A new champion will emerge in the WSOP Main Event

Over the course of three starting days, two Day 2s, and two more full days following that, a field 8,569 players in the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event has been whittled down to its last 354 hopefuls. Making it to Day 5 of the richest poker tournament on the planet has already guaranteed everyone $34,845, but with the stakes at its highest, the battle for a spot among the final nine and a payday of at least $1,000,000 and, ultimately, the top prize of $10,000,000, is just beginning.

A week from today, one of the remaining players in the Main Event will take home this bracelet and $10,000,000. #WSOP50 pic.twitter.com/lPAv4yVXKa

— WSOP (@WSOP) July 9, 2019

One thing is for certain, there will be a new world champion of poker crowned when all is said and done. Yesterday, the three former world champions left — Chris Moneymaker, Qui Nguyen, and Johnny Chan — were all eliminated, paving the way for a new player to claim poker's most coveted prize.

The one currently holds the lead in the race for that distinctive honor is 888poker Qualifier Dean Morrone, who bagged 4,980,000, over 200 big blinds, on Day 4. The Canadian is followed by Lars Bonding (4,040,0000) of Denmark, Michael Messick (3,925,000) of the United States, and Warwick Mirzikinian (3,900,000) of Australia to make it an international affair at the top. Danish players appear once more in the top 10, as super high roller Henrik Hecklen (3,862,000) rounds out the top five.

Plenty of notables will be back in action on Day 5 as well, with Andrew Brokos returning with a top 10 stack for the third day in a row with 3,518,000. Others such as Preben Stokkan (2,900,000), former New England Patriots defensive lineman and three-time Super Bowl winner Richard Seymour (2,750,000, lead photo), Big One for One Drop champ and poker icon Antonio Esfandiari (2,583,000), Craig McCorkell (2,580,000), the son of 2005 World Champion Joe Hachem Daniel Hachem (2,450,000), Romain Lewis (2,368,000), and Dario Sammartino (2,302,000) are all still hoping that this year is 'their' year.

Todd Brunson (1,151,000), Mike Matusow (726,000), and 2013 WSOP Main Event runner-up Jay Farber (436,000) will also be back on Day 5, while Allen Kessler, who finally got the monkey off his back by making his first-ever cash in sixteen WSOP Main Events (after cashing last year's WSOPE Main Event as well), will return as one of the shortest stacks in the room with 240,000 in chips.

The plan for Day 5 allows for 5 to 6 levels to be played and will be decided as play progresses throughout the day, making several parts of the following schedule TBD. Cards will be back in the air at noon in Level 21, with blinds at 12,000/24,000, and there will be a 75-minute break at 3:15 p.m., which is approximately 55 minutes into Level 22. There will also be a 30-minute break 90 minutes into Level 23.

(Article courtesy of World Series of Poker)