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The 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event officially got underway yesterday when 1,336 players dropped down $10,000 in an attempt to fulfill their poker dreams. This number was the biggest Day 1a in WSOP Main Event history, up a whopping 411 players compared to last year’s first starting day.

On The Notables, we look at the biggest names that are performing well in the biggest event of the year, and nobody was more notable last night than the man who bagged a massive chip lead: Bryan Campanello.

Campanello has $857k in career tournament earnings, has been a feared online player for a long time and winner of one WSOP bracelet in the $2,500 Razz event back in 2013. Campanello put 417,500 chips in the bag to return with a staggering 521 big blinds coming into Day 2.

Here’s an overview of the 25 biggest stacks with recognizable names that you should keep an eye on as the WSOP Main Event advances into Day 2.

2019 WSOP Main Event Day 1a Notable Report
Name Chip Count Notable accomplishment
Craig Chait 249,600 World class mixed game player
Stephen Graner 247,100 EPT Prague winner
Patrick Serda 216,700 WPT Montreal winner
Jesper Hougaard 190,000 First player to win bracelets in Vegas and Europe (2008)
Jared Bleznick 189,100 Mixed game specialist, 16th in 2016 Main Event
Daniel Strelitz 185,300 WPT LAPC and WSOP bracelet winner
Johnnie Moreno 184,000 Vlogger and cash game specialist
Jeff Lisandro 180,100 6-time WSOP bracelet winner and 2009 WSOP POY
Henrik Hecklen 175,200 Online star as “hhecklen” with $3.8 million live earnings
Anton Morgenstern 174,400 20th and 22nd in 2013 and 2015 WSOP Main Event
Faraz Jaka 174,100 $6.4 million career tournament earnings
Alex Foxen 173,200 Record holder longest continuous streak at GPI No. 1
William Tonking 167,100 4th in 2014 WSOP Main Event
Martin Kabrhel 164,500 WSOP bracelet winner with $8.1 million total earnings
Joey Weissman 161,600 WSOP bracelet winner with $3 million earnings
Marc MacDonnell 158,300 4th Irish all-time money list, $3 million earnings
Jack Sinclair 153,800 2018 WSOPE Main Event winner, 8th in 2017 WSOP Main Event
Dmitry Yurasov 152,100 2017 WSOP $10k 6-Max winner
Maxx Coleman 151,900 21st in 2013 Main Event
Justin Young 149,900 $5.4 million earnings and badass
Isaac Baron 146,600 WSOP bracelet winner with $6.1 million earnings
Fabrice Soulier 146,400 $10k H.O.R.S.E. bracelet winner, $6.3 million earnings
Rami Boukai 138,400 Online poker legend and 2-time WSOP bracelet winner
Kelly Minkin 137,100 Last woman standing in 2015 and 2018 WSOP Main Event
Billy Baxter 131,500 Poker Hall of Fame member and 7-time bracelet winner

Watch the 2019 WSOP Main Event on ESPN and PokerGO. New to PokerGO? Subscribe right now. 

Craig Chait, Jesper Hougaard, Patrick Serda, Stephen Graner