Matakis Continues His Epic Summer on Day 1 of the $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha
Day 1 of the Event #82: $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas attracted 1,013 runners in total which is a 294 player increase from last year’s field. The total prize pool landed at $2,704,710, with the top prize paying $480,122 and a WSOP gold Bracelet.
After 10 levels of play, 238 players remained. Current Player of the Year leader Ian Matakis bagged 490,500 as he continues to absolutely smash in this year’s WSOP. Only Tyler Gaston (552,500) finished Day 1 with more betting tokens.
End of Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tyler Gaston | United States | 552,500 | 184 |
| 2 | Ian Matakis | United States | 490,500 | 164 |
| 3 | Mitchell Watson | Australia | 485,000 | 162 |
| 4 | Lukas Zaskodny | Czech Republic | 481,500 | 161 |
| 5 | Dylan Weisman | United States | 455,500 | 152 |
| 6 | Matteo Dipersio | Italy | 442,000 | 147 |
| 7 | Austin Apicella | United States | 420,000 | 140 |
| 8 | Anton Yudin | Russia | 419,500 | 140 |
| 9 | Michael Whitton | United States | 413,500 | 138 |
| 10 | Kelvin Kerber | Brazil | 401,500 | 134 |
Others to bag big stacks were PLO specialist Dylan Weisman (453,500), Elliott Kampen (339,000), Matteo Di Persio (442,000), and Mitchell Watson (346,000).
Watson is fresh off a deep run in the $400 Colossus where he finished 20th place. He was steamrolling his table all day on his way to a top ten stack going into Day 2. The Australian player will have plenty of chips to work with in the coming days as he works to make his mom proud, who is watching at home from Australia.
Some notable names also found a bag on Day 1, including Player of the Year contender Shaun Deeb (282,000), Mike Gorodinsky (179,000), Daniel Negreanu (144,000), three-time bracelet winner David Baker (143,000), and six-time bracelet winner Brian Rast (44,000).
Deeb had a whirlwind day. After an unfortunate exit from the $25k Horse, Deeb came over to Event #82: $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha where he quickly busted one bullet on a hand where his opponent rivered two-pair to beat his turned two-pair. He then regrouped and rebought to run up a stack and finish with a healthy chip count going into Day 2.
Unfortunately, not everyone was as fortunate as those mentioned above. Among those to bust on Day 1 were Chris Hunichen, Yuri Dzivielevski, Alex Livingston, and Wesley Fei.
Day 2 of the $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha will kick off at 1:00 p.m. local time on July 12, while Day 3 will take place at the same time on July 13. Day 2 will play ten 60-minute levels with a 15-minute break every two levels and a 60-minute dinner break after Level 16 at about 6:30 p.m.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates straight from the tournament floor of Event #82: $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha.