Day 1 of the prestigious World Poker Tour (WPT) Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio in Las Vegas saw 561 entrants pay the $10,000 admission fee. At the end of the lengthy session Wednesday night, only half the field remained, including big stacks Darren Elias, Justin Bonomo, and Landon Tice.
Payouts aren't yet available because registration remains open until the end of Level 10 (1,000/1,500/1,500), the first level of play on Day 2, which begins at noon PT Thursday. In 2019, 1,035 players entered but only 417 on Day 1, so attendance could finish up compared to the most recent WPT Five Diamond, won by Alex Foxen for $1,694,995.
Foxen, who desperately needs a repeat performance to have any shot of winning the Global Poker Index Player of the Year award for the third straight year, bagged chips on Day 1, but was among the smallest stacks at 65,000. He still has plenty of big blinds to spin it up.
One for the Thumb for Elias?
Foxen isn't near the top of the leaderboard heading into Day 2, but Elias is and he's trying to become the first ever five-time WPT champion. He's already the only player with more than three World Poker Tour titles.
Elias 193,500 chips and will start Day 2 with 129 big blinds, good for eighth out of the 280 remaining players. John Flynt, who has never cashed in a WPT event, bagged the chip lead at 324,500.
The young Landon Tice, one of the game's rising stars, isn't far back in third place with 296,500. Bonomo, who recently became the all-time live tournament cashes leader, also ended the session with 266,500.
Bonomo booked two victories in last week's Bellagio Five Diamond High Roller Series and now has $57,175,262 in live tournament cashes. Correction: make that $57,175,662. You're welcome, Justin.
Numerous other big name pros bagged chips and will head to Day 2, including Joseph Cheong (208,000), Matt Berkey (163,500), Andrew Lichtenberger (143,500), Tony Dunst (134,000), 2018 Five Diamond champ Dylan Linde (126,000), Daniel Negreanu (86,500), and many more. Expect to see a number of high-profile players late registering on Tuesday.
PokerNews will bring you daily live recaps from the WPT Five Diamond, so be sure to check back to see who can etch their name on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup.
