It was a moving day in the record-breaking 2024 World Series of Poker Main Event. Only 160 players out of the 10,112 entry-strong field returned to their seats inside of the Horseshoe Event Center at noon and the number of hopefuls was cut by more than half throughout the five 120-minute levels of Day 6. Some big names came up short, while others lived another day to stay in contention and potentially become the new world champion in Las Vegas.
While the biggest slice of the $94,041,600 prize pool is still up for grabs in the coming days, one major milestone was reached today as the six-figure prizes were finally unlocked. The top 125 finishers all notched up at least $100,000 for their efforts and the 59 hopefuls still in contention have already secured a payday of $160,000. That figure will rise to a cool million in the following days with significant pay jumps on the near horizon.
The only player to advance with more than 100 big blinds for Day 7 was Kevin Davis, who bagged up 26,250,000. Several other hopefuls closely bunched together include Shundan Xiao (23,925,000), Malo Latinois (22,375,000), Guillermo Sanchez Otero (21,975,000), and Yake Wu (20,875,000).
Xiao is one of two female players still in contention and sits second in chips. Born in China and residing in California, the biggest live cash Xiao had prior to this tournament was a mere $9,500 but that score will be topped by a landslide. Furthermore, all eyes were set on four-time WSOP bracelet winner Kristen Foxen, who also advanced with a healthy stack of 14,500,000.
Foxen was under the spotlight of the Thunderdome for the entirety of Day 6 and endured a rollercoaster throughout the day, which she capped off with the elimination of Tyler Montoya via coin flip at the very end. With more than $7 million in career earnings, she is one of the most successful female poker players in history and a deep run in the biggest live event of the year comes as no surprise.
"I've definitely dreamed about being the woman who takes down the Main Event," she said. "So I'm starting to live my dream. There's still a long way to go, so I'm trying to stay calm," Foxen told PokerNews in an interview during the day.
"This is the stage in the tournament where you can't go wrong in being a little conservative in decisions when they come up. There is that element of high ICM in play that I don't think many people understand. So I feel like I can't go wrong and I know what to do."
Reaching the final table would be a gargantuan feat for both players, even more so as this is the biggest WSOP Main Event to date.
Another big name still in contention is none other than six-time WSOP bracelet winner Brian Rast, who sits right in the middle of the pack with a stack of 12,675,000 and continues to cement his legacy in the world of poker.
"I mean, every year I'm sitting probably on the other side of the Rio playing a poker tournament or at least the last couple of years, previous years, in cash games, you know, a couple times a day, checking the updates going, 'man.'"
This time, he has been part of the updates for six days already and will head into Day 7 "to try to make it through playing one hand of poker at a time, right?"
As advice for all aspiring poker players who find themselves in such a unique position deep in the Main Event, the WSOP Poker Hall of Famer had the following to share:
"So it's more about maximizing your performance and doing that by getting sleep tonight. You know, you show up, be present, watch every hand, try to get reads. Don't spend a lot of time super analyzing every hand you play, at least in the Main, you know, you should spend more time thinking strategically about how you're going to adapt and exploit the people at the poker table, especially in the Main. Because there are all kinds of different poker players here who have all kinds of different skill levels."
With the ups and downs of tournament poker, the rail of two particular contenders made their voices heard in the entire room: Yegor Moroz and Jesse Capps.
Moroz started Day 6 among the bigger stacks and quickly continued to grow the tower in front of him much to the delight of his boisterous friends only a few meters away. After some key hands and successful all-in showdowns, Moroz leaped over to high-five and celebrate wildly.
"These are all like a mix of Florida friends and Vegas friends. I've known most of these people for ten-plus years. I've lived with a bunch of them. This is a close-knit group. It really takes the edge off. Although I am actually now in a place where I'm comfortable with chips, it's still kind of stressful. We're deep in the Main. It kind of helps ease the tension."
It is not the first rodeo for Moroz in the Main Event but it will be the first time to head to the payout desk to collect a cash prize in the days to come. He finished Day 6 with 20,575,000 in chips after scoring an elimination on the final hand, which puts him in sixth place on the overnight leaderboard.
"I can't even begin to go into it. This is my tenth Main Event, my first cash. I've been playing poker forever and I've gone through the ups and downs. I've gone broke before. It's interesting that now after kind of pulling back from tournaments … I barely played any poker this summer, and then to come into this and to have a run like this is just surreal."
Capps used the power of his ducks to make it all the way to bagging and tagging for the night and loud duck noises could be heard from his rail. During the final level of the night, he won a flip in dramatic fashion to leap back into contention and then jump in the air in celebration. Ultimately, he advanced with 5,925,000 and that is good enough for just shy of 24 big blinds for Day 7.
Further notables to continue the hunt for the Main Event title include Tag Team bracelet winner Jason James (15,825,000), online legend Niklas "Lena900" Astedt (15,800,000), Joe Serock (13,175,000), Pot-Limit Omaha specialist Arthur Morris (5,925,000), Alex Keating (5,250,000) and Stephen Song (2,175,000), among others.
Several other big names were sent to the payout desk throughout the day. Three-time WSOP bracelet winner Tony Dunst was among the first to fall and collected $70,000 for his efforts. High-stakes regular Aleksejs Ponakovs made the pay jump to six-figures and earned a buy-in and reentry for the ongoing $50,000 High Roller, Danielle Andersen and former WSOP Europe Main Event finalist Alexander Tkatschew also cashed for $100,000.
Sami Bechahed recorded yet another deep run at the WSOP and bowed out in 74th place for $120,000. His fate was all but sealed in a cooler against Luis Vazquez when his full house was beaten by a straight flush and the Frenchman was knocked out shortly thereafter.
Francisco Sanchez fell victim to the "wrecking ball" Davis when his nut flush draw improved, yet ended up drawing dead to a full house. WSOP bracelet winner and recent $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha runner-up Danny Tang was among the final casualties of the night and finished in 62nd place after a clash with Xiao.
Day 7 of the 2024 WSOP Main Event will commence at noon local time on Saturday, July 13. The action picks up on Level 31, where the blinds will be 125,000/250,000/250,000 and closes after the completion of Level 35.
There will be 20-minute breaks after each level, with the 75-minute dinner break scheduled after Level 33 at approximately 6:40 p.m.
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