2024 WSOP Day 3: First Two Bracelets of the Series Awarded

The third day of the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas saw not one but two gold bracelets awarded, the first of the series. That leaves “only” 97 more live bracelet events for PokerNews to report from!

Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion is complete after Asher Conniff came out on top. Conniff helped himself to $408,468 plus a much sought-after gold bracelet, the first of his career, setting themselves up for the rest of the series. Conniff defeated Halil Tasyurek heads-up, resigning the runner-up to a $322,305 consolation prize.

The second bracelet of the day went to the second event on the 2024 WSOP schedule, Event #2: $500 Casino Employees. This tournament was meant to conclude on May 29, but the tournament director called time when the clock struck 2:00 a.m. and four players still remained. Jose Garcia came out on top after returning for the unscheduled Day 3 as the chip leader. Their reward for victory? $79,134, a gold bracelet, and bragging rights over their peers.

Only Eight Survive the $500 WSOP Kickoff; Daniel Willis Leads

Event #3: $500 WSOP Kickoff No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout has reached its final table, with only eight of the 3,485 starters in contention for this tournament’s bracelet and the $175,578 top prize.

Daniel Willis (23,725,000) will lead the finalists back into battle at 1:00 p.m. on May 31. This is Willis’s first WSOP cash and first WSOP final table, and he’ll be hoping to bag his first gold bracelet.

Although Willis has the advantage going into the final table, the other seven players have reached the big stage on merit. Shawn Smith (16,150,000), Michael Wang (12,625,000), and Steven Borella (10,425,000) are Willis’ closest rivals regarding chip stacks, while Yoshinori Funayama (7,700,000), John Marino (7,000,000, Daniel Sherer (6,275,000), and David Niedringhaus (3,350,000) are not there to make up the numbers.

It could be an explosive start to Day 3, with five of the finalists armed with 21 big blinds or fewer. As always, PokerNews is the place to receive updates from this event.

Event #3: $500 WSOP Kickoff Final Table Chip Counts

“Miami” John Cernuto Flying High in the $1,500 Omaha 8 Event

Adam Nattress leads the final 22 players in Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better after two days of action. Nattress is one of three players with more than 2,000,000 chips in their stack; Aleksey Filatov and James Chen are the other well-stacked pair.

Slightly lower in the overnight standings is a true poker legend. “Miami” John Cernuto may be 80 years young, but he’s rolled back the years in this event, and bagged up enough chips for eighth-place at the restart. Cernuto has a trio of bracelets, capturing them in 1996, 1996, and 2002, and is the current overall number one player regarding tournament cashes.

Winning his fourth bracelet would surely push Cernuto into the minds of the Poker Hall of Fame voters.

You can see if Cernuto gets the job done when play resumes at 1:00 p.m. local time on May 31.

Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better End of Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

2,246 Wannabe Millionaires Turn Out for the Mystery Millions on Day 1a

Pete Chen came out on top on Day 1a of Event #6: $1,000 Mystery Millions, bagging up 3,150,000 chips at the end of the 22nd level. Only 118 of the 2,246 entrants made it through to Day 2, and Chen has done his chances of winning a third WSOP bracelet no harm at all.

Both of Chen’s bracelets have come in online events, so a live win would be a fantastic hat trick. Israel’s Uri Reichenstein bagged up enough chips for second place, with Akinobu Maeda rounding out the top three.

Others safely through include Andrew Moreno, Mark Seif, Christian Harder, Brock Wilson, Jeremy Becker, DJ Buckley, Alex Foxen, and Punnat Punsri.

Day 1b starts at 10:00 a.m. local time on May 31, with PokerNews’ traditional coverage commencing on Day 2 on June 3.

Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts

$25K Heads Up Championship Reaches The Round of 16

The biggest buy-in event of the 2024 WSOP so far, Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship, sold out after 64 players bought in. Only 16 of those high-stakes starters remain in the hunt for the $500,000 top prize, and only half of them will win any prize money.

Some intriguing one-on-one battles took place in the first round, including Stephen Chidwick defeating Jeremy Ausmus, and Chance Kornuth busting reigning champion Chanracy Khun.

In Round 2, Artur Martirosian brushed aside Chidwick, and PokerGO’s Cary Katz progressed after beating Thomas Boivin.

Whichever players progress from Round 3 will lock in $86,000 for their initial investment and be a couple of wins away from capturing this event’s bracelet and the half-million dollar top prize.

When our coverage resumes at 12:00 p.m. local time on May 31, some of the names to look out for include the aforementioned Katz and Martirosian, who are paired with each other, heads-up legend John Smith, Matthew Wantman, and perhaps the clash of Round 3, Faraz Jaka versus Sam Soverel.

Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship Round 3 Matchups

Mixed Game Specialists Descend on Las Vegas for the Dealer’s Choice

A field of 530 players descended on Event #7: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice (6-Handed) but only 126 of them made it through the day unscathed. While Michael Wagner bagged up the most chips, it is the player in third place in the overnight chip counts where everyone’s attention is.

Benny Glaser is considered one of the best mixed game players of all time. The popular British grinder has five WSOP bracelets on his wrist, and it would take a brave person to bet against him adding a sixth by the time this event crowns its champion.

There’s still a long way to go in this event, and the chasing pack is a stellar all-star cast. Bracelet winners Scott Bohlman, Andrew Kelsall, and Hanh Tran return to the fray with top 10 stacks.

Jeff Madsen, a $25K Fantasy Draft pick, lurks in 11th, with four other fantasy players in the top 30: Chino Rheem, Maxx Coleman, Julien Martini, and Yingui Li. Then you have such luminaries as Hall of Famer Brian Rast, Toby Lewis, John Hennigan, and reigning WSOP Main Event champion Daniel Weinman still in the mix.

Everything points to an incredible Day 2, which starts at 1:00 p.m. local time on May 31.

Event #7: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice (6-Handed) Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

What Is Happening on Day 4 of the 2024 WSOP?

May 31 is the fourth day of the 2024 WSOP, during which we should see two more players win coveted bracelets. Event #3: WSOP Kickoff No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout is scheduled to play to a winner, as is Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better. However, the limit Omaha 8 events have a knack of over-running!

Day 1b of Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions should see another bumper crowd turn out, each hoping to pull out a $1 million bounty at some stage. Be aware that PokerNews’ overage of this event starts on Day 2.

The 16 superstars remaining in Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship will likely play down to the final four, while mixed game lovers can tune into PokerNews‘ Day 2 coverage of Event #7: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice (6-Handed), which should end at the final table or at least with the final table within touching distance.

Two other events shuffle up and deal for the first time, too. At 12:00 p.m. local time, Event #8: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed) gets underway, another of the new additions to this year’s schedule. A couple of hours later, at 2:00 p.m. local time, Event #9: $1,500 Limit Hold’em (8-Handed) begins.

As always, keep your browsers locked and loaded to PokerNews today and throughout the 2024 WSOP.