Six Players Return for the First Final Table of the 50th Annual WSOP with Conniff in the Lead
At noon, it will be time for the first final table of the 50th Annual World Series of Poker here in the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. Six players will be returning to the felt to battle it out for the win and the coveted gold WSOP bracelet in Event #2: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty. The event attracted 204 entries in total, which created a prize pool of $1,305,600, meaning the winner will walk away with $345,669.
Asher Conniff will be back with a bit of a head start as he claimed the overnight chip lead with 4,125,000 in chips. Conniff already has a WSOP Circuit Ring which he won earlier this year here in Las Vegas but will be looking to add a bracelet to his collection after making his 34th WSOP cash in this event. A win would also be Conniff’s biggest WSOP cash to date and his second biggest in his career according to The Hendon Mob. This is the second time Conniff has arrived at the final table to battle it out for a bracelet. The last time was in 2015 in Berlin during the World Series of Europe when he finished in 9th place, but he's already improved on that run.
Trailing Conniff directly in the chip counts is Loren Klein with 3,130,000. Klein has won a bracelet during each year of the past three summers and will be trying to win his fourth in four consecutive years like Doyle Brunson and Bill Boyd did in the seventies. Klein’s previous bracelets were won playing Pot Limit Omaha with the bracelet he took home in 2016 being thanks to his mixed NLHE/PLO prowess. This event could see Klein claim his first NLHE bracelet and his third-biggest cash on the WSOP circuit.
Coming in in third place today is Ali Imsirovic who collected 2,180,000 on Day 1. Imsirovic and Conniff are no strangers to each other as they finished in first and second place earlier this year in the WSOP Circuit High Roller here in the Rio with Imsirovic claiming the title in the end. That victory was also the biggest WSOP cash of his career to date, but he has been on an amazing run already in the first half of the year. Imsirovic has notched six High Roller wins in 2019 alone and cashed for almost $1.4 million in total during the past five months.
Daniel Negreanu is off to a great start in his chase to become the 2019 Player of the Year as the newlywed bagged 1,015,000 overnight. The Canadian brings 13 big blinds to the table when the tournament restarts with almost seven minutes left in Level 27. 'Kid Poker' will be looking for a double-up early on, and this will also be the case for Ping Liu and Brian Green. While Negreanu might be the most experienced player on the table, Green is no stranger to success either. He already has a WSOP Circuit Ring and has reached 11 WSOP final tables. Liu is following him closely with nine final tables and 40 cashes.
All six players are guaranteed at least $52,099 but will all be looking to lay their claim on the first bracelet of the summer. When the players return at 12 noon local time, they will be playing blinds of 40,000/80,000 with a big blind ante of 80,000. The levels will continue to be 20-minutes long with a 20-minute break scheduled after every six levels.
The final table will be airing on CBS All Access for viewers in the USA, Canada, and Australia while the rest of the world can watch along on PokerGO from 1 PM local time according to their schedule. But for live updates, the PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to bring you the scoop right from the final table to your screens so stick around to see who will be crowned the first bracelet winner of 2019.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Green | United States | 720,000 | 9 |
| 3 | Ali Imsirovic | United States | 2,180,000 | 27 |
| 4 | Asher Conniff | United States | 4,215,000 | 53 |
| 5 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 1,015,000 | 13 |
| 8 | Ping Liu | United States | 990,000 | 12 |
| 9 | Loren Klein | United States | 3,130,000 | 39 |