Main Event Day 1C RecapDay 1D Starts Today |
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It's no secret that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act has had a major impact on the overall attendance at this year's World Series of Poker main event. However, 1,743 players bought in to play on day 1C, making it the highest day 1 turnout thus far. Since 1,400 players are already registered to play tomorrow, the main event is guaranteed to attract more than 6,000 players by the time the numbers are totaled.
Among the larger-than-expected field were a few faces not normally seen in the poker world, including boxing's light-heavyweight champion of the world Antonio Tarver, rapper Nelly, actress Shannon Elizabeth, and former professional baseball player Jose Canseco, who was greeted with a mixture of boos and applause. One celebrity who survived day 1 was actor Jason Alexander. Alexander made his presence known throughout the day by battling with Phil Gordon both verbally and on the felt. On one hand, Alexander limped into a pot and Gordon checked his option in the big blind. The flop came 10-3-2, and Gordon bet out. Alexander raised and Gordon made the call. The turn brought another 10 and this time Gordon bet out with Alexander calling. The river brought a 5 and Alexander managed to get the rest of his chips in the pot. Gordon made the call showing trip tens, but Alexander's pocket fives gave him a full house to double up.
The pros came out in full force, but trying to build their stacks with all the dead money in the room proved to be difficult, as many pros were sent to the rail early on in today's action. The body count was high as professionals Greg Raymer, Vanessa Rousso, T.J. Cloutier, Kenna James, Joe Cassidy, Phil Ivey, Tim Phan, Andy Bloch, Men Nguyen, Phil Laak, Clonie Gowen, Nick Schulman, Rafe Furst, Amir Vahedi, Shannon Shorr, David Sklansky, Chau Giang, Kristy Gazes, Ted Lawson, and Erik Cajelais failed to survive the day. Mike Matusow expressed his displeasure with the tournament directors throughout the day saying: "I've never played a 16-hour day 1 in a tournament ever in my life!"
He still hasn't, as Matusow was eliminated well before the dinner break. He got his last $10,000 chips in the pot with pocket threes against pocket jacks but couldn't get the help he needed.
Earlier in the day, Nolan Dalla took the time to point out the increasing success of female poker players throughout this year's WSOP. He took the time to point out Katja Thater, specifically, for being the first woman to win a bracelet in an open event since Annie Duke, but Thater was unable to survive the day.
Relatively quiet Daniel Alaei overcame a chaotic first table draw near ESPN and other media outlets to finish the day with $190,000. Alaei spent the evening bullying his table and picking up pots without much trouble.
Other notables to survive the day included Chad Brown, J.C. Tran, Warren Karp, Francois Safieddine, Hasan Habib, Rolf Slotboom, Lee Watkinson, Taylor "Green Plastic" Caby, Todd Brunson, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Allen Cunningham, Robert Varkonyi, Chris Moneymaker, Bernard Lee, Brad Berman, Rene Angelil, Humberto Brenes, Matt "SamEnole" Smith, Michael DeMichelle, Phil Gordon, Amnon Filippi, Toto Leonidas, Mark Gregorich, and Jon Friedberg.
Here is how the leader board looked as the day came to a close:
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