Just five events took place in Las Vegas today at the 2024 World Series of Poker, with the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, Event #58, the highlight. Across a superb day of poker, 58 players were cut neatly into half into 29 Day 2 survivors, as players such as Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey both made the cut for Day 3, while the Poker Brat bought a ticket.

Obst Still Leads PPC, Negreanu Grinding Hard

Day 2 of Event #58, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, ended with just 29 players still in seats as Australia’s James Obst once again led the field at the close of play. Across a rollercoaster ride of a Day 2, Obst increased his stack to 1,961,000, a little way clear of two poker greats who are chasing him down with momentum, Jeremy Ausmus (1,839,000) and Johannes Becker (1,764,000).

Others also had a superb day at the felt. After running into aces in the previous high roller this WSOP, Daniel Negreanu more than survived on Day 2 of this event, thriving in the hot seat as he bagged up a top 10 stack of 1,341,000 chips. The three-time Chip Reese Trophy winner Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi (1,329,000) can also be delighted with his day’s work while two of 2024’s stars, 11-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey (815,000), and Viktor Blom (570,000) both made the Day 3 cut. Danish poker legend Gus Hansen (395,000), former PPC winner Phil Hui (700,000) and the British poker player so many of his peers admire, Stephen Chidwick (604,000), joined the 29 players who survived.

With 14 additional entries to the 75 who put up $50,000 on Day 1, a total of 89nplayers were in action, meaning that 14 players will be paid a top prize of over $1.1m – along with that infamous trophy – is on offer. That’s not for a couple of days yet, but while you can’t win it on Day 2, you can certainly lose all hope. The two-time PPC winner Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates, British mixed game crusher Benny Glaser, and Team Lucky’s Josh Arieh and Shaun Deeb all departed, along with the Floridian WSOP monster Jason Mercier.

While one big name in Brian Rast had busted on Day 1, meaning he won’t retain his title of last year that helped him ascend the Poker Hall of Fame, another Poker Hall of Famer left late on Day 2. The 17-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth won’t be lifting the Chip Reese trophy after he lost to Daniel Negreanu and John David Rogers to depart without winning any money.

Jacobson and Moorman Deep in Millionaire Maker

Event #54, the $1,500 buy-in Millionaire Maker saw Canadian player Sebastien Sigouin (2,615,000) take the chip lead in the event, while other stars such as Chris Moorman (1,775,000) and Jason Wheeler (1,350,000) made the upper limits of the leaderboard too. When the 2014 WSOP Main Event winner Martin Jacobson (335,000) managed to make Day 3 with a shorter stack, play was complete, as others such as Timur Margolin (2,320,000) Ankit Ahuja (1,510,000), Sean Troha (575,000) and Jared Jaffee (400,000) all survived a busy Day 2 that trimmed around 90% of the remaining field.

Among those to be knocked out, the 2024 WSOP bracelet winner Malcolm Trayner, legendary tournament crusher and bracelet winner Shannon Shorr, high roller Dan Shak, and Game of Gold legend Olga Iermolcheva all made the money places but not Day 3.

Bruno Fitoussi Flying High in Super Seniors Event

French poker player Bruno Fitoussi made the top 10 in Event #59, the Super Seniors Event, as he bagged 236,000, a little shy of the chip leader David Goodkin on 349,500 chips. With 3,362 entries, just 975 players made Day 2 of this event which raked in a record-breaking prizepool of over $2.95 million. A top prize of $358,045 awaits the winner, with players such as four-time WSOP bracelet winner Farzad Bonyadi (203,500), former Seniors Championship winner James Hess (149,500), multiple bracelet winner Barry Shulman (122,000) and 2003 Main Event runner-up Sammy Farha (119,000) all making the next day’s draw.

Wang and Ferreira Winning Latest NLHE Event

Event #60, the $3,000-entry NLHE event enjoyed 1,441 entries and left just 539 of them in seats by the end of Day 1, with Chinese player Yanfeng Wang and Brazilian player Jose Ferreira both bagging up 369,000 chips as joint chip leaders. With $4.32 million already in the prizepool and registration still open into Day 2, Austrian bracelet winner Jessica Teusl (221,000), the former 2015 WSOP Main Event winner Joe McKeehen (203,000), 2024 Heads-Up Championship winner Darius Samual (290,000), British bracelet winner Carl Shaw (283,000), Joey Weissman (276,000) and Roman Hrabec (248,500) all made the grade and will be back tomorrow to do it all again in an attempt to reach the final day.

Mizrachi and Eveslage Go Hard and Don’t Go Home

Finally, Event #61, the 2,500-entry Stud/Omaha Eight or Better event saw 507 entrants and 189 survivors, with a $1.1m prizepool amassed that will pay 77 places. A top prize of $222,703 is on the line with the bracelet, as Joseph Shammas (266,000) ended Day 1 as the biggest stack.

He’s being chased down by some poker legends, with three-time WSOP bracelet winner Chad Eveslage (259,000), mixed game legend Robert Mizrachi (258,500), the WSOP Main Event runners up David Williams (186,000) and Dario Sammartino (183,000), WSOP commentator Norman Chad (182,000), British poker beast Benny Glaser (164,000), and PokerStake’s Allen ‘Chainsaw’ Kessler (73,500) all surviving to Day 2, with stars such as Scott Abrams, Patrick Leonard, and Shaun Deeb missing out on the day.

With thanks to PokerGO for their official WSOP photography. The 2024 World Series of Poker is available to watch exclusively on PokerGO. Subscribe today and watch all the drama play out in Las Vegas!