The air crackled with electricity as Daniel Weinman took the mic and said “shuffle up and deal,” sending the 55th World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event sailing on its way yesterday. Weinman, the 2023 Main Event champ, was all smiles as he did the honor.
According to the WSOP, 916 players showed up for the first of four Day 1s of the Main Event. The field included at least two former champs, Qui Nguyen (2016) and Greg Merson (2012). They happened to be playing at the same table for most of the day. Both made it through to Day 2 with middling stacks.
Another player who was among the 620 players who made it through, Jon Pardy, spent the day live-streaming and providing his poker fans with personal updates. It sure seems like he’s having an awful lot of fun.
“Oh man, we had an absolute blast. The atmosphere was electric all day. You definitely know it’s Main Event day,” Pardy told the WSOP. “We had an amazing table. The table was talkative the entire time. We had an absolute blast. It was almost like a home game. You would never know it was a 10K buy-in.”
Three more Day 1s will take place before the field is first combined on Sunday. Players who have yet to buy-in can late register on Day 2s. After that, the tournament plays until the winner is crowded July 17.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua Feiger | United States | 311,900 | 390 |
| 2 | Assaf Zeharia | Israel | 276,600 | 346 |
| 3 | Frank Funaro | United States | 265,000 | 331 |
| 4 | Mark Stockton | United States | 260,700 | 326 |
| 5 | Jie Wu | China | 252,300 | 315 |
| 6 | Nan Li | United States | 247,500 | 309 |
| 7 | Vid Zagar | Slovenia | 241,300 | 302 |
| 8 | Jonathan Wong | United States | 239,800 | 300 |
| 9 | Naoya Kihara | Japan | 228,300 | 285 |
| 10 | Pedro Bromfman | Brazil | 224,600 | 281 |
Watch on PokerGO
Poker fans can watch the Main Event on the streaming site, PokerGO. Action will also be broadcast on CBS in the future. Here’s the streaming schedule:
Wednesday, July 3: Day 1a starting at 8:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. PT)
Thursday, July 4: Day 1b starting at 8:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. PT)
Friday, July 5: Day 1c starting at 8:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. PT)
Saturday, July 6: Day 1d starting at 8:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. PT)
Sunday, July 7: Day 2abc starting at 6:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. PT)
Monday, July 8: Day 2d starting at 6:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. PT)
Tuesday, July 9: Day 3 starting at 6:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. PT)
Wednesday, July 10: Day 4 starting at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT)
Thursday, July 11: Day 5 starting at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT)
Friday, July 12: Day 6 starting at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT)
Saturday, July 13: Day 7 starting at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT)
Sunday, July 14: Day 8 starting at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT)
Tuesday, July 16: Final table starting at 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT)
Wednesday, July 17: Final table starting at 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT)
