Event 1 of the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe began on Friday. The second of two starting days occurred on Saturday and near the top of the chip counts were PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu and Australian Jason Gray. The overall leader was Ohio resident Adam Junglen, who held 84,200 chips. The event began with 410 players. When Day 2 begins in Sunday, 88 players will compete.
Here were the top ten chip stacks after Days 1A and 1B of the ₤1,500 No Limit Hold’em event:
1. Adam Junglen (United States), 84,200
2. Daniel Negreanu (United States), 74,900
3. Daniel Nutt (United Kingdom), 74,500
4. Jason Gray (Australia), 72,800
5. Remy Biechel (France), 65,500
6. James Akenhead (United Kingdom), 58,800
7. Costas Artemi (United Kingdom), 57,300
8. David La Ronde (United Kingdom), 57,000
9. Brandon Cantu (United States), 54,200
10. Salim Ghozali (United Kingdom), 52,700
Event 1 of the WSOPE was split into two starting days, with 191 players showing up for Day 1A and 219 turning out for Day 1B. The 410 player field marked the largest poker tournament in the history of London, according to a release sent out by the WSOP after the tournament concluded play on Saturday. The previous record was the 392 player field of the European Poker Tour London event, which was held last September. Each starting day played through eight one-hour blind levels. Here are the expected payouts for the members of the WSOPE Event 1 final table:
1st Place: £144,218
2nd Place: £89,175
3rd Place: £55,350
4th Place: £44,588
5th Place: £36,285
6th Place: £28,598
7th Place: £22,448
8th Place: £17,835
9th Place: £13,222
Ironically, Junglen, the chip leader, was almost sent to the rails early on during Day 1B. He pushed all-in with pocket aces on a flop of J-9-3 and his opponent called with pocket nines. Sure enough, one of the two aces remaining in the deck hit on the river, doubling Junglen up and catapulting him into the chip lead. Negreanu, who is in second place overall, is a four-time WSOP bracelet winner. His first win came in the first WSOP tournament he cashed in, a $2,000 buy-in Pot Limit Hold’em tournament in 1998. After bracelet wins in 2003 and 2004, Negreanu took down a $2,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em tournament in 2008, cashing for $204,874.
Day 2, which features the combined survivors of Days 1A and 1B, will begin at 1:00pm local time on Sunday. The final nine players will duke it out on Monday afternoon at the final table. Other notable players among the top chip stacks in the room include Phil Laak (13th), Isaac Haxton (22nd), Andy Bloch (31st), John Juanda (34th), Surinder Sunar (69th), and Erik Seidel (85th).
On Monday, the second event of the 2008 WSOPE will begin. Here’s a look at the remainder of the schedule:
Event 2: Monday, September 22nd at 2:00 PM
£2,500 + £150 buy-in H.O.R.S.E
Event 3: Wednesday, September 24th at 3:00 PM
£5,000 + £250 Pot Limit Omaha
WSOPE Main Event: Saturday, Sep 27th at 1:00 PM
£10,000 + £350
