WSOP: Massive Big 50 Turnout, Brian Green Wins $10K Tubro Bracelet
Day 2 of the 2019 World Series of Poker gave poker fans the first bracelet winner of the year and a massive turnout on Day 1A of the newest $500 buy-in tournament on the schedule and set the tone for what should be an amazing first weekend of play.
Opening Day of Big 50 Draws Massive Crowd; Cosimo Bisogno Leads
WSOP organizers knew that the $500 buy-in, $5 million guaranteed Big 50 event was going to be popular, but Thursday’s turnout probably exceeded their expectations. Over 6,100 players packed each and every available table at the Rio on Thursday with 1,620 of them surviving to play Day 2A.
Leading the way after Day 1A is Italy’s Cosimo Bisogno with 932,000. His closest competition, Luis Pinho, bagged up 808,000.
Other players to advance to Day 2A include former #1-ranked PocketFiver Steven Van Zadelhoff, Ismael Bojang, Loni Harwood, Dietrich Fast, 2018 WSOP Main Event runner-up Tony Miles, and Shaun Deeb.
All surviving players will return to the Rio for Day 2A on Friday at 5 PM to play eight more levels.
There are still three starting flights available for players to enter and the previous record for largest WSOP bracelet event ever appears to be in danger. In 2015, 22,374 players entered the $565 Colossus. With field sizes expected to increase each day, the likelihood of passing 25,000 players appears to be realistic at this point.
Top 10 Chip Counts
- Cosimo Bisogno – 932,000
- Luis Pinho – 808,000
- Andrew Baldwin – 785,000
- Brenton Rincker – 762,000
- Ronald Leonard – 703,000
- Sophal Yon – 700,500
- Dwayne Kawar – 679,000
- Marko Maher – 677,000
- Tal Avivi – 671,000
- Matthew Garvey – 666,000
Brian Green Wins First 2019 Bracelet, Denies Imsirovic, Conniff, Negreanu
At a final table that included Daniel Negreanu, three-time bracelet winner Loren Klein, former WPT World Championship winner Asher Conniff, and breakout star Ali Imsirovic, Brian Green stole the show to win the first bracelet of 2019 and the first of his career.
“I tend to do well when I’m playing against pro-heavy fields. I know a lot of those guys,” said Green, who recently moved to Las Vegas. “I’ve been coming out here for at least one hundred days a year over the last few years. I got my dog here, sleeping in my own bed, I thought that might be an advantage this summer.”
When action began on Wednesday, all eyes were squarely on Negreanu. Having sold pieces of himself at no markup, Negreanu had a chance to give his investors a guaranteed net positive score for the summer had he finished in second place or better. Unfortunately for those who were fortunate enough to have some of his action, the two-time WSOP Player of the Year winner lasted just 12 hands and was eliminated in sixth place.
After Ping Liu was eliminated in fifth place, Klein was denied the opportunity to become the first player to win a bracelet in four consecutive years when he was eliminated in fourth place.
Despite starting the final table with the chip lead, Conniff wasn’t able to go wire-to-wire and instead had to settle for a third place result. This was Conniff’s first WSOP final table in Las Vegas.
Green ended up heads-up against Imsirovic, the Global Poker Awards Breakout Player of the Year. The pair are actually friends away from the felt thanks to a mutual friend.
The final table took just 72 hands to complete thanks to the Turbo strucuture.
Final Table Payouts
- Brian Green – $345,669
- Ali Imsirovic – $213,644
- Asher Conniff – $145,097
- Loren Klein – $100,775
- Ping Liu – $71,614
- Daniel Negreanu – $52,099
Casino Employees Event Down to Final Table
A familiar face sits atop the chip counts after Day 2 of the $565 Casino Employees event. Isaac Hanson, who finished 38th in this event last year, leads the final six players heading into the final day of play.
Hanson, a WSOP media relations employee, bagged up 5,550,000 and will have the best chance to walk away with the bracelet and the $62,345 first place prize when action resumes Friday at Noon.
Bracelet winner Jon Friedberg was one of the 97 players to be sent packing on Day 2.
Final Table Chip Counts
Isaac Hanson – 5,550,000
Jorge Ruiz – 4,820,000
Nicholas Haynes – 2,725,000
Jesse Kertland – 1,620,000
Adam Lamers – 1,490,000
Jeffrey Fast – 1,190,000
Andrew Brown Ends Day 1 of $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo in Front
Despite the masses in the Big 50 taking up a good chunk of the available tables, 853 players got registered and seated in the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo event. Andrew Brown, who won his only bracelet in a $2,000 Omaha Hi-Lo event in 2008, finished Day 1 atop the chip counts with 78,000 chips.
Only two other players managed to build up a stack of at least 60,000. Derek McMaster finished with 66,700 for the second biggest stack and Eric Watkins bagged up 61,100.
Just 373 players moved onto Day 2 including David Benyamine, Jeff Madsen, John Monnette, Jason Somerville, Robert Mizrachi, Daniel Negreanu, Brandon Shack-Harris and Mike Matusow.
Action resumes at 2 PM and players will need to navigate through another 10 levels if they hope to have a shot at the bracelet and the $228,228 first place prize money.
Top 10 Chip Counts
- Andrew Brown – 78,000
- Derek McMaster – 66,700
- Eric Watkins – 61,100
- Curtis Phelps – 58,200
- Ian Johns – 53,800
- Sean Yu – 51,800
- John Esposito – 46,500
- Kevin Gerhart – 46,000
- Cory Chaput – 41,000
- Eli Elezra – 41,000
