Aria Dealer Nicholas Haynes Wins WSOP $500 Casino Employees Event
Nicholas Haynes, a Michigan born, Florida raised dealer at Aria for the last year and a half, navigated a field of 686 players to take down Event #1: $500 Casino Employees Event. Haynes took home $62,345 and his first WSOP gold bracelet after defeating WSOP Media Director Isaac Hanson in heads-up play.
"There's a lot of incredible players. I watch them and just pick up little bits here and there."
"I'm thankful for my job and the players [at Aria]." Haynes said after his victory. "There's a lot of incredible players. I watch them and just pick up little bits here and there. Over time, you just become better; you sharpen your edges. I feel like they were very instrumental in my play today. That's why I'm thankful for my job and the players there."
Haynes, who was overcome with emotion after receiving his gold bracelet, described his poker playing experience humbly.
“Definitely recreational. I wouldn’t ever call myself any kind of pro or anything like that. I play a lot in spurts. I traveled for a year and a half playing in major tournaments. I turned out ok, nothing great. I’ve had a couple of cashes throughout the years, but nothing monstrous like this. This is the biggest cash, for sure.
"I’ve had a couple of cashes throughout the years, but nothing monstrous like this. This is the biggest cash, for sure."
Hanson, who usually works on the other side of the felt with the WSOP, was still in good spirits after coming one spot shy of a bracelet of his own.
"It was crazy; I’ve seen it four or five hundred times now, but I didn’t think I’d ever be there. It just never ran across my mind that this would even be a possibility, so it was pretty cool."
Hanson had one of the more raucous rails at the final table. "It was probably the best part of the whole experience, just seeing all the texts coming, and everyone coming here. It was just really cool to have everyone cheer me on."
Hanson isn't planning on quitting his day job any time soon, however: "I probably will work in a few hours. I’d rather just get back to it, I enjoy what I do. I don’t want to go home and sit around and do nothing, because that’s what I would end up doing."
2019 WSOP Event #1: $500 Casino Employees Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nicholas Haynes | Canada | $62,345 |
| 2 | Isaac Hanson | United States | $38,503 |
| 3 | Jorge Ruiz | United States | $26,681 |
| 4 | Jesse Kertland | United States | $18,785 |
| 5 | Adam Lamers | Canada | $13,441 |
| 6 | Jeffrey Fast | Canada | $9,776 |
| 7 | Christopher Bowen | United States | $7,229 |
| 8 | Joseph Appler | United States | $5,438 |
| 9 | Travis Williams | United States | $4,161 |
2019 WSOP Event #1: $500 Casino Employees Event Final Table Action
The final six players returned to action Friday to battle out for the $62,345 top prize and the WSOP gold bracelet.
The first hand of the final table provided the first elimination, as Fallsview Casino dealer Jeffrey Fast, who started the final table as the short stack, got his last chips in with king-five of hearts. Isaac Hanson called with queen-nine of hearts and found a nine on the flop to direct Fast to the rail.
PokerNews Live Reporter Adam Lamers was the next to fall when he jammed with king-queen, and Jorge Ruiz woke up with ace-jack suited behind him and put him at risk. Lamers and his supportive rail called for a king to help pull him in front, but an eight-high board left Lamers out the door in fifth-place for $13,441.
Jesse Kertland, a Casino Carribean pit dealer, got his last nine big blinds in from the cutoff with king-five, but ran into a monster when Nicholas Haynes woke up behind him with pocket aces. Kertland paired his five on the flop, but improved no further, sending him back home with $18,785 for his fourth-place finish.
Next to go was Montego Bay poker dealer Jorge Ruiz, who lost a big flip with king-queen of hearts to Haynes and his pocket tens to be left with just two big blinds. He got those last chips in the very next hand with eight-four of diamonds and would fail to catch up to the ten-eight of Hanson. Ruiz, who was all smiles even after being eliminated, received $26,681 for third place.
Hanson started heads-up play with Haynes holding a little over ten million of the 17,150,000 chips in play. Haynes was able to turn the tide by taking down a healthy pot on Hand 4 of heads-up action. Haynes' jack-ten found top pair on the flop and got two streets of value from Hanson.
On Hand 156 of the final table, Hanson called off his remaining 4,100,000 with ace-nine, and Haynes was live with his king-eight. The latter found an eight on the flop, and while Hanson picked up a gutshot on the turn, he failed to improve, leaving the WSOP Media Director as the runner-up, taking home $38,503.
PokerNews coverage of the 2019 WSOP continues with updates from Event #3: $500 Big 50, Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, and Event #5: 50th Annual High Roller - $50,000 No Limit Hold'em. The next WSOP final table you'll be able to watch live on PokerGO, is Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better on June 2nd.
In this Series
- 1 Aria Dealer Nicholas Haynes Wins WSOP $500 Casino Employees Event
- 2 Brian Green Cracks Kings, Beats Imsirovic, Wins First WSOP Bracelet
- 3 Derek McMaster Wins 2019 WSOP Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better for $228,228
- 4 Yong 'LuckySpewy1' Kwon Wins WSOP Online Bracelet, Hellmuth Fifth for First Summer Cash
- 5 Dan Zack Claims First Bracelet After Fantastic Comeback in WSOP $2,500 Limit Mixed Triple Draw
- 6 Ben Heath Wins His First Bracelet - Conquers WSOP $50,000 High Roller for $1.48 Million
- 7 Yuval Bronshtein Wins First Bracelet After 10 WSOP Final Table Apperances
- 8 Daniel Strelitz Claims First WSOP Bracelet and $442,385 in Event #11: $5,000 NLHE
- 9 Scott Clements Wins Event #10: $1,500 Dealers Choice ($144,957)
- 10 Jeremy Pekarek Wins Event #9: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack for First Gold Bracelet
- 11 Daniel Park Wins Event #12: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Bounty for $226,243
- 12 Alex Epstein Wins Event #8: $10,000 Short Deck for $296,277
- 13 Femi Fashakin Wins Largest-Ever Poker Tournament; BIG 50 Triumph Earns Him $1,147,449
- 14 Isaac Baron Captures Long-Awaited WSOP Bracelet in Event #16: $1,500 NLH 6-Handed
- 15 Backed by Insane Rail, Murilo Souza Wins $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. ($207,003)
- 16 Sean Swingruber Defeats Ben Yu, Wins First WSOP Bracelet in $10,000 Heads-Up
- 17 Brett Apter Wins First Bracelet in Event #17: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout
- 18 Frankie O'Dell Wins His Third WSOP Omaha Hi-Lo in $10K Championship Event
- 19 Galfond, Bleznick, Zamani Fall Short as Josh "loofa" Pollock Wins Second Bracelet in $600 Online PLO Event
- 20 Eli Elezra Wins Fourth WSOP Bracelet and $93,766 in Event #20: $1,500 Seven Card Stud
- 21 Expecting Father Jorden Fox Conquers Event #22: $1,000 Double Stack to Win $420,693
- 22 Former Main Event Champ Jim Bechtel Wins $10K 2-7 Single-Draw for $253,817
- 23 Rami Boukai Wins 2019 WSOP Event #23: $1,500 8-Game Mix for $177,294
- 24 John Gorsuch Rebounds from 2 Bigs to Win 2019 WSOP Millionaire Maker for $1,344,930
- 25 Andrew Donabedian Turns $600 Into $205,605 Payday at 2019 WSOP
- 26 Michael Mizrachi Wins His Fifth Bracelet!
- 27 Stephen Song Battles To Capture First Bracelet and $341,854 in Event #28: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em
- 28 "Silent Assassin" Thomas Cazayous Wins the WSOP $3K Six-Max for $414,766
- 29 Greg Mueller Wins His Third Bracelet, Takes Down WSOP $10,000 H.O.R.S.E.
- 30 Luis Zedan Wins 2019 WSOP Event #30: $1K PLO for $236,673; Will Donate 35% to Charity
- 31 Roman Korenev Wins 2019 WSOP Event #26 for $477,401 After "Marathon" Battle
- 32 Australian Robert Campbell Wins Maiden WSOP Bracelet in $1,500 Limit 2-7
- 33 Upeshka "gomezhamburg" De Silva Wins His Third Bracelet in WSOP Online Event
- 34 Howard Mash Wins First Bracelet and $662,594 in WSOP Seniors Championship
- 35 Adam Friedman Goes Back-to-Back in WSOP $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship
- 36 David Lambard Claims First WSOP Bracelet in Event #36: $3,000 NLH Shootout
- 37 Salt Lake's Robert Mitchell Wins Event #37: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack ($297,537)
- 38 Joseph Cheong Breaks Through, Wins $1K Double Stack for $687,782
- 39 Ismael Bojang Wins WSOP Gold Bracelet and $298,507 in 10th 2019 WSOP Cash
- 40 Hennigan Wins Sixth Bracelet in $10,000 Seven Card Stud, Negreanu Second
- 41 Dan 'centrfieldr' Lupo Wins $500 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack for $145,274
- 42 Aristeidis Moschonas Turns Chip-and-a-Chair into Event #42: $600 Mixed NLH/PLO Deepstack Win
- 43 Michael Blake Wins Event #39: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em, Shulman Second
- 44 Loren Klein Wins 4th Bracelet in 4 Years; Claims $127,808 in Event #43: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet
- 45 Asi Moshe Captures Third WSOP Bracelet in $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Bounty
- 46 Stephen Chidwick Captures First WSOP Bracelet in Event #45: $25K PLO High Roller for $1,618,417
- 47 Ari Engel Wins His First WSOP Bracelet and $427,399 in Event #48: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em
- 48 Luke Schwartz Latest To Win First Bracelet, Triumphs in $10K 2-7 Championship
- 49 South Korea's Jiyoung Kim Wins 2019 WSOP Ladies Championship for $167,308
- 50 Jason "TheBigGift" Gooch Does It; Wins $1,000 WSOP.com Online Event!
- 51 Brazil's Yuri Martins Dzivielevski Captures First Bracelet and $213,750!
- 52 WCOOP Winner Jonas Lauck Secures First WSOP Bracelet and $260,335 in $1,500 Turbo Bounty
- 53 Santiago Soriano Wins $371,203 and First Bracelet in the WSOP $800 Deepstack
- 54 Dash Dudley Wins Event #52: $10,000 PLO Championship ($1,086,967)
- 55 Kevin Gerhart Dominates $1,500 Razz Final Table to Win First WSOP Bracelet and $119,054
- 56 Another Day, Another Millionaire; Kainalu McCue-Unciano Wins the WSOP Monster Stack
- 57 Israel's Team Geiger Wins WSOP $1,000 Tag Team Event
- 58 Joe Foresman Wins 2019 WSOP $600 Deepstack Championship for Nearly $400K
- 59 Anthony Zinno Wins 2019 WSOP $1,500 PLO Hi-Lo for 2nd Career Bracelet; Aims for POY
- 60 Phil Hui's Dream Comes True as He Conquers $50K Poker Players Championship for $1,099,311
- 61 Scott Seiver Wins $10,000 Razz Championship for Third WSOP Bracelet
- 62 Anatolii Zyrin Denies Yueqi Zhu Title Defense to Win WSOP $1,500 Omaha Mix Title
- 63 Sejin Park Claims First-Ever Open Event Bracelet for South Korea; Wins 2019 WSOP Colossus for $451,272
- 64 Nicholas "Illari" Baris Wins $303,739 in Massive WSOP.com ONLINE Championship
- 65 Nick Schulman Wins Third Bracelet in Event #65: $10,000 PLO8 or Better Championship
- 66 David “ODB” Baker Steamrolls $1,500 Limit Hold’em to Capture 2nd WSOP Gold Bracelet
- 67 Robert Campbell Wins His Second Bracelet of the Summer in $10K Stud Hi-Lo, Grabs POY Lead
- 68 French Pro Jeremy Saderne Wins 2019 WSOP Mini Main Event ($628,654)
- 69 From Working at In-N-Out Burger to Crushing Poker; Rick Alvarado Triumphs in WSOP Crazy Eights for $888,888
- 70 Brandon "DrOctagon" Adams Wins WSOP.com ONLINE High Roller for $411,560
- 71 High Roller Joao Vieira Wins First Bracelet and $758,011 in $5,000 6-Max
- 72 Juha Helppi Finally Does It: Finnish Poker Hero Claims First Bracelet in $10K Limit!
- 73 Susan Faber Wins First Bracelet in Event #71: $500 Salute to Warriors No-Limit Hold'em
- 74 Shawn "bucky21" Buchanan Wins His First Bracelets, Takes Down $800 WSOP.com ONLINE 6-Max ($223,119)
- 75 Danny Tang Wins $50,000 Final Fifty for $1,608,406: "I Want to go Down in the History Books"
- 76 Tu Dao Wins WSOP $3,000 Limit Hold'em 6-Max for $133,189
- 77 James Anderson Wins 2019 WSOP Little One for One Drop for $690,686
- 78 Denmark's Maximilian Klostermeier Wins First Bracelet in Event #78: $1,500 PLO Bounty
- 79 Shankar Pillai Takes Down 2019 WSOP $1,500 Bracelet Winners Only Event
- 80 Ivan Deyra's Dream Comes True; Wins Event #79: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em ($380,090)
- 81 Boyhood Dream Achieved: Jerry Odeen Wins WSOP Bracelet for $304,793
- 82 Keith Tilston Wins 2019 WSOP $100K High Roller; Negreanu Finishes as Runner-Up
- 83 Tom Koral Wins Second Bracelet in Event #82: $1,500 NLH Double Stack ($530,164)
- 84 Taylor "Galactar" Paur Wins his Second Bracelet in $500 WSOP.com ONLINE Summer Saver
- 85 Abhinav Iyer Takes Down The Closer to Win His First Bracelet and $565,346
- 86 Alan Sternberg Wins $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed for First WSOP Bracelet
- 87 Carl Shaw Defeats Tony Dunst to Claim First Bracelet & $606,562, Hellmuth Sixth
- 88 Anuj Agarwal Wins $10K 6-Max on Last Day of 2019 WSOP ($630,747)
- 89 Denis Strebkov Wins His First Bracelet and $206,173 Top-Prize in $3k H.O.R.S.E.
- 90 Hossein Ensan Wins the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event for $10,000,000
