Thursday, June 6, 2019 12:20 AM Local Time
Five-Time Bracelet Winner Cunningham Through to BIG 50 Day 4
Twelve more levels are in the books at the end of Day 3 of the massive BIG 50 - $500 No-Limit Hold'em. Just two more days remain before the 2019 World Series of Poker crowns the first Big 50 champion, and 127 players are still in contention.
Amer Torbay, coming from Venezuela and cashing here in only his second ever WSOP event, is the clear chip leader at the end of the night, finishing with a whopping 32,500,00 chips, good for 65 big blinds coming back to blinds at 250,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante.
The second spot on the leader board belongs to David Rasmussen (1,339,000), with 2018 bracelet-winner Diogo Veiga rounding out the top three stacks with 1,196,000 chips and looking for the second gold bracelet of his career.
Some of the notables who are still in the running for the coveted WSOP gold bracelet and first-place prize of $1,147,449 include Jason Wheeler (20,750,000), former WSOPE final tablist Andrei Konopelko (30,200,000) and Daniel Gamer (17,500,000).
David Rasmussen
"It feels like the Main Event!"
Cunningham, the owner of five WSOP bracelets, started the day with 500,000 and managed to climb and stay amongst the biggest stacks during the day. On one of the last hands on Day 3 he check-raised the flop and jammed the turn, getting a fold from his opponent to move above 20 million in chips.
"Today I've gone from 500,000 to 20 million!" said Cunningham. "Which is kind of bad as I wanted 40!"
"I didn't really expect anything out of this tournament, obviously with 28,000 people. But I just played one day at a time, hand after hand and suddenly sometimes you have like a zillion times what you started with."
Cunningham says he's been enjoying the atmosphere at the tables.
"It feels like the Main Event! You start with so many chips and it plays so long, I feel like I'm in some kind of big one! I look up and see $7,000 and I was expecting $700,000 by now."
The remaining players are guaranteed $7,169 when they start Day 4 on June 6th at 11am.
The Big 50 is down to 127 players
End of Day Recap
The day began with 1,597 players from a total of 28,371 entries between the four starting days, making this the biggest event in WSOP's history. It surpasses the 2015 Colossus (22,374 entries) as biggest-ever live tournament.
Tony Miles, who finished second to John Cynn in last year's World Series of Poker Main Event, winning $5,000,000 in the process, busted early today and cashed here in his first event at this 2019 WSOP. Another early elimination was 2017 WSOP Player of the Year Chris Ferguson.
With such a massive field, it's no surprise that some familiar faces made it in the money today, including Justin Liberto ($6,054) , Robert Brown ($7,169), Larry Wright ($6,054), Yaser Al-Keliddar ($6,054), reigning WSOP APAC champion Scott Davies ($4,397), Daniel Zack ($3,782), Ari Engel ($3,782), Upeshka De Silva ($3,782), Todd Witteles ($3,273) and Jeff Madsen ($1,744).
Jerald Williamson, chip leader at the beginning of the day and one of the fan favourites in the BIG 50 after stories of the Vietnam veteran's battle with cancer and poker history, busted on the last level against Daniel Ghobrial.
Day 4 begins at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, and players will battle it out to be down to six players with a 20-minute break every two levels and a 60-minute dinner break after Level 8.
Thursday, June 6, 2019 12:16 AM Local Time
End of Day Chip Counts
| Amer Torbey | 32,500,000 | 29,475,000  |
| David Rasmussen | 32,125,000 | 8,625,000 |
| Diogo Veiga | 30,700,000 | 6,700,000 |
| Andrei Konopelko | 30,200,000 | 15,200,000 |
| John McAvoy | 30,000,000 | 28,895,000 |
| Evan Johnson | 29,400,000 | 28,170,000 |
| Cavan Chan | 29,050,000 | 17,075,000 |
| Vincent Meli [Sebastien Vincent] | 29,000,000 | 29,000,000 |
| Jesse Solano | 24,000,025 | 23,180,025 |
| Danny Ehrenberger | 23,800,000 | 21,360,000 |
| Femi Fashakin | 21,825,000 | -2,175,000  |
| Khang Pham | 21,500,000 | 20,470,000 |
| Jason Wheeler | 20,750,000 | -1,050,000 |
| Allen Cunningham | 20,575,000 | 75,000 |
| Daniel Budovsky | 19,400,025 | 2,525,025 |
| Jason Oloughlin | 18,300,000 | 17,420,000 |
| Daniel Gamer | 17,550,000 | 13,250,000 |
| Na Vue | 17,550,000 | 3,550,000 |
| Kirk Evans | 17,525,000 | 16,780,000 |
| Takuya Shimabukuro | 17,250,000 | 16,205,000 |
| Adrian Curry | 17,100,000 | 6,300,000 |
| Thanh Hoa | 17,000,000 | 16,070,000 |
| Filipe Goncalves | 16,175,000 | 2,175,000 |
| Travis Lutes | 15,500,000 | 14,545,000 |
| Daniel Ghobrial | 15,350,000 | -3,150,000 |
| Phillip Elser | 15,000,000 | 13,500,000 |
| Mahesh Rathi | 14,800,000 | 14,410,000 |
| Dylan Lask | 14,550,000 | 13,445,000 |
| Payman Taheri | 14,300,000 | 3,025,000 |
| Morten Christensen | 13,900,000 | -1,050,000 |
| David Ivers | 13,825,000 | 8,325,000 |
| Leopald Riola | 13,800,000 | 12,705,000 |
| Stewart Kirby | 13,700,000 | 13,125,000 |
| Julian Rugna | 13,375,000 | 11,495,000 |
| Gary Klein | 13,325,000 | 8,525,000 |
| Beau Battista | 13,025,000 | 12,355,000 |
| Carter Jones | 12,875,000 | 2,375,000 |
| DeeAngelo Seng | 12,650,000 | 3,750,000 |
| Christopher Fitzgerald | 12,625,000 | 12,625,000 |
| Lawrence Brandt | 12,500,000 | 9,500,000 |
| Ivan Ruban | 12,425,000 | 1,925,000 |
| David Finkel | 12,225,000 | 12,225,000 |
| Saya Ono | 12,200,000 | 4,700,000 |
| Daniel Hamdar | 12,200,000 | 12,200,000 |
| Andrew Mckenzie | 12,150,000 | 0 |
| Tim Gray | 12,075,000 | -2,525,000 |
| Danny Wong | 12,000,000 | -1,000,000 |
| Brandon Breceda | 11,925,000 | 10,620,000 |
| Henry Mlekoday | 11,825,000 | -2,175,000 |
| Sarkis Paronyan | 11,800,000 | 9,650,000 |
| Sharavan Chhabria | 11,775,000 | 10,580,000 |
| Justin Quincannon | 11,725,000 | 11,035,000 |
| Rafi Elharar | 11,400,000 | 0 |
| Joshua Suyat | 11,400,000 | 5,500,000 |
| Bryant Bustamante | 11,025,000 | 9,680,000 |
| Luis Alberto Rocca Vazquez | 10,875,000 | 10,875,000 |
| Mindaugas Kerbelis | 10,375,000 | 0 |
| Jiehao Zhu | 10,170,000 | 7,070,000 |
| James Gilbert | 10,150,000 | 650,000 |
| Torn Saelee | 10,075,000 | 9,700,000 |
| Michael Souza | 10,000,000 | 8,900,000 |
| Jun Hong | 9,800,000 | 9,045,000 |
| Walter Atwood | 9,675,000 | 9,115,000 |
| Steven Vargas | 9,250,000 | 7,880,000 |
| Sebastian Crema | 9,175,000 | 8,020,000 |
| Peter Mylenki | 9,125,000 | 7,740,000 |
| Jason Baldridge | 9,000,000 | -2,100,000 |
| Brandon Eisen | 8,925,000 | 7,665,000 |
| Terrell Cheatham | 8,850,000 | 8,295,000 |
| Aaron Frei | 8,725,000 | 8,025,000 |
| Michael Rowe | 8,300,000 | -50 |
| Benjamin Mccoy | 8,250,000 | 6,285,000 |
| Giancarlo Gallego | 8,200,000 | 6,590,000 |
| Nicholas Chow | 8,100,000 | 7,265,000 |
| Paul Lentz | 8,025,000 | 825,000 |
| Kartik Ved | 7,875,000 | -5,125,000 |
| Arlan Goldberg | 7,700,000 | 0 |
| Domingo Merejo | 7,675,000 | 7,065,000 |
| Tomas Morlet | 7,600,000 | 7,080,000 |
| Bryden Baxter | 7,550,000 | 6,595,000 |
| Johnathan Sanchez | 7,500,000 | 6,315,000 |
| Paul Cullen | 7,425,000 | 6,210,000 |
| Trevor Hills | 7,375,000 | -8,850,000 |
| Timothy Adkison | 7,225,000 | 7,225,000 |
| David Soutter | 7,225,000 | 6,840,000 |
| Chad Dubik | 7,175,000 | 0 |
| Jason Lipiner | 7,150,000 | 6,365,000 |
| Gregory Fishberg | 6,925,000 | 5,875,000 |
| Lee Childs | 6,850,000 | 6,290,000 |
| Dylan Brock | 6,850,000 | 5,565,000 |
| Janet Andersen | 6,800,000 | 6,485,000 |
| Tam Nguyen | 6,750,000 | 5,585,000 |
| Toto Leonidas | 6,575,000 | 5,025,000 |
| George Lewkowski | 6,550,000 | 5,980,000 |
| Thomas Larson | 6,525,000 | 5,700,000 |
| Michael Needle | 6,325,000 | 825,000 |
| Michael Carter | 6,300,000 | 800,000 |
| Kathy Holz | 6,000,025 | 4,450,025 |
| Ioannis Angelou Konstas | 6,000,000 | 100,000 |
| Tai Tran | 5,750,000 | 4,650,000 |
| Yang Zhang | 5,750,000 | 4,645,000 |
| David Uvaydov | 5,600,000 | 5,050,000 |
| Kevin Calenzo | 5,450,000 | -2,050,000 |
| Brenton Rincker | 5,375,000 | 0 |
| Robert Rodriguez | 5,300,000 | 4,780,000 |
| Eran Cohen | 5,175,000 | 4,200,000 |
| Jeremy Tinsley | 5,000,000 | 4,265,000 |
| Easton Oreman | 4,850,000 | 3,865,000 |
| Anthony Gugliuzza | 4,825,000 | -2,525,000 |
| Eric Wong | 4,775,000 | 3,465,000 |
| Angel Castropinto | 4,700,000 | 4,175,000 |
| Sandro Burkhard | 4,625,000 | 3,540,000 |
| Rahul Bhave | 4,450,000 | 950,000 |
| Ricardo Klaassen | 4,400,000 | 4,400,000 |
| David Shifrel | 4,300,000 | 3,315,000 |
| Edward Slack | 4,100,000 | -6,000,000 |
| Fabio Garofalo | 3,975,000 | 3,350,000 |
| Najar Karbalaeiali | 3,900,000 | 3,299,995 |
| Rocco Zarrillo | 3,350,000 | 2,950,000 |
| Prabhat Kumar Ranjan | 3,275,000 | 1,920,000 |
| Andrew Johnson | 2,775,000 | -2,725,000 |
| Patrick Ellis | 2,600,000 | 1,465,000 |
| Mike Parekh | 2,500,000 | 2,100,000 |
| Joseph Webster | 2,450,000 | 2,055,000 |
| Fletcher Parkin | 2,350,000 | 1,260,000 |
| Azatbek Sultanbekov | 10,850 | -419,150 |
Thursday, June 6, 2019 12:14 AM Local Time
Cunningham With a Late Shove
On an flop Allen Cunningham checked to an opponent who bet 2,000,000. Cunningham check-raised to 4,000,000 and his opponent called.
Cunningham then jammed the turn and his opponent had a lengthy tank before folding.
| Allen Cunningham | 20,500,000 | 9,000,000 |
Thursday, June 6, 2019 12:05 AM Local Time
McKenzie Four-Bet Shoves
After Jay Zhu raised to 900,000 from middle position, it folded to Jonathan Sanchez who then three-bet to 3,400,000 from the small blind.
Andrew McKenzie then four-bet shoved from his blind, which prompted a quick fold from Zhu.
With action back on Sanchez, he tanked for well over a minute, shuffled and recounted his chips and then asked McKenzie if he wanted a call.
After McKenzie gave no response, Sanchez mucked the face up and McKenzie scooped the sizable pot.
| Andrew Mckenzie | 12,150,000 | 3,950,000 |
| Jay Zhu | 10,275,000 | 7,975,000 |
| Jonathan Sanchez | 6,700,000 | 6,700,000 |
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 11:56 PM Local Time
Last Few Hands of the Day
It has just been announced that the remaining players will play three more hands and then bag and tag for the day.
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 11:43 PM Local Time
Clock Called on Goncalves
After Ioannis Angelou Konstas shoved all in for his last 2,450,000 from the middle position, action folded around to Felipe Goncalves in the big blind and he went deep into the tank.
So deep in fact, that a clock was called.
Once the floorperson came over and confirmed that it had been at least two minutes and the clock was started, Goncalves made the call and the players tabled their hands.
Ioannis Angelou Konstas:
Felipe Goncalves:
The runout of was a safe one for Angelou Konstas, and gave him a much-needed double-up.
| Felipe Goncalves | 17,050,000 | -2,950,000 |
| Ioannis Angelou Konstas | 5,900,000 | 1,900,000 |
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 11:33 PM Local Time
Veiga Scores Big Double Through Mckenzie
Diogo Veiga opened to 850,000 and was three-bet by Andrew Mckenzie. Veiga called and the flop came . Mckenzie continued for 3,500,000 and Veiga moved all in. Mckenzie called.
Diogo Veiga:
Andrew Mckenzie:
The turn and river changed nothing and Veiga scored a big double for 11,650,000 through Mckenzie.
| Diogo Veiga | 24,000,000 | 12,300,000 |
| Andrew Mckenzie | 8,200,000 | -13,800,000 |
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 11:31 PM Local Time
Ledda Busts on the Last Level
Chip leader during the day with a stack over 14,000,000, Olivier Ledda was down to only 3,500,000 chips left when he busted from the tournament. According to the player, he moved all in middle position with and got called by a player holding . Ledda was in bad shape for a double up and a fell on the river, improving his opponent's hand and eliminating him before the end of the day.
| Olivier Ledda | 0 | -9,500,000 |
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 11:25 PM Local Time
Stressful Double Up for Bhave
Jason Wheeler opened from the cut-off for 900,000 and Rahul Bhave shoved in the small blind for around 1,500,000. The big blind player decided to reshove for a stack worth 9,800,000. Wheeler mucked his hand and the players revealed their cards:
Rahul Bhave:
His opponent:
Bhave kept his eyes closed while the dealer was bringing a board , giving no bad surprise to Bhave as well as the double up.
| Jason Wheeler | 21,800,000 | -3,200,000 |
| Rahul Bhave | 3,500,000 | 2,795,000 |
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 11:10 PM Local Time
Level 32 started
Level: 32
Blinds: 200000/400000
Ante: 400000
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 11:10 PM Local Time
Start-of-Day Chip Leader Williamson Eliminated
Jerald Williamson was spotted in his brightly covered overalls heading to the exit. Daniel Ghobrial was raking in the chips having sent the start-of-day chip leader to the rail.
"I was up to 20 million," said Ghobrial. "And then I lost kings against tens. Then a player opened and I three-bet aces. [Williamson] four bet from the big blind and just I called.
"He shoved for the rest on the flop with and I called."
The Queen-Jack couldn't catch up and Williamson was eliminated.
Williamson has become a fan favourite in the BIG 50 after stories of the Vietnam veteran's battle with cancer and poker history were made known on PokerNews.
| Daniel Ghobrial | 18,500,000 | -1,500,000 |
| Jerald Williamson | 0 | -5,500,000 |
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 11:08 PM Local Time
Veiga Chipping Down
On his last hand, Diogo Veiga raised to 650,000 and one player made the call.
Both checked on the flop . On the turn , Veiga checked and called a bet from his opponent for 800,000. The river went check-check.
Veiga's opponent showed and Veiga quickly mucked his hand, revealing a
| Diogo Veiga | 11,700,000 | -13,800,000 |
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 11:04 PM Local Time
Ono Takes a Hit
Action was picked up on the flop, but preflop action was relayed by Morten Christensen.
Saya Ono raised to 650,000 in early position, and it folded around to Morten Christensen in the big blind, who made the call.
The flop came , and Christensen checked over to Ono who continued for 1,800,000.
Christensen then check-raised all in and was called by Ono.
Morten Christensen:
Saya Ono:
Christensen's flopped set held through the turn and river, securing his double up.
| Morten Christensen | 14,950,000 | 12,890,000 |
| Saya Ono | 7,500,000 | -6,400,000 |
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 10:56 PM Local Time
Big Preflop Pot for Rasmussen
The player under the gun opened to 700,000 and David Rasmussen three-bet to 1,650,000 from one seat over. It folded back to the initial player who announced a four-bet for 5,000,000 with around 12,000,000 left behind. Rasmussen considered it for a minute and moved all in, putting his opponent's tournament at risk. The latter chose to let it go.
| David Rasmussen | 23,500,000 | 22,870,000 |
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 10:42 PM Local Time
Up and Down for Vue
Carter Jones opened and a player called. Na Vue three-bet on the button for 1,600,000 and Jones announced all in for 8,300,000. The third player folded and Vue tanked for some time. He ended up folding as well and the pot was sent to Carter.
A short while later a player opened to 650,000 and got calls from Vue on the button and the big blind. The flop was . It checked to the raiser who bet 700,000. Vue raised to 1,900,000. The big blind folded but the other player in the hand called.
The turn was the . It checked to Vue who moved all in and his opponent folded.
"Good lay down," his opponent said after folding. "What did you have?"
"I had you beat," replied Vue.
| Na Vue | 14,000,000 | -1,500,000 |
| Carter Jones | 10,500,000 | 10,105,000 |
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 10:40 PM Local Time
Brown Eliminated by Cunningham
It folded to Rob Brown on the button who pushed all in for a remaining stack worth 4,000,000. After some consideration, Allen Cunningham made the call.
Rob Brown:
Allen Cunningham:
Brown's hand was dominated and he found no help on a board , giving the pot to Cunningham.
| Allen Cunningham | 11,500,000 | 600,000 |
| Rob Brown | 0 | -5,200,000 |
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 10:28 PM Local Time
Level 31 started
Level: 31
Blinds: 150000/300000
Ante: 300000
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 10:28 PM Local Time
Chip Counts from the Last Break of the Day
| Felipe Goncalves | 20,000,000 | |
| Daniel Budovsky | 16,875,000 | 4,295,000 |
| Trevor Hills | 16,225,000 | 14,380,000 |
| Andrei Konopelko | 15,000,000 | 5,500,000 |
| Tim Gray | 14,600,000 | 13,700,000 |
| Danny Wong | 13,000,000 | 12,000,000 |
| Mindaugas Kerbelis | 13,000,000 | -700,000 |
| Cavan Chan | 11,975,000 | 11,325,000 |
| Jason Baldridge | 11,100,000 | 7,900,000 |
| Allen Cunningham | 10,900,000 | 800,000 |
| Paul Lentz | 7,200,000 | 2,225,000 |
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 10:08 PM Local Time
Last Break of the Day
The player are now on their last 20-minute break of the day.
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 10:03 PM Local Time
Rollercoaster Hand Boosts Adkison
On a flop Tim Adkison was facing an all-in bet of 2,575,000 from an opponent. Adkison eventually called.
Tim Adkison:
All-in Player:
Adkison had made the perfect call with nines against a flush draw, but the turn completed his opponent's flush.
The river, however, was the and Adkison rivered a full house to eliminate his opponent.
| Tim Adkison | 9,500,000 | 8,780,000 |