There was another huge turnout at the 2023 BetMGM Poker Championship as 541 players hopped into the final starting flight, which played out inside the ARIA Resort & Casino.
With the 485 entries from Day 1a, the final tally became 1,026, which generated a bumper prize pool of $3,283,200, almost triple the value from 2022.
The 157 Day 1b survivors will join the 150 players that bagged and tagged a stack in Day 1a. They will return at 12 p.m. local time for Day 2, where the money bubble is expected to burst.
Payout information has not yet been released but PokerNews will relay the facts and figures when available.
Ben Farrell (465,000) ended the day at the top of the chip counts. Notable names who also navigated today’s session include Martin Jacobson (211,500), Ethan Yau (227,000) and Dylan Linde (139,000).
Defending Champion Joey Weissman (28,000) also squeaked into Day 2 after doubling up his short stack on the final hand of the night.
Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Farrell | United Kingdom | 465,000 | 186 |
| 2 | Adrian Bertini | United States | 406,500 | 163 |
| 3 | Erfan Geula | United States | 391,000 | 156 |
| 4 | Michael Arellano | United States | 386,500 | 155 |
| 5 | Bin Weng | United States | 355,500 | 142 |
| 6 | Ryan Remington | United States | 353,500 | 141 |
| 7 | Jonathan Pastore | France | 321,000 | 128 |
| 8 | Aleks Dimitrov | Bulgaria | 312,500 | 125 |
| 9 | Mark Dube | United States | 301,000 | 120 |
| 10 | Adam Adler | United States | 300,000 | 120 |
Day 1b Recap
There were some big hands to kick off the day, with chess superstar Alexandra Botez busting on her first hand after an ace-king versus aces encounter. Not to be deterred, Botez used her single reentry and ran up a stack after waking up with aces twice and holding against ace-king on both occasions. Botez was the early chip leader but could not sustain the momentum and bowed out in the middle of the day.
This is insane. I got AA versus AK again. LETS GO. - @alexandrabotez https://t.co/0M2kdolwfQ
— BetMGM Poker (@BetMGMPoker)
Dan Colpoys also had a blistering start to his time at the felt. Colpoys avoided a bad beat when he got it in with aces, which held against pocket kings, pocket queens and ten-eight suited.
Also in the mix was Major League Baseball player Jason Kipnis. The former roster member of the Cleveland Guardians and Chicago Cubs was also in the upper echelons of the chip counts at one stage, but despite chipping down, he still found a way to get over the first hurdle with a stack of 139,500. Kipnis is one of the many BetMGM Poker qualifiers to make it through to tomorrow’s action.
How it’s going for @TheJK_Kid aka Dirtbag who has been one of the top chip leaders #BetMGMPokerChamp https://t.co/XaIAPQ6gt0
— BetMGM Poker (@BetMGMPoker)
One qualifier who was not so fortunate was Benji Felson, who could not replicate his efforts from last year. In 2022, Felson qualified for the event for just $500 and claimed fifth place for $51,587. His eliminator was Andrew Esposito, who flopped a set of kings while Felson hit his ace. Esposito made headlines recently after being caught using a solver at the WPT Gardens Poker Championship.
Day 2 will begin on Level 11, where the blinds will be 1,000/2,500 with a 2,500 big blind ante. The plan for the day is still to be confirmed but be sure to keep it locked in with PokerNews to follow all of the action.
