Daniel Negreanu, Chris Moneymaker Dominate WSOP First 50 Awards

Fan favorite poker players Daniel Negreanu and Chris Moneymaker loaded up on hardware at the first-ever World Series of Poker First 50 awards in Las Vegas.

The idea behind the First 50 was to honor some of the WSOP’s most illustrious players from its first 50 years of existence. The WSOP, which began in 1970, let fans vote to determine the Sportsbooks.

Moneymaker, who famously won the 2003 WSOP Main Event for $1 million after qualifying in a $40 online satellite, was featured in the Most Memorable Televised Hand category and Most Impressive Main Event Win and was also listed as one of the Four Most Important Players in WSOP history.

Meanwhile, Negreanu took home the Best WSOP Performance and Fan Favorite awards and was also listed as one of the Most Important Players in WSOP history.

While Negreanu and Moneymaker rose to fame in the modern era of the WSOP, there was one award Sportsbook who was there from the very beginning. Ten-time WSOP bracelet Sportsbook Doyle Brunson received a nod as one of the most important players in the history of the series.

Here’s a complete look at all the awards that were handed out during the First 50 Awards Gala:

Phil Hui Outlasts Ivey, Deeb in $50k PPC

It’s not always the biggest name that wins the poker tournament and the underrated Phil Hui proved that once again at the final table of the prestigious $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship at the World Series of Poker.

Hui, who originally hails from Texas, outlasted 74 entries in the elite tournament to win $1.09 million and his second WSOP bracelet. The PPC is always a small-field tournament but it tends to draw some of the best poker players in the world.

Phil Ivey spent the majority of the multi-game tournament as the chip leader and garnered considerable media attention as he closed in on his 11th WSOP bracelet.

It wasn’t to be for Ivey as he petered out in eighth place, barely missing out on the official final table of six players. The legendary pro received a $124,410 prize for finishing eighth. Ivey has five cashes at the 2019 WSOP but has yet to make an official final table.

Josh Arieh, who famously finished third in the 2004 WSOP Main Event, had the chip lead for most of the final table and even took a 3-1 chip advantage against Hui into heads-up play. It seemed like the event was in the bag for Arieh but Hui battled back and earned by far the biggest payday of his poker career.

Hui told the WSOP it was his dream to win the PPC, even more than the Main Event. The first-place prize of the Main Event is considerably higher, but the PPC has been won by some of the biggest poker pros in the world, including Michael Mizrachi, Chip Brian Rast and the late Chip Reese.

Here’s a look at the final-table payouts for the Poker Players Championship:

Hui in Contention for Player of the Year

With his massive victory in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, Phil Hui also leapfrogged up the Player of the Year standings.

Hui moved all the way up to second place overall with 2,830 points. Right now Dan Zack is leading the competition thanks to his 10 cashes with three final tables and an outright win in the $2,500 Limit Mixed Triple event for $160,447. In total he has $340,000 in cashes at the WSOP.

Hui has an impressive resume of his own with nine cashes, three final tables and the aforementioned massive win in the PPC. He has earned nearly $1.3 million at this year’s WSOP.

Of course there’s another player in the thick of the WSOP POY race who can’t be ignored. That would be Shaun Deeb, who’s currently in third place with 2,393 points.

Deeb has 11 cashes in this year’s WSOP with two final tables and just over $400,000 in earnings. He is a tournament master and won last year’s POY race. He’s looking to become the first player in WSOP history to win back-to-back POY titles.

Here’s a look at the rest of the players in the top 10 of the POY race: