On Monday, Dec. 9, the first bracelet of the 2024 World Series of Poker Paradise festival will be awarded. Along with it will come $12,070,000 in prize money, the largest poker tournament top prize so far this year. The $500,000 buy-in Triton Million event drew 96 entries at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas, creating a $44,603,000 prize pool. Now, just 14 players remain heading into the final day of play, with those still in having locked up at least $792,000 for making it this far.
Two-time bracelet winner Michael Moncek (pictured above, left) is the chip leader heading into day 3 with 12,500,000. The frequent high-stakes cash game participant, known to many as ‘Texas Mike’, is one of three players who bagged up an eight-figure stack.
Moncek is joined by fellow two-time bracelet winner Daniel Dvoress (12,350,000) and 2021 WSOP main event seventh-place finisher Alejandro Lococo (10,775,000).
The next two largest stacks belong to two of the most accomplished tournament players in the game. Four-time bracelet winner and current Card Player Player of the Year race leader Adrian Mateos will open play with 9,825,000. The 30-year-old (pictured above, center) has more than $52 million in prior earnings, with more than $11 million of that coming from his 21 final-table finishes already recorded in 2024.
Next up in the chip counts is bracelet winner and two-time POY Stephen Chidwick with
8,650,000. With over $61 million in career earnings, Chidwick (pictured above, right) already sits in third place on poker’s all-time money list (Mateos is eighth). Were Chidwick to win this event, he would move into second place with over $73.1 million, and would trail current leader Bryn Kenney ($74 million) by just $903,418.
The top 17 finishers will earn payouts in this event. The bubble burst late on day 2, with Hustler Casino Live owner Ryan Feldman getting all-in with flush and straight draws against the middle pair and gutshot of Lococo, which held to see Feldman felted in 18th place. Mikita Badziakouski (17th – $755,000) was the first to fall inside the money, losing a flip with A-Q against the pocket jacks of Chidwick, which made quads by the river. High-stakes Thai poker pro Punnat Punsri (16th – $755,000) soon followed when his A-4 suited was unable to come from behind against A-J for Lococo.
ACR Poker’s CEO Phil Nagy was the final player to fall on day 2, with his K-10 making two pair but coming up short against the A-J of bracelet winner Ben Heath, who showed down broadway. Nagy earned a career-high score of $792,000 as the 15th-place finisher.
There are several multi-time WSOP champions still in contention, including two-time bracelet winner Alex Foxen (4,600,000), four-time bracelet winner Chance Kornuth (3,850,000), and two-time bracelet winner Aleksejs Ponakovs (3,575,000).
David Einhorn was eliminated on the very first hand of this event, running A-K into the pocket aces of Jared Bleznick. The hedge fund founder managed to do better on his second buy-in, though, bagging up 3,075,000 at the end of day 2.
Day 3 begins at noon local time, with organizers intending for play to continue until a champion is decided. Players will return to blinds of 125,000-250,000 with a big blind ante of 250,000.
Here is a look at the chip counts for the final 14:
| Rank | Player | Chips |
| 1 | Michael Moncek | 12,500,000 |
| 2 | Daniel Dvoress | 12,350,000 |
| 3 | Alejandro Lococo | 10,775,000 |
| 4 | Adrian Mateos | 9,825,000 |
| 5 | Stephen Chidwick | 8,650,000 |
| 6 | Sosia Jiang | 7,925,000 |
| 7 | Sinan Unlu | 7,200,000 |
| 8 | Benjamin Heath | 5,450,000 |
| 9 | Elias Talvitie | 4,925,000 |
| 10 | Alex Foxen | 4,600,000 |
| 11 | Chance Kornuth | 3,850,000 |
| 12 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | 3,575,000 |
| 13 | David Einhorn | 3,075,000 |
| 14 | Esti Wang | 1,000,000 |
And here are the payouts for this tournament:
| Place | Prize |
| 1 | $12,070,000 |
| 2 | $8,160,000 |
| 3 | $5,304,000 |
| 4 | $4,390,000 |
| 5 | $3,542,000 |
| 6 | $2,795,000 |
| 7 | $2,140,000 |
| 8 | $1,605,000 |
| 9 | $1,200,000 |
| 10-11 | $985,000 |
| 12-13 | $865,000 |
| 14-15 | $792,000 |
| 16-17 | $755,000 |
This tournament is one of 15 bracelet events playing out at the WSOP Paradise from Dec. 6-19, with $68.5 million in guaranteed prize money to be paid out along the way. There are plenty of high stakes affairs on the schedule, including $100,000 and $50,000 buy-ins in both no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha, as well as a $25,000 buy-in dealer’s choice event and the $25,000 buy-in $50,000,000 guaranteed ‘super main event.’
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