They haven’t quite reached the money at the 2019 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event but, after the completion of Day 2, that target is within sight. Only 129 players remain, with 82 of them being paid from the €5.1 million-plus prize pool, and Lithuania’s Paulius Vaitiekunas leading the way. On another front, Daniel Negreanu is stunning those in attendance at the King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic, by storming past both Shaun Deeb and Robert Campbell to take over the lead in the WSOP Player of the Year race.
Day 2 Whittles the Field Close to the Bubble
After Day 1B brought the field to a total of 541 entries (falling short of the record 593 PLAYERS that entered in 2011), 279 players actually came back on Sunday for action in the King’s Casino tournament arena. Leading the way was Day 1A chip leader Alex Foxen, whose 537,200 in chips was able to withstand the assault of Kahle Burns, who emerged from Day 1B as the chip leader with 497,700 in chips. Starting the day atop the standings, Foxen and Burns would take divergent paths, with one not making it through the day.
Both players would suffer through up and down sessions, but Foxen was able to recover better from the setbacks than Burns did. After being as low as 200,000, Foxen reached down for some fortitude and actually found himself finish off the night with 813,000 in chips. Burns would not be as fortunate, with his top pair losing to a rivered straight, to head to the rail.
Burns would find plenty of popular company in that location. Reigning World Champion Hossein Ensan and former World Champs Ryan Riess and Phil Hellmuth headlined a list of those knocked out during the day’s action. Others joining these men included Dominik Nitsche, Ole Schemion and Phillip Hui, but Shawn Deeb made it through the minefields to bag a smallish but still alive 118,000 stack that he will have to get into action on Monday if he is to earn any more WSOP POY points.
It was Vaitiekunas who was the star of the day, however. He never really risked a huge portion of his stack at any point during the day, climbing the ladder slowly. He will be looking to solidify his position at the point of this crew during Day 3 on Monday in Rozvadov:
1. Paulius Vaitiekunas, 1.221 million
2. Ahmad Achegsie, 1.213 million
3. Daan Mulders, 1.191 million
4. Alexandros Kolonias, 1.115 million
5. Martin Kristeller, 1.1 million
6. Vadzim Lipauka, 964,000
7. Daniel Rezaei, 911,000
8. Julien Martini, 887,000
9. Duco ten Haven 880,000
10. Markus Durnegger, 874,000
Other notables with decent stacks include David ‘ODB’ Baker (720,000), 2019 WSOP Championship Event runner-up Dario Sammartino (687,000), Anthony Zinno (430,000) and Roberto Romanello (425,000).
Play resumes at noon on Monday (6AM Eastern Time) and the money bubble will be popped.
Negreanu Storms into POY Lead
Stunning those in attendance, Daniel Negreanu has stormed past the two contenders ahead of him in the WSOP Player of the Year race, defending POY Shaun Deeb and two-time 2019 WSOP bracelet winner Robert Campbell, to take over the lead in the race for the 2019 WSOP POY.
In third place a week ago, Negreanu has used four cashes to pass those two men in the race for the POY. A final table finish in Event #10, the €25,000 Mixed Games Championship, topped off the four finishes and gave Negreanu a total of 3971.54 points. That bypassed Campbell (3857.97) and Deeb (3710.64) and sets up for a stretch run that will be very interesting.
With only the Main Event and the €500 Colossus left on the 2019 WSOP Europe schedule, there are scant points left available for the players. The Main Event will give out an unofficial 1227 points to the winner and a minimum of 61 points for a cash. Deeb is the only player left who has a shot at earning points to catch up with Negreanu from just the Main Event and he would have to earn at least a ninth-place finish (once again, an unofficial 307 points) to pass Negreanu.
Add in the Colossus and things get even more interesting. Last year in Rozvadov, the Colossus generated 2992 entries (at €500 a pop) to build more than a €1.4 million prize pool. If that number is reached this year, the possible first place points would be an unofficial 1045. That would mean that everyone down to Burns (in sixth place with 2983.37 points) would have a shot at catching Negreanu, including fourth place Phillip Hui (3186.17); fifth place Daniel Zack (3126.13 points) is not in Rozvadov for the festivities.
It is quite a fluid situation and it really does depend on how big the 2019 Colossus is. But it will take the race for the 2019 WSOP Player of the Year all the way to the end of the line. Will Negreanu survive? We will find out when the final event of the 2019 World Series of Poker – in both Las Vegas and Rozvadov – wraps up for the year.
