WSOP 2024 Day 42 Recap: Main Event Breaks Attendance Record, as 10,112 play the World Championship

An epic Day 2d of the 2024 WSOP Main Event headlined the action on Day 42 of this year's World Series of Poker. With three other events in progress, there was Flip N Go fun, Ultra Stack madness and 8-Game drama as legends gathered to seek gold in Las Vegas.  

Main Events Sets New Record 

The WSOP Main Event broke its recent attendance record on Day 2d as 10,112 players were confirmed as the new record, beating last year's total of 10,043. Both the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas casinos were packed out as a prizepool of $94 million was accumulated. 

The poker legend and Hall of Famer Jack Binion presented the new 2024 WSOP Main Event bracelet. The precious bracelet, which includes 2,253 precious gems, has a removable golden faceplate that players can use as a card protector. Day 2d crowds went wild for that before the serious business of trying to make the latter stages of the World Championship began.

With a top prize of $10 million confirmed and 1,517 money places starting at a payout of $15,000, it is the Canadian player Alex Livingston (750,500) who leads the combined field of 3,262 after the conclusion of both Day 2s and the end of registration. Livingston, who finished third in the 2019 WSOP Main Event, is already a WSOP bracelet winner, having won gold two years ago in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud event and after winning $4 million five years ago will be hoping to go two places higher this year to win the world championship and $10m top prize. 

Donovan Dean (639,500) was high up the chipcounts, with the five-time WSOP bracelet winner and mixed game specialist Adam Friedman (581,000) close by. High roller and PokerGO regular Aram Zobian (401,500), WSOP Circuit crusher Ari Engel (334,500), the 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey (283,500), and the 2023 Poker Hall of Fame inductee Brian Rast (229,000) all remain in the chasing pack. 

A collection of world champions also kept their hopes alive of becoming the first two-time Main Event winner since Stu Ungar won in 1982 (and again in 1997). The 2013 world champion Ryan Riess (103,500) posted the message 'Survive and Advance' on his X profile in the aftermath of a tough day at the felt, while the 2015 Main Event winner Joe McKeehen (309,500) also survived, as did the 1998 champion Scotty Nguyen (206,000).

Last year's winner and the reigning champion Daniel Weinman also made Day 3 with 229,500 chips and the Atlanta, Georgia man will be hoping to go 'back to back' in what would undoubtedly be the Main Event achievement of all-time. 

WSOP Event #81: $10,000 Main Event Day 2d Chip Counts

Racener and Arieh Top Two in Eight-Game Mix

A total of seven players remain in the hunt for gold in Event #83, the $1,500-entry Eight Game Mix event. There were 103 starters on Day 2, including Scott Seiver, who was shooting for his fourth WSOP title. He missed out, cashing in the middle of the day after Japanese player Masato Yokosawa became the event's bubble boy.

After household names such as Dylan Weisman (71st for $3,000), Jared Bleznick (64th for $3,000), and Jeff Madsen (55th for $3,000) all departed, Viktor Blom was eliminated in 11th place for $8,363, before Jeff Kimber (9th) and Joseph Heinzmann (8th) both left for a score of $10,834.

At the seven-handed final table, a collection of superstars will gather. John Racener (3,929,000) has the lead, with the six-time winner Josh Arieh (2,732,000) ahead of Maxx Coleman (1,893,000), Day 1 chip leader Marco Johnson (1,228,000), Garth Yettick (1,217,000), Xiaochuan Zhang (740,000) and ‘Miami John’ Cernuto (640,000).

WSOP Event #83: $1,500 8-Game Mixed Final Table Chip Counts

Two Other Events End Day 1 Flights 

There was some Flip ‘N’ Go excitement and the Ultra Stack proved successful on Day 1b as two Day 1s sated poker players' lust for glory on Day 42. 

In Event #85, the $1,000-entry Flip & Go NLHE event, a total of 1,088 entrants played the GGPoker-WSOP event, with just 136 making the next day's 'normal' play where everyone will be in the money. Poker players such as Chance Kornuth, Yuval Bronshtein, Chris Brewer, Shannon Shorr, David Williams, Punnat Punsri, Chris ‘Big Huni’ Hunichen, Jeremy Ausmus, Shaun Deeb, Toby Lewis and Scott Seiver have all made the cut and will be hoping to take their slice of the $957,440 prizepool tomorrow. 

Finally, in Event #84, the $600-entry Ultra Stack event saw over 4,000 entries reduced to just over 500 survivors. Among them were chip leader Paul Bausch (1,690,000), Victor Dermendjin (925,000) and Howard Smith (1,295,000), each of whom made the Day 2 draw in good chip health. 

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