The 2024 World Series of Poker schedule is now underway as the first bracelet event is currently taking place at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. There will be a number of great tournaments coming over the next few months, but things always start off with an exciting event.
The Tournament of Champions is event 1 on the calendar, and this is a freeroll event that is only open to specific players. There is a $1 million prize pool available to competitors in this tournament, and the price is right since there was no buy-in.
Those who won either a ring or a bracelet on the WSOP Circuit were eligible to play, but some others could join the field also. Winners of WSOP online tournaments could join in this tournament as well as winners from WSOP Europe and WSOP Paradise.
There are three days scheduled for this tournament, with the final day scheduled to feature the nine players that qualified for the final table. That could lead to a short day of action on Day 2 as there were just 104 players that got through Day 1 still standing.
While things can always change in a hurry, Jim Collopy is currently in the lead in the chip count.
Big Names Battling
Collopy has won three bracelets while playing WSOP action, and he could be looking to cash in at the Tournament of Champions. He has built up a substantial lead through the first full day of action as his chip count is sitting at 415,000.
Cooper Feltham is next on the list at 297,000 chips, but there is a pretty clear gap between the top two players. Chris Conrad is a six-time winner on the WSOP Tour and he is sitting in fourth place with 180,000.
Since there are still 104 players remaining heading into Day 2 action, that could create some intense drama throughout the rest of the tournament. All of these players have already had success so far during this run as this event is only open to champions.
A total of 559 players signed up to play in this tournament, and many had to make a significant investment in order to make the trek to Los Angeles. There were some WSOP Main Event champions in the field as well, although many of the top players are currently being patient.
More Action Coming
Day 2 of the Tournament of Champions at the Commerce Casino will begin at noon on May 23, and there will be 10 hours of play on the schedule. Not all of those sixty minute levels will have to be used as the final table could be set before that time.
A winner is going to be crowned on May 24th, and there will be a number of different ways to follow along with the live action at the Commerce Casino. While the $1 million prize pool will be split up, the champion of this event will get the majority of that pot.
