button in SafariDay 1a Gets the $500 COLOSSUS Off to a Flying Start
Day 1a of Event #34: $500 COLOSSUS No-Limit Hold'em, the first of four scheduled flights, saw 2,684 players descend on the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. However, at the end of the 15th level, only 501 of those starters had chips requiring bagging and tagging.
According to the WSOP LIVE app, Joseph Ozimok (1,065,000) is the Day 1a chip leader, and one of only two players to finish the flight with a seven-figure stack. If Ozimok's name rings a bell, it is because the Pennsylvania native put together an impressive run in the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Ozimok's deep run ended in a 12th-place finish, earning him $560,250.
Texan John Hardie (1,046,000) bagged up the second-largest stack on Day 1a. Hardie already has a trio of 2026 WSOP cashes to his name, having reached the money in the $550 Mini Mystery Millions, the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw, and $1,500 Dealer's Choice events.
Event #34: $500 COLOSSUS No-Limit Hold'em Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joseph Ozimok | United States | 1,065,000 | 133 |
| 2 | John Hardie | United States | 1,046,000 | 130 |
| 3 | Arash Vaziri | United States | 996,000 | 125 |
| 4 | Giuseppe Lomuscio | United States | 852,000 | 107 |
| 5 | Kennii Nguyen | United States | 818,000 | 102 |
| 6 | Xingwei Chen | China | 808,000 | 101 |
| 7 | Serhii Koreniev | United States | 782,000 | 98 |
| 8 | Vitaliy Gordeychuk | United States | 779,000 | 97 |
| 9 | Andreas Frohli | Austria | 735,000 | 92 |
| 10 | Michael Byers | United States | 730,000 | 91 |
$25K Fantasy Draft pick Andreas Frohli (735,000) bagged up a top 10 stack and is now poised for a deep run in this event. Others who progressed to Day 2a included Sandro Carucci (644,000), Justin Arnwine (612,000), Justin Fawcett (545,000), Sam Razavi (385,000), "Captain" Tom Franklin (327,000), and Alex Keating (180,000).
The 501 surviving players are back in action at 11:00 a.m. local time on June 11 where they will play another 12 levels. An hour earlier, at 10:00 a.m. local time on June 11, Day 1 of the COLOSSUS shuffles up and deals, and should see another massive field created.