Day 5 of the $10K Main Event marked Day 45 of the ongoing 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP). A total of 464 players returned for Day 5 to battle it out for the Main Event title and $10 million top prize. Following five levels of play, just 160 remained from the record-breaking field of 10,112.
Stephen Song (12,310,000) continues to lead the way. He once again remained in pole position at the end of Day 5. He is followed by Portuguese duo Carlos Caldas (12,110,000) and Diogo Coelho (9,950,000).
Song is one of the most accomplished players remaining in the mix, with a bracelet and more than $6 million in live earnings to his name. He is looking to surpass his best finish in the Main Event in 2021, where he placed 83rd for $ 68,900. His best WSOP finish in 2021 was $ 172,855 for the third-place finish in The Closer.
Other notables to advance to Day 5 of the main event were Online legend Niklas “Lena900” Astedt (7,900,000),Poker Hall of Famer Brian Rast (6,325,000), Chinese-born poker star Ren Lin (5,660,000) & poker commentator Tony Dunst (3,190,000).
Women Still in Contention
Notably, there are four women still in the mix, including former three-time GPI Player of the Year Kristen Foxen (5,400,000), Ma Li (4,050,000), Shundan Xiao (3,205,000) and Danielle Andersen (1,725,000). The best WSOP Main Event finish by a female belongs to Barbara Enright who placed fifth and walked away with $114,180 for her historic feat.
Epic Drama Unfolds on Day 5 of WSOP 2024 Main Event!
The day turned out to be the most dramatic one yet, with many big names succumbing to bad beats and coolers. Spanish poker superstar Adrian Mateos, who started the day second in chips felt the full wrath of the card deities. He eventually exited in 317th place for $45,000 after his pocket aces fell to ace-king.
Bracelet winner Alex Livingston also faced a heartbreaking exit. The Canadian flopped Broadway, but his opponent rivered a full house, sending Livingston out in 295th place ($45,000). Eliminations continued with some poker’s biggest names like Bin Weng (346th for $45,000), Phil Ivey (340th for $45,000), Jonathan Little (316th for $45,000), Alejandro Lococo (313th for $45,000), Alejandro Lococo (313th for $45,000), Parker Talbot (308th for $45,000) and Nacho Barbero (301st for $45,000) hitting the rail.
Team India’s Main Event Run Ends With Both Kavin Shah and Tarun Goyal Exiting On Day 5
Out of the four Indians who made it to Day 4, only two Kavin Shah and Tarun Goyal could advance to Day 4 of the Main Event. Of the two, Kavin Shah started the day with a massive stack of 2,230,000, Tarun Goyal began his campaign for the day with a respectable stack of 1,150,000 chips.
While both players came back, aiming to go deepest and surpass the previous best Indian finish set by Anirban Das who finished 16th for $430,200 (~₹3.53 Crores) in 2023, moving ahead of Nishant Sharma who finished 34th for $230,475 in 2018. Unfortunately for the Indian duo, they could not survive the day. The first to fall was none other than the former Adda52 Team Pro and DPT champion Turun Goyal, who exited in 347th place for $45,000 – his best WSOP live score.
Kavin Shah was looking in good shape, chipping up and moving up the ranks. Unfortunately, his journey ended in 191st place. He earned an impressive $60,000, his third cash of the series. This also marked his second biggest WSOP score, trailing his $60,317 he earned for a 7th place finish in the WSOP 2024 Event #44: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em last month.
End of Day 5 Top 10 Chip Counts
| 1 | Stephen Song | 12,310,000 | 154 |
| 2 | Carlos Caldas | 12,110,000 | 151 |
| 3 | Diogo Coelho | 9,950,000 | 124 |
| 4 | Yegor Moroz | 9,470,000 | 118 |
| 5 | Manuel Machado | 8,830,000 | 110 |
| 6 | Kevin Davis | 8,675,000 | 108 |
| 7 | Charles Russell | 8,055,000 | 101 |
| 8 | Tomas Szwarcberg | 7,950,000 | 99 |
| 9 | Niklas Astedt | 7,900,000 | 99 |
| 10 | Laurent Manderlier | 7,500,000 | 94 |
Day 6 Of WSOP 2024 Main Event
Day 6 of the 2024 WSOP Main Event begins at noon local time on Friday, July 12. The day starts at Level 26 with the blinds of 40,000/80,000/80,000 bb ante, and concludes after the completion of Level 30. Keep following PokerProNews for more updates from the WSOP 2024 Main Event.
Image Credit: WSOP & PokerGo
