Five WSOP events took place on Day 44 of the 2024 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas as stars such as Adrian Mateos, Tony Dunst and Phil Ivey all survived Day 4 of the Main Event, two first-time bracelet winners claimed gold and two new events kicked off with exciting Day 2 flights at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

Main Event Bursts Money Bubble, Ivey Still Hunting Glory

Over the past few years, Phil Ivey being in Las Vegas at all was a cause for celebration amongst poker fans, too often starved of their idol’s presence as he eschewed the bright lights of Las Vegas in favor of the poker shadows. Stepping back into the spotlight in a big way this summer, Ivey has already won his 11^th WSOP title, to separate himself from peers such as Erik Seidel, Johnny Chan and the late, great Doyle Brunson, putting himself closest to Phil Hellmuth at the top of the WSOP all-time bracelet winners list.

Now Ivey is hunting the Main Event glory he has come so close to on two separate occasions. In 2003, Chris Moneymaker got lucky to bust Ivey on the bubble of the final table before perhaps the great Main Event triumph ever played out. Six years later, at the final table won by Joe Cada and dominated by the late logger and legend Darvin Moon, Ivey came close again, sliding out in seventh.

Could 2024 be the year Ivey makes the biggest prize in poker his at last?

After four days of action in the most gruelling event of them all, the 2024 WSOP Main Event has just 464 players in its ranks after the record-setting attendance of 10,112 was reduced further on Day4, playing into the money.

The 2022 GPI Player of the Year Stephen Song is currently in the lead with a monster stack of 4,740,000 chips, with four-time bracelet winner Adrian Mateos (4,500,000) Song’s closest challenger at the top of the counts. Others such as Will Berry, (4,465,000) Nazar Buhaiov (3,875,000), Biao Ding (4,265,000) and Ryan Hoenig (3,665,000) will all be hoping to turn a top 10 showing after four days into a run all the way to the final table.

Heidemann the Hero in Ultra Stack Victory

In the $600-entry Ultra Stack Event #84, Carsten Heidemann scored one for German as he triumphed for a career-first WSOP title and the top prize of $343,010. At a final table that included players such as Phuoc Nguyen (4^th for $127,950) and Juan Garibaldi, it was Heidemann who lasted longest, banking the biggest prize of his career.

Hailing from the Dominican Republic, Albyn Bello brought the kind of rail that producers of the Main Event must have been wishing was present in the Thunderdome, but although Bello’s believers made all the noise, their man slipped out in third for $170k. Heads-up, Heidemann had to come from over 3:1 down in chips at one point, but defeated the home country hero Ramana Epparla, who cashed for $228,670 as runner-up while it was Hediermann who took home the top prize of $343,010 and his first-ever WSOP gold.

“I have to sleep now and think about it,” said an emotional Heidemann upon victory to PokerNews. “Tomorrow evening, I am flying back to Germany, and then I will calm down and realize what really happened here today.”

Alsante Claims Gold in 8-Max No Limit Event

Matthew Alsante also joined the ranks of first-time WSOP winners as he bagged an incredible score of $785k in the $5,000-entry 8-Max NLHE Event #87. Defeating Thai player and high roller regular Punnat Punsri heads-up, Alsante claimed the top prize of $785,486, the biggest of his poker career as he revealed that the buy-in was more than his biggest-ever cash in live ranking events prior to the tournament.

At a talented final table, British poker professional Patrick Leonard came 8^th for $82,862 before  Ukrainian professional Oleg Vasylchenko came fourth for $268,407.

“This I liked because it was a smaller field, and those can be easier to navigate,” he said after the event and his defeat of the crowd favorite Punsri, who had a vociferous support throughout. “It was fun, they were having fun, and I was dancing. I plan to play the $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship next. After that, who knows?”

Two Other Events Conclude Day 1 Flights

Two Day 1 flights took place in other events on a very busy day at the felt at both Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. In Event #88, the $10,000-entry Eight Game Mixed Championship Jordan Siegel (336,500) ended play as the chip leader, with Mike Watson closest behind with 332,500. With 158 total entrants, 76 of those players survived to Day 2, including Yuri Dzivielevski (218,000), Viktor Blom (180,000) and Daniel Weinman (103,000).

Finally, 2,582 entries bumped up Day 1b of Event #86, the $1,000-entry Mystery Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha event, with only 270 players surviving 17 ferocious levels of play. Australian player Najeem Ajez (1,454,000) led from Tyler Brown (1,239,000), Chance Kornuth (1,230,000), James Carroll (1,230,000) and Giuseppe Pantaleo (1,187,000) with others such as Ryan Leng (780,000), Jake Schwartz (697,000), Leo Margets (508,000), Ryan Riess (445,000), Bryce Yockey (328,000), and Matt Glantz (15,000) happy to be among 463 total survivors across both Day 1 flights to Day 2.

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!