$3,500 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2023 Wynn Millions
$3,500 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
2023 Wynn Millions
Buy-in
$3,500
Prize Pool
$4,171,950
Entries
1,314
Level
35
Blinds
300,000 / 600,000
Ante
600,000
Entries
342
Players Left
94
Michael Dyer Bags Big Lead After Day 1a of $3,500 Main Event
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
It was a star-studded field for Day 1a of the $3,500 Main Event at the 2023 Wynn Millions festival being held at the Wynn/Encore Poker Room. A total of 342 entries were recorded and the field was whittled down to just 98 players advancing to Day 2ab on Monday, March 6.
When the dust settled around the midnight hour, it was Michael Dyer who comfortably held the chip lead with a massive stack of 516,000 chips. Dyer was in control of the lead for most of the second half of the day, and continued to collect chips as the night dragged on. The American poker pro can often be seen playing the mid-stakes events throughout the United States along with many online events. However, Dyer put his name on the poker map with a third-place finish at the 2018 WSOP Main Event where he earned his lone seven-figure payday of $3,750,000.
It wasn't all fun and games for Dyer as he was forced to use a second bullet early in the day. On the very first hand in the opening level, Dyer was put to the test for his entire stack by Eric Baldwin. Dyer opted to lay his hand down on the river but with half of his stack gone already, he was soon off to the registration desk for a reentry. Dyer made the most of his fresh stack of 40,000 chips, quickly spinning it up at a new table.
When the players return for Day 2ab, he will be joined by other big stacks including Raj Ramakrishnan who accumulated the second largest stack of 378,000. Nick Palma (368,500), Justin Liberto (362,500), and Scott Eskenazi (323,500) all had very successful days as well, having to just use one entry apiece.
Top 10 Leaderboard from Day 1a
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Dyer | United States | 516,000 |
| 2 | Raj Ramakrishnan | United States | 378,000 |
| 3 | Nick Palma | United States | 368,500 |
| 4 | Justin Liberto | United States | 362,500 |
| 5 | Andrew Lim | United States | 340,000 |
| 6 | Scott Eskenazi | United States | 323,500 |
| 7 | Matthew Wantman | United States | 306,500 |
| 8 | Chan Woo Kim | United States | 301,000 |
| 9 | Eric Baldwin | United States | 299,500 |
| 10 | Andrew Moreno | United States | 267,000 |
Many players were forced to the registration desk on multiple occasions throughout the day with an unlimited number of reentries and late registration open until the start of level 9. Among those were Chino Rheem who used four entries but finally managed to bag a stack of 96,500. Ren Lin, on the other hand, used four entries but was eliminated in the last level of the night, and will have to return for another flight if he wishes to advance.
The cards will be back in the air at 12 p.m. local time tomorrow for a much-anticipated Day 1b where the field is expected to be even larger. Another ten levels will be on tap for Day 1 with all of the players advancing to the same Day 2ab on Monday. Overall, it was a great turnout for the first flight in the Main Event that is on pace to crush the guaranteed prize pool of $3,000,000.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be here with you all of the way to provide all of the latest updates and hand histories throughout the event.
End of Night Chip Counts (full)
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
516,000 | -25,000 |
|
378,000 | 378,000 |
|
368,500 | -11,500 |
|
362,500 | 200,500 |
|
340,000 | 340,000 |
|
323,500 | -10,500 |
|
306,500 | 270,000 |
|
301,000 | 301,000 |
|
299,500 | -5,500 |
|
288,000 | 288,000 |
|
267,000 | 87,000 |
|
240,000 | -15,000 |
|
231,000 | 231,000 |
|
231,000 | 64,000 |
|
218,000 | 163,000 |
|
215,000 | |
|
210,500 | 38,500 |
|
203,500 | 203,500 |
|
203,000 | 9,000 |
|
186,500 | 186,500 |
|
183,000 | 183,000 |
|
176,500 | 176,500 |
|
175,000 | -37,000 |
|
175,000 | 45,000 |
|
174,000 | 174,000 |
Play Has Concluded
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Day 1a has come to an end with 98 players advancing to Day 2 which will take place on Monday. A recap of the day's action along with full chip counts will be posted shortly.
Eskenazi Makes a Straight Flush in Four-Way All In
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
With just a few hands left in the night, the shorter stacks were looking to get their chips in the middle with the chance of a reentry in the later flights. At one table, there were multiple short stacks and they all opted to get their chips in the middle.
The shortest stack was all in for 15,500 while Daniel Rezaei was at risk for 28,000. Ryan Leng was all in for 42,000 and Scott Eskenazi had them all covered as the big stack.
Opponent: 
Daniel Rezaei: 
Ryan Leng: 
Scott Eskenazi: 
The board ran out 
and for a moment, Rezaei thought he won the pot with the nut flush, but upon further inspection, Eskenazi rivered a straight flush to eliminate all of the short stacks.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
334,000 | 81,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Last Five Hands of the Night
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The tournament clock has been paused with 10 minutes left in the evening. Each table will play five more hands before the bagging process begins.
Kornuth Cracks Cowboys
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The action was picked up when the small blind player moved all in preflop for close to 80,000 and was called by Chance Kornuth who had a slightly bigger stack.
Opponent: 
Chance Kornuth: 
Kornuth was in need of help and when the flop came 
, it was the flopped ace that turned the tables on the hand. The 
and 
completed the board and the ace-queen for Kornuth scored the massive pot to send his opponent to the exit close to the end of day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
212,000 | 47,000 |
Romero Gets a Standing Double
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
James Romero raised it up from the hijack with his chair pushed back and standing on his feet. The cutoff three-bet to 15,000 and the action folded back to Romero who one-handed shipped his stack into the middle for 52,500. His opponent asked for a count and then called it off.
James Romero: 
Opponent: 
Romero was in good shape and the flop of 
put him even further ahead. The on the turn locked up the pot as his opponent was drawing dead to the 
on the river. Romero collected the double-up and continued to stand for the duration of the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
110,000 | 47,000 |
More Chips for Dyer Before the Night Ends
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Kevin Javier opened to 4,500 in middle position and Michael Dyer three-bet to 11,500 on his left. The action folded back to Javier who called to see a flop of .
Both players checked through to the 
on the turn and the on the river. Javier finally made a bet of 11,000 on the river only to have Dyer raise to 32,000. Javier gave it some thought but eventually sent his cards into the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
541,000 | 116,000 |
|
108,000 |
Zapatero Gets the Better of Simao
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Javier Gomez Zapatero raised it up from middle position and Joao Simao reraised to 15,000 from the small blind. Zapatero called and the dealer fanned the flop of 
.
Simao continued with a bet of 5,500 and Zapatero called to see the 
on the turn. Simao slowed down with a check this time but Zapatero made a bet of 12,000. Simao called and the 
completed the board.
Simao checked again and Zapatero threw in a bet of 22,000. Simao gave it some thought but decided to lay his hand down, giving the pot to Spaniard.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
215,000 | 44,000 |
|
|
130,000 | 78,400 |