By TheNuts - Jul 05, 2023
2023 WSOP Main Event Is Here
More than 1,000 aspirants paid the $10,000 entry fee to play in the World Series of Poker Main Event, the most prestigious poker tournament in the world, on Monday. The tournament's organizers had been certain all year that this one will surpass the previous high of 8,776 participants set in 2006. The fact that Day 1A of the 2018 Main Event had 896 players is encouraging for 2023 because the Main Event came within 100 of that number.
Yehuda Dayan of Israel is the chip leader out of the 810 players that survived Day 1A with 389,900 chips. Japan's Shota Nakanishi is the only other player with more than 300,000 points.
The winner of that year's WSOP Main Event, Jamie Gold, declared "shuffle up and deal" and enjoyed a successful day, finishing the evening in 58th place with 163,500 chips. Three additional WSOP Main Event champions competed on Day 1A and all advanced: Joe Cada from 2009 (115,100 chips), Martin Jacobson from 2014 (154,600), and Damian Salas from 2020 (56,200).
Doug Polk (fourth in chips with 281,900), Faraz Jaka, James McManus, Shaun Deeb, Dominik Nitsche, and Poker Hall of Famers John Hennigan and Billy Baxter are among more "notables" who made it through the first flight.
The WSOP Main Event elimination is, as they say, the worst day of the year. Even when you win money, it's never a wonderful feeling, but on Monday, Israel's Idan The One (yep, that's his name) had to be the player who felt the most alone.
The One was performing admirably through the first level of his very first Main Event, but then, as is customary, Level 2 arrived. One player raised pre-flop to 600 (large blind was 300) in the first of two fatal hands. Ruben Correia re-raised to 2,500, and Idan The One four-bet to 6,000. Call from Correia.