WSOP - Day 1 Complete

The elimination of the bubble player signifies not just that all the remaining players are in the money, but this bubble also tells us that it's the end of Day 1 of Event #1, the Casino Employees $500 NLHE buy in. The end of the Day 1 comes after some 13 hours of play in which 866 participants began throwing chips around in an effort to seize the first bracelet of the 2009 World Series of Poker. Play was very fast and furious from the get-go, with more than half of the field sent packing in the first 4 hours. While the field contained mostly relative unknown players, there were a few notable names that brought their $500 and a dream of being the first winner of the WSOP. Pat Poels came and went quickly, busting within the first hour and a half of play. Legendary Tournament Director Jack McClelland would do slightly better, but he also would leave the felt just after the dinner break. Kyle Morris and Marsha Waggoner were also in play, but neither of them advanced to day two.

As far as players that are left, a late charge helped Cesar Chavez chip up to the chip lead after Day 1, after amassing a 107,700 stack. Other than Chavez, it looked as though there was only one other player above the 100k mark. Casey Kuhn, a dealer at the Riverside Casino and Golf Resort in Iowa who made the trip out west to do some playing of his own was at 101,300 just before play ended. These two men have really distanced themselves from the rest of the field. But there are still 79 other players hungry to catch them, of which about two dozen players of which will start Day 2 in the 80,000-chip range.

That’s all the news from Day 1. Today begins Day 2 and the start of the eagerly awaited $40k buy in NLHE event. This field will be star packed with many big named pro’s as it promises to be one of the richest pots of the tournament. There are several guesses as to the number of participants that will vie for the huge crown, but most seem to think it will be between 200 and 300.

That’s all from Day 1 in the Las Vegas desert.