World Series of Poker: Main Event, Day 1-B Report
The second opening day of the Main Event got underway at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino at Las Vegas, USA on the 6th of July, 2010. This was the second of the four opening days for the tournament as 1,489 players took to the floor to begin their dream to try and become the World Champion of poker for 2010. Compared to day 1A, there was a small increase in the number of participants as 1,125 players took the floor.
Once again, it was the tournament director Jack Effel who recited the customary instructions and rules to all the players before the start. This is the fifth tournament that is taking place under his command. The infamous “Shuffle up and deal” announcement was made by Ashley McCoach who went on to win the WSOP dealer of the year award in today’s proceedings as well.
The players started with 30,000 chips which is triple the amount required for a buy-in. This change is quite recent as the players used to play with 10,000 chips from the tournaments inception in 1971 till 2005. From 2006 to 2008, the starting chip count was increased to 20,000. It was only last year that the amount was changed to 30,000 chips at the start.
As was the case on the first day, the players played four-and-half rounds as the blinds were increased after every two hours. When play came to a close at 11:30 p.m. at night, there were 1,018 players left in the draw. The percentage of players remaining in the field is exactly the same as yesterday which stands at 68%. Of those remaining in the field today, 654 players still had 30,000 chips in their bank. The cumulative total of players that have made it through in the first two days now goes up to 1,784.
The chip leader for Day 1B was James Danielson of USA with 201,050. Corwin Cole still holds on to the overall lead after he finished with 228,200 chips on Day 1A. Jason DeWitt of Chicago finished Day 1B in the fourth place. Jason won his first WSOP bracelet earlier this year in the $5000 No Limit Hold‘em. He has now achieved 9 WSOP tournament money finishes and over a million dollars in career earnings. Prior to becoming a professional poker player, Jason used to stock shelves at a grocery store. James Dempsey from the United Kingdom is still in with a shot as he sits at the thirty-second place with over a hundred thousand chips in front of him. James also won his first WSOP bracelet for this year in the $1,500 pot limit event. He also finished in the money grabbers in three other WSOP events this year one, of which was a second place finish in the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better World Championship. He will be the one to look out for in this years’ event as he looks to improve on his form in the Main Event this year.
Two former World Champions also took the field on Day 1B. This included “Action” Dan Harington, the winner in 1995 and Jamie Gold who won in 2006. Both players struggled in the tournament this time around. Gold was eliminated with only four hours of playing time under his belt. Interestingly enough, his mother was also part of the field today, only to be knocked out a couple of hours after her son. Hollywood actress Jennifer Tilly started her run today as well. While most Hollywood players join the field just as a hobby, Tilly is one of the few female players who has been able to make her mark in the game at a professional level as well. In 2005, she was able to take a WSOP bracelet by winning the Ladies No Limit Hold’em event. Amongst the female players to start their campaign today was Annette Obrestad who became the youngest player to win a WSOP bracelet when she won the inaugural WSOP Europe Main Event in 2007. She was 18 at that time and was not allowed to play in the main event until now because the legal age to play poker in Neveda is 21 years.
As the day came to a close, some hearts were broken, some dreams were shattered. But the one who remains in the competition will come back on July 10th to continue their fight on Day 2B.
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