$5,300 Championship Event Day 2 | 2019 Wynn Winter Classic

12-20-2019 01:26 UTC-7

Ben Farrell Leads as 31 Bag on Day 2 of Wynn Winter Classic Championship

Chad Holloway

Level 20 : 8,000/16,000, 16,000 ante

The inaugural Wynn Winter Classic $5,300 buy-in Championship Event – the biggest buy-in tournament the venue has held in over five years – crushed its $1.5 million guarantee as 557 entrants created a $2,740,440 prize pool.

Waiting up top for the winner is a hefty $540,800 payday, and after Day 2 ended on Thursday night, just 31 players remaining in contention for it. The man best positioned to make a run at it is the UK’s Ben Farrell, who bagged up the chip lead with 3.25 million.

Farrell will be adding to a career year that has already seen him earn $663,363 in live tournament earnings. That included a pair of six-figure scores here in Vegas over the summer when he won the WPT500 ARIA for $155,000 and a couple weeks later took down the Planet Hollywood Goliath Phamous Series Main Event for $162,400.

Others to bag big stacks advancing to Day 3 were Peter Nigh (2,105,000), Ryan Tosoc (1,505,000), Louis Salter (1,345,000), and Joe Kuether (1,340,000), who round out the top five.

They will be joined by players likeMatt Glantz (885,000), Justin Bonomo (825,000), Daniel Strelitz (805,000), Kahle Burns (790,000), Ryan Leng (715,000), and Ankush Mandavia (700,000).

Among those to finish in the money on Day 2 were Ryan Laplante (36th - $15,101), Nadya Magnus (37th - $15,101), Maria Ho (39th - $15,101), Maria Konnikova (42nd - $15,101), Ryan Olisar (48th - $13,211), HPT Season XV Player of the Year Nick Pupillo (53rd - $13,211), Kou Vang (57th - $11,619), Andrew Ostapchenko (58th - $11,619), and Curt Kohlberg (61st - $11,619).

Not everyone was fortunate enough to cash as roughly a couple hundred players fell short of the money including Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton, Anthony Zinn, Scott Baumstein, David “The Dragon” Pham, Dan Shak, Anton Wigg, Chris Moorman, and bubble boy Uke Dauti, who lost a race with queens to the ace-king of Ron West thanks to an ace on the turn.

Day 2 of the tournament will kick off at noon local time on Friday and play down to a winner. The PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to capture all the action, so be sure to join us then.

12-19-2019 23:52 UTC-7

Konnikova's Run Ends in 42nd Place

Chad Holloway

Level 19 : 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante

We missed the elimination of Maria Konnikova as it happened but she was kind enough to fill us in on some details after the fact.

As she told it, she got short in a big hand against Justin Young. It happened when she raised from early position and Young defended the big blind. The two-club flop saw Young check and Konnikova continued. Young check-raised, Konnikova shoved, and Young called off.

Justin Young:
Maria Konnikova:

Konnikova had the better flush draw but a three on the river would give Young the win. Konnikova was left short and busted her last 4.5 bb a short time later running into . Konnikova hit the rail in 42nd place for $15,101.

Player	Chips	Progress
Maria Konnikova	Busted

Tags: Maria Konnikova

12-19-2019 22:17 UTC-7

A Quick Bubble - Uke Dauti Leaves Empty Handed

LoriPersinger

Level 18 : 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

On the first hand of hand-for-hand action Uke Dauti shoved his last 100,000 from the hijack and was called by Ron West, who started Day 2 as one of the shorter stacks, from the button.

After being given the go ahead both players tabled their hands.

Uke Dauti:
Ron West:

Dauti was ahead but needed to win a flip to avoid going out on the money bubble.

The flop was safe for Dauti, but an unfortunate on the turn changed things and the river sealed his fate, sending him to the rail and ensuring a payday for the remaining 62 players.

Uke Dauti and Ron West — The bubble hand.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ron West	353,000	93,000
Uke Dauti	Busted

Tags: Ron West Uke Dauti

12-19-2019 21:28 UTC-7

Don't Miss the Upcoming Wynn Signature Series in January

Chad Holloway

Level 17 : 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Players looking for some major live poker tournament action in January need to look no further than here at the Wynn with its Wynn Signature Series.

Taking place between January 15 and February 2, 2020 at the luxurious Wynn, Las Vegas, the festival guarantees more than $1.3 million will be won.

Massive $400,000 Guaranteed Event

The crown jewel of the Wynn Signature Series sees $400,000 guaranteed for a $1,100 buy-in.

This massive event features three starting flights, the first of which shuffling up and dealing at 12:00 p.m. on January 23.

Day 1B and Day 1C commence at the same time on January 24 and January 25 with the final day starting at 12:00 p.m. on January 26.

All three Day 1s see you sit down with 25,000 chips and play to 40-minutes blinds. The blinds remain the same on Day 2, too.

Should the $1,100 buy-in for this event be a little steep for your bankroll, Wynn is running two Super Satellites that only cost $200 to enter.

The first of these Super Satellites runs from 7:00 p.m. on January 23 while Day 1A of the $400,000 guaranteed event is running, while the second Super Satellite starts at 7:00 p.m. on January 24 while Day 1B is in full flow.

There was a $400,000 guaranteed $1,100 buy-in tournament that was part of the Wynn Fall Classic in October.

That particular event saw 473 entries battle it out for a slice of a $463,162 prize pool.

Sanket Desai banked $70,306 as part of a four-way deal with Eric Blair, Eric Baldwin, and Tamas Lendvai.

Here's a look at the festival's entire schedule:

Date	Time	Event	Guarantee	Buy-in
Wed 15 Jan	12:00 p.m.	NLH $3K Survivor $100 Bounty	$40,000	$400
Thu 16 Jan	12:00 p.m.	Limit Omaha 8/B	$10,000
	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Day 1		$150,000
Fri 17 Jan	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Day 1B	$150,000	$600
	7:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Turbo	$10,000	$200
Sat 18 Jan	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Day 2	$150,000
	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em	$50,000	$550
Sun 19 Jan	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em	$40,000	$400
	7:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Turbo	$10,000	$200
Mon 20 Jan	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em	$40,000	$400
Tue 21 Jan	12:00 p.m.	Pot Limit Omaha	$20,000	$400
	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Day 1A	$100,000	$400
Wed 22 Jan	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Day 1B	$100,000	$400
Thu 23 Jan	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Day 2
	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Day 1A	$400,000	$1,100
	7:00 p.m.	Super Satellite		$200
Fri 24 Jan	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Day 1B	$400,000	$1,100
	7:00 p.m.	Super Satellite		$200
Sat 25 Jan	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Day 1C	$400,000	$1,100
Sun 26 Jan	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Day 2
	1:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em	$100,000	$1,100
Mon 27 Jan	12:00p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Day 1A	$200,000	$600
Tue 28 Jan	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Day 1B	$200,000	$600
Wed 29 Jan	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Day 1C	$200,000	$600
Thu 30 Jan	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Day 2
	1:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em	$40,000	$400
Fri 31 Jan	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em	$40,000	$400
	7:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em Turbo	$10,000	$200
Sat 1 Feb	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em	$50,000	$550
Sun 2 Feb	12:00 p.m.	No Limit Hold’em	$20,000	$300

12-19-2019 17:13 UTC-7

River Saves Olisar

LoriPersinger

Level 14 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

After preflop action folded around to Ryan Olisar on the button he shoved he last remaining chips. The player in the small blind folded and Ryan Leng quickly made the call from his big blind. Olisar saw that he was up against a monster but had two live suited cards.

Ryan Olisar:
Ryan Leng:

The dealer spread an action flop of , which gave Leng top pair-top quicker and gave Olisar the inside straight flush draw. The was of no help to Olisar, but the was one of the outs he needed to avoid hitting the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ryan Leng	360,000	-80,000
Ryan Olisar	250,000	40,000

Tags: Ryan Leng Ryan Olisar

12-19-2019 14:19 UTC-7

From Worst to First

LoriPersinger

Level 12 : 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante

We caught the preflop action with three players all in just as the dealer was spreading the flop.

Ryan Laplante;
Taylor Hale:
Denise Pratt:

Laplante had the dominating hand and dominating chip stack, but that all changed on the flop. The turn and river secured the triple-up for Pratt, eliminated Hale and put a slight dent in Laplante's chip stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ryan Laplante	140,000	-52,500
Denise Pratt	134,000	79,000
Taylor Hale	Busted

Tags: Denise Pratt Ryan Laplante Taylor Hale

12-19-2019 13:05 UTC-7

Update Your Own Chip Count Using the PokerNews MyStack App!

Chad Holloway

Level 11 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

PokerNews has activated the MyStack App for this event, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting blog using your iPhone or Android phone.

You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.

Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android.

12-19-2019 12:52 UTC-7

Welcome to Day 2 of the 2019 Wynn Winter Classic Championship.

Chad Holloway

The inaugural $5,300 buy-in Wynn Winter Championship – the biggest buy-in tournament the venue has held in over five years – had no problem passing its $1.5 million guarantee as 435 entrants competed on Day 1 of the tournament. With late registration and re-entries open until the start of Level 13 (approx. 2:10 p.m.) today that number is sure to go up.

Today, 190 Day 1 survivors will return along with any newcomers. Starting the day as the big stack is Serbia's Marko Pantelic with 357,000. Others flush with chips include Alex Rocha (330,000), Patrick Serda (279,000), Michael Dyer (254,000), and David “The Dragon” Pham (233,000).

They will be joined by players like HPT Season XV POY Nick Pupillo (206,500), bracelet winner Ryan Laplante (192,500), Matt Glantz (168,000), WPT Venetian champ Ben Palmer (149,000), 888poker Ambassador Daria Feshchenko (101,000), and Maria Ho (112,000).

“This is a great time of year to return to the larger buy-in tournament scene,” Ryan Beauregard, Executive Director of Poker Operations, said previously. “There are a handful of fantastic events in Las Vegas bookmarking this $5,300 Championship, and I would really love to see this December timeframe become an annual ‘must play’ on everyone’s tournament calendar.”

Tournament Director Ray Pulford added: “I am confident that this tournament will generate a multimillion-dollar prize-pool. We are consistently fielding player requests to run bigger buy-in events, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to grow our Wynn Classic offerings.”

Players who late register today will start with 50,000 in tournament chips. Levels will last 60 minutes each with a 10-minute break every two levels. There will be a 75-minute dinner break at the end of Level 16 (approximately 6:30-7:45 p.m.). All players remaining in the event at that time can enjoy complimentary entry to the Wynn Buffet. A designated entry lane and reserved seating have already been arranged, meaning players can get in and out with ease.

Here's a look at the structure for Day 2, which will play through Level 20 (approx. 11:45 p.m.):

Level	Small Blind	Big Blind	BBA
11	1,000	2,000	2,000
12	1,500	2,500	2,500
13	2,000	3,000	3,000
14	2,000	4,000	4,000
15	3,000	5,000	5,000
16	3,000	6,000	6,000
17	4,000	8,000	8,000
18	5,000	10,000	10,000
19	6,000	12,000	12,000
20	8,000	16,000	16,000