Day 3 of the 2019 WSOP Main Event Awaits With Julian Milliard Leading the 2,880 Remaining Players
Over the course of three starting days, as well as two Day 2's, the second-largest World Series of Poker Main Event field has been whittled down from 8,569 players total to 2,880. For the first time, all players will join together to create one big field, spread across the Amazon, Brasilia, and Pavilion tournament rooms of the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Combining All Players
With 1,334 players on Day 1a, 1,914 on Day 1b, and 4,877 on Day 1c, the 2019 Main Event was already the second-biggest Main Event in the tournament's history. With another 100 late registrants on Day 2ab and a massive 344 extra players on Day 2c, that position was only amplified. Here's a look at the players and survivors so far:
| Day | Players Starting | Players Late Regging | Players Total for Day | Players Total Cumulative | Players Surviving |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1a | 1,334 | - | 1,334 | 1,334 | 962 |
| 1b | 1,914 | - | 1,914 | 3,248 | 1,421 |
| 1c | 4,877 | - | 4,877 | 8,125 | 3,664 |
| 2ab | 2,383 | 100 | 2,483 | 8,225 | 1,087 |
| 2c | 3,664 | 344 | 4,008 | 8,569 | 1,793 |
| 3 | 2,880 | - | 2,880 | 8,569 | TBD |
Day 3 Schedule
Play gets underway at noon local time, with blinds at 1,200/2,400 with a 2,400 big blind ante. Another 5 levels are scheduled, each of them lasting 120 minutes. There's a 20-minute break after each level along with a 60-minute dinner break after level 12, which should be around 4.20 p.m.
| Level | Duration | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 120 minutes | 1,200 | 2,400 | 2,400 |
| 20-minute break | ||||
| 12 | 120 minutes | 1,500 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 60-minute dinner break | ||||
| 13 | 120 minutes | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| 20-minute break | ||||
| 14 | 120 minutes | 2,500 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 20-minute break | ||||
| 15 | 120 minutes | 3,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
Payouts
While the new WSOP Main Event champion will not be crowned until July 16th, the first monetary rewards are looming. Last year, an elongated bubble phase on Day 3 lasted until the last hand of the evening, guaranteeing all remaining players $15,000 on bagging. The same $15,000 awaits 1,286 players this year, but with the second-largest field ever, the money might not be reached tonight, bursting on Day 4 in the early stages instead.
| Place | Payout | Place | Payout | Place | Payout | Place | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000,000 | 10-11 | $800,000 | 64-72 | $117,710 | 415-477 | $30,780 |
| 2 | $6,000,000 | 12-13 | $600,000 | 73-81 | $98,120 | 478-540 | $27,390 |
| 3 | $4,000,000 | 14-15 | $500,000 | 82-90 | $82,365 | 541-603 | $24,560 |
| 4 | $3,000,000 | 16-18 | $400,000 | 91-99 | $69,636 | 604-666 | $22,190 |
| 5 | $2,200,000 | 19-27 | $324,650 | 100-162 | $59,295 | 667-765 | $20,200 |
| 6 | $1,850,000 | 28-36 | $261,430 | 163-225 | $50,855 | 766-864 | $18,535 |
| 7 | $1,525,000 | 37-45 | $211,945 | 226-288 | $43,935 | 865-963 | $17,135 |
| 8 | $1,250,000 | 46-54 | $173,015 | 289-351 | $38,240 | 964-1062 | $15,970 |
| 9 | $1,000,000 | 55-63 | $142,215 | 352-414 | $34,845 | 1063-1286 | $15,000 |
Big Stacks
Leading the way after two days is Julian Milliard, who bagged 947,900 last night, an incredible feat since he started Day 2c with around twenty big blinds.
"I've had two crazy days," said Milliard after bagging Day 2c. "On Day 1, I was down to 4,000 chips and tripled with ace-nine vs ace-jack, and started today with 16,000. I then had ace-nine beat pocket tens and ran it up from there!"
Following closely behind Milliard is Vlastimil Pustina who also bagged close to 1 million chips with (930,700). According to Pustina, last year he busted about an hour before the bubble. Now attending his third World Series of Poker, he's determined to make a deep run after studying with a poker coach, staying active, meditating and - according to him - running good!
Pustina says a key hand from today was where he flopped top set against two pair to double up to around 160,000. Then, close to the end of the night, he got it in with a straight against top pair for a pot of over 600,000 chips.
Both Milliard and Pustina bagged close to 1 million chips but still have plenty of work to do as close competition is right on their tails with Andrew Brokos (895,400), Aleksa Pavicevic (867,700) and Nai Hu (798,300) rounding out the top five after two days of playing.
Many Notables Still Going Strong
Bracelet winner Galen Hall (705,900) finds himself in good position to make a deep run in the 2019 Main Event. He's joined by such familiar faces as Tom Cannuli (667,000), Anthony Spinella (643,700), Brian Yoon (643,400), 2016 Main Event Champion Qui Nguyen (602,400), Kathy Liebert (555,000), Adam Friedman (549,600), Sam Greenwood (535,800), Jeff Madsen (488,600), Andre Akkari (467,400) Jeff Lisandro (466,400), Brandon Cantu (464,500) Asi Moshe (464,100), Calvin Anderson (459,400), Andres Korn (447,400), Barny Boatman (445,000, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (428,200), David "ODB" Baker (418,700), and Cliff Josephy (402,00).
Team 888poker is still represented strong, some of their top stacks outside of Greenwood include Mikhail Sokolovskiy (395,200), Kyriakos Papadopouluos (351,400), Patrice Brandt (298,500), Vitor Dzivielevski (266,600), and Richard Kellett (250,100).
Defending Champion John Cynn had a strong showing on Day 2c and wields a stack of 248,900. Former Main Event Champions still in the hunt for another title are 1993 Main Event Champion Jim Bechtel (251,600), 1987 and 1988 Main Event Champion Johnny Chan (232,500), 2017 Main Event Champion Scott Blumstein (229,700), 2005 Main Event Champion Joe Hachem (57,00), 2003 Main Event Champion Chris Moneymaker (56,000), 2000 Main Event Champion Chris Ferguson (58,300), 1998 Main Event Champion Scotty Nguyen (17,500), and the aformentioned Qui Nguyen (602,400).
PokerNews will have an all-star team present, bringing live updates from the tournament floor. Live streaming of this event will take place on ESPN2 (7 p.m. - 11 p.m.). Streaming on PokerGO runs from 6-7 p.m. and 11-12:40 a.m. Make sure to check back regularly and don't miss anything as the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event rolls on!