This article is now out-of-date. See all: latest poker promo codes here

916 Players Take Their Seats for Day 1a of the WSOP Main Event

By Site Editor

04 Jul 2024

Site Editor 04 Jul 2024

Share this article

916 Players contest Day 1a of the World Series of Poker Main Event
Joshua Feiger holds the chip lead on 311,900
Three former WSOP Champs amongst the 600+ players who bagged stacks for Day 2

WSOP Table & Chip. (Photo by Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Caesars Entertainment )

Day 1a of the World Series of Poker Main Event Concluded with over 600 of the 916 Entries Progressing to Day 2

The first of four starting days in the $10,000 Championship Main Event at the World Series of Poker has now been completed, with over 600 of the 916 players who started the day bagging stacks for Day 2.

The tournament began at midday, with cards in the air soon after 2023 Main Event champion Daniel Weinman had taken the mic to open the event with the immortal words ‘shuffle up and deal.’

Players start with 60,000 chips and play 5 x 2 hour levels on the first day of the tournament, after which around one third of the field will have been eliminated, while the rest progress to Day 2.

WSOP Main Event Day 1a Chip Leaders

Joshua Feiger from the USA holds the chip lead, having grown his starting stack to over 300,000 by the end of the day. Assaf Zeharia from Israel lies in second place with 276,600 with Frank Funaro in third on 265,000. By all accounts, Assaf had a fun ride today, busting several players and at one point even making a royal flush.

Some of the bigger stacks of the day included Run-it-Once’s Phil Galfond on 182,700 and Bin Weng, who ended on 152,000. Those posting above average stacks included British bracelet winner James Dempsey on 120,900 and former ME champ Jerry Yang, on 118,900.

Rank	Player	Chip Count	Country
1	Joshua Feiger	311,900	United States
2	Assaf Zeharia	276,600	Israel
3	Frank Funaro	265,000	United States
4	Mark Stockton	260,700	United States
5	Jie Wu	252,300	China
6	Nan Li	247,500	United States
7	Vid Zagar	241,300	Slovenia
8	Jonathan Wong	239,800	United States
9	Naoya Kihara	228,300	Japan
10	Pedro Bromfman	224,600	Brazil

Former WSOP Main Event Champions Make Day 2

Former WSOP Main Event champions Qui Nguyen and Greg Merson both made it through the day, having shared the same table throughout, but both are short stacked. Brazilian GG Poker ambassador Felipe Ramos scraped through the day, also with less than a starting stack.

EPT Paris winner Barny Boatman played on Day 1a and is through, but with a fragile 70,000 chips stack.

Other short stacked players who made it through include Jon Shoreman (57,000), Jonathan Little (81,400), Kenny Hallaert (79,900), Michael Mizrachi (74,000) and Ian Simpson (72,300).

EAPT tournament director Arthur Voskanyon has also made it into day 2 with 91,700, not far behind Irish Eoghan O’Dea on 97,300.

Exiting Stage Left

Let's spare a thought for those whose dream of a good WSOP Main Event run is now over for another year: Brad Owen, Freddy Deeb, Paul Newey, Jim Betchel, Conor Beresford, Barry Shulman, Billy Baxter and Jon Pardy. Better luck next time!

Day 1a Numbers Down on 2023

The field is 123 players fewer than the 1,039 who participated in Day 1a in 2023, but it is still too early to say whether this will be another record breaker or not. The key indicator will be Day 1c, which saw the greatest rise in participation in 2023. For this year to get even close to the 2023 turnout, Day 1c has to remain strong.

Day 1b of the WSOP Main Event begins at noon on July 4th.