Joe Hachem Back in Form on Day 1e of Event #67: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event Championship
Day 1e of Event #67: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event Championship at the 2021 World Series of Poker is in the books with the fifth of six opening flights to the WSOP’s flagship event attracting 797 players to Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino to take their shot with 592 moving on to Day 2cef.
Former champions Scott Blumstein and Joe Hachem qualified for Day 2 after spending the evening on the featured tables that were live-streamed on PokerGO.
Hachem, the 2005 Main Event champion, was joined by mixed game specialists Nathan Gamble and Dylan Linde at a lively featured table with some of the most knowledgeable players in the game. Gamble has three cashes at the 2021 WSOP and has won two career WSOP titles. Linde is looking for his second bracelet after breaking through in this year’s Mixed Omaha event. All three players will continue on to Day 2 and Hachem is near the top part of the leaderboard with 186,100 chips.
Day 1e Top 10 Chip Counts
| RANK | PLAYER | Country | CHIP COUNT | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Gerassi | United States | 316,100 | 395 |
| 2 | Kenn Pluard | United States | 307,600 | 385 |
| 3 | Conrad De Armas | United States | 302,800 | 379 |
| 4 | James Mendoza | United States | 255,900 | 320 |
| 5 | Greg Pohler | United States | 248,500 | 311 |
| 6 | Victor Ramdin | United States | 228,300 | 285 |
| 7 | Yiming Cao | United States | 228,000 | 285 |
| 8 | Ryan Delgros | United States | 223,400 | 279 |
| 9 | Craig Chait | United States | 222,400 | 278 |
| 10 | Jordan Jayne | United States | 219,200 | 274 |
Blumstein, the 2017 champion, finished with 95,000 after sharing a table with Jacob Thibodeau and Las Vegas-based pro Matt Stout. Thibodeau already has five cashes at the 2021 WSOP and Stout is looking for his first WSOP gold bracelet. All three players moved on to Day 2.
David Gerassi bagged the Day 1e chip lead with 316,100 with Kenn Pluard (307,600) not too far behind. Gerassi came on strong after the dinner break while Pluard is coming off his career-best WSOP finish in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-handed Event, where he took 48th place.
Meanwhile, Conrad De Armas (302,800) bagged the third biggest stack of Day 1e with the help of chipping up at the very end when his queens full of threes delivered a big hit to Chris Hunichen. He bagged 302,800 and will be among the leaders on Day 2cef.
2021 WSOP Main Event So Far in Numbers
| Flight | Entries | Survivors | Advanced to Day 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1a | 523 | 348 | 66.54% |
| Day 1b | 845 | 611 | 72.31% |
| Day 1c | 600 | 433 | 72.17% |
| Day 1d | 2,550 | 1,933 | 75.80% |
| Day 1e | 797 | 592 | 74.28% |
| Day 1f | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Total | 5,315 | 3,917 | 73.70% |
In the group of those who will not move onto Day 2 include Daniel Negreanu, Ryan Leng, and Dan Smith. Negreanu suffered an early exit in Level 2 when his kings ran into Ayman Mahfoud’s aces. Leng also fell in Level 2 when he got it in with two-pair but lost to Hunichen's flush. Smith hit the rail after his ace-king didn’t improve against the queens of Matthew Jewett.
Players advancing from Day 1e will return for Day 2cef on Wednesday, November 10. Day 2cef will play another five-two hour levels beginning at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.
Main Event action continues on Tuesday, November 9 with Day 2abd kicking off at 11 a.m. and Day 1f getting underway at noon local time. Both will play five two-hour levels and players advancing from Day 2abd will combine with the survivors from Wednesday's Day 2cef for Day 3 on Thursday, November 11.
Be sure to keep it here throughout the entire 2021 World Series of Poker for updates on the action as it happens from the PokerNews live reporting team.