There are no more second chances. No more starting flights.
It’s Day 1C and the $15 million guarantee of the WPT World Championship has long since been shattered. By the end of Level 1 on the third starting flight, just over 900 runners had taken a seat sending the prize pool well past $20 million and up over $25 million…with plenty of registration left to go.
Just 24 hours ago the WPT was celebrating the $15 million milestone, now the rumbles in the room are no longer about the guarantee at all, but about guessing just how high the prize pool will get.
There was some electricity in the room over the past two days, but today that frantic early energy was replaced by calm and resolve. The huge number of qualifiers, from all over the world, have seemingly been replaced by shot-taking regs, those that have perhaps pieced together a single bullet with the hopes that their experience (and some luck) will not only change their bankrolls, but their lives as well.
But just like those previous days, there were also pros in the room. Perhaps not quite as many in the previous flights, but there were still plenty of familiar faces showing up early knowing that today is not like the other days where you could build or bust. Today is “survive and advance” or go home.
Ronnie Bardah is one of those looking to survive. Bardah was seated in the northeast corner of the room quite close to 14-time WSOP Circuit Ring winner Maurice Hawkins who was in full form early on.
Right across the aisle from Hawkins sat WPT Gardens Poker Championship winner Frank Stepuchin, just a few tables over from Nate Silver and Next Gen Poker’s Frankie Cucchiara. The young star of the WPT livestream had his phone out, sunglasses on ready to create a little content.
The southwest corner of the room held a batch of superstars who were firing for the third time. Johnnie and Andrew Moreno were once again seated close to each other, while Steve ‘Cuz’ Buckner, Shaun Deeb, and Season XX WPT Five Diamond Poker Classic champ Chad Eveslage were also back it.
WSOP Main Event champions Joe Cada and Scott Blumstein were seen in the field, as was Tony Gregg who was back in action. Shannon Shorr, Ryan Laplante, Jesse Lonis, and Cliff Josephy were also in early, looking to make their multiple bullets pay off.
MSPT 2021 Player of the Year Kyna England was at a short-handed table full of familiar faces. Content creators Ryan Depaulo and David Lappin joined her as did WPT reg Bob Mathers.
As the day wears on, many more familiar faces (and the max-late reg crowd) are expected to show up ensuring that the prize pool will not be the only incredible number to look at but the payouts will be eye-popping as well.
There’s plenty of more action to take place at the Encore Ballroom from Day 1C – check out the WPT Live Updates to keep up with all of it.