The popular WPT Prime tournament, with a $1,100 buy-in, concludes its journey annually in Las Vegas, consistently breaking its own records. Although the goal of 10,000 entries was not reached this year, the final count of 9,876 entries still made it a remarkable event. After two days, only 120 players remained to face Day 3.
Day's chipleader Bryan Piccioli was on the right track and maintained his lead among a hundred players. However, a clash with Aaron Johnson and a pivotal pot shifted their destinies. Piccioli had aces, Johnson had kings, and a brutal king on the board during a 5-bet all-in changed everything. Piccioli eventually finished 43rd, earning $20,100, while Johnson climbed steadily to the top, emerging as the leader heading into extra Day 4.
In the late phase of the day, attention turned to Stephen Song, the inaugural WPT Prime Championship winner. Continuing his impressive form, he completed another deep run, finishing 18th with a payout of $53,000.
The action progresses to Saturday with a lineup of two tables, where the chiplead duel primarily involves two names: Aaron Johnson (64,700,000) and Timothy Burden (60,500,000). Day 4 begins at 2:00 PM PST and will play down to the final six. These finalists will meet in the televised finale on December 20th.
Chipcount of Semifinalists:
| Rank | Player | Stack | BB |
| 1 | Aaron Johnson | 64,700,000 | 65 |
| 2 | Timothy Burden | 60,500,000 | 61 |
| 3 | Fernando Martin Del Campo | 51,200,000 | 51 |
| 4 | Will Givens | 42,100,000 | 42 |
| 5 | Safiya Umerova | 29,200,000 | 29 |
| 6 | Qing Liu | 27,200,000 | 27 |
| 7 | Patrick Truong | 25,200,000 | 25 |
| 8 | Rafael Reis | 21,400,000 | 21 |
| 9 | Chris Moon | 20,600,000 | 21 |
| 10 | Jeffrey Chen | 18,700,000 | 19 |
| 11 | Uri Foox | 13,100,000 | 13 |
| 12 | Mitja Rudolf | 10,700,000 | 11 |
| 13 | Robert Pisel | 10,600,000 | 11 |
Remaining Payout Structure:
1st: $1,177,880
2nd: $775,000
3rd: $575,000
4th: $430,000
5th: $325,000
6th: $250,000
7th: $191,000
8th: $149,000
9th: $117,970
10th: $117,970
11th: $89,000
12th: $89,000
13th: $68,000
Successful $1,600 Million Event Easily Surpasses Guarantee
The festival at Wynn is in full swing, and alongside the Prime Championship, it offers a plethora of exciting side events daily. Yesterday, there was another million-dollar event, the $1,600 No-Limit Hold’em, which drew 1,300 entries, boosting the prize pool to $1,859,000.
As the tournament reached the money, 169 players remained, each assured at least $3,197, with Antonio Vargas leading the way overnight with a 1,580,000 stack. Among the notable names advancing to Day 2 were Eugene Katchalov, Dylan Linde, John Riordan, Will Failla, and Brian Altman. Day 2 will play down to a winner, with the champion taking home $307,794.
Sources - WorldPokerTour, Flick
