The champion of the biggest World Series of Poker Main Event in it’s 54-year history could be someone who already done it as 11 former champs have found a bag into the second day.
Stars through to Day 2
Many former WSOP Main Event champions and insanely good poker professionals made it through their Day 1s.
On Monday, those include four former champs: Joe Cada (2009), Martin Jacobson (2014), Damian Salas (2020) and Jamie Gold, who kicked-off the Main Event 17 years with “shuffle up and deal” after winning the largest one ever in 2006.
Some of the more notable players who survived this day were Doug Polk, who has one of the biggest stacks, Poker Hall of Famers John Hennigan and Billy Baxter, six-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb, four-time bracelet winner Dominik Nitsche, Bin Weng, Martin Jacobsen, Kyna England.
Top 10 Day 1A leaders
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yehuda Dayan | Israel | 389,900 | 487 |
| 2 | Shota Nakanishi | Japan | 360,100 | 450 |
| 3 | Hai-Chi Ho | China | 297,400 | 372 |
| 4 | Doug Polk | United States | 281,900 | 352 |
| 5 | Neville Costa | Brazil | 275,000 | 344 |
| 6 | Samuel Gagnon | Canada | 271,000 | 339 |
| 7 | Todd Collins | United States | 250,400 | 313 |
| 8 | Rick Mechammil | United States | 247,600 | 310 |
| 9 | Christine Do | Canada | 237,300 | 297 |
| 10 | Anirban Das | Italy | 236,900 | 296 |
Notables from Tuesday’s Day 1B is four-time bracelet winner Julien Martini and Patrik Antonius, who both finished their first days top 10 in chips.
Former Main Event champs Greg Raymer (2004) and Johnny Chan (1987 and 1988) made it through. Other proven bangers include super high roller Chris Brewer, six-time WSOP bracelet winner Jeff Lisandro, and running hot-as-as Las Vegas asphalt Isaac Haxton.
Top 10 Day 1B leaders
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jean-Pierre van der Spuy | South Africa | 287,000 | 359 |
| 2 | Julien Martini | France | 286,000 | 358 |
| 3 | Yuze Ding | United States | 284,500 | 356 |
| 4 | Gar Cheung | United States | 281,500 | 352 |
| 5 | Andrew Graham | United States | 277,700 | 347 |
| 6 | Scott Numoto | United States | 268,200 | 335 |
| 7 | Patrik Antonius | Finland | 263,500 | 329 |
| 8 | Jevon Lam | United States | 243,000 | 304 |
| 9 | Robert Lofaso | United States | 233,500 | 292 |
| 10 | Anatoly Filatov | Russia | 231,000 | 289 |
Chris Brammer, solid tournament player with more than $2 million in winnings, led this field.
Top 10 Day 1B leaders
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher Brammer | United Kingdom | 386,100 | 483 |
| 2 | Michael Banducci | United States | 292,600 | 366 |
| 3 | Lawrence Chang | United States | 280,900 | 351 |
| 4 | Roman Valerstein | United States | 273,300 | 342 |
| 5 | Michael Pinto | Netherlands | 266,600 | 333 |
| 6 | Daniel Kirsch | Canada | 252,800 | 316 |
| 7 | DID NOT REPORT 11 | United States | 248,100 | 310 |
| 8 | Adrian Buckley | United States | 245,000 | 306 |
| 9 | Patrick Beuter | United States | 244,200 | 305 |
| 10 | Keith Cummins | Ireland | 244,000 | 305 |
To the rail
Those who found themselves wandering punch-drunk after being knocked out on the first day of the Main Event include many big names. Here’s just a few of them:
Venessa Selbst, Erik Seidel, Kevin Martin, Mario Ho, and Darren Elias all joined 2021 Main Event champ Koray Adelmir on the sidelines.
They at least got to play a little poker during their flights, unlike Mikolaj Zawadzki, who was eliminated the very first hand of his flight today.
Jamie Smith quickly became the day’s chip leader after his set of queens held against Zawadzki’s set of eights. Both players hit on the flop.
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