Day 1B - The 2006 WSOP Main EventGrowing Fields Generate Estimated $11,000,000 First Place Cash Prize |
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The second "first day" of the 2006 World Series of Poker started the same way day one did - with a legend. TV poker icon James Garner, of Maverick fame, kicked off Day 1A festivities, while the poker icon, "Texas Dolly" Doyle Brunson, provided a grand beginning for Day 1B.
Making his 30th WSOP appearance, Brunson entered the Amazon Room to a full-on ceremony. A roped-off aisle, lined with DoylesRoom.com associates, led to the center of the tournament area where Todd Brunson and WSOP commissioner Jeffrey Pollack awaited the man of the hour.
With the ceremony complete, and the day officially dedicated to him, Brunson started Day 1B action by accepting the microphone from Pollack and announcing, "shuffle up and deal."
While "Texas Dolly" dominated the talk early on, the size of the starting field soon became the topic of discussion as 2,182 players, including alternates, packed the Amazon Room for the second flight.
The number of Day 1B participants, combined with the 2,138 players from the previous day, meant that estimates for the tournament's overall field jumped from the original 8,000 to a new total closer to 9,000.
As the field grew so did the estimated first-place cash prize, with the 2006 main event winner expected to take home $11 million to $11.5 million as well as the newly designed gold WSOP bracelet.
(Numbers for the total field and prize pool are not final as tournament registration will run through Monday, July 31.)
For the players involved in Day 1B, any hopes of the money or the bracelet started with one task - surviving six levels of no-limit hold'em action.
"It's going to take a lot of good things to make it to the end," David Oppenheim said prior to his first day at the 2006 main event. "All you can do is play each hand the best that you can."
The first cards of Day 1B hit the air at 12:05 p.m. PDT and play began with $25-$50 blinds.
Any fans itching to see an elimination didn't have to wait long, as Greg Nunely hit the rail on the very first hand, a victim of pocket kings versus pocket aces.
While some players made early exits, others made late arrivals. Seat 5 at the ESPN featured table set remained empty for two hours before its occupant, Phil Hellmuth Jr., showed up for tournament play.
Hellmuth, no stranger to being fashionably tardy, did experience something unusual for his 2006 World Series - a quick bustout. "The Poker Brat" bowed out of action after three hours when his A-Q failed to improve against an opponent's pocket sevens.
Some other notables who failed to survive the first half of the day included Paul Darden, Gavin Smith, Greg "FBT" Mueller, Mel Judah, Everybody Loves Raymond's Brad Garrett, and American Pie's Shannon Elizabeth.
Chris Ferguson and David Williams were two pros who found success as the tournament progressed. Both players sat at the top of the leaderboard at different points during action.
Ferguson credited some of the success to his adaptability. "I don't mind moving around the tables," Ferguson said, "I can pick up on my opponents pretty fast."
While neither finished the day as the chip leader, Ferguson and Williams stayed on the right side of the rails and will be returning for Day 2A action.
Amateur player Clay Sikes never thought he'd eliminate a legend, but that is exactly what happened at 9:45 p.m. PDT when he knocked Doyle Brunson out of the 2006 main event. Sikes called an all-in bet by Brunson on a 10
10
7
6 5 board and bested Brunson's pocket nines with his K
10.
"It was just a thrill to play with a legend like that," Sikes told Card Player's John Stapleton. "When he [Brunson] first sat down I was so nervous I couldn't even play for about five hands."
Brunson received a standing ovation from players, fans, media and tournament personnel as he walked out of the Amazon Room.
"I thought I had that guy beat," Brunson said with a smile. "Kid played it good."
Cameramen followed Brunson outside as he responded to questions regarding the morning's ceremony and how his emotions affected his play, "It was flattering. But I've been through so much I don't really let that stuff go to my head one way or another. I just try to go out and play my game. If it's good enough, OK, if not…the sun'll come up in the east tomorrow."
Joe Sebok attracted his fair share of media attention. The day before, Sebok arrived to the Amazon Room dressed as Robin, the sidekick of comic book hero Batman. On Day 1B he played in a bear costume complete with diaper, a reference to his nickname "The Cub."
Why the getups? Sebok and his "The Circuit" cohost Gavin Smith made a much publicized bet - whoever performed worse during preliminary tournaments had to wear a costume every day to the main event.
Unfortunately for fans and media hoping to see more superheroes and wild animals, Sebok bowed out of tournament action early on Sunday morning.
Other casualties from the second half of the day included "Miami" John Cernuto, Howard Lederer, Patrik Antonius, and Card Player CEO Barry Shulman.
At 3:12 a.m. PDT, after 13 hours of play and with Level 6 complete, the remaining players congratulated each other for surviving the second "first day" of the 2006 main event.
Roughly 860 entrants advanced to Day 2A, with some of the bigger names among them being Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Jeff Madsen, Eric Froehlich, Humberto Brenes, Annie Duke, Billy Baxter, Mike Caro, and Doyle Brunson's daughter Pamela Brunson.
The chip leaders at the end of action were as follows:
1. Wesley Wilburn - $122,200
2. Alex Melnikow - $94,350
3. Corey Butler - $90,250
4. Edward Brogdon - $90,200
5. Lars Bonding - $88,600
Click here for a complete list.
Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for live updates, chip counts, photos, videos, and for a new episode of "The Circuit," broadcasting live and uncut from the Fontana Bar at the Bellagio Hotel.
For more information on bracelet winners and other WSOP news stories, visit http://www.cardplayer.com/tournaments/wsop/2006s.
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