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On Saturday at Noon local time, the first-ever World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise$5,300 Main Event kicked off. Executive Director Ty Stewart was flanked by a half dozen former Main Event champions Daniel Weinman, Espen Jorstad, Koray Aldemir, Jamie Gold, Damian Salas, and Ryan Riess to officially get things underway in the flagship tournament.

The first starting flight included bracelet winners Jessica Teusl, Daniel Smiljkovic, Mark Ioli, Ami Barer, Alexandros Kolonias, Christian Roberts, and Alexandre Vuilleumier; as well as GGPoker Twitch Squad member Patrick Tardif, philanthropist Scott Wellenbach, and Phil Nagy.

Whats more, 17-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth is slated to play Day 1a, though hell late register the tournament. As usual, he will do so in grand fashion with a costumed entrance planned. Stay tuned to PokerNews for more on that as well be capturing the arrival of the Poker Brat on our social media channels.

The WSOP Paradise Main Event, which boasts a $15 million guarantee, offers four starting flights. Days 1b and 1c (40-minute levels) will take place at Noon local time on Sunday and Monday respectively, while a turbo Day 1d flight (15-minute levels) will be offered at 10 a.m. local time on Monday, December 12 before the 3 p.m. Day 2 restart.

Follow live updates from the 2023 WSOP Paradise here!

Dov Markowich in Action

Another player who is in action today is Canadas Dov Markowich, who qualified for the tournament via GGPoker.

I hadnt played online poker in a few months, so I decided to play a $55 tourney to which I came in first place winning $1,033.95, he told PokerNews. It was then that I learned about the WSOP hosting events in the Bahamas by seeing the Road to the Bahamas icon on the GGPoker. I saw the steps and noticed the $1,500 buy-in for a shot at the package to which I was reluctant to buy in directly so I opted to play the $150 tournament to win a seat into the $1,500.

“I had gone into the final table as one of the shortest stacks and clawed my way to a second-place finish winning a package.

He continued: I played the $150 and came in first place and won my $1,500 ticket. Two hours after winning the $150 tournament, I was playing in the $1,500 two packages guaranteed tourney. I had gone into the final table as one of the shortest stacks and clawed my way to a second-place finish winning a package.

Markowich now finds himself in The Bahamas competing in the WSOP Paradise Main Event, and hes looking to make his third final table in the last 18 months. During the 2022 WSOP, Markowich finished fifth in Event #25: $800 No-Limit Holdem for a career-high score of $95,363, and a month later he placed ninth in Event #76: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty.

Markowich has $145,859 in live tournament earnings according to the Hendon Mob, and only time will tell if he can add to that down here in paradise. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be keeping a close eye on Markowich throughout the tournament.

Remaining 2023 WSOP Paradise Schedule

Start Date	Event	Buy-in	Guarantee
Sat 9 Dec	#9: Ultra High Roller No-Limit Hold’em	$103,000	$5,000,000
	#10: Main Event Championship	$5,300	$15,000,000
Tue 12 Dec	#11: Flip & Go	$800
Wed 13 Dec	#12: No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout (Online)	$1,050	$1,000,000
	#13: Pot-Limit Omaha Championship	$10,400	$1,000,000
	#14: The Closer Turbo Bounty	$2,200	$1,000,000
Thu 14 Dec	#15: High Roller No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed	$10,400	$1,000,000

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