Day 1c and 1d of WSOP Main Event Sees over 6,000 Players Battle for Glory

More thrilling action took place on Day 1c and Day 1d as the World Series of Poker Main Event welcomed thousands of players to the felt in Bally’s and Paris casinos in Las Vegas. Sin City was an incredible place to be as over 6,000 entrants on Day 1c and Day 1d saw the overall field on the verge of breaking a record that has stood for 16 long years.

Day 1c of Main Event Sees 1,800 Entries on Thrilling Day of Action

The third Day 1 flight of the 2022 WSOP Main Event saw 1,800 players pitch up in Las Vegas and stake their claim for what will likely be a $10 million top prize. Of the players who sat down, only 1,376 players survived, with that number joining the 1,265 survivors from Day 1a and Day 1b on what is sure to be a fun Day 2abc.

So far, Day 1c’s numbers added to the first two flights mean that there have been an amazing 3,580 entries in this year’s 2022 WSOP Main Event, with Day 1d and late registrations on both Day 2abc and Day 2d to come. Could the record attendance that has stood since 2006 be exceeded? We wouldn’t bet against it happening.

After Day 1c’s drama, it was Patrick Clarke (397,200) who topped the leaderboard, with David Eldridge (308,800) and Xuan Liu (268,200) following him on the leaderboard. Big names hover ominously in their slipstreams, with Eric Salazar (267,100), Rafael Moraes (172,800), Tristan Wade (160,900), Maria Ho (116,700) and Joe McKeehen (95,000) all returning with more chips than they started.

Big names busted on Day 1c, with Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu, 888poker’s Vivian Saliba, solve for Why’s Matt Berkey and Czech motormouth Martin Kabrhel all busting. As did Shaun Deeb, who called off his stack with pocket queens on a board of T-J-5-5-T, only to be shown pocket fives by his victorious opponent.

Day 1d of Main Event Sees 4,350 Play

An incredible 4,350 entries swelled Day 1d to becoming easily the most-attended day of action in three years in the WSOP Main Event. Approximately 3,500 players survived the last Day 1 flight of the 2022 WSOP Main Event but that number could yet be added to, with late registrations permitted on Day 2abc tomorrow and Day 2d on Friday.

With a total of 7,930 players currently having bought in one way or another for $10,000, the Main Event is only a shade over 600 short of the overall record set in 2006, the year that 8,569 played the Main and Jamie gold won the biggest top prize ever, of $12 million.

Hollywood star Vince Vaughn, the WSOP Master of Ceremonies for 2002, introduced this year’s Main Event bracelet after entering the room atop a throne carried by ‘Roman’ centurion guards, before announcing the infamous “Shuffle up and deal!” announcement.

At the end of Day 1d, Hao Chen’s stack of 580,100 was way above anyone else’s, but would need to be independently verified on Day 2d to count, such was its gap to anyone else’s stack. Players such as Randall Heeb (339,000), Mathieu His (316,000) and Joe Bold (299,600) had great days at the felt while Christoph Vogelsang (273,500), 1987 & 1988 world champion Johnny Chan (218,800), 2021 Main Event runner-up George Holmes (181,100), 2020 Hybrid Main Event champion Damian Salas (125,000), 2003 Main Event winner Chris Moneymaker (108,800), and 2021 Main Event winner Koray Aldemir (71,800) all made it through to the next day with profit on their starting chips.

Players to bust included 10-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey, who was joined on the rail by Allen ‘Chainsaw’ Kessler, Landon Tice, Kyna England, Adam Friedman and Brandon Adams as well as poker YouTuber and new WPT ambassador Brad Owen, who lost with pocket aces to ace-king as he slid out of the Main Event in 2022.

Photo courtesy of PokerGO, home of the 2022 World Series of Poker, with final table live streams throughout July.