The Top 40 have been whittled down to just six survivors. On a day of drama, the PokerGO Tour’s long-heralded PGT Championship Freeroll began its journey from 40 of the world’s best players to one player winning $500,000 for no entry fee at all in Las Vegas, Nevada. The PokerGO Studio at ARIA was the place to be as players such as Daniel Negreanu, Josh Arieh, Phil Hellmuth, Erik Seidel, Chino Rheem and Jeremy Ausmus all took part in but failed to progress from the opening day of the two-day event.

Arieh One of the First to Fall

As a number of players arrived slightly later than the start of play, others were right into the mix early. Six-time WSOP bracelet winner Josh Arieh was one to immediately profit from the early stages but he then lost his stack to fall early after a big pot against British professional Stephen Chidwick. The latter had qualified for the PGT Freeroll in third place on the PGT Leaderboard, meaning he began with more chips, due to PGT Points corresponding to the size of players stacks.

That meant Chidwick’s stack covered Arieh’s when the American’s shove with on a flop of ran into Chidwick’s top set with his hand of . Arieh needed running clubs or Broadway cards and the turn did give him a sweat but a on the river sent him to the rail long before the final six places would be reached, the only paid positions on the leaderboard.

Also out early were stars of the felt such as the Spanish multiple WSOP bracelet winner Adrian Mateos, Bulgarian GG MILLION$ winner this week Alex Kulev, PGT leaderboard star Chino Rheem and British poker powerhouse Toby Lewis. With 42 players remaining, Daniel ‘Kid Poker’ Negreanu was ousted by another World Series legend, Erik Seidel. The New Yorker, who this year won his 10^th bracelet at the WSOP Paradise festival, slayed the Canadian’s chances when held against Negreanu’s .

Poker Brat Shot Down by Rockets

No-one arrived at the PokerGO Studio more decorated than Phil Hellmuth, who after entering successive WSOP Main Events dressed as the Greatest Showman (Las Vegas) and Poseidon (The Bahamas), entered the PokerGO Studio in far more standard attire on Tuesday night. Unfortunately for Hellmuth’s legions of mermaids, circus performers and poker fans, the Poker Brat busted early too. On a board of , Hellmuth called off his stack with but was wrong to do so, with the aggressor in the hand, Ian Steinman, holding an unassailable to send Hellmuth home in 32^nd place.

Other legends quickly joined Hellmuth on the rail, with Jason Koon (28^th), the aforementioned Chidwick (24^th), Alex Foxen (19^th) and Erik Seidel (17^th) all falling short. When Chris Brewer eventually fell in 11^th place, the action was down to the top 10. Daniel Weinman, the reigning WSOP Main Event winner, knocked out Chance Kornuth in 10^th place when the latter’s couldn’t overtake Weinman’s , a board of giving the world champion a full house on the river.

One of the Dream Seat winners, Julio Clavell, busted next, falling to the impressive German player Daniel Smiljkovic, who earlier this year came second to Daniel Negreanu when a four-outer queen on the river ended 2024’s first major live poker tournament. Isaac Haxton, who began 2023 with so many victories, came up just short in eighth, losing his stack to Smiljkovic’s fellow German Leon Sturm. That meant Weinman was in the middle of a German sandwich in the podium places on the leaderboard on the money bubble.

Laskowitz Last to Leave Before the ‘Money Table’

A big flip ended the hopes of the last player not to make any money in the lucrative freeroll. Sam Laskowitz qualified for the PGT Championship by virtue of a stunning PGT Last Chance festival where he came second on the leaderboard behind Artur Martirosian. That earned Laskowitz a Dream Seat, but he was last to leave before making a profit on Tuesday night and it stung.

All-in with , Laskowitz couldn’t hit against the of Smiljkovic, who saw a clean board of scoop him a very useful pot on the way to establishing a large chip lead at the perfect time. Smiljkovic bagged a very healthy 2,895,000 chips overnight, with 2023 world champion Daniel Weinman (1.43 million) the German’s nearest challenger. Leon Sturm (1,005,000), Artur Martirosian (720,000) and Arden Cho (665,000) still have playable stacks, while WPT slayer Darren Elias will be hoping to spin up his 180,000 ‘comeback stack’.

Whoever wins the inaugural PGT $1m Championship Freeroll will take home $500,000, with the runner-up claiming $200,000. Reaching the podium will earn $120,000, while fourth ($80,000), fifth ($60,000) and sixth ($40,000) places will all be compensated for their efforts. Who’ll take the title? We’ll find out tomorrow!