Michael Dyer Bags Big Lead After Day 1a of $3,500 Main Event
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.
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landed on the turn. Foxen led out with a bet of 5,500 and Baker called to see the 
on the river. Foxen fired out another bet of 12,500 and that proved to be enough to get Baker to fold.
.
on the turn. Shing checked this time and Palma seized the opportunity to fire out a bet of 23,500. Shing went into the tank for a couple of minutes but eventually called.
completed the board and Shing checked again. Palma reached back for a bet of 44,800 and Shing thought for another minute before dumping his cards to the muck.
, Chance Kornuth bet out 11,000 from the small blind and Andrew Moreno made the call from middle position. 
hit the turn and Kornuth sized to 25,000, which again Moreno tossed in chips for the call. The 
completed the board and Kornuth took a moment before announcing all in, covering the 55,000 remaining for Moreno, who went deep in the tank. 
and the small blind led out with a bet of 20,000. 
and the small blind ripped all in. Lin instantly flicked in a chip to call off his stack of 32,500 chips. Lin flipped over 
and his opponent showed 
.
bricked out on the river and Lin earned himself a double-up. "See. Ace-king no good."
on the river and checked for the third time. Elias put together a bet of 18,200 which put Stout in the tank for a couple of minutes before he let his hand go.
. The 
completed the board and Kornuth took a moment to contemplate his options. 
and 
runout improved her to a full house as Krpan passed over a double.
and the action checked around to Samuel Laskowitz who bet 1,500. Donny Rubinstein called and Evan Sandberg check-raised to 7,000. Louise Francoeur responded by shoving all in for 39,400.
