Day 1B of the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event kicked off on Sunday. The attendance on the second of two starting days boosted the total tally to 362 players, the exact same number that competed in 2007’s Main Event, which was won by Annette Obrestad (Annette_15 online). There were 159 players on Day 1A and 203 on Day 1B. The event will crown a champion on Thursday, October 2nd.
After Day 1A, here were the top 10 chip stacks in the Casino at the Empire in London, the home of the WSOPE:
1. Smith, Justin (Kissimmee, FL, USA), 158,925
2. Sagstrom, Eric (Gothenburg, Sweden), 98,750
3. Bloch, Andy (Las Vegas, NV, USA), 97,100
4. Montgomery, Scott (Perth, Ont., Canada), 81,650
5. Demidov, Ivan (Moscow, Russia), 73,625
6. Adams, Brandon (Miami, FL, USA), 72,475
7. Matusow, Mike (Las Vegas, NV, USA), 71,550
8. Fischman, Scott (Las Vegas, NV, USA), 70,650
9. Dirksen, Dustin (Las Vegas, NV, USA), 70,100
10. Gratte, Goran (Kungalv, Sweden), 67,725
If you’re a fan of poker, you’ll recognize a few members of this list. First off is Andy Bloch, a member of Team Full Tilt Poker and former player on the MIT Blackjack Team, which was made famous by the book “Bringing Down the House” and the recent feature film “21.” He surprisingly has not yet won a World Series of Poker bracelet, but has nearly $2 million in career earnings from the Las Vegas event. He was dominant during the first season of the World Poker Tour, finishing third in both the World Poker Finals and L.A. Poker Classic. He’s one of the best at the game when it comes to mathematics and is a well-respected player among his peers.
Another name you may know is Scott Montgomery. He’s a member of the WSOP November Nine, who make up the final table of the Main Event, which will resume in November and air on ESPN on the 11th. He’s third in chips and one of the top Canadian poker players in the game. He finished fifth in the Season VI installment of the WPT’s L.A. Poker Classic, cashing for $296,000. He plays under the name “R_A_Y” online and finished second an Ultimate Bet Online Championship event during its 2007 installment.
Mike Matusow is a three-time WSOP bracelet winner who won his first in 1999 in a $3,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament. He also won a $5,000 buy-in Limit Omaha High-Low tournament in 2002 for his second bracelet and nearly $150,000. His most recent piece of hardware came after taking down the No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball with Rebuys event in 2008. He has over $3 million in lifetime WSOP earnings.
Finally, Scott Fischman is a two-time WSOP bracelet winner and member of “The Crew.” Both of his bracelets came in 2004; he did not record a cash in Las Vegas in 2008 during the tournament series. Fischman finished eighth in the Season V World Poker Tour Championship, pocketing nearly $250,000. His 12th place finish at the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic during the same season was worth $84,000.
