2019 World Series of Poker

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).

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.

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 , Morgenstern check-called the 15,000 continuation-bet of Colpoys.

The turn was the , 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 , 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 for the turned top two pair but was beat by the 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.

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:
Gary Blackwood:

The board ran out and Blackwood's kings held up.

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

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

The river was checked and Kahan tabled as the winning hand.

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

The flop fell , and Minkin's 6,000 continuation bet was again called.

The hit the turn, and Minkin slowed down by checking, and when her opponent checked behind, the 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 for a full house, and her opponent mucked and announced he held a flush.

The board read with around 95,000 in the middle already.

Stefan Huber bet 31,000 from the small blind and the player on the button raised to 102,000. Huber tanked for a while but ended up folding reluctantly.

Picking up the action after the turn of a 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 and both checked.

Kessler tabled , Yoon mucked and Kessler won the pot.