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Ensan and Gates Have Most of Chips in Play after Day One of 2019 WSOP Main Event

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The final table of the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event kicked off on Sunday with nine players looking to win the second largest Main Event in history. By the end of the night, just five players remained.

Over the course of the night, the rich got richer with Hossein Ensan and Garry Gates growing their stacks. Zhen Cai started in good shape but ended up being the last player knocked out to end the night’s action.

Nick Marchington Manages to Ladder Up Two Spots

At the start of the Main Event final table, Nick Marchington and Timothy Su were the short stacks and typically, the short stack is one of the first or second players to fall at the final table. However, it was Milos Skrbic that managed to be the first player knocked out.

Skrbic started the final table seventh in chips and in the sixth hand of the final table looked down to A-J. That’s the type of hand most short stack would like to take a shot at doubling up and Skrbic attempted to do so. Unfortunately for him, Garry Gates woke up with A-Q. The board failed to produce a jack for Skrbic and he was the first player out, earning $1 million int he process.

Timothy Su started as the second shortest stack and he was the second player knocked out. In the 11th hand of play, Su shoved with pocket threes and Hossein Ensan made an easy call with A-J. Ensan was behind, but not for long as he spiked a jack on the flop and that end up sending Su to the rail to collect $1.25 million in prize money.

Nick Marchington hung on for 32 hands but ultimately fell to Ensan. Ensan raised with pocket kings pre-flop and Marchington decided to shove with Ad-7c. Ensan made the easy call and Marchington fist-bumped Ensan wishing him good luck. By the turn, Marchington had an open-ended straight draw and ten outs to win, but he missed his outs and was eliminated in seventh. Instead of winning just $1 million for ninth, Marchington managed to hang on to finish in seventh, earning $1,525,000.

Play Continues Until Cai Elimination

If you read our prior report, you know that action was supposed to conclude when six players were reached. WSOP officials decided to play out the level they were on or until another player was eliminated. Since the level had recently started, that meant about two hours of play.

Just before the end of the level, we had our fourth elimination of the night. Zhen Cai came into the final table third in chips, but he steadily sank down the counts as the night progressed. His misfortune resulted in a sixth-place finish. He saw A-K pre-flop and decided to shove and Kevin Maah called with pocket nines. The flop gave Cai a straight draw, but he received no further help. As such, Cai left to collect $1.85 million in prize money.

Ensan and Gates Lead Final Five

Just five players remain in the 2019 WSOP Main Event. Hossein Ensan and Garry Gates still remain your overall chip leaders. Hossein managed to crack the 200 million mark while Gates grew his stack to 171.7 million.

This final table is a story of the haves and have nots. Ensan and Gates have most of the chips in play and the other three players are looking to catch fire just to play for a shot at heads-up play.

Final table action resumes on Monday night and we’ll likely see the event play down to heads-up unless the stacks change dramatically for one of the bottom three players. Each player is guaranteed at least $2.2 million in prize money with $10 million going to the eventual winner.

Below is a quick rundown of the chip stacks for the final five:

  • Hossein Ensan – Germany – 207.7 million
  • Garry Gates – United States – 171.7 million
  • Kevin Maahs – United States – 66.5 million
  • Alex Livingston – Canada – 45.8 million
  • Dario Sammartino – Italy – 23.1 million

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