The 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event continued with Day 1B action on the Fourth of July holiday. A total of 1,915 runners took part in the second of three opening flights. At the end of the night, only 1,417 players survived Day 1B and live on to fight in Day 2. British pro Adam Owen bagged up the big stack with nearly 352K. Chainsaw Kessler bagged up 301,800, which was good for fifth overall. John Hesp, one of the more popular players from last year's Main Event final table, busted on Day 1B.
The Main Event chugged along at the 2019 WSOP during America's birthday. Day 1A attracted a huge crowd that was 44% bigger than last year. Day 1B did not smash any records, probably due to the fact it was a national holiday and that Day 1C is still a more attractive option to play in the Main Event.
So far, a total of 3,250 players entered the 2019 Main Event. Day 1C is expected to be somewhere around 3,500 runners or even almost 4K depending on who you talk to.
2019 WSOP Main Event - Day 1B Results
If you build it, the donks will come. Despite all the pomp and circumstance for America's birthday, the 2019 World Series of Poker hosted the second leg of a three-leg opening flight for the prestigious $10K Main Event.
Day 1B attracted 1,915 dreamers and grinders. Approximately 500 of them busted out on Day 1 and will go home empty handed. For pros, busting the Main Event is always the worst day of the year but busting on Day 1 is especially brutal.
At the end of the evening, only 1,417 players survived the cut. They will return on Saturday to find out who will be one of the few left standing with a shot at the money. Survive and advance. At this point, that's what it's all about.
When the dust settled and the fireworks died down (both literally and figuratively), Adam Owen bagged up the lead with 351,800. The British pro is no slouch, but he's having mixed feelings with the dreaded curse of the Day 1 chip leader looming overhead.
Gary Blackwood doesn't have to worry about that hokey superstition. He finished second overall on Day 2 with 330K.
Rounding out the top 5 are Asi Moshe, Tyler Gaston, and Chainsaw Kessler. Yup, Chainsaw has chips. Lots of them. At one point, Chainsaw was the actually chip leader before the chase pack caught up to him. Chainsaw at the final table is exactly what poker (and poker Twitter and 2+2) needs right now.
Several former Main Event champs were at the Rio on Day 1B including Greg Raymer, Ryan Reiss, Joe Hachem, Greg Merson, and Jesus Ferguson. All of them survived the cut.
Other noteworthy names still alive after Day 1B with at least 100K in chips included... Galen Hall, Dong Le, Barry Hutter, Molly Mossey, Olivier Busquet, Christoph Vogelsang, Jean Gaspard, Brian Yoon, Kenny Hallaert, Prahlad Friedman, Tim Miles, Darryll Fish, Johannes Becker, Dan Hachem, Ryan Yu, Tony Spinella, Grayson Rampage, Eric Baldwin, Lisa Pickell, Ari Engel, Scott Lazar, Jeff George, Antoine Saout, Jeff Sarwer, Jon Little, Mike Watson, Jason Gooch, Jon Turner, and Conor Beresford.
Also still surviving the cut (under 100K) included... Adam Geyer, Gordon Vayo, Todd Wittles, Scott Seiver, Ryan Reiss, Nick Binger, Matt Brady, Farzad Bonyadi, Parker Talbot, Tristan Wade, Daniel Negreanu, Yu Zhu, Aaron Been, Paul Volpe, Jimmy Guerrero, Yuval Bronshtein, Sam Cohen, Freddy Deeb, Maria Ho, Owen Crowe, Bakes Baker, Aaron Dermer, Mike Wattel, James Van Alstyne, Chris Vitch, Michael Tureniec, Shaniac, Thayer Rasmussen, Jameson Painter, Jean-Robert Bellande, Stefan Schillhabel, Isabelle Mercier, Eric Brenes, Suzanne Greenburg, Ivo Donev, John Duthie, Christian Harder, and Dennis Phillips.
Notables who busted on Day 1B included John Hesp, Mike Sexton, Pierre Neuville, Paul Wasicka, Kane Kalas, Ryan Hughes, Tobias Ziegler, Sam Grafton, Andrew Kelsall, Dan Shak, Anthony Zinno, Sean Winter, Koray Aldemir, Barry Shulman, Mandy Baker, Paul Tedeschi, and Max Pescatori.
