WSOP Day 36: Main Event Begins; Saliba Makes Final Day of Crazy Eights

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Jul 03, 2019 7 min read Last updated Dec 19, 2019

Day 36 of the 2019 World Series of Poker will be a big one with the $10,000 WSOP Main Event kicking off the first of its three starting days today.

This isn't the only big news of the day as two major events will be awarding bracelets today in the Rio Convention Center with a third one going to the winner of an online event at WSOP.com.

Lithuania's Aleksandras Rusinovas leads the way in the Crazy Eights hoping to bring the first bracelet home to Lithuania. Also in the mix with ten players remaining in this 888poker sponsored event is 888poker Ambassador Vivian Saliba, Vlad Darie, Patrick Clarke, and two-time bracelet winner Mark Radoja.

Meanwhile, the Mini Main Event is down to a final table of eight players with WSOP bracelet winner Andres Korn in the lead.

Here's what's on tap today, in the daily What to Watch For on PokerNews, sponsored by 888poker.

Event #64: $888 Crazy Eights No-Limit Hold'em

The Crazy Eights is down to a field of just ten players from the original monster field of 10,185 entrants and will play down to a winner today.

Several big stories have developed in this tournament first of which is 888poker Ambassador Vivian Saliba alive and well with a third-place chip stack of 43,500,000 in this 888poker sponsored event. If Saliba can pull off the win, she would not only become the first 888poker Ambassador to win this event, but also the first 888poker Ambassador to win a bracelet this series.

Another big story is that there is a chance that the first-ever gold bracelet will be awarded to Lithuania in this event. Two players from the small country of nearly 3 million people made it to the final ten. Chip leader Aleksandras Rusinovas (114,625,000) and Uselis Gediminas (43,400,000) are in the running to bring WSOP gold to Lithuania for the first time.

Also of interest is Vlad Darie (26,750,000) who has a strong chance to make his second final table in this event after previously taking sixth place out of a field of 8,120 entrants in 2017 to win $146,888.

Meanwhile, Mark Radoja (36,100,000) has a chance to add a third bracelet to his collection, and well-known Irish poker pro Patrick Clarke (36,000,000) is in contention for his first.

In addition, Thomas Drivas (58,600,000), Rick Alvarado (21,500,000), Mario Hofler (15,200,000), and Keun Kwak (12,000,000) are all still in the hunt for their first bracelet.

Each of the returning players is guaranteed an $82,130 payout with the winner walking away with a healthy $888,888 top prize and the coveted gold bracelet. The action resumes today at noon PDT with one hour blind levels starting at 600,000/1,200,000 and a big blind ante of 1,200,000.

Event #64: $888 Crazy Eights No-Limit Hold'em Final Day Seat Draw

Event #64: $888 Crazy Eights No-Limit Hold'em Payout

Event #69: $1,000 Mini Main Event

With a massive 5,521 entries into the Mini Main Event, a third day was added to this event that was initially scheduled as a two-day event.

The field is down to just eight players with WSOP bracelet winner Andres Korn in the lead with 75,000,000 in chips. The rest of the field, Jeremy Saderne (64,000,000), Yi Ma (62,600,000), Koji Takagi (44,000,000), Day 1 chip leader Lula Taylor (30,500,000), Stefan Widmer (28,400,000), Ben Alloggio (13,900,000), and Philip Gildea, are chasing their first bracelet.

The action resumes at noon PDT with blinds at 1,000,000/2,000,000 and a big blind ante of 2,000,000. Poker fans will not only be able to get updates here at PokerNews, but will also be able to follow along via live stream at CBS All Access in the United States, Canada, and Australia, and at PokerGO in the rest of the world.

Event #69: $1,000 Mini Main Event Final Table Seat Draw

Event #69: $1,000 Mini Main Event Final Table Payout

After yesterday's elimination of James Stewart (ninth - $55,118), the final eight players are each guaranteed a $71,199 payout with the winner going home with $628,654 and the coveted gold bracelet.

Event #70: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed

The field in this event grew from 751 entrants at the end of Day 1, to 815 entrants before the start of Day 2 when late registration closed to create a $3,789,750 prize pool.

After two days of play, just 28 players remain heading into today's penultimate day at 2 p.m. PDT. The blinds will start at 10,000/20,000 with a big blind ante of 20,000 and increase every hour. Today's action is scheduled to end when just six players remain with the final table tomorrow to be broadcasted at CBS All Access in the United States, Canada, and Australia, and at PokerGO in the rest of the world.

Joao Vieira will start today with a chip leading stack of 2,100,000 followed by Shahar Levi (1,800,000), Olivier Busquet (1,433,000), four-time bracelet winner and 2009 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada (1,389,000), and Bartlomiej Machon (1,265,000).

Event #71: $500 SALUTE TO WARRIORS No-Limit Hold'em

This new event was a way for poker players and the WSOP to be charitable with $40 of each buy-in donated to the United Services Organization (USO), which has provided live entertainment and other services for the active military for 77 years, and other military-related charities.

Yesterday's Day 1 attracted 1,723 entrants to create a $723,660 prize pool with the eventual winner taking home a bracelet and the $121,161 top prize.

Today will kick off at noon PDT with the 267 survivors scheduled to play 15 blinds levels of 40 minutes each starting at 2,500/5,000 and a big blind ante of 5,000. Tomorrow will be a day off to show respect for veterans as July 4 is Independence Day in the United States. Players surviving today will instead come back for one final day of play on July 5 until a winner is crowned.

Dominique Terzian (801,000) enters today's action with a massive lead over his nearest competitors Garry Stevens-Smith (572,000), Michael Nosek (517,000), Jordan Knackstedt (480,500), and Stanislav Angelov (391,000). Also bagging big was three-time bracelet winner Ben Yu (370,500).

Other bracelet winners still in contention include Mike Sexton (300,000), Arkadiy Tsinis (187,500), Robert Cheung (164,000), and Gregory Kolo (147,000).

Event #72: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship

This Championship Event attracted 110 entrants on Day 1 and is likely to surpass the 114 entrants in the field last year when Scott Seiver won the $296,222 top prize with late registration open until the start of Day 2.

A total of 51 players survived yesterday's action with Andrew Brown bagging up a chip leading stack of 337,000. Closest on Brown's tail are Anthony Marsico (283,500), four-time bracelet winner Eli Elezra (255,500), James Little (249,500), and Kyle Ray (237,500).

In addition to Elezra, several other bracelet winners are in contention to add another piece of hardware to their collection including Kevin Song (233,000), four-time winner Robert Mizrachi (219,000), two-time winner Josh Arieh (194,500), four-time winner and 2018 WSOP Player of the Year Shaun Deeb (149,500), two-time winner Phillip Hui (121,000), Matthew Schreiber (105,000), Tommy Hang (99,000), two-time winner Martin Kabrhel (92,000), 2010 WSOP Main Event runner-up John Racener (80,500), and three-time winner Benny Glaser (25,500).

Blind levels today increase from 60 to 90 minutes starting at 2,000/4,000 and betting limits at 4,000/8,000. Players are scheduled to bag chips after seven blind levels have been played.

Event #73: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em MAIN EVENT - World Championship

The moment poker fans have been waiting for has finally arrived with the Main Event kicking off the first of its three opening flights today at noon local time.

Players will start with a monster stack of 60,000 in chips and play today five blind levels of two hours each.

Last year witnessed the second largest Main Event field ever when John Cynn finished on top of a field of 7,874 entrants to win the $8.8 million top prize. The only time the Main Event was bigger was in 2006 when Jamie Gold navigated through a field of 8,773 entrants to win the $12 million top prize.

Read our dedicated WSOP Main Event article.

Event #74: $3,200 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold'em High Roller

Another one-day online bracelet event is scheduled to kick off today at 3:30 p.m. PDT. The field will likely be smaller compared to the other online bracelet events as this one features the largest price tag of them all setting players back $3,200 for every entry and reentry.

Players start with 25,000 in chips with blinds increasing every 20 minutes. Late registration is open for four hours during which time players can choose to reenter up to three times if they lose all of their chips.

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