Nick Maimone Among Chip Leaders in Event #28: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em; Brian Barker Leads
The Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas played host to Event #28: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em today, which saw 2,319 hopefuls all looking to navigate their way through the field and into Day 2.
The number of entries eclipsed the 2,046 set in the same event last year and generated a prize pool of $3,095,865. The eventual champion will walk away with a cool $412,484. There were 348 places paid and the money bubble burst during Level 16.
When all was said and done, only 215 players survived 17 levels of play and made their way into Day 2, which will get underway at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, June 11. The USA's Brian Barker leads the way after he accumulated 951,000 chips throughout the day, and Nick Maimone sits closely behind him with 830,000.
End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Barker | United States | 951,000 | 95 |
| 2 | Conor Hannan | United States | 950,000 | 95 |
| 3 | Scott Stewart | United States | 831,000 | 83 |
| 4 | Nick Maimone | United States | 830,000 | 83 |
| 5 | Fausto Valdez | United States | 817,000 | 82 |
| 6 | Evan Benton | United States | 774,000 | 77 |
| 7 | John Riordan | United States | 755,000 | 76 |
| 8 | Nikolay Yosifov | Bulgaria | 754,000 | 75 |
| 9 | Nicolas Vayssieres | France | 726,000 | 73 |
| 10 | Jin Kim | United States | 704,000 | 70 |
Some of the poker elite were out in force as the likes of Phil Hellmuth, Ren Lin, Jack Sinclair, Martin Kahbrel, Adrian Mateos, Davidi Kitai, Kenny Hallaert, Martin Jacobson, John Juanda, Scott Seiver, and Roman Hrabec were in attendance and hunting a bracelet. Only Hellmuth (207,000) made it through to Day from that all-star cast.
The remaining players will return for Day 2 and blinds will begin at Level 18 (5,000/10,000/10,000). Ten 60-minute levels are on the agenda and those who make it through will return for Day 3 on Wednesday, June 12, to play down to a champion.
Stay tuned for all the excitement as the PokerNews Live Reporting team covers Day 2, along with our comprehensive summer-long coverage of the 2024 WSOP at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.