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WSOP 2019 Main Event creates 2nd biggest field ever; Winner set to take home $10M

Day 2C has now come to close, concluding the day 2 action and giving us the other half of what will form our day 3 field tomorrow. All remaining players will be in the same place to play out the rest of what is the second largest Main Event ever. Here are the updates from day 2C, the stories unfolding in the field and the key chip counts for the start of day 3.

Main Event registration closes with second-largest field ever

WSOP Main Event 2019 Day 2C
WSOP Main Event 2019

The field in day 1C was the largest number of entries for a single day of the Main Event and the knock-on effect, with registration having now closed, is that the final field size has surged to 8,569. This final tally almost reached the all-time record of 8,773 set in 2006. The number of entries this year was a 9% increase on last year, creating a prize pool of $80,548,600.

This means that 1,286 players will get paid and the minimum payouts will be $15,000. At the other end of the scale, the lucky winner of this event will bank a cool $10,000,000. There is a significant pay-jump to 2nd place, which awards $6,000,000. All those who make the final table will take home seven figures, with 9th place paying $1,000,000. Just 2,880 players will return to contest the most prestigious of tournament titles on day 3.

Position Payouts
1 $10,000,000
2 $6,000,000
3 $4,000,000
4 $3,000,000
5 $2,200,000
6 $1,850,000
7 $1,525,000
8 $1,250,000
9 $1,000,000

Interestingly, participation figures for the Main Event show that while the US contributed 6,110 players, compared to Canada’s 420 in 2nd place, China took 5th place on the list with 117 entries. This puts the country ahead of Germany, Brazil, Australia and Russia in participation numbers. Just above China on the list were France with 151 and the UK with 414. The nearest Asian nation to China was Japan with 70, while India is the next Asian nation with 40.

Chip leaders as we move into day 3

Julian Milliard
Julian Milliard – Photo WSOP.com

The chip counts are now combined into one list with Julian Milliard leading the way with a monster stack of 947,900. Czech player Vlastimil Pustina isn’t too far behind on 930,700, with Andrew Brokos currently sitting in 3rd with 895,400. While officially listed under a US flag by the WSOP, Pokernews and his Hendon Mob page have 5th place player Nai Hu listed as being from Taiwan. Hu has 798,300 to put to work during day 3 and will be one of the main stories for Asian fans to watch tomorrow. In 10th place in the standings is German Anton Morgenstern, who took 20th place in the Main Event in 2013 followed by 22nd place in 2015.

Galen Hall is currently the biggest stack with a bracelet already to his name and is sitting 14th with 705,900. Three-time bracelet winner Brian Yoon is also up among the top stacks with 643,400. He sits just below bracelet winners Tom Cannuli and Anthony Spinella who have 667,000 and 643,700 respectively. Also, in close proximity is 2016 champion Qui Nguyen with 602,400.

Other notable names in the top 100 include Kathy Liebert (41st – 555,000), Adam Friedman (43rd – 549,600), Dario Sammartino (55th – 522,700), Mike McDonald (59th – 516,700), Adam Owen (60th – 511,800), Jeff Madsen (70th – 488,600), Andre Akkari (82nd – 467,400), Asi Moshe (85th – 464,100) and Bryan Campanello (86th – 460,400).

Asian Leaders at the start of day 3

There are still strong hopes for Asian players from many different countries for this year’s Main Event, with the highest ranked Asian player aside from Nai Hu going into day 3 being China’s Quan Zhou (46th) with 542,600. With over $2 million in live tournament earnings, Zhou is yet to make a WSOP final table.

This would certainly be a good event for him to tick that box, but there is still a long way to go yet. Further down the order is China’s Chang Luo (65th) with 496,800. Just outside the top 100 is China’s Haoxiang Wang (105th) with 442,000, while Australians Luke Martinelli (34th – 575,300) and six-time bracelet winner Jeff Lisandro (83rd – 466,400) are still in with an excellent chance.

In the field

One of the more remarkable stories of the day has been that of chip leader Julian Milliard. He claims that he was down to just 4,000 chips on day 1 and said the last two days of play have been “crazy”, as his chipstack has snowballed to the top of the counts.

One man who will not be balling in this event, snow or otherwise, is Phil Hellmuth. The fifteen-time bracelet jetted in to late register at the last minute before losing a huge chunk of chips in a triple-barrel bluff with five-high.

He managed to claw some back but eventually slid into the abyss after five hours of play.

Stay tuned to Somuchpoker for daily reports on the biggest event of the year.

Article by Craig Bradshaw