While most of the attention is on the $5,000 Main Event Championship, the $100,000 Ultra High Roller is taking place in the back corner of the Atlantis Conference Center with some of the biggest names in high-stakes poker still in contention.
Heading into the three-table redraw, poker commentator and overall swag-master Nick Schulman leads the way with a stack of over 7,500,000, significantly more than the average stack of approximately 2,800,000. Other big stacks leading the final 24 players include Leonard Maue (7,000,000), Justin Bonomo (7,500,000) and Quan Zhou (4,500,000).
Also among the remaining 24 players are Alex Foxen, Ren Lin, Isaac Haxton, Ben Heath, Rui Ferreira, Lucas Greenwood and Martin Kabrhel.
Eric Yanovsky had just entered and immediately got into a big pot in the very first hand when he tangled with Marc Lavergne. They got it in after the A♥9♦2♦10♥ turn with Yanovsky jamming into a bet of 14,000 and Lavergne called.
Marc Lavergne: A♠K♣
Eric Yanovsky: A♦J♦
Yanovsky had plenty of outs to get there and spiked one of them with the J♣ river. Both stacks were counted and the 41,400 of Yanovsky covered.
Kelechi Amadi had already been eliminated and Tjarco Reitsma then followed suit over on table three as Marko Vuzem claimed another victim. Reitsma and Vuzem created a pot of more than 25,000 to the K♠10♣6♥ flop on which Reitsma check-jammed for 35,500 into a bet worth 8,000 by Vuzem. The quick call followed and the cards were flipped over.
Tjarco Reitsma: Q♥J♥
Marko Vuzem: A♦K♥
The J♠ turn and Q♠ river gave Reitsma running two pair but Vuzem improved to broadway to boost his stack even further. He is not the only one running hot in that specific tournament section, as Frederic Breton also already has more than four starting stacks as well.
Action was heads up with 2,000 in the middle when Fred Normand checked from the big blind before Sergio Aguero tossed in 1,300 from the button. Normand check-raised to 4,100 and Aguero thought it over before he called.
The river was 7♣ and Normand led with a bet of 8,500. That was too much for Aguero and he kicked it away.
Michael Hathaway opened in early position and Jonathan Little called on the button.
Hathaway continued for 1,200 on the flop of 10♦K♠8♠ and Little called. Hathaway then checked on the 4♦ turn and Little checked back.
Hathaway checked again on the J♦ turn and Little bet 4,500. Hathaway folded as Little showed a king and informed the table that he'd been dealt a king all four hands of the tournament so far.
"Give me a king every hand and things will be good!" Little told the dealer.
The marquee event of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise at Atlantis Resort & Casino continues today with a second starting flight getting underway at noon local time. The second of four starting flights in Event #10: $5,000 Main Event Championship should attract a big field and plenty of big names en route to hitting the ambitious $15 million guarantee.
Those who make it through Day 1b will join Day 1a survivors, including Mustapha Kanit, Chino Rheem, Faraz Jaka, Chris Hunichen and reigning Main Event championDaniel Weinman, who will try to improve on his most recent runner-up finish in the WSOP Circuit Cherokee Main Event earlier this month.
There are still plenty of big names left to hop into the Main Event, including the ever-vlogging Daniel Negreanu and all-time bracelet leader Phil Hellmuth, who teased his trademark Main Event grand entrance on social media.
Another name toward the top of the all-time bracelet list, Erik Seidel, may hop in as he hunts for an 11th bracelet after taking down Event #7: $50,000 Super High Roller for $1,704,400 and a 10th bracelet to tie Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan and the late Doyle Brunson in second place.
When asked by PokerNews what he else he'd like to accomplish after winning his 10th bracelet, the Poker Hall of Famer replied, "Try and get to 11.”
Day 1b will follow a similar schedule as the previous starting flight, with blinds kicking off at 100/200/200 with 40-minute levels and a 15-minute break every three levels. There is a 75-minute dinner break scheduled to take place at the end of Level 9 at approximately 6:30 p.m.
Day 1b Schedule
Level
Estimated Start
Duration
Small Blind
Big Blind
Big Blind Ante
1
12:00 p.m.
40 minutes
100
200
200
2
12:40 p.m.
40 minutes
200
300
300
3
1:20 p.m.
40 minutes
200
400
400
2:00 p.m.
15-minute break
4
2:15 p.m.
40 minutes
300
500
500
5
2:55 p.m.
40 minutes
300
600
600
6
3:35 p.m.
40 minutes
400
800
800
4:15 p.m.
15-minute break
7
4:30 p.m.
40 minutes
500
1,000
1,000
8
5:10 p.m.
40 minutes
600
1,200
1,200
9
5:50 p.m.
40 minutes
1,000
1,500
1,500
6:30 p.m.
75-minute dinner break
10
7:45 p.m.
40 minutes
1,000
2,000
2,000
11
8:25 p.m.
40 minutes
1,000
2,500
2,500
12
9:05 p.m.
40 minutes
1,500
3,000
3,000
9:45 p.m.
15-minute break
13
10:00 p.m.
40 minutes
2,000
4,000
4,000
14
10:40 p.m.
40 minutes
2,500
5,000
5,000
15
11:20 p.m.
40 minutes
3,000
6,000
6,000
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team is on-site and ready to provide coverage of what should be another exciting day of Main Event action here in Paradise.