Phil Hellmuth Entrance
Phil Hellmuth arrived to play Day 1f of the 20121 WSOP Main Event as Gandalf the White

A busy day on both Day 1f and Day 2abd of the WSOP Main Event saw a wizard take his seat, several huge names power to the top of the leaderboard and the biggest single day of action in the Main for over two years. It was an incredible day of action as the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas played host to some of the world’s best poker players.

Hellmuth Arrives in Style on Day 1f, Chips Up Before Close

It’s impossible to start anywhere other than the grandest of entrances from the man famed for his exuberance at the World Series. Phil Hellmuth, a.k.a. The Poker Brat. Waiting until the end of the day, and playing only the final two levels, Hellmuth arrived shortly before the dinner break as, dressed head to toe in white as ‘Gandalf the White’, the 16-time bracelet winner was accompanied by 16 models – one for each bracelet, natch – two fighting characters from the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates, who appeared to be Saruman from the Oscar-winning films.

With the hoopla to one side, once Hellmuth sat down, he improved on his starting stack in no time at all, bagging up 94,500 with which to attack tomorrow’s Day 2cef. He wasn’t the only one taking part in Day 1f, with some legends of the felt playing the flight, such as Fedor Holz (161,600), Scotty Nguyen (52,200), Michael Mizrachi (212,300), and Chris Moneymaker (75,800), the 2003 WSOP Main Event winner who finally couldn’t resist the clarion call any longer.

Elsewhere, players such as Liv Boeree played for the first time in a while, bagging up 90,000 after claiming not to ‘remember how to play’ after such a long time away from the felt.

The chip leader at the close of Day 1f was Adam Walton with a massive stack of 334,000 chips, but he had stellar company in the upper echelons of the leaderboard, with Michael Mizrachi (212,300), Henrik Hecklen (210,000) and Cate Hall (197,000) all bagging top 10 stacks. Others weren’t so fortunate, with players such as Justin Lapka, David Benyamine and Robert McMillan all falling by the wayside during the day’s play.

WSOP 2021 Event #67 $10,000 Main Event Day 1f Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Adam Walton – 334,000
  2. Tung Nguyen – 328,200
  3. Hannes Speiser – 282,100
  4. Arkadi Onikoul – 266,300
  5. Ryan Hartmann – 243,200
  6. Young Ko – 240,300
  7. Jung Woo – 231,900
  8. John Bagosy – 224,700
  9. Christopher Fischer – 219,000
  10. Terence Clee – 218,700

Day 2abd Sees Doyle Brunson Bust but Jason Koon Crush

One of the biggest clashes on Day 2abd of the Main Event was the match-up between Doyle Brunson and Jason Koon. One is a classic poker legend and 10-time bracelet winner, the other has just signed for GGPoker and won his first-ever bracelet this series.

Sadly for ‘Texas Dolly’ fans, only one would prevail and it was not to be the man in the cowboy hat, as fellow player Kyna England tweeted of her shock at a bizarre first Main Event experience.

Rameez Shahid (731,700) led the field after Day 2, but plenty of others with experience are chasing him down, with David Coleman (613,000), Johan Schumacher (597,000), Robert Cowen (596,400), Nick Petrangelo (490,200), Anton Wigg (490,000), Mustapha Kanit (473,300), Brittney Stout (394,900), and Kathy Liebert (285,500) amongst them.

With 145 players choosing a Day 2 entry for the first time in the tournament’s half-century of history, that led to the field topping 6,500 with Day 2cef the last possible opportunity for players to put down $10,000 and battle for the legendary world champion’s WSOP bracelet.

Plenty of big names were unsuccessful in their bid for poker immortality, with players such as Asi Moshe, Sam Grafton, Adam Friedman, Rep Porter, Maria Konnikova, Melanie Weisner, Kelly Minkin, Mikita Badziakouski, Jeff Gross and Kevin Martin all departing on Day 2abd.

WSOP 2021 Event #67 $10,000 Main Event Day 2abd Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Shahid Rameez – 731,700
  2. David Mock – 679,700
  3. Damien Steel – 649,000
  4. Farhad Jamasi – 635,000
  5. Raul Martinez – 628,100
  6. Steve Foutty – 620,000
  7. Mitchell Halverson – 617,600
  8. Scott Davies – 615,100
  9. David Coleman – 613,500
  10. Kayvon Shahbaz – 599,200

Shaun Deeb on the Hunt in Little One for One Drop

Finally, on Day 1b of the $1,111-entry Little One for One Drop, 901 total entries were whittled down to just 297 survivors. The chip leader at the close of the second opening flight was Trent Wilt, who bagged up 516,200, but Wilt was followed by some big names armed with plenty of chips like David Tran (501,600), Seongmin Lee (461,700), Evgeni Toureusk (401,400), Quirin Heinz (386,100), Sam Cohen (270,000), Michael Acevedo (252,000), Shaun Deeb (85,000), and Bill Klein (68,000).

Deeb is a particular player to watch as he goes for the Player of the Year title with a deep run in this event possibly crucial to that aim. With Day 1c being the final flight to take part in if players want to advance to Day 2, the total of 1,389 entries so far in this event could well be doubled. Players who busted on Day 1b included Pamela Balzano, Natalie Bromley, DJ Alexander, Asi Moshe and Kyna England

WSOP 2021 Event #68 $1,111 Little One for One Drop Top 10 Chipcounts:

  1. Trent Wilt – 516,200
  2. David Tran – 501,600
  3. Seongmin Lee – 461,700
  4. Evgeni Tourevski – 401,400
  5. Quirin Heinz – 386,100
  6. Jaspal Brar – 379,100
  7. Ari Oxman – 376,400
  8. Blerim Imeri – 332,400
  9. Marco Damico – 316,000
  10. Jonathan Ingalls – 312,800

Finally, he may have busted the Main Event, but for a while there, Landon Tice felt the same as the rest of us and achieved the peace of mind only grinding a short stack can inspire.