Home / Poker News July 2008 / There are 6,844 entrants in this year’s WSOP Main Event. First place will win $9,119,517
There are 6,844 entrants in this year’s WSOP Main Event. First place will win $9,119,517
Posted by: James Carter. - Tue, 2008-07-08 18:43
Day 1D of the Main Event saw the largest flight of players take to the tables. 2,461 people laid siege to the Rio, but at the end of the day the army would be in tatters and only 1,362 strong.
The opening speech held by Congressman Robert Wexler bore special significance for everyone closely or remotely connected to the world of poker. He spoke about efforts to revoke the UIGEA, and thus spirits were high when he officially opened the hostilities with the traditional “Players…shuffle up and deal!”
The previous three installments of the Main Event’s first day have all had their share of celebrities bellying up to the tables. Today wasn’t any different either. Phil Hellmuth, the living legend Doyle Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Carlos Mortensen, Johnny Chan, Jerry Yang, Phil Ivey, Annie Duke, Howard Lederer, Phil Gordon and Men Nguyen all got rolling today. Many of them would grind to a halt before the day’s end though.
Tim Vance was the first big name to bust out, on a Broadway straight too. His assassin called his all-in on a middle pair only to catch a flush on the turn and the river and oust him for good.
Annie Duke took a big hit from Duc Pham and was all-in a few hands later on a pair of 10s. Luck would have it though, that someone else had a pair of Qs which spelt the end of Annie’s Main Event run.
Phil Ivey ran into a very nasty bad beat himself. He pushed all-in on the nut flush and someone made a boat on the river to reduce his stack to a few stray chips. It didn’t take Ivey long to bust out from there.
Chris Ferguson put his tourney life on the line when he flopped a set of 7s. Little did he know that an opponent already had him beat with the nut flush on the flop. Michael Mizrachi fell too to a straight, but Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, Jerry Yang Gus Hansen and Kirill Gerasimov all survived to play another day.
Steve Austin finished the day in the lead, with 149,000 chips.
