack Tournaments, the straight for the win and the knockout.
Table 294
Jared Jaffee was forced into the pot for 16,000 in the big blind on the stone bubble, Michael Mizrachi was in the small blind play was paused during hand-for-hand play. The floor resumed play and the players revealed their hands.
Jared Jaffee: Q♠Q♣
Michael Mizrachi: A♠Q♦
As the board ran A♣J♣10♦A♥4♦ giving Mizrachi trip aces, Jaffee was eliminated on the bubble.
Since there were five eliminations when players were two spots away from the money, the five eliminated players each received $3,600 for their share of the first three min-cashes.
Alex Keating opened the action from the cutoff, making it 35,000 to go. Button player Che Kuo then jammed for his 235,000, giving Davide Suriano quite the decision from the small. He elected to shove also, his stack being 405,000. Keating got a count, then after some deliberation, made the call with a covering stack
Che Kuo: 6♥6♣
Davide Suriano: A♣Q♠
Alex Keating: 10♠10♥
The board seemed relatively inconspicuous, as it seemed like Keating was going to secure a double elimination on the K♥2♣3♣2♥, but Kuo saw a miracle 6♦ on the river, to triple up and become the table's chip leader. Keating absorbed the remainder of Suriano's stack.
Day 1 of Event #49: $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em at Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas has come to a close. Registration ended with a total of 1,421 entrants, breaking last year’s attendance record and generating a total prize pool of $3,934,749. Only 215 players managed to make it into the money, with 69 players surviving to play Day 2. The eventual winner will take home $574,223 and a gold bracelet.
Leading the chip counts, Ori Hasson wrapped up Day 1 with 3,655,000. Hasson already has a WSOP gold bracelet, making him a serious contender. Right behind him is Matthew Wantman, another seasoned live tournament grinder aiming for the title. Also back for Day 2 is recent bracelet winner Kenneth Kim, adding even more firepower to the field.
End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chips
Big Blinds
1
Ori Hasson
Austria
3,665,000
121
2
Matthew Wantman
United States
2,355,000
78
3
Tyler Patterson
United States
1,800,000
60
4
Tyler Cornell
United States
1,735,000
57
5
Vladas Tamasauskas
Lithuania
1,550,000
51
6
Hiroyuki Tane
Japan
1,545,000
51
7
Jose Angel Latorre
Colombia
1,540,000
51
8
Daniel Palau
Spain
1,290,000
43
9
Kenneth Kim
Korea
1,270,000
42
10
Fabian Niederreiter
Germany
1,260,000
42
Some of poker’s biggest names were on the felt, all chasing the coveted title and adding to their impressive careers. John Juanda, Kristen Foxen, Freddy Deeb, Chance Kornuth, Nicholas Seward, and Faraz Jaka were among the star-studded field, each determined to boost their earnings and rack up more bracelets. Unfortunately, they all busted before the day’s end.
Kristen Foxen
Players battled through a grueling 21 levels of play, facing intense pressure during a long bubble stretch that saw five players exit all at once, making for a dramatic and exhausting day.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
$574,223
18-23
$26,315
2
$382,774
24-29
$21,125
3
$267,626
30-35
$17,289
4
$189,863
36-41
$14,375
5
$136,701
42-47
$12,161
6
$99,913
48-53
$10,471
7
$74,146
54-59
$9,180
8-9
$55,882
60-69
$8,196
10-11
$42,783
12-17
$33,282
Tuesday at noon, play will resume with Level 22, blinds 15,000/30,000 and a 30,000 big blind ante, playing 30-minute levels. The schedule for Day 2 is set to continue straight through until a champion is crowned.
Keep it locked on PokerNews for all the latest updates from the 2025 WSOP.
