The latest day of WSOP drama had eight events in progress, as two players won first-time bracelets. PokerStake player David Coleman dominated to lead the final six in another event, while Phil Ivey and Jason Mercier left themselves close to gold only for Danny Wong to lead the final three into an added day in the Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship.

Evan Benton Wins First-Ever Gold

Event #28 of this year’s WSOP saw first-time Evan Benton take gold and the top prize of $412,484 as he outlasted Phil Hellmuth and 2,314 others in his debut win at the World Series. Benton, who only started playing poker 13 months ago, came through the middle of the pack after the overnight leader Andres Gonzalez lost a big lead.

In the end, the Spanish pacesetter lost out in third place, but before his elimination, other big names had already gone. Nick Maimone busted in seventh for $64,202 after the first person to bust, Nicolas Vayssieres, went in ninth for $385,170. Heads-up, Balakrishna Patur lost for a runner-up prize of $274,972, as Benton won the top prize of $201,518.

Alen Bakovic Bags the Bracelet

Event #30, the $600-entry Mixed No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack event concluded with another first-time winner as Canadian player Alen Bakovic pipped Brian Keith Etheridge to the post to claim the top prize of $207,064. A total of 3,351 entries took part in the event and over $1.7 million was at stake as most of the prizepool was split between the 145 players competing on the final day.

With three tables left, Bakovic took a big hit, dropping to the second shortest stack in the chipcounts. He bounced off the canvas, however, making the final table in a much stronger position as others like Joseph Couden and Marcus Ruiz were eliminated. With the aforementioned Etheridge and Ukraine’s Olegs Buiko making the final three, Etheridge and Makovic made the final duel. The lead switched several times but the tournament ended up going the way of Bakovich as he claimed his first-ever WSOP bracelet.

Phil Ivey Two Players from 11^th WSOP Title in Limit Championship

There have been 149 entries in the $10,000 buy-in Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship, otherwise known as Event #29. After two days of fierce action, just Danny Wong (3,730,000), Jason Mercier (2,955,000) and Phil Ivey (2,260,000) remain, with a top prize of $347,440 on offer from 4pm local time.

Of course, the win for the money is one thing, but each of the remaining three players are also battling for the bracelet and a piece of poker history. For the chip leader Wong, the chance to double his tally of bracelets from one to two is drawing him on. Jason Mercier’s return to top level poker after family time away could be rewarded with his seventh bracelet, elevating him into the realms of the top 10 of all time.

For Phil Ivey, however, victory would be his 11^th at the WSOP, putting him clear of Johnny Chan, the late, great Doyle Brunson, and Erik Seidel, all of whom have 10. Ivey is short stack but not by a great amount, and after the final table eliminations of players like Allen Kessler (10^th) and Renan Bruschi (8^th) British professionals Philip Sternheimer (6^th) and Benny Glaser (4^th) both left, with three men left, each looking for their own piece of history.

Coleman on Course to End Bracelet Duck in Six-Max Event 

PokerStake player David Coleman is a huge chip leader with the final six remaining players surviving a Day 2 where 61 started in seats. Event #31, the $3,000-entry 6-Max NLHE Event saw Coleman end play on 24.3 million chips, with his nearest challenger, Konstantyn Holsky form the Ukraine, having just 7.8 million, less than a third of Coleman’s stack.

With over $5 million in live tournament results alone, Coleman’s opportunity to win a first-ever WSOP bracelet is huge and the top prize of $516,135 will be secondary to taking home that vital WSOP bracelet. Players such as Faraz Jaka, Alex Foxen, Joe Cheong, and the Season 1 Game of Gold winner Maria Ho all lost their tournament lives on a dramatic penultimate day.

Michael Noori Leads the Last Nine  

Event #32 saw just nine final table players survive in the $1,500-entry Seven Card Stud event, with American Michael Noori (2.31 million) in the lead at the close of play. Players such as Adam Owen (2.19m) and Richard Ashby (1.75m) are chasing down Noori with one day to go, as others such as Brandon Shack-Harris (610,000) and Hal Rotholz (510,000) also made the last stage of the event, with a $113,725 top prize on the line.

Three More Events Start with Exciting Day 1 Flights

Three more WSOP events began on Day 16 of the 2024 World Series of Poker, with Event #33, the $600 PLO 8-Max Deepstack beginning in fine fashion. A mammoth field of 2,402 entries went right through the money bubble of 361 paid players, and just 95 remained at the close of Day 1 play. Chip leader going into Day 2 with 2.24 million chips is American player Natalio Pereira with the potential first-time WSOP bracelet winner followed by stars such as Maxx Coleman (1,810,000), David Mzareulov (1,350,000), Lee Markholt (850,000), Adam Levy (320,000), Nipun Java (220,000) and the extremely short-stacked Michael Wang (170,000).

Event 34 ended its Day 1 with 192 survivors in the $2,500-entry NLHE Freezeout event. A total of 1,267 entries played 18 levels with Joshua Wang (1,086,000) ending Day 1 with the chip lead. Poker superstars such as Boris Angelov (750,000), Kristen Foxen (739,000) and Josh Arieh (710,000) are all high up, residing in the top ten.

Daniel Mayoh leads the $1,500 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. Event #35, with a stack of 309,000, with Bryan Jolly (307,000), mixed game legend David Bach (291,000) and tournament crusher Calvin Anderson (257,500) all inside the top four. American Day 2 regular Scott Clements (217,000) bounced his stack late to end inside the top 10 places too.

With thanks to PokerGO for their official WSOP photography. The 2024 World Series of Poker is available to watch exclusively on PokerGO. Subscribe today and watch all the drama play out in Las Vegas!