PokerStars WCOOP 2020

After an action-packed seven hours, Day 1 of WCOOP-73-H: $10,300 PLO [6-Max, Main Event] wrapped up with 38 of the 123 entries advancing.

The top chip count belongs to "hotmark777," though the'll be looking for a deep run to make up for the maximum allowance of three bullets fired. They finished with 1,689,323, just a hair above the 1,689,203 "bagged" by "Us_Alex." "Kukenmuser" (1,491,159), Mike "SirWatts" Watson (1,440,771) and "ZhipOHoy" (1,356,471).

Watson, of course, is the most notable and well-known of those names. One of the best players in the history of online poker tournaments, Watson is a two-time WCOOP winner, with one of those coming in a High event, as this one is. With $12 million in live cashes, he's one of the names to watch going forward.

Another former high-stakes 8-game champ, Konstantin "krakukra" Maslak also wound up with a big stack of 1.2 million. Maslak won a huge three-way all in with aces late, making the nut flush on the river after he got sucked out on the turn, to put himself in good position going to Day 3.

Of course, plenty of top PLO cash regs are also in the hunt, such as Laszlo "omaha4rollz" Bujtas, and Galfond Challenge villains Ioannis "ActionFreak" Kontonatsios and "Venividi1993."

Registration remains open until a bit before the start of Day 2, so the guarantee of $1.25 million appears almost certain to be met. A few players will be frozen out due to using all their shells on Day 1, though, including Richard "raconteur" Gryko, Jens "Jeans89" Kyllonen, Joni "bustoville" Jouhkimainen, and Yuri "theNERDguy" Dzivielevski.

Day 2 gets rolling at 1:10 p.m. EDT on Monday. Come back to PokerNews for more live coverage.

Andras "probirs" Nemeth raised to 25,000 under the gun and got one caller before Laszlo "omaha4rollz" Bujtas potted to 115,000 in the cutoff. Nemeth called, as did "Sintoras." The flop brought and Nemeth led for 360,000. Bujtas called off for a bit less.

Nemeth:
Bujtas:

Bujtas had flopped a straight but still had cards to fade. The closed off some of those Nemeth outs, and the was a blank on the river.

"jedimaster82" opened under the gun and called a three-bet to 90K by Richard "raconteur" Gryko on the button. The flop saw Gryko continue for 68,670. jedimaster82 called then check-called a pot-sized shove of 333K on the turn.

Gryko:
jedimaster82:

Despite needing help, Gryko was flipping on the turn. However, too many outs syndrome hit as his opponent instead improved with the river.

Kahle "ROFLshove" Burns opened for 22,000 under the gun and Andras Nemeth three-bet to 81,000 on the button. Burns agreed to that price and they went to . Burns check-called 20,000 and the checked through to the river. Burns checked and Nemeth set him in for 169K.

Burns was hovering over the call button with and Nemeth had an airball: .

"Aku1206" raised to 25,000 on the button, "jedimaster82" reraised to 80,000 in the big blind, and Aku1206 potted to 245,000. jedimaster82 called and then jammed 196K in on the flop.

jedimaster82:
Aku1206:

Aku1206 watched as jedimaster82 ran out a boat on the turn and river.

Laszlo "omaha4rollz" Bujtas made it 22,500 to go second to act and Andras "probirs" Nemeth defended the big blind. Bujtas opted for a small sizing of 12,000 on the flop and Nemeth check-raised to 45,000. Bujtas called, bringing the . Nemeth checked again and Bujtas bet 46,035. Nemeth again check-raised, this time small to 108,000. Bujtas stuck around for the river. Nemeth checked a third time. Bujtas set him in for 277K and Nemeth called.

Bujtas showed for full house blockers and Nemeth had for sixes full.

Two high-stakes cash vets clashed as Sami "lrslzk" Kelopuro opened for 22,500 in the cutoff, the player on his left called and Ben "Ben86" Tollerene made it three to the flop out of the big blind. Kelopuro liked that texture enough to continue for 48,240 and Tollerene raise-called to get his 274K in.

Kelopuro:
Tollerene:

Tollerene was slightly behind with his set but the and ran out clean for him as he made a straight.