World Series of Poker Europe Main Event -- Day 1ACeremonies and Big-Name Knock Outs Take Center Stage on Day 1A |
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Day 1A of the World Series of Poker Europe £10,000 buy-in main event (sponsored by Betfair) saw 156 players from more than two dozen different nations attempt to withstand six 90-minute levels of play.
As the day’s action progressed, there were many big-name casualties. These included Jeff Madsen, Hoyt Corkins, Dario Alioto, Max Pescatori, Robert Mizrachi, Roland de Wolfe, Vanessa Rousso, David Pham, Huck Seed, Barny Boatman, Phil Ivey, Dario Minieri, and Andy Bloch.
Among the carnage, however, there were 96 survivors, including Chad Brown, Doyle Brunson, Todd Brunson, Brandon Cantu, Eric Friberg, Phil Hellmuth, John Kabbaj, Alex Kravchenko, Scott Montgomery, Men “the Master” Nguyen, Nick Schulmann, Barry Shulman, Erik Seidel, Patrik Antonius, Chris Moorman, and Marco Traniello.
The top 10 in chips at end of play were:
Brian Powell (pictured above right): 194,600
Jason Mercier: 189,725
Jonathan Aguiar: 156,400
Viktor Blom: 150,000
Tommy Pavlicek: 149,625
Sami Kelopuro: 142,000
Martin Hansen: 135,000
Alex Wice: 129,800
Sandor Demjan: 120,000
Peter Gould: 110,000
Other notable counts include:
Barry Shulman: 80,250
Men Nguyen:43,200
Mike Matusow:28,900
John Kabbaj:104,500
Marc Goodwin: 50,375
Brandon Cantu: 89,000
James Akenhead: 77,675
The first day of main event poker action wasn’t all players and spectators had to look forward to.
During a break early in the day, Jeffrey Pollack, WSOP president and commissioner, presented Jeffrey Lisandro [pictured left] with the 2009 World Series of Poker Player of the Year award.
For winning three gold bracelets at the Series in Las Vegas earlier this summer, Lisandro was given buy-ins into the next three WSOP main events, meaning he will play the 2010, 2011, and 2012 championship events for free, courtesy of Harrah’s Entertainment.
A little while after this, the most recent bracelet winner, Jani Vilmunen, was given a special ceremony where he was officially presented with his first gold bracelet, but perhaps the most eye-catching action of the day was Phil Hellmuth’s over-the-top entrance. Sticking to tradition the Poker Brat showed up dressed as a Roman gladiator, having made his way there via a horse-drawn chariot.
The main event continues today at 12 p.m. (GMT + 1) with day 1B which is expected to be even bigger. However, if any bracelet-holder wannabes are near the casino around lunchtime and have a hankering for a bit of poker action then registration will be open until about 3.40 p.m. (local time).
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