The start of the new week marked the beginning of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Players filed into the Amazon Room at the Rio in Las Vegas around 11:45am, about 15 minutes prior to Greg Raymer’s “shuffle up and deal” command.
After hoisting his gold bracelet in the air, Raymer gave a short pep talk to the 1,125 players in attendance: “This is what you all came here for! And, now – let’s play some poker. Shuffle up and deal!” Blinds kicked off at 50-100 with the button in seat 10. Every player was given 30,000 in starting chips and levels ran for two hours each. Raymer was seated at table Red 359 and quickly unloaded his trademark fossil card protector, which will be given to the player who busts him out of the $10,000 buy-in tournament.
The first player to be knocked out with Aces was asked to contact WSOP floor staff and, as was the case last year, any player who made four jacks received a Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Go Wild Prize Package. Meanwhile, Tournament Director Jack Effel was busy reading these and other promos off his Blackberry while seated in the middle of the Amazon Room.
One so-called Table of Doom saw November Niner Kevin Schaffel, 2007 Aussie Millions Main Event runner-up Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke, reigning WSOP Europe Main Event champ Barry Shulman, and sports card hawker turned poker player Ken Goldin. ESPN cameras rushed over to the table of David “Chino” Rheem, who was facing a bet of 5,000 on a board of 6-10-9-K-10 with three clubs. Rheem told his opponent, “I have two pair, so I’m probably going to fold.” Rheem shuffled the five yellow chips needed to call in his left hand before tossing them into the middle. His tablemate showed A-Q of clubs for the nut flush and Rheem quipped, “Thank the cameras for that.”
Over the loudspeakers in the Amazon Room, a reminder that only English can be spoken while a hand is in play was given. If no hand is being dealt, players can speak in whatever language they like. Poker News Daily caught up with “Everybody Loves Raymond” star Ray Romano, who explained, “So far, I haven’t beaten my record. My record is Day 2.”
Romano added that fellow sitcom actor Brad Garrett was absent from the Rio and, consequently, “There’s no dead money here.” On his mindset headed into play, Romano told Poker News Daily, “I’m just happy to be here. This is my one big tournament a year. There’s pressure on myself because after this, I have to go home and that’s not pretty. Even though I only play this tournament, it’s big to me. It’s not casual.”
Others spotted around the Amazon Room included Scott Seiver, who was chatting it up with a player seated directly to his right about how he used to have a bunch of small jobs, but nothing as stressful as being a poker player. Across the playing floor, former Ante Up for Africa champ John “World” Hennigan raised to 1,500 on a board of 9-J-3-8 with three Diamonds. His opponent relinquished his hand and Hennigan chipped up nicely to start play.
Team PokerStars Online pro Randy “nanonoko” Lew was seated alongside T.J. Cloutier, who faced an all-in bet on a board of 8-2-7-3-J with three hearts. With ESPN cameras crowded around, Cloutier made the call and promptly mucked when the all-in player showed Q-5 of hearts for a flush. On playing with the poker legend, Lew told us, “He has a lot of experience, but I’m honored to be playing with him.”
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for more from the 2010 WSOP.
