Event #73: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em MAIN EVENT - World Championship
Days:
Event #73: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em MAIN EVENT - World Championship
Day 2ab Completed

Shades of 2016 as Qui Nguyen Finishes Day 2ab With Heaps

mnuwwarah • Level 10: 1,000-2,000, 2,000 ante
Qui Nguyen took to the mic before a very successful day at the felt
Qui Nguyen took to the mic before a very successful day at the felt

The first day of a true field being culled went down in the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event as Day 2ab wrapped up just before midnight Saturday evening at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. The field of 3,248 - plus about 100 start-of-day entries - was reduced to 1,087 survivors by the close of play.

The day proved far less eventful than Day 1c as a relatively normal five levels of poker played out, but that was likely to the relief of everyone involved.

A former Main Event champ had a big day from start to finish, beginning with a turn on the mic before the first card was dealt. Qui Nguyen, who took down poker's biggest tournament in a memorable and very lengthy final table in 2016, took the stage early to announce the shuffle and deal. He cracked wise about the length of the event and not to get too excited this early, but it certainly can't hurt to have a Day 2 like he had.

Already with a solid stack of 180,500 to kick it off, Nguyen had double that in the first level of play when he cracked aces with ace-deuce, flopping a wheel. He was soon north of 400,000 and continued to build from there until he bagged 602,400 by midnight.

The years since Nguyen's victory have not been especially auspicious in terms of poker winnings, as Nguyen has collected just around $13,000 since that $8 million windfall. Still, Nguyen has proven he can get through a field of this size once before, and he's off to a great start after two days of play.

He said he had to play off his image a bit, developed from his fearless play back in 2016.

"I played my normal game at first, people know that I am aggressive and that's how I was able to chip up," he said. "I did have to change my style, though. I know it's still a long way to go. So, I just want to make the money first."

Several leaders emerged with more than 700,000 to pace the field. Timothy Su (791,000) is the official end-of-day leader, followed by Tony Blanchandin (744,500, Anton Morgenstern, Florian Duta (731,500), and Galen Hall (705,900).

Timothy Su
Timothy Su appears to have the chip lead after Day 2ab.

Dan Colpoys looked to be among that number before Morgenstern chopped him down just before play ended, flopping a flush in a three-bet pot against Colpoys' top pair, which also blocked the nut flush and turned into top two on the turn. Morgenstern doubled through with a river check-shove to leave Colpoys bagging 392,800.

Chris Ferguson, Daniel Negreanu, Ryan Riess, Justin Bonomo, Stephen Chidwick and Phil Galfond were some of the most notable names going bust during the course of Day 2ab play. Galfond said he got sneaky and flatted a raise with kings, only to get stacks in against a three-bettor and run into aces.

Everyone who did make it through returns to the Rio on Monday for Day 3. Before that, there's the matter of Day 2c, which takes place on Sunday from 11 a.m. The monster field will pack every available room in the house, and PokerNews will be on hand to relate what goes down as the WSOP Main Event action continues.

Tags: Qui Nguyen

End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)

poolshir • Level 10: 1,000-2,000, 2,000 ante
Timothy Su us
Timothy Su
us 791,000 493,700
Tony Blanchandin FR
Tony Blanchandin
FR 744,500 586,500
Anton Morgenstern de
Anton Morgenstern
de 735,000
Florian Duta ro
Florian Duta
ro 731,500 66,500
Galen Hall us
Galen Hall
us 705,900 -19,100
Gerald Claunch us
Gerald Claunch
us 699,600 699,600
Rachid Amamou ch
Rachid Amamou
ch 688,000 -22,000
Bryan Buonocore US
Bryan Buonocore
US 668,800 535,100
Anthony Spinella us
Anthony Spinella
us 643,700 -56,300
Brian Yoon us
Brian Yoon
us 643,400 46,400
Richard Barabino US
Richard Barabino
US 606,000 378,500
Pavlo Veksler ua
Pavlo Veksler
ua 605,400 5,400
Pim Gieles nl
Pim Gieles
nl 604,600 134,600
Gary Blackwood gb
Gary Blackwood
gb 604,300
Qui Nguyen us
Qui Nguyen
us 602,400 122,400
Rory Brown ie
Rory Brown
ie 596,000 66,000
Marc Foggin gb
Marc Foggin
gb 582,200 -27,800
Luke Martinelli au
Luke Martinelli
au 575,300 87,300
Steve Hwang US
Steve Hwang
US 566,800 438,800
Tobias Duthweiler de
Tobias Duthweiler
de 563,000 435,100
Michael Mather US
Michael Mather
US 561,900 426,500
Hugo Pingray fr
Hugo Pingray
fr 543,300 469,500
Adam Owen gb
Adam Owen
gb 511,800 81,800
Christian Stratmeyer DE
Christian Stratmeyer
DE 506,900 337,000
Ali Eslami us
Ali Eslami
us 506,200 386,300

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Monster Pot for Morgenstern

poolshir • Level 10: 1,000-2,000, 2,000 ante
Anton Morgenstern
Anton Morgenstern

Anton Morgenstern raised to 5,000 from under the gun and Daniel Colpoys three-bet to 17,000 from the cutoff. Action folded back to Morgenstern who made the call.

The flop came {8-Diamonds}{5-Diamonds}{k-Diamonds}, Morgenstern check-called the 15,000 continuation-bet of Colpoys.

The turn was the {a-Clubs}, Morgenstern checked again and now Colpoys barreled a bet of 26,000 over the line which Morgenstern called.

The river completed the board with the {j-Spades}, Morgenstern checked for the last time. Colpoys fired 52,000 into the pot and Morgenstern responded with a shove of 295,000. Colpoys made the call with {a-Diamonds}{k-Spades} for the turned top two pair but was beat by the {q-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds} of Morgenstern who had flopped the flush.

This launched Morgenstern towards the top of the chip counts while Colpoys dropped more than half of his stack.

Anton Morgenstern de
Anton Morgenstern
de 735,000 373,000
Daniel Colpoys us
Daniel Colpoys
us 350,000 -425,000
Kenny Hallaert be
Kenny Hallaert
be 247,000 27,000

Tags: Daniel ColpoysAnton Morgenstern

Blackwood Scores a Late Knockout

zedmaster84 • Level 10: 1,000-2,000, 2,000 ante
Gary Blackwood
Gary Blackwood

In the penultimate hand of the night, Matthew Maccaroni raised to 4,500 in the hijack and Gary Blackwood on the button three-bet to 13,500. The big blind four-bet to 32,000 and that forced out Maccaroni, but Blackwood stuck his stack of T-5,000 in. The big blind eventually called for around 120,000 and the cards were turned over.

Big blind: {a-Spades}{k-Clubs}
Gary Blackwood: {k-Diamonds}{k-Spades}

The board ran out {j-Spades}{j-Hearts}{6-Spades}{5-Diamonds}{7-Clubs} and Blackwood's kings held up.

Gary Blackwood gb
Gary Blackwood
gb 604,300 104,300

Tags: Gary BlackwoodMatthew Maccaroni

Last Four Hands

zedmaster84 • Level 10: 1,000-2,000, 2,000 ante

The clock has been stopped and another four hands will be played for tonight.

Ace-Queen Works for Kahan

zedmaster84 • Level 10: 1,000-2,000, 2,000 ante

Initial raiser Joel Feldman from under the gun picked up two callers including David Kahan in the small blind and the action on the {10-Diamonds}{10-Hearts}{6-Clubs} flop checked to Feldman. His bet of 5,000 was called only by Kahan, who then check-called another 11,000 on the {5-Hearts} turn.

The {k-Diamonds} river was checked and Kahan tabled {a-Spades}{q-Clubs} as the winning hand.

David Kahan be
David Kahan
be 174,000 123,000
Joel Feldman au
Joel Feldman
au 51,000 -44,000

Tags: David KahanJoel Feldman

Full House For Minkin

AaronMcBride • Level 10: 1,000-2,000, 2,000 ante
Kelly Minkin
Kelly Minkin

Kelly Minkin raised to 5,500 from under the gun and the player in the cutoff called.

The flop fell {k-Spades}{7-Spades}{6-Clubs}, and Minkin's 6,000 continuation bet was again called.

The {10-Spades} hit the turn, and Minkin slowed down by checking, and when her opponent checked behind, the {6-Spades} peeled off on the river.

Minkin bet 17,000, and her opponent called. Minkin, who finished in 50th place in the 2018 Main Event, tabled {k-Diamonds}{k-Hearts} for a full house, and her opponent mucked and announced he held a flush.

Kelly Minkin us
Kelly Minkin
us 480,000 185,000

Tags: Kelly Minkin

Kessler Takes from Yoon

123md • Level 10: 1,000-2,000, 2,000 ante

Picking up the action after the turn of a {6-Clubs}{8-Clubs}{8-Hearts}{2-Clubs} board with about 40,000 in the pot, Allen Kessler checked from under the gun and Brian Yoon bet 25,000 from the hijack. Kessler called.

The river was the {3-Hearts} and both checked.

Kessler tabled {q-Hearts}{q-Diamonds}, Yoon mucked and Kessler won the pot.

Brian Yoon us
Brian Yoon
us 597,000 -11,000
Allen Kessler us
Allen Kessler
us 435,000 45,000

Tags: Allen KesslerBrian Yoon