WSOP: Jonas Lauck Wins First Bracelet; $50K PPC Begins
For many of the world’s best poker players, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship is their version of the Super Bowl. The event draws the best players and forces those players to play an eight-game rotation. This year’s Day 1 field was the smallest in history, but a two-time bracelet winner ended Day 1 with the chip lead. The only bracelet awarded on Monday was the result of a single-day Super Turbo event.
Jonas Lauck Dominates $1,500 NLHE Super Turbo Bounty
Five years ago, Germany’s Jonas Lauck saw a heads-up opportunity for a bracelet go the wrong way and he had to settle for second place. On Monday night, Lauck left little chance of a second-place finish by eliminating the final seven players to win the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Super Turbo Bounty event for his first bracelet and $260,335.
“It was a little bit surreal because there were so many all-ins and it goes so quick,” Lauck said. “To me, it was a special win because once before, I was heads-up and I lost it. But once you have this bracelet, it feels very good.”
Thanks to the turbo structure and Lauck’s dominance, the final table took just over two hours to complete. The single day event attracted 1,867 players and needed just 15 hours to go from ‘Shuffle Up and Deal’ to bracelet winner photo.
Robert Bickley finished third for $160,820 while Markus Gonsalves finished third for $85,141.
Some of the more notable players that cashed on Monday included Anton Wigg, Connor Drinan, Alex Foxen, Blair Hinkle, Tim West, Daniel Strelitz, Loni Harwood, Chris Ferguson, Bertrand Grospellier, Brian Yoon, Zachary Gruneberg, Dzmitry Urbanovich, Kristen Bicknell, and Daniel Negreanu.
Final Table Payouts
- Jonas Lauck – $260,335
- Robert Bickley – $160,820
- Markus Gonsalves – $85,141
- Anil Jivani – $62,901
- Aaron Pinson – $46,951
- Arron Woodcock – $35,412
- Aaron Johnson – $26,992
- Edward Courage – $20,793
Josh Arieh Tops $50K Poker Players Championship Day 1
The opening day of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship drew 64 players and two-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh finished on top of the 63 survivors with 658,100.
Right behind Arieh is Justin Bonomo with 646,100. No other player pushed their stack past 600,000.
The field of 64 players is well behind the 77 that played last summer. Just like last year, registration is open until the end of the fourth level of play on Day 2. The 2018 event finished with 87 runners.
The field is a who’s who of some of the best players in the world. John Hennigan, Stephen Chidwick, Isaac Haxton, Shaun Deeb, Phil Ivey, Dario Sammartino, Paul Volpe, Phil Galfond, and James Obst all advanced to Day 2.
The event also marked the 2019 WSOP debut of Jason Mercier. The five-time bracelet winner finished Day 1 with 345,600.
The only player to bust on Day 1 was Mike Gorodinsky.
Action resumes at 2 PM PT.
Top Chip Counts
- Josh Arieh – 658,000
- Justin Bonomo – 646,100
- John Esposito – 585,000
- Mike Glick – 521,000
- Jared Bleznick – 488,000
- Prahlad Friedman – 464,500
- Adam Friedman – 462,100
- John Hennigan – 444,300
- Andrew Brown – 436,600
- Mikael Thuritz – 411,500
Dash Dudley Leads $10,000 PLO Final Table
Just eight players remain in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship with Michigan native Dash Dudley leading the way.
Dudley ended Day 3 with 6,550,000. Only one other player even flirted with the 6,000,000 mark. Kyle Montgomery bagged up 5,960,000.
Just two of the final eight players have previously won a bracelet. Jeremy Ausmus, who won his bracelet in 2013, ended with the sixth-best stack at 3,625,000, while Will Jaffe, who won his bracelet in 2012, ended
There were 50 players still in the field when Day 3 began. Shaun Deeb, Luke Schwartz, Ian O’Hara, Sylvain Loosli, and Daniel Alaei were all eliminated on Monday.
The final table begins at Noon PT.
Final Table Chip Counts
- Dash Dudley – 6,550,000
- Kyle Montgomery – 5,960,000
- James Park – 4,995,000
- Eoghan O’Dea – 5,150,000
- Joel Feldman – 3,625,000
- Jeremy Ausmus – 2,405,000
- Andrei Razov – 1,215,000
- Will Jaffe – 1,150,000
Monster Stack Down to 49; Vincent Chauve Leads
It’s taken three days – including two starting flights – but the $1,500 Monster Stack is down to just 49 players still in conention for the bracelet and $1,008,850 first place prize. Vincent Chauve ended Day 3 with 22,000,000 chips and a decent lead over the rest of the field.
Bryan Kim sits second after finishing with 17,725,000 while Anthony Kazgandjian is third with 15,700,000.
There were 458 eliminations on Monday, including Mark Radoja, Arash Ghaneian, Owen Crowe, Pierre Neuville, Ali Imsirovic, Ryan Hohner, Alex Lynskey, and Joe Cada.
Action resumes at Noon PT and will play down until just six players remain.
Top Chip Counts
- Vincent Chauve – 22,000,000
- Bryan Kim – 17,725,000
- Anthony Kazgandjian – 15,700,000
- Ramiro Petrone – 13,900,000
- Andre Haneberg – 12,725,000
- Jonathan Seltzer – 12,125,000
- Randall Hernandez – 11,975,000
- Bart Hanson – 11,650,000
- Benjamin Ector – 11,465,000
- Willaim Lorring – 9,400,000
$1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em (Event #57)
If Day 1 of the $1,000 Tag Team is any indication, the final table could be a rowdy one. The team of Jared Jaffee and Ralph and Aaron Massey bagged up the chip lead, finishing with 255,000.
They topped the 278 teams that survived Day 1 from the 976-team field. Right behind them is the team of Martijn Gerrits, Preston Lee, and Kane Kalas sits second with 236,100.
WSOP Player of the Year frontrunner Dan Zack is part of the third-best team along with Michael Wang and Ajay Chabra.
Action resumes at 2 PM PT and will play another 10 levels.
Top Chip Counts
- Jared Jaffee / Ralph Massey / Aaron Massey – 255,000
- Martijn Gerrits / Preston Lee / Kane Kalas – 236,100
- Michael Wang / Dan Zack / Ajay Chabra – 197,000
- Jeffrey Lutes / Eric Garma – 186,100
- Aaron Soulliere / Eric Longpre – 181,800
- Andrew Brown / Max Elisman / Richard Tuhrim – 172,500
- David Petrus / Suzanne Petrus – 171,700
- Aleks Dimitrov / Nikol Nikolaeva / Stoyan Obreshkov – 170,400
- Shaotong Chang / Jie Xu – 165,700
- William Carlton / George Kalfayan – 162,600
Andres Norbe Leads $1,500 Razz After Day 2
Argentina doesn’t have a 2019 bracelet win yet, but Andres Norbe is in position to change that. The Buenos Aires native finished Day 2 of the $1,500 Razz event with the chip lead with just 15 players remaining.
Norbe bagged up 546,000 which puts him ahead of Jean Said’s 469,000. Christopher Kusha ended the day in third with 401,000.
There are four WSOP bracelet winners still in the field. Jennifer Tilly finished with 332,000 for the fifth best stack while Scott Clements ended the day with 330,000 for the seventh best stack. A pair of Australian bracelet winners, Robert Campbell and Gary Benson, finished outside of the top 10.
Action resumes 2 PM PT.
Top Chip Counts
- Andres Norbe – 546,000
- Jean Said – 469,000
- Christopher Kusha – 401,000
- Noah Bronstein – 358,000
- Jennifer Tilly – 332,000
- Sergio Braga – 331,000
- Scott Clements – 330,000
- Mike Ross – 307,000
- Grzegorz Wyraz – 306,000
- Harold Parker – 268,000
$800 NLHE Deepstack Down to 10
Six countries are represented in the final 10 players in the $800 No Limit Hold’em Deepstack event with Spain’s Santiago Soriano on top. The Spaniard ended Day 2 with 27,300,000.
Italy’s Daniele Dangelo sits second with 21,425,000 and American Amir Lehavot is third with 20,175,000.
Some of the notables eliminated on Monday included Chris Ferguson, Joao Simao, Daniel Strelitz, Asi Moshe, and Alex Foxen.
Originally scheduled for two days, the 3,759-player field caused WSOP officials to add a third day of play. Action resumes at 1 PM PT.
Final Chip Counts
- Santiago Soriano – 27,300,000
- Daniele Dangelo – 21,425,000
- Amir Lehavot – 20,175,000
- Samuel Gagnon – 15,200,000
- Nick Blackburn – 14,675,000
- Ori Hasson – 13,100,000
- Benjamin Underwood – 11,350,000
- Joao Barrosovalli – 9,900,000
- Jeffery Tahler – 9,650,000
- Gustavo Hess – 6,350,000
