WSOP 2024 Day 29 Recap: Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey Both Challenging Leader Chris Brewer in Poker Players Championshipin

A thrilling day's action in the 2024 WSOP saw seven events in progress, with the $50,000-entry Poker Players Championship reaching the end of its third day on a day where the final 14 players made the money. Elsewhere, big names fell in the $1,500 Millionaire Maker event, while five more events lit up Las Vegas with a slew of superb tournaments running at Horseshoe and Paris casinos.

Brewer Leaps to the Top of Leaderboard in PPC 

Just a dozen players remain in the $50,000-entry Poker Players Championship after a brilliant Day 3 saw 29 players battle to reach 14 money places in this event. Some big names busted very early, as Danish poker legend Gus Hansen, WSOP bracelet winner John Monnette, Michael Rocco, Maksim Pisarenko, Michael Moncek, Alexander Wilkinson and Aaron Katz all going to the rail early.

Jared Bleznick went from fourth in chips at the start of play to missing the money places, while Swedish legend Viktor Blom went the same way, setting hand-for-hand action in motion when he was ousted in 16th place. Daniel Negreanu busted Hal Rotholz to burst the bubble, leaving 14 players in seats but the action wasn't over, as players battled on until only 12 were left. 

After Maxx Coleman missed out in 14th place, the former PPC champion Phil Hui was the unlucky player to bust in 13th position. His elimination led to a short period of play without anyone busting out, which set the path upon which players are on the leaderboard. It is the American two-time bracelet winner (both in 2023) Chris Brewer who leads with a massive stack of 5.34 million.

Brewer's closest rival is the French player David Benyamine, who bagged 3.11m after a stirring Day 3 reminiscent of the best form of his poker career. The 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey sits in third spot on 3.05m with a great chance of winning his 12th bracelet later this week. 

With strong performances and survival for other players such as Jeremy Aumsus (2.5m), Daniel Negreanu (1.1m) and Michael 'Grinder' Mizrachi (830k), the overnight chip leader also made it, with Australian James Obst (1,640,000) ending the day with fewer chips than he started but still a great shot at glory. 

WSOP Event #58: $50,000 Poker Players Championship Day 3 Chip Counts

Millionaire Maker Field Loses Some Stardust 

A huge day saw the Event #54 Millionaire Maker field reduced from 315 who started Day 3 to just 45 players. Over the course of the day, the $1,500 buy-in event saw the exits of some superstars of the game, with Timur Margolin (85th), Martin Jacobson (132nd), Chris Moorman (178th) and Joseph Cheong (222nd) all being knocked out relatively far from the exciting end of affairs, with 10,939 entrants reduced to just five tables by the close of Day 3.

Fighting to become a millionaire (either coming second for $1,001,170 or winning this event for $1,250,125) is mostly now a battle between players who are unfamiliarly playing for seven-figure payouts. Both Martin Mathis and Max Neugebauer gave themselves the best chance, bagging up a joint chip lead with 13,025,000 chips.

Other big names still involved include the Day 2 chip leader Sebastien Sigouin (9,400,000), three-time bracelet winner Sean Troha (4,375,000) and legendary tournament player Jason Wheeler (5,000,000).

WSOP Event #54: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Final Day Chip Counts

Peterson Leads Super Seniors Battle

Event #59, the $1,000-entry Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em event saw 975 players return to Day 2 and just 119 survived. At the close of play, it was Gregory Peterson (1,990,000) who led the way as the players shooting for the $358,045 top prize and the WSOP bracelet. He was followed in the chip counts by James Jackson (1,425,000) and Farzad Raji (1,375,000) as 505 players made the money. 

Guy Cicconi (1,275,000), Poker Hall of Famer and three-time bracelet winner Barry Greenstein (230,000), and another talented bracelet winner Kevin Song (656,000) both look in good shape for deep runs, as does the Grammy Award-winning music producer Anthony Johnson, also known as 'Tony Mercedes', who bagged up 420,000. 

Big names came and went over the course of Day 2, with high-profile WSOP Main Event winner Dan 'Action' Harrington busted by the 2003 WSOP Main Event runner-up Sammy Farha.

WSOP Event #59: $1,000 Super Seniors NLHE Day 2 Chip Counts

Levy Leads in $3,000 NLHE Event

Event #60, the $3,000-entry No-Limit Hold'em event saw 539 players battle down to 105 survivors as the chase for the $676,900 top prize and the WSOP gold bracelet intensified. Tzur Levy (2,500,000) has the chip lead, with Jong Kim (1,600,000), and Noel Rodriguez (1,490,000) closest in the chasing pack. 

British players Yiannis Liperis (1,445,000) and Simon Higgins (1,285,000) both survived, while Joe Hachem's son Daniel Hachem (1,315,000) will hope to go one better than his runner-up result in last week's $1,500 NLHE/PLO event. Others such as Kristen Foxen (1,245,000), Nicholas Seward (1,395,000), WSOP Online Main Event champion Stoyan Madanzhiev (980,000) and Jonathan Pastore (830,000) all survived, with 2019 WSOP Main Event champion Hossein Ensan (290,000)and Benjamin Spragg (370,000) both still involved too.

WSOP Event #60: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Day 2 Chip Counts

David Williams On Top in Mixed Omaha Hi-LoStud Event 

Event #61 saw 187 players begin Day 2 and just 21 survived, as the Game of Gold star David Williams (1,890,000) bagged the chip lead in the $2,500-entry Mixed: Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better 8-Max event. The former WSOP Main Event runner-up Dario Sammartino (1,870,000) and Joey Couden (1,695,000) came in second and third respectively. 

Just 77 players made the money places, including the former Main Event champion Joe Hachem, WSOP broadcaster Norman Chad, and bracelet winners Robert Mizrachi, Benny Glaser and Nathan Gamble.

With the top prize of $222,703 on the line but not everybody made it to profit, with Joe Shammas, Chad Eveslage, Fox Sports TV personality Nick Wright, 10-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel, Yuri Dzivielevski, Alex Livingston, Todd Brunson and Ari Engel.

WSOP Event #61: $2,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo Stud Day 2 Chip Counts

Two New Events Begin 

Finally, two more events began with Day 1 flights, as Event #62, the $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship saw 5,126 entrants, making a prizepool of $2.6m and saw 767 players advance to Day 2. Of those, one will take down the bracelet, with Hideki Sahashi (1,174,000) leading from Czech player Martin Kabrhel (1,049,000), with Jun Li (882,000), Choi Yun Lam (820,000) and Kevin Choi (725,000) close by. Others to bag chips included Jamie Kerstetter (269,000), Ben Yu (180,000) and Loni Hui (93,000), while players such as Olga Iermolcheva, Maria Konnikova and Nick Guagenti all busted.

Finally, in Event #63, the crowds gathered for the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw event, with 453 reduced to just 68 players by the close of Day 1. Owais Ahmed (630,000) leads the remaining players, with David 'ODB' Baker on 480,000 and Poker Hall of Famer Jennifer Harman (364,000) also in the podium places. 

With those final 68 now in the money and chasing a $123,314 top prize, others such as David Funkhouser (251,000) and Brian Yoon (181,500) both lived to fight another day but the 2013 WSOP Main Event winner Ryan Riess bubbled the event and left outside the money places along with Phil Hellmuth, Shaun Deeb, David Prociak, Scott Seiver, Johnny Chan and Billy Baxter.

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