Poker Gods Punish Mateos on Day 5 of WSOP Main Event as Song Maintains Chip Lead

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Jul 12, 2024 5 min read

Day 5 of the 2024 World Series of Poker Main Event was the most dramatic yet, with bad beats and coolers taking center stage inside the Horseshoe Events Centre.

Early in the session, Cameron Mixson found himself on the right side of the ultimate setup. His aces held strong against kings and queens in a massive pot, propelling the Lodge Poker Card Club representative up the chip counts. The Texan rode the momentum from that hand through the remainder of Day 5, eventually bagging 4,015,000 chips, good for 50 big blinds.

Speaking to PokerNews, Mixson expressed his excitement: "I couldn't believe it when I heard that both of them went all-in. It was just an incredible moment in the tournament right there," he said, adding that it was his favorite spot he's ever been in while playing poker.

And while the Poker Gods giveth, they certainly taketh away. Poker superstar Adrian Mateos felt the full wrath of the card deities. Starting the day second in chips, Mateos earned widespread adulation for correctly folding pocket kings to pocket aces in a four-bet pot. However, his reward was one of the worst beats of the Main Event thus far. Mateos' pocket aces fell to ace-king, which went runner-runner to make 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 beat: "During all the 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 is to stay focused on the next tournament and try to play my best. That's the only thing I can control, and that's my plan."

Main Event maestro and $25K Fantasy pick Alex Livingston also faced a heartbreaking exit. The Canadian flopped Broadway, but his opponent turned a set and rivered a full house, sending Livingston out in 295th place.

Some of poker's biggest names continued to hit the rail as Day 5 progressed. Phil Ivey, Bin Weng, Jonathan Little, Nacho Barbero, Parker Talbot, and Alejandro Lococo all bowed out of the tournament.

PokerStars ambassador Lococo, who made the final table in 2021 and finished 39th the following year, was all smiles despite his premature exit. "I know it's tough to make a deep run in this kind of tournament," said Lococo. "My game was the best it has ever been. This time, I played better than before. I'm happy because I know this was the best Main Event in my life."

Main Event Reaches Its Final 160 Players

Ahead of the shuffle-up and deal, 464 players returned for Day 5 to continue their pursuit of the Main Event title and $10 million first-place prize, and after another five levels of play, just 160 remain from the record-breaking field of 10,112.

Stephen Song (12,310,000) continues to lead the way and remains in pole position for the eight-figure windfall, and is followed by Portuguese duo Carlos Caldas (12,110,000) and Diogo Coelho (9,950,000), who round out the top three chip counts.

Song is one of the most accomplished players still in the mix, with a bracelet and more than $6 million in live earnings to his name. He's on course to surpass his best finish in the Main Event in 2021, where he placed 83rd.

Second in chips, Caldas has already locked up his biggest live cash according to The Hendon Mob with his run in the Main Event and is in a great spot to multiply his $170,545 in recorded earnings. Compatriot Coehlo is a regular fixture on the European Poker Tour, where he tasted victory in a $10K High Roller at EPT Paris in 2023 for $857,037.

End of Day 5 Top Ten Chip Counts

Online legend Niklas "Lena900" Astedt also finds himself in the upper echelons of the chip counts after spinning up his stack of 385,000 to 7,900,000. Poker Hall of Famer Brian Rast (6,325,000), Ren Lin (5,660,000), Kristen Foxen (5,400,000), Brandon Cantu (4,600,000), and Tony Dunst (3,190,000) are also just a handful of notable names still in contention.

Alongside Foxen, three more women remain in the mix, with Ma Li (4,050,000), Shundan Xiao (3,205,000) and Danielle Andersen (1,725,000). The last woman poker player to make a WSOP final table was in 1995, where Barbara Enright placed fifth and since then Gaelle Baumann's run to tenth-place is the best finish in the Main Event for a female in the 21st Century.

Plan for Day 6

Day 6 of the 2024 WSOP Main Event kicks off at noon local time on Friday, July 12. The day starts on Level 26, where the blinds will be 40,000/80,000/80,000bba, and closes after the completion of Level 30.

There will be 20-minute breaks after each level, with the 75-minute dinner break scheduled after Level 28 at approximately 6:40 p.m.

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

As always, be sure to stick with PokerNews to keep up with all the action from the 2024 WSOP Main Event and all the other bracelet events taking place at Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas.

Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since 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 outlets but found his home at PokerNews, where he has contributed to various articles and live updates, providing insights and reporting on major poker events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

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• Tags WSOP24 $25K Fantasy Adrian Mateos Alejandro Lococo Alex Livingston Brian Rast Cameron Mixson Kristen Foxen Diogo Coelho Danielle Andersen Ma Li Stephen Song Ren Lin Yegor Moroz Niklas Astedt Parker Talbot
• Related Players Brian RastKristen FoxenAdrian MateosParker TalbotRen LinYegor Moroz