Three starting days are in the books in the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Today at Noon PT, Day 1D will kick off after being the first to sell out its pre-registration. Overall, attendance through the first three starting days of the Main Event is up a colossal 34% year over year.
In 2009, there were 3,685 entries after Day 1C officially closed its doors to new players. A total of 1,116 entered on Day 1A, while just 873 took to the floor on Day 1B, which fell on the Fourth of July. Day 1C saw 1,696 entrants in 2009. This year, the first of three starting days in the Main Event occurred on Monday, July 5th, safely removed from the holiday festivities one day prior. Day 1A this year featured a starting grid of 1,125 players, while Day 1B attracted 1,489. Yesterday, Day 1C saw a field of 2,314 show up for a three-day total of 4,928.
Among those who took to the felts on Day 1B was Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, a Full Tilt Poker pro, who was seated at Table 2. Meanwhile, Poker News Daily witnessed Tiltboy Rafe Furst make his exit after an opponent flopped a set of threes. Jeff “yellowsub” Williams, who finished third in a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event, told us to bet on the Netherlands in the Fifa World Cup; sure enough, “Sub” was right, as the European country outlasted Uruguay 3-2. Unfortunately, we did not make it to the Rio sports book in time.
At the table next to Full Tilt pro Jeremiah Smith’s was an all-in and a call with A-K versus aces, one of several pots that featured Big Slick running into the superior hand. This time around, however, the player with A-K made a straight a busted his opponent. A bevy of players donned blue 888 logos, including Leo Margets, the Last Woman Standing in the 2009 Main Event.
Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, Matt “mcmatto” Affleck, Drag the Bar instructor Dusty Schmidt, and Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson were among those who carried the banner for the internet poker community on Tuesday during Day 1B. On Day 1C, online poker pros in the room included DoylesRoom’s Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, free agent Lauren Kling, Kling’s beau Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers, and Jordan “Octavian_C” Rich.
Furst and Joe Sebok were among those who donned an all-white jump suit in support of Bad Beat on Cancer, whose green 1% patches can be seen on a bevy of players in the Amazon Room.
Day 1D of the Main Event has a capacity of 3,800 and, as of 5:00pm PT on Wednesday, nearly half of those seats were sold. In 2009, a total of 6,494 players entered the Main Event, meaning that we’re already guaranteed to have a field larger than last year’s, a welcome sign given the depressed economy. The 2009 attendance would have been even larger had 500 players not been shut out after Day 1D reached capacity. Whether today will have any similar drama remains to be seen.
Wednesday began with PokerStars pro Joe Cada issuing the command to start play. Then, it was UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth’s turn to shine. Several hundred spectators endured 110-degree heat in the Rio parking lot to watch Hellmuth enter as an MMA fighter, including Mike Matusow. When asked by Hellmuth why he was in attendance, Matusow responded that he wanted to watch the “idiocy.” Meanwhile, 2010 bracelet winner Gavin Smith caught a pink UB.com hat tossed to the crowd by several dancers.
Finally, we’d be amiss if we didn’t discuss the trials and tribulations of Illinois native Stuart Nitzkin, the first player eliminated from the Main Event back on Day 1A. He lost a pot with pocket aces when the final board came K-K-10-10-10. Then, he donated his remaining chips with pocket kings after a player with K-10 made a straight. So it goes in poker’s richest tournament.
The survivors from Day 1A and Day 1C will convene for Day 2A on Friday. Those who made it through Day 1B and Day 1D will assemble for Day 2B on Saturday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest news, notes, and nuggets from the 2010 WSOP.
Somewhere on some site there needs to be a fairly “live” feed with the players and their chip counts hour by hour. Come on even on the PGA Tour site you can watch the leaderboard & you can alphabatize the board or follow an individual. Just something to think about for the Main Event WSOP, this is a computer generation, right? It’s just software ….let’s see some action.