2019 WSOP May 31: Big 50 Takes Over Rio

Written by Jennifer Newell

Last updated on June 1st, 2019

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As the second day of the 50^th Annual World Series of Poker began, the low buy-in anniversary tournament took over the halls of the Rio Convention Center. Meanwhile, the first bracelet of 2019 was awarded in Event 2.

On Thursday, May 30, this is what happened.

Event 1: $500 Casino Employee NLHE – Day 2

Total entries:  686

Prize pool:  $298,410

Players paid:  103

Minimum payout:  $727

Winner payout:  $62,345

Day 1 players remaining: 6

Final table chip counts:

Isaac Hanson (USA) – 5,550,000

Jorge Ruiz (USA) – 4,820,000

Nicholas Haynes (USA) – 2,725,000

Jesse Kertland (USA) – 1,620,000

Adam Lamers (Canada) – 1,490,000

Jeffrey Fast (Canada) – 1,190,000

Final table payouts thus far:

7^th place:  Christopher Bowen (USA) – $7,229

8^th place:  Joseph Appler (USA) – $5,438

9^th place:  Travis Williams (USA) – $4,161

Day 3 starting time:  12 noon

Event 2:  $10K Super Turbo Bounty NLHE – Day 2 (Final)

Total entries:  204

Prize pool:  $1,917,600

Players paid:  31

Minimum payout:  $10,238

Winner payout:  $345,669

Final table results:

1^st place:  Brian Green (USA) – $345,669

2^nd place:  Ali Imsirovic (USA) – $213,644

3^rd place:  Asher Conniff (USA) – $145,097

4^th place:  Loren Klein (USA) – $100,775

5^th place:  Ping Liu (USA) – $71,614

6^th place:  Daniel Negreanu (Canada) – $52,099

7^th place:  Martijn Gerrits (Netherlands) – $38,823

8^th place:  Zachary Clark (USA) – $29,650

9^th place:  Cary Katz (USA) – $23,224

Event 3:  $500 Big 50 NLHE – Day 1A

Entries:  6,093 so far

Prize pool:  TBD

Players paid:  TBD

Day 1A players remaining:  1,579

Chip leader:  Cosimo Bisogno (Italy) – 932,000 chips

Day 1B starting time:  11am

Day 1A restarting time:  5pm

Event 4:  $1,500 Omaha-8 Hi-Lo – Day 1

Event 4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, starts at 3pm in the Amazon Room. Registration is open for the first 8 60-minute levels (~12am) with no re-entry. pic.twitter.com/UJnBktAc9Q

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) May 30, 2019

Total entries:  853

Prize pool:  $1,151,550

Players paid:  128

Minimum payout:  $2,257

Winner payout:  $228,228

Day 1 players remaining: 373

Chip leader:  Lawrence Michael (USA) – 79,000 chips

Day 2 starting time:  2pm

Notable Information

The Big 50 drew all of the crowds for which the WSOP staff had hope. There were so many people that some of the daily tournaments had to be cancelled for lack of space…in a convention center. People were out in force for the anniversary special.

It is also important to note that the Big 50 will not play out like most other multi-day tournaments, as the remaining players from the first flight play again today instead of taking a day off before resuming. The setup is a bit unique, but the WSOP explained it:

We have approx. 1,000 seats left to sell for today's Flight A of BIG 50. If you plan on playing today, best to get down to @RioVegas https://t.co/aojwxMBP8L pic.twitter.com/cD3juodiQ5

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) May 30, 2019

Brian Green won the first WSOP gold bracelet of the summer, outlasting a pro-heavy field to capture his first WSOP title. It was, however, his 27^th WSOP cash.