The 2015 WSOP Event #19: $3,000 Limit Hold'em Six-Handed kicked off at 4 p.m. Sunday, drawing 319 entries by the time registration closed. An $870,870 prize pool was created that will pay 36 spots. A min-cash is worth $5,129 and along with a WSOP bracelet, $230,799 is reserved for first.

Several notable players built stacks through the first ten levels of play, including six-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu, back-to-back WSOP Main Event finalist Mark Newhouse, online high-stakes guru Brian Hastings, the venerable David Benyamine, Antonio Esfandiari and WSOP cash machine Maria Ho.

While other big names like Michael Mizrachi, Huck Seed, and David "ODB" Baker found a way in and out of the event, the relatively unknown Joseph Thomas took hold of the chip lead and was the only one of 160 Day 1 survivors to bag over 100,000 in chips.

They will all return for Day 2 at 2 p.m. local time Monday with plans to play down to a final table.