While some eyes may be paying attention to the action going on in the Bahamas, there is some great poker action going on in Las Vegas right now. The World Poker Tour has laid anchor at Wynn Las Vegas for its own poker festival, kicked off by the WPT Prime Championship. After three Day Ones (and with a fourth on Wednesday), the $5 million guarantee was shattered as Day 1A chip leader Mike Leah has emerged as the (temporary?) overall leader from the trio of start days.
$5.75 Million Up for Grabs
As with most multi-flight tournaments, Day 1A of the 2025 WPT Prime Championship featured the smallest field of combatants. “Only” 1,110 entries were booked for the opening salvo in the battle, but that didn’t stop Mike Leah from storming to the top of the leaderboard amongst the 137 players who survived the carnage. Leah would use a big knockout at the end of the evening to establish that lead.
With a monochrome Q♣ J♣ 8♣ flop staring at them, Diego Silva check-called a bet out of Leah, who had three-bet the action pre-flop. After a 9♠ came on the turn, Silva would run that tape again in check-calling another bet from the Canadian pro. A river 7♦ finished the board and Silva checked again. This time, Leah responded by betting enough to put Silva’s tournament existence on the line. After some debate, Silva called and showed a K-Q for top pair. Leah got a bit lucky in showing down a Q-10 that had turned the straight, eliminating Silva and putting Leah out to his chip lead.
1. Mike Leah, 1.385 million
2. Mark Agarunov, 1.085 million
3. Stephen Song, 872,000
4. Donnie Peters, 767,000
5. Dan Hila, 731,000
Two Subsequent Flights Surpass Day 1A
Day 1B saw the numbers climb a bit, with 1,720 entries booked and 215 players making it through the day’s festivities. This one was a bit closer than the Day 1A action, as Goswin Siemsen had to battle Ryan Hoenig for chip supremacy for the day. Lurking down the leaderboard a bit is a familiar name to some poker fans in Bryan Piccioli, who finished in fourth place among the 215 players who earned the right to come back for Day Two.
1. Goswin Siemsen, 1.04 million
2. Ryan Hoenig, 1.026 million
3. Phuoc Nguyen, 947,000
4. Bryan Piccioli, 921,000
5. Anthony Quattrocchi, 857,000
The outpouring of players for Day 1C more than doubled the field for the 2025 WPT Prime Championship. The first two Day Ones had collected 2,830 entries between them, but Day 1C said, “Hold my beer.” 3,101 entries were logged in the Wynn Las Vegas cages, shattering the $5 million guarantee in building over a $5.75 million prize pool with one day left to go in the quartet of Day Ones.
Day 1C also saw the most survivors come out of the field so far in the 2025 WPT Prime Championship. 387 players will return for Day Two play, with Nick Pupillo earning the banner for the Day 1C chip leader. The ladies are represented by Esther Taylor, who stacked up 939,000 in chips (good for sixth place on Day 1C), making her a force on Day Two.
1. Nick Pupillo, 1.31 million
2. Pete Chen, 1.254 million
3. Alexander Carmosino, 1.069 million
4. Levon Khachatryan, 1.06 million
5. Evan Muschetto, 1.006 million
Overall, the (unofficial) leaderboard looks like this:
1. Mike Leah, 1.385 million
2. Nick Pupillo, 1.31 million
3. Pete Chen, 1.254 million
4. Mark Agarunov, 1.085 million
5. Alexander Carmosino, 1.069 million
One More Day on the Schedule
With a total field at this point of 5,931 entries and 739 players that have already earned their spot for Day Two, the final Day One, Day 1D, is ready for action at 11 AM (PST) this morning at Wynn Las Vegas. Late registration will run until the start of the dinner break at approximately 7 PM, and there are rumblings that the potential Day 1D field will push the overall numbers over the 10K mark. For those who want to keep up with the action, the WPT is providing live coverage as the WPT Prime Championship tries to crown a champion before the BIG action starts during the WPT World Championship festival.