2015 Main Event Champion Joe McKeehen still in contention heading into the second day.
March 16, 2019 (Harrah's Atlantic City) - Both of the starting flights in the World Series of Poker Main Event at Harrah's Atlantic City are now complete, and Anthony Maio (pictured) has risen to the top of the food chain, bagging the Day 1B chip lead.
Maio is no amateur to the circuit, boasting almost $350,000 in WSOP earnings and one ring to his name. He will be heading into the second day of the tournament as one of the favorites to take down the title with his 326,000 stack cementing him into third on the leader board.
If he snatches the first place prize he will be adding his second six figure cash to his WSOP resume, with the first coming at the series last year in Event #61: $1,000 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold'em Championship for $175,207.
Day 1A saw a total of 141 entries walk through the doors, by nights end only 31 bagged up and moved on. The second flight saw 216 slips sold, with just 48 remaining at the end of 15-levels of play, having 79 of the 357 slips sold making it to Day 2.
The 357 slips collected shattered last years circuit total of 306, and crushed the $400,000 prize pool guarantee that was set, gathering a total of $540,855. There will be 36 players finding a payday, with a min-cash pulling in $2,796, and the eventual champion winner pocketing $124,397.
The 79 players to make it through their respective Day 1, will all be in a race to catch Hamid Izadi, who finished Day 1A with 493,500 in chips. Izadi has been on a heater as of late, making deep runs in almost every venue he attends. Look for him to continue the trend with another deep run and take down his first circuit main event, adding a third ring to his collection.
A very well-known pro will be taking a bag into Day 2 in Joe McKeehen, with a stack of 151,000. McKeehen is by far the most experienced and highest earning player left in the field, having over ten million in WSOP cashes. He has two bracelets, one of which is the 2015 Main Event for an outstanding $7,683,346. McKeehen also has three rings to his name, one he acquired earlier this week in Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack.
Some other notable players to advance include Kush Patel (200,000), William Jennings (176,500), Michael Liang (156,000), Matt Brady (144,500), Paul Sokoloff (134,000), Chris Meyers (125,500), last years champion Soheb Porbandarwala (121,500), Aaron Mermelstein (110,000), and Marshall White (64,500).
The remaining players from the two starting flights will combine to play Day 2 on Sunday at noon. A total of 10, 60-minute levels will be played or until the final table is reached before bagging up and heading to Day 3. Play begins at level 16 with the blinds at 2,000/4,000 and a big blind ante of 4,000.
Here are the top 10 chip counts after Day 1B. For full chip counts click on the REPORTS tab, above.
1 - Hamid Izadi - 493,500
2 - Aaron Miles - 357,000
3 - Anthony Maio - 326,000
4 - Matthew Zola - 270,500
5 - Vikhtiuk Oleksandr - 265,500
6 - Jayaram Kovoor-Chathoth - 240,000
7 - Kevin Johnson - 236,000
8 - John Lytle - 234,500
9 - David Mcconachie - 233,000
10 - Dylan Murcott - 224,500