It was a bit of a slog in the early going, but there was a good reason for that delay. It took over three hours to eliminate twelve players, who all went home from the 2024 World Series of Poker Championship Event (AKA the “Main Event”), but once that was done, the floodgates opened. At the close of Day Four on Wednesday, the field had thinned out heavily as only 464 players were left for battle in the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. 

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Tense Atmosphere Pops with Money Bubble

The atmosphere around the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas was thick with the tension of what was in store for all. With 1,529 players left in the tournament, twelve runners who departed the tournament in the opening frames of Day Four play would leave without anything to show for their efforts at the WSOP. Thus, every hand was fought with the intensity of the final table as, for some players, it actually would be just that. 

Fifteen minutes into Day Four play, Brian Kim would put down Laurent Azout as his A-4 found a second pair on a 5-Q-8-Q-4 board to end the dreams of a chopped pot with Azout’s A-3. That knockout went without comment, but another one would show the tension involved with the action of the day. 

After catching with his A-K on a 10-9-Q-J flop and turn – and getting his chips to the center – one player was cruelly defeated when another Jack came on the river, making quad Jacks for his opponent to crush his Broadway straight. After an F-bomb for effect (to which the winner said “I had a straight flush draw”), the player walked away none too happy with his appearance at the 2024 WSOP Main Event. 

Even though they tried to stave it off for as long as possible, the money bubble would eventually pop. It would take an hour of hand-for-hand play (all tables playing a hand and completing it before moving on to the next hand) for it to occur and, once it did, two players were the ones who were eliminated from the tournament. One hand was simply a pot odds call – an 8-3 large stack up against an A-K short stack and the flop came with two eights – but the other was extremely dramatic.

In the hijack (one before the button), Marcelo Tadeu Aziz, Jr., opened the betting and Lucas Reeves decided to three-bet him out of the small blind. Aziz fired right back with a four-bet, but Reeves refused to back down as he made it five bets to go. Stunningly, Aziz popped it right back and Reeves put the remainder of his stack to the center, which Aziz called.

At risk for his tournament life, Reeves had to feel good about the pocket Kings in his hand. Unfortunately, Aziz had the cooler, the only hand that could beat Reeves pre-flop, pocket Aces, and they would stand on the Queen-high board. 

Aziz would pocket the million-chip plus pot to become one of the leaders, while Reeves went to the rail on the bubble with Christian Stratmeyer; the duo split the 1,517^th place prize ($15,000) and Stratmeyer would receive the seat to the 2025 WSOP Main Event, the traditional consolation prize for being eliminated on the bubble. 

The hand between Aziz and Reeves had many on the rail buzzing. With both players with such deep stacks, many wondered why either man would put their tournaments on such hands. Even though they both are tremendously strong hands, there is a reason that there are community cards that can change the outcome at any point. Either player could have laid their hand down and had a very viable stack in the tournament, but they both chose to push it – and it concluded by bringing one man’s tournament to an end. It will be one of the mysteries of the 2024 WSOP Main Event. 

The Floodgates Open

After the celebration (?) of the players on the bubble, those among the 1,516 remaining players to cash in the 2024 WSOP Main Event began to head to the cashout cage. Over the remainder of the evening, over 1000 players would make that march to the cage to claim their part of the $94 million-plus prize pool. Some of those who would pick up another line on their Hendon Mob resumes included defending World Champion Daniel Weinman, former World Champion Espen Jorstad, Landon Tice, Daniel Negreanu, Xuan Liu, Dylan Linde, and actor Kevin Pollak.

The news was better, naturally, for those who survived to the end of the Day Four party. 464 players remaining in the tournament after Wednesday’s play, with these remaining players guaranteed a $27,500 payday. Matt Stout, who came into the Day Four action in fifth place, was able to increase his stack to 2.91 million, although he dropped down to 24^th place. The top of the standings is also the domain of the notable pros, with two taking the top slots.

WSOP bracelet winner Stephen Song will hold the honors of Day Four chip leader, stacked with a monstrous 4.745 million to go to Thursday’s action. Another WSOP winner, four-time bracelet holder Adrian Mateos, is in pursuit of Song with his 4.5 million in chips. Down the board a bit is Luis Vazquez, on a 4.055 million stack, and Nazar Buhaiov, representing Ukraine with his 3.875 million in chips.

With Day Five ready to go, here is how the Top Ten will begin the day’s festivities: 

1. Stephen Song (USA), 4.745 million
2. Adrian Mateos (Spain), 4.5 million
3. Will Berry (USA), 4.465 million
4. Alosio Dourado (Brazil), 4.335 million
5. Biao Ding (China), 4.265 million
6. Malo Latinois (France), 4.13 million
7. Luis Vazquez (Puerto Rico), 4.055 million
8. Nazar Buhaiov (Ukraine), 3.875 million
9. Kevin Theodore (USA), 3.76 million
10. Ryan Hoenig (USA), 3.665 million

Five more two-hour levels are on tap for the 464 remaining runners, which should bring the field down to around 150 players or so for Friday’s action. The three days following Thursday’s Day Five is when the race gets interesting as the true contenders will emerge at that point as the final table of nine creeps closer and the end of the 2024 WSOP Main Event approaches. 

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(Image: courtesy of WSOP.com)