button in SafariMore Than 3,500 Players Turn Out on Day 1a of the $1,000 Seniors Event
Day 1a of Event #46: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship attracted 3,539 players to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, but only 795 of those who started the day with high hopes progressed to Day 2a.
According to the WSOP LIVE app, John Catena (795,000) is the Day 1a chip leader, although PokerNews believes several of the overnight chip counts have an extra zero on them due to their size.
Seasoned grinders Michel Abecassis (462,500) and bracelet winner John Esposito (395,000) finished with a top 10 stack, again, according to the WSOP LIVE app.
Event #46: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Catena | Italy | 795,000 | 398 |
| 2 | Nan Min | United States | 645,000 | 323 |
| 3 | Steven Westberg | United States | 615,000 | 308 |
| 4 | Michel Abecassis | France | 462,500 | 231 |
| 5 | Peter Johnson | United States | 434,000 | 217 |
| 6 | John Esposito | United States | 395,000 | 198 |
| 7 | Albert Sanchez | United States | 376,000 | 188 |
| 8 | Manfred Wolf | Germany | 372,000 | 186 |
| 9 | Barry Seidman | United States | 360,000 | 180 |
| 10 | Michel Leibgorin | France | 337,500 | 169 |
Plenty of bracelet winners were among the Day 1a survivors. They included three-time champion Xixiang Luo (194,000), Farzad Bonyadi (136,000), Mike Leah (100,500), Men "The Master" Nguyen (70,500), David "ODB" Baker (51,000), and the legendary Billy Baxter (41,500).
The 2004 WSOP Main Event champion, Greg Raymer (34,500), also navigated to Day 2a, albeit with one of the shorter stacks.
Day 2a is scheduled to shuffle up and deal at 11:00 a.m. local time on June 16. Players return on Level 11, meaning blinds ate 1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 big blind ante. A second flight, Day 1b, starts an hour earlier at 10:00 a.m. local time.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage from the 2026 WSOP.