The poker community, especially in Great Britain and Europe, is saddened at the loss of one of the biggest characters in the game. Mad Marty Wilson made a splash on television poker in the UK around the turn of the century, which helped usher in a British poker boom. Wilson passed away on Friday after a six-month bout with cancer.
The new season of the World Poker Tour kicked off with the WPT Gardens Poker Fest at the Gardens Casino outside of Los Angeles. This year's $5K buy-in event attracted 373 runners and a prize pool worth $1.75 million. The final table included Cord Garcia, Andy Wisdom, Roger Teska, Lior Orel, Lars Kamphues, and Laszlo Molnar. Maria Ho missed the final table by a couple of spots when she busted in eighth place. Roger Teska rallied from a huge heads-up deficit to defeat Laszlo Molnar and win the WPT Gardens. Teska banked $368K.
The latest episode of True Gordie Podcast featured Instagram star and poker player Dan Bilzerian. He normally hates interviews but sat down with True Gordie to discuss life as an Instagram baller and fleecing some rich dude for $50-plus million because his opponent thought he was a dumb trust fund kid.
The 2019 World Series of Poker is complete and Australian pro Robert Campbell is leading the Player of the Year race over last year's champ Shaun Deeb. Deeb is second overall with ten more events schedule for this October at the 2019 WSOP Europe at the King's Casino in RozVegas. Dan Zack, Daniel Negreanu, and Phil Hui round out the top 5 in the POY.
The 2019 World Series of Poker announced the newest class of inductees into the Hall of Fame. Chris Moneymaker and David Oppenheim got nods this year. They were the only two recognized on a ballot of ten possible candidates that also included Antonio Esfandiari, Huck Seed, David Chiu, Eli Elezra, Jesus Ferguson, Ted Forrest, and Mike Matusow.
The 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event Championship concluded at the Rio Casino when Germany's Hossein Ensan defeated Italy's Dario Sammartino heads up to win $10,000,000 and the coveted Main Event bracelet. Three players began Day 10 with Ensan holding a sizable lead. Canada's Alex Livingston busted in third place for a $4 million score. After 101 hands of heads-up action, Sammartino banked $6 million for a runner-up consolation prize. Ensan, 55, became the oldest Main Event Champ since Noel Furlong in 1999.
The 2019 WSOP Main Event continued with Day 9 action that saw the returning five players play down to the final three. Germany's Hossein Ensan began the day with the big stack and by the end of Day 9, he retained the lead with 375M. On Day 9, Chicago Cubs superfan Kevin Maahs busted in fifth place and Garry Gates got picked off in fourth place. Alex Livingston is second in chips, while Italian pro Dario Sammartino is the short stack. They return on Tuesday to play down to a champion.
The 2019 WSOP Main Event final table played down from nine to five players on the first of three days of action. Two players busted in the first 11 hands and four players were eliminated overall including Zhen Cai, Nick Marchington, Tim Su, and Milos Skrbic. At the end of Day 8, Hossein Ensan continued to hold the lead with 207.7 million, while Garry Gates was not far behind with 171.7 million.
Daniel Negreanu cashed in his 15th event this summer and advanced to his fourth final table, but he fell short in his quest for bracelet #7 when Keith Tiltson defeated him heads up to win 2019 WSOP Event #83 $100,000 High Roller for a sensational score worth $2,792,406. Tiltson made a pair of final tables in the final week of the 2019 WSOP with a sixth place finish a couple days earlier in the FINAL FIFTY. Meanwhile, Negreanu launched a late assault on the WSOP Player of the Year race.
After a lengthy Day 7, the final table for the 2019 WSOP Main Event Championship is set. Only 35 players began Day 7 and when it ended, nine players were still alive and in the hunt for $10 million. Germany's Hossein Ensan bagged up the lead with 177M. Also advancing to the final table are... Garry Gates, Zhen Cai, Kevin Maahs, Alex Livingston, Dario Sammartino, Milos Skrbic, Timothy Su, and Nick Marchington. Action resumes on Sunday.
On Day 6 of the 2019 WSOP Main Event Championship, they played down from 106 to 35 players. When play ended, Nicholas Marchington bagged up the lead with 39.8 million. Rounding out the top five are Tim Su, Milos Skrbic, Henry Lu, and Garry Gates. Among the notables who busted on Day 6 were Same Greenwood, Chris Hunichen, Lars Bonding, Alex Winter, Romain Lewis, Jake Schindler, Dan Hachem, Antonio Esfandiari, and Jeff Madsen.
The 2019 WSOP Main Event played down to 106 entrants on Day 5. Tim Su bagged the chip lead with 19.2 million. Also still alive are Sam Greenwood, Antonio Esfandiari, Romain Lewis, Chad Power, and Chris Hunichen. Among the notables to bust on Day 5 were Andrew Brokos, Chainsaw Kessler, Danielle Anderson, former NFL player Richard Seymour, Chance Kornuth, Adam Friedman, Galen Hall, Todd Brunson and Todd Wittles.
The 2019 WSOP Main Event continued with the first time the entire field condensed into one. Day 3 commenced with 2,880 remaining and fewer than 1,300 getting paid. The money bubble snuck into play late last night and actually burst. Only 1,286 players remain. Everyone who returns for Day 4 locked up a min-cash worth $15,000. Norway's Preben Stokkan bagged and tagged the big stack with 2.18 million even though he was down to chip and a chair at one point. Andrew Brokos chipped up to 1.9M.
The 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event allowed late registration up to the start of Day 2 (ABC) and 444 runners took advantage of the extended time. A total of 8,569 are in this year's field, which marks the second highest of all time. The 2019 champion will bank $10 million with all final table players winning at least $1 million. Only 2,880 players advanced to Day 3 with Julian Milliard sitting on the big stack with 948K.
The 2019 WSOP Main Event hit its second day of action and thus far the total is 8,225 runners and counting. Late registration is still open until Day 2C. The combined Day 1A and Day 1B flights competed into Day 2AB and when the dust settled, only 1,100 or so players remained. Tim Sui bagged the lead with 791K and counting. Of course, Day 2AB was rather boring compared to Day 1C, which was punctuated with a 7.1 earthquake that sent players scattering for cover and a naked guy that went viral.
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.
Another blast from the past won a bracelet at the 2019 WSOP in Las Vegas. This time, Finnish pro Juha Helppi emerged victorious after outlasting a field of 118 runners in Event #72 $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship. He banked $306,622 for the win. Meanwhile, Joao Vieria from Portugal won Event #70 $5,000 NL 6-max and outlasted 815 players for his first bracelet and a sick payout worth $758,011.
The 2019 World Series of Poker continued with the start of the $10,000 buy-in Main Event Championship. This year's Day 1A is one of the biggest in recent memory with an 44% uptick from last year with 1,336 entries. 2013 bracelet winner Bryan Campanello bagged up the Day 1A chip lead with 417,500. Meanwhile, Frenchman Jeremy Saderne won his first bracelet with a victory in WSOP Event #69 $1,000 Mini Main Event. Saderne banked $628,654.
Australian pro Robert Campbell won his second bracelet at the 2019 World Series of Poker to become the first and only player with multiple bracelet victories in 2019. Campbell moved into first place in the WSOP POY Race ahead of Dan Zack with a victory in Event #67 $10,000 Stud 8 Championship. He outlasted a small field of 151 runners to bank $385,763.
David 'ODB' Baker outlasted a field of 541 runners to win 2019 WSOP Event #64 $1,500 Limit Hold'em. His final table included Greg FBT Mueller and Jesus Ferguson. ODB banked $161,139 and moved over $3M in career WSOP earnings. Also, over in Event #68, Nicky 'Illari' Baris won the bracelet in the $1,000 NL ONLINE CHAMPIONSHIP and a first-place prize worth $303,738.75. He also prevented Jesus Ferguson from winning a bracelet and denied David 'Bakes' Baker another title.
