Stephen Song leads the 2024 WSOP Main Event on Day 5

Day 5 of Main Event of the World Series of Poker 2024 was the most dramatic yet, with bad beats and coolers at the center of the Horseshoe Event Center.

At the beginning of the session Cameron Mixson found himself on the right side of the ultimate setup. His aces held up against kings and queens in a huge pot, propelling the Lodge Poker Card Club representative to the top. The Texan rode the momentum of that hand for the rest of day five, eventually pocketing 4,015,000 chips, good for 50 big blinds.

Speak with PokerNewsMixson expressed his excitement: “I couldn’t believe it when I heard that both of them had gone all-in. It was just an incredible moment in the tournament,” he said, adding that it was the most beautiful situation he had ever experienced in poker.

And while the poker gods give, they also take away. Poker superstar Adrian Mateos felt the full wrath of the card gods. Mateos, who began the day second in chips, was widely admired for correctly folding pocket kings to pocket aces in a four-bet pot. His reward, however, was one of the worst beats of the Main Event so far. Mateos’ pocket aces fell to ace-king, who became runner-runner and made a flush in a six million chip pot after all the chips went in preflop.

Speaking to PokerGO after the hand, Mateos reflected on the tough loss: “All those days, all my reads were on point. I feel like I probably played my best tournament ever. But that’s poker. Two hands: Kings against Aces and Aces against Ace-King, and the dream is over. The only thing I can do is focus on the next tournament and try to do my best. That’s the only thing I can control, and that’s my plan.”

Main Event Maestro and $25,000 Fantasy Tip Alex Livingston Livingston also had to endure a heartbreaking end. The Canadian flopped Broadway, but his opponent turned over a set and a full house on the river, causing Livingston to be eliminated in 295th place.

As the fifth day progressed, some of the biggest names in poker continued to be eliminated. Phil Ivey, Bin Weng, Jonathan Little, Nacho Barbero, Parker TalbotAnd Alejandro Lococo all have withdrawn from the tournament.

PokerStars Ambassador Lococo, who reached the final table in 2021 and finished 39th the following year, was all smiles despite his early exit. “I know it’s difficult to go far in a tournament like this,” Lococo said. “My game was the best I’ve ever played. This time I played better than before. I’m happy because I know this was the best Main Event of my life.”

Main Event reaches its last 160 players

Before the reshuffle and deal, 464 players returned for Day 5 to continue their hunt for the Main Event title and the first prize of $10 million. After five more levels of play, only 160 remain of the record-breaking field of 10,112.

Stephen Song (12,310,000) remains in the lead and remains in pole position for the eight-figure windfall, followed by the Portuguese duo Carlos Caldas (12,110,000) and Diogo Coelho (9,950,000), rounding out the first three chip counters.

Song is one of the most successful players left in the race, with a bracelet and more than $6 million in live winnings to his name. He is on pace to surpass his best finish in the 2021 Main Event, where he finished 83rd.

Caldas is second in chips and has already secured his biggest live cash. The Hendon Mob with his run in the Main Event and is in a great position to multiply his $170,545 in recorded winnings. Fellow countryman Coehlo is a regular on the European Poker Tour, where he claimed a $10K High Roller victory at EPT Paris in 2023 for $857,037.

The top ten chip counts at the end of Day 5

Online legend Niklas “Lena900” Astedt also finds himself in the upper ranks of the chip count after increasing his stack from 385,000 to 7,900,000. Poker Hall of Famer Brian Rast (6,325,000), Ren Lin (5,660,000), Kristen Fox (5,400,000), Brandon Cantu (4,600,000) and Tony Dunst (3,190,000) are also just a handful of well-known names still in the race.

Besides Foxen, there are three other women in the race: Ma Li (4,050,000), Shundan Xiao (3,205,000) and Danielle Andersen (1,725,000). The last female poker player to make it to a WSOP final table was in 1995, when Barbara Enright Fifth place and since then Gaelle Baumann Tenth place is the best result by a woman in the main event in the 21st century.

Plan for day 6

Day 6 of the 2024 WSOP Main Event begins on Friday, July 12th at 12:00 p.m. local time. The day begins at Level 26, where the blinds are 40,000/80,000/80,000bba, and ends upon the completion of Level 30.

There are 20-minute breaks after each level. The 75-minute dinner break is scheduled after level 28 at around 6:40 p.m.

The remaining players all secured $70,000, with the six-figure payouts coming from 125th place.

As always, stay with PokerNews to stay up to date with all the action from the 2024 WSOP Main Event and all other bracelet events taking place Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas.

Calum joined the PokerNews team in September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum has written for various poker media outlets but found his home at PokerNews, where he has contributed to various articles and live updates, as well as providing insight and reporting on major poker events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP).