The third installment of the Colossus was held in 2017 and attracted 18,054 entries, the third most in live tournament poker history behind the previous first two years of the tournament.
This huge field generated a prize pool of $9,027,000 and at the end of it all, Thomas Pomponio was the man to take down the title, the bracelet and $1,000,000.
"It feels... just surreal," the Champion said. Pomponio's live tournament cashes at the time totaled less than $140,000 before he entered this tournament. Earning a seven-figure score is certainly an amazing feeling for anyone who makes their breakthrough in poker, but for Pomponio, the bracelet is even more meaningful.
"Ever since I was a kid, I was dreaming about sitting there and holding that gold," said Pomponio, who hails from New Jersey.
Maurice Hawkins has entered Day 1b of Event #61: COLOSSUS - $400 No-Limit Hold'em bright and early. Hawkins currently holds the title of most ever won WSOP Circuit rings, with a total of 13. His World Series of Poker earnings are an amazing $2,322,906 with a career total of $3,787,585.
Hawkins is no stranger to the 2019 WSOP as he has already cashed in five events including the Event #53 - $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack 8-Handed, Event #36 - $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout , Event #17 -$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, Event #9 - $600 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack, and Event #3 -BIG 50 - $500 No-Limit Hold'em.
The fourth installment of the $565 Colossus took place last year and attracted 13,070 entries, which was the fourth most in live tournament poker history behind the previous three years of the tournament.
The monster field generated a prize pool of $6,535,000 and at the end of it all, Roberly Felicio was the man to take down the title, the bracelet and $1,000,000.
Just after he had his winner photo taken, Felicio said: "I’m very happy, it was a tough final table with tough opponents. Heads-up was very emotional. But I’m very excited to take home my first bracelet, I still can’t believe it.
“It was a wonderful experience," Felicio said about his high-profile rail. "I studied a lot and had a great coach in Felipe Ramos. I remember sitting down with Andre Akkari for the first time, I was shaking. And now I have a bracelet, just like him, and I still haven’t comprehended it.”
There hasn't been much World Series of Poker action for Felicio since winning his first bracelet but that doesn't mean he hasn't been playing poker. Since last year July, Felicio has cashed 14 times for $75,168 in different international tournaments. Those include a 5th place finish for $17,602 in the R$ 6,000 No Limit Hold'em - High Roller Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP), European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona, WSOP International Circuit in Rio de Janeiro, and his biggest cash since winning his bracelet coming from $10,300 No Limit Hold'em - PCA Main Event PokerStars Caribbean Adventure where he finished 74th for $24,760.
2003 World Series of Poker Champion Chris Moneymaker has joined the 5,975 player field. Moneymaker played Day 1a and busted right at the end of the night.
Moneymaker is hoping to run his stack up in this massive field today and win himself his second coveted World Series of Poker gold bracelet by the end of the week.
The 2016 Bracelet Winner of Event #6: $1,500 No Limit Hold' em has just joined the massive sea of players and will look to add another bracelet to his collection.
Eichhardt currently has three cashes this summer for $12,907 bringing his lifetime earnings to $1,862,308.
Kou Vang has just been seen in the Pavillion room late registration line getting ready to take his seat.
Vang is a Mid-States Pro from Minnesota who became the first-ever MSPT Hall oF Fame inductee last year by earning it.
Unlike other HoFs, which often require nominations and voting, the MSPT allows players the opportunity to win their way in by meeting certain criteria which include, achieve a minimum of 25 MSPT Main Event Cashes and 1 MSPT Win or1 MSPT Player of the Year.
Another option is to achieve a minimum of 10 MSPT Main Event Final Tables and 1 MSPT Win or 1 MSPT Player of the Year To see which players are close to achieving HOF status, refer to the comprehensive MSPT Stats page.
Vang has a career total of $1,655,047 in lifetime earnings and looks to add a WSOP gold bracelet to his list of great accomplishments.
The fifth annual installment of the COLOSSUS has been nothing short of monumental. Since its inaugural event dating back in 2015, this event has entered into the record books each year, with this one being none different.
In just two starting days the 2019 COLOSSUS tallied 13,109 total entries which surpassed last years event that had 13,070 with six starting days,
With over 100,000 in the middle and board reading , Jared Griener was heads up in a big pot with the table chip leader.
Action was on Griener as he made roughly a 30,000 turn bet.
His opponent, who had roughly 900,000 chips, quickly shoved all in and Griener snap called tabling for a flopped set. His opponent let out a sigh of disappointment and turned over for a middle pocket pair.
The river secures Griener a huge double to over 950,000. His opponent was left with around 600,000 and is still above average chip stack.
Day 1B of Event #61: $400 COLOSSUS No-Limit Hold’em has officially come to an end after 18 levels of play. This year saw many changes made to the low-risk high-reward tournament, one of which players took notice to, aside from the buy-in, is the number of Day 1 flights.
The COLOSSUS has been astronomical with the number of players it has attracted each year, and this year was no different. Both starting days were scheduled to only play through 16 levels, but due to the massive fields players were required to play down to the money each flight. Day 1b saw 1,181 players move on to Day 2 from the massive 7,871 playing field.
The chip leader is not yet confirmed, but several players bagged in excess of a million. John Goyette (1,435,000), Hien Tran (1,152,000), Kyle Shaw (1,130,000), and Ian Steinman (1,127,000), were among the big stacks left at the end of play.
WSOP Circuit phenom Maurice Hawkins (811,000), Kathy Liebert (655,000), 2016 bracelet winner Jean Gaspard (294,000) and former WSOP Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker (195,000) are also safely through to Day 2.
Day 1b Recap
With another 10 a.m. start time, it took a few levels for some of the bigger names to make their way into the Colossus field, but there were still plenty of famous faces around.
These included 12-time WSOP Circuit ring winner Valentin Vornicu, Maria Ho, MSPT Hall of Famer Kou Vang, and 2016 bracelet winner Peter Eichhardt.
The 1,951 combined players will return for Day 2 action tomorrow, Friday, June 28, at 11:00 am local time, with action staring back on Level 19 where blinds are 5,000/10,000 with an 10,000 big blind ante. Players are scheduled to play 15 levels, each lasting 40 minutes.
Tournament Day
Date
Further Information
Day 1A
Wednesday, June 26, 2019 @ 10:00 a.m.
770 players out of 5,238 entries advanced to Day 2
Day 1B
Thursday, June 27, 2018, @ 10:00 a.m.
1,178 players out of 7,871 entries advanced to Day 2
Day 2
Friday, June 28, 2019, @ 11:00 a.m.
Levels of 60 minutes each, Play 15 levels
Day 3
Saturday, June 29, 2019, @ 11:00 a.m.
Levels of 60 minutes each, Play down to winner
Keep it here for continuing coverage of the COLOSSUS and all other events throughout the 2019 World Series of Poker, presented by the PokerNews Live Reporting team.