WSOP Main Event Begins: Busted Kings and Poker Royalty Rule Day 1A

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event has started and, already, there have been smiles, cheers, tears, and tales of bad beats. 

The organizers are expecting a record turnout for this year’s $10,000 Big Dance and things got off to a strong start on Monday. Over 1,000 players anted up on Day 1A, including a mixture of familiar faces, aspiring amateurs, and online poker qualifiers. 

There are four starting flights in total, and the number of entrants typically increases as the days pass. So, by Day 1D, we should be somewhere close to, if not above, the all-time WSOP Main Event record of 8,773 entrants. 

Golden Start to 2023 WSOP Main Event

Poker aficionados will know that record was set in 2012. The winner that year was Jamie Gold and, with his record possibly slipping away, he was asked to get the 2023 WSOP Main Event underway. He did that with a customary “shuffle up and deal,” but not before wishing everyone luck, except if they’re playing him heads-up at the final table. 

Getting to the final table won’t be easy. All of poker’s top tournament pros enter the Main Event. This, coupled with the fact there are thousands of players to get through, means you need luck and skill on your side to win. Two players who may have had the necessary skills to win the Main Event but faltered in the luck stakes were Idan “The One” and Steven Piper. 

Israel's Idan suffered double heartbreak in the early offing. He committed a large portion of his stack in a four-bet pot with pocket kings, only to run into Ruben Correia’s aces. In a case of lightning striking twice, Idan committed the remainder of his stack with pocket kings during the second level of play. Again, he ran into aces and, with that, his WSOP Main Event was over in just a couple of hours. 

Someone else who fell foul of pocket kings during the early stages of the Main Event was Steven Piper. He found pocket aces in the hole and happily committed his entire stack after making a full house. Unfortunately for Piper, aces full of kings wasn’t enough to win the hand. Why? Because Gary Horn had pocket kings and scooped the pot with quads. 

More Ups, Downs, and Drama to Come

There will be many more brutal beats and broken hearts over the coming days. However, it’s not all bad news from the Las Vegas strip. Several familiar names made it through the World Series of Poker first day, including Faraz Jaka, 2012 champion Jamie Gold, and long-time Finnish pro, Juha Helppi. 

Also taking a stack into Day 2 is Doug Polk. The outspoken high-stakes pro bagged 281,900 chips to finish fourth in the Day 1A chip counts behind the leader Yehuda Dayan (389,900 chips). 

It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions so far and we’re not even at Day 2, so expect plenty more action as we move deeper into the 2023 WSOP Main Event. Check out the video above if you want to see what happened on Day 1A. 

Day 1B takes place on Tuesday and fans can watch the action live via PokerGO and for free on PokerGO’s YouTube channel. You can also click here to get a full broadcast schedule heading into the final stages of this year’s WSOP.