WSOP 2019: Highlights from Tournaments 1-17

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2019 was filled with thrilling moments and notable victories. In the first tournament, a $500 NLHE event for casino employees, Nicholas Haynes, a 39-year-old dealer from Aria, emerged victorious, winning $62,248. Haynes, who constantly works as a dealer at the Aria, had planned to participate in the WSOP marathon as a dealer but decided to forgo this role after becoming the champion.

In the second tournament, a $10,000 NLHE super turbo bounty event, Bryan Green from Texas won his first bracelet and $345,669. Green, who has been playing poker since 1984 and has been appearing at the WSOP since 2001, had his main pre-bracelet achievement as the 5th place in the One Drop tournament for $111,111, earning $1,117,923. Despite his poker skills, Green's main job is trading used cars.

Femi Fashakin, a 37-year-old Nigerian living in Orlando, won the largest WSOP tournament in history with 28,371 entries, taking home $1,147,449. Fashakin, who arrived in the USA in 2001 with a university scholarship, worked as a programmer in the IT industry for many years before becoming an independent development consultant. He started playing poker around 2011 and finally won his first bracelet in 2019.