Day 1 of Event #84: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em at Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas, saw a massive 1,873 entries, smashing last year’s field of 1,424. This year’s prize pool reached $1,648,240, with first place set to take home $232,498.
Many notables came and went early. This year marked the first time the event allowed one reentry, as last year was a freezeout. The only returner from last year’s final table was Suhail Khan, who finished fourth in 2024 for his biggest career cash, and has already secured several cashes this series. However, he didn’t quite make the money this time and was eliminated halfway through today’s play.
Although Shaun Deeb didn’t get off to a strong start — busting his first bullet after running into pocket kings — he made the most of his second entry. Deeb gradually built his stack, and a pivotal hand late in the day saw him swap stacks with the chip leader to claim the top spot in the counts. He held on to the lead and will head into Day 2 with nearly double the stack of Liao Yinghsiang, who sits second in chips.
Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Shaun Deeb
United States
923,000
154
2
Liao Yinghsiang
China
530,000
88
3
Jeffery Pugh
United States
510,000
85
4
Andrew Vanhoe
United States
486,000
81
5
Santiago Plante
Canada
477,000
80
6
Konstantin Generalov
Russian Federation
476,000
79
7
Muhammad Rahim
United States
450,000
75
8
Bosco Li
United Kingdom
422,000
70
9
Ramon Munoz
Spain
417,000
70
10
John Lewis
United States
404,000
67
Harry Lodge
Several previous WSOP bracelet winners joined the field as well. Among those who bagged chips for Day 2 were Harry Lodge (193,000) — who won his second bracelet in an online event last week — Jinlong Hu(182,000), Max Kruse (161,000), and Alen Bakovic (140,000). However, others weren’t so lucky. Guo Liang Wei was the unfortunate bubble boy, eliminated on the final hand of the night by Congya Zhang, who ended with quad kings.
Martin Kabrhel also jumped into the event. After busting in two consecutive all-ins, he reentered, still confident after telling players he’d see them “at the final table.” However, his second run was not better, and he was eliminated again shortly after.
Since Day 1 play halted when the money bubble burst, the remaining 281 players are all in the money and guaranteed at least $2,006. They will return at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 5, and resume play in Level 16 with 3,000/6,000 blinds with a 6,000 big blind ante. Levels remain 30 minutes long and there will be 15-minute breaks every four levels. Play will continue until a winner is crowned.
Stick with Pokernews to follow the action right down to a winner.
