2,786 players started the first day of combined starter fields in the World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in NLHE Main Event Saturday, concluding early Sunday morning when the money bubble was reached on the elimination of the 1,183rd player.
Matthew Hopkins was busted out by Bryce McVay, and from now on players are assured of the minimum cash of $15,000 from the massive $74,015,600.
It wasn’t a complete loss for Hopkins, who as the bubble boy leaves with a seat in the 2019 Main Event worth $10,000.
Hopkins wasn’t alone in his disappointment; among the respected names who fell before cashing were Phil Hellmuth, Chris Ferguson, Alex Foxen, Jason Mercier, Greg Merson, Matt Waxman, JC Tran, Loren Klein, Eli Elezra, Erick Lindgren, Tom Marchese, Anthony Zinno and Steffen Sontheimer.
The chip leader when chips were bagged up for the day was In Sun Geoum on 1,696,000, with his closest rivals Frank Flowers (1,624,000) and Samuel Bernabeu (1,418,000).
There are still formidable pro players in contention; going forward to the next day’s action on Sunday with respectable chip stacks are Phil Ivey, Eric Froehlich, Dan Heimiller, Adam Geyer, Ben Yu, Samuel Touil, Chris Moorman, Paul Volpe, Shannon Shorr, Chino Rheem, Jonathan Hilton, Kelly Minkin, Brian Yoon, Brian Altman, Davidi Kitai, James Obst and Taylor Paur.