Michele Lawson Bags Big as 24 Players Survive Day 1 of WSOP Paradise Super Saver $1,000,000 Invitational
On Wednesday, the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise played host to Day 1 of Event #14: Super Saver $1,000,000 Invitational, which invited either bracelet holders who participated in the Super Main Event, $100K Package Early Bird purchasers, or GGPoker Package winners to participate.
The tournament, which was a freezeout format and played 30-minute levels, attracted 487 players at Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas but was whittled down to 24 after 20 levels of play. The man best positioned to make a run at the $200,000 top prize and a shiny WSOP gold bracelet is Brazil’s Felipe Ketzer, who bagged the chip lead with 1,140,000.
Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Felipe Ketzer | Brazil | 1,140,000 | 46 |
| 2 | Matthew Belcher | United Kingdom | 1,080,000 | 43 |
| 3 | Xing He | Canada | 1,010,000 | 40 |
| 4 | Neil Warren | United States | 845,000 | 34 |
| 5 | Arunas Sapitavicius | Lithuania | 815,000 | 33 |
| 6 | Michele Lawson | United States | 755,000 | 30 |
| 7 | Christoph Vogelsang | Germany | 710,000 | 28 |
| 8 | Michael Malm | Canada | 525,000 | 21 |
| 9 | Jovan Kenjic | Serbia | 480,000 | 19 |
| 10 | Matas Cikinas | Lithuania | 405,000 | 16 |
Others who will return for Day 2 on Thursday at Noon local time are Matthew Belcher (1,080,000), Xing He (1,010,000), Atrunas Sapitavicius (815,000), and Michele Lawson (755,000), who round out the top five. They will be joined by Christoph Vogelsang (710,000), Chris “Big Huni” Hunichen (390,000), Timothy Adams (315,000), and Gleb Tremzin (140,000).
The $980,000 prize pool was reserved for the top 85 finishers, and some familiar names to get a piece of it were Aleksejs Ponakovs (26th - $6,400), Matas Cimbolas (31st - $5,400), Joseph Cheong (39th - $4,200), Dietrich Fast (57th - $3,200), Alex Foxen (59th - $3,200), and Isaac Haxton (66th - $3,200).
Here's a look at the remaining payouts:
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 |
| 2 | $116,200 |
| 3 | $71,900 |
| 4 | $58,200 |
| 5 | $48,500 |
| 6 | $38,800 |
| 7 | $29,100 |
| 8 | $19,400 |
| 9 | $16,400 |
| 10 | $13,000 |
| 11-12 | $11,400 |
| 13-15 | $9,700 |
| 16-19 | $7,700 |
| 20-24 | $6,400 |
Action will resume at Noon local time on Thursday and will play down to a winner. PokerNews will be there every step of the way to bring you all the action, so be sure to join us then from the Atlantis on Paradise Island in The Bahamas.