Play has wrapped for the day. When chip counts are released, they will be posted. Play will resume at 3:30pm tomorrow.

Jennifer Tilly somehow lost hold of her huge stack of chips, went all in against Daniel Alaei, and lost when he hit his card on the turn. Tilly has been eliminated from the tournament after being in the top five for the better part of the evening.

Players are tired and testy at this late (or early) hour. It's 11 hours into play, and everyone is trying to stay awake and stay alive to fight another day.

There are approximately 419 players left.

Alan Goehring has been one of the latest exits from the event, so there is no chance of a repeat winner at this year's LAPC.

Blinds are currently at 200-400 with an ante of 50. Players are back in their seats after a 15-minute break.

Joe Sebok is the chip leader and seems to be very focused and confident.

Play has been tight here for the last few hours with very few players busting out. The number of remaining players is still over 600, and they are playing until 3:30am this morning. Everyone will return tomorrow at 3:30pm to play for another 12 hours, but if they all remain tight, there could be some longer days ahead.

Jennifer Tilly is also staring down at a significant amount of chips. After eliminating two players in a recent hand, she just lost a pot that neared 30,000, but she is still quite comfortable and dominating her table. So much for those who dismissed her poker abilities... She has proven herself to be a sincere student of the game and a winning player.

More eliminations include Daniel Negreanu, Evelyn Ng, and Jon Friedberg.

Joe Sebok is one of the chip leaders at this point, even though he has suffered an ankle injury and is playing under some duress. Now, that's dedication!

The tournament director has announced that there are 630 players remaining. Really slimming the field, huh, folks?

Seriously, this is a tough and massive group of poker players, and no one takes a tournament like the LA Poker Classic lightly. It's a prestigious event, and the prize pool doesn't hurt the momentum either.

Some of the latest casualties are Gus Hansen, John Juanda, Allen Cunningham, and Cyndy Violette.

Also out of the tournament are Brad Booth, Clonie Gowen, and Barry Schulman. Players are currently on a short break and will return in about 10 minutes.

Some big names have left us already, just hours into the first day - Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Rousso, Joe Hachem, Mimi Tran, Amir Vahedi, Chip Jett... Quite a few have busted and left quickly.

Updated payouts are listed below.

Everyone is back from dinner and settling back in.

An announcement was just made that the total number of players was actually 791, not 790 as previously announced.  (All apologies to that one lone player who wasn't counted.)

At the dinner buffet joint, I sat at a table next to Daniel Negreanu, his protege, and some other friends, and Freddy Deeb and Isabelle Mercier were at a table behind me, and Minh Ly and friend were sharing a table with Tom (WPT) and I. Not much poker talk going on; quite a bit of silence, actually. I think the quiet is refreshing after being in a room full of riffling chips and constant murmur of conversation at the tables.

But I digress... I shall roam the tournament floor for interesting tidbits.

Players are on a 90-minute dinner break. When play resumes, the few tables left on the balcony will soon be moved into the main tournament room, and players and the action should be slightly easier to follow.

Update for Marsha Waggoner fans: She's sitting pretty with 33,000 in chips and pleased about it. She's playing some intense poker out on the balcony.

Below are the payouts for this event.

Prizes have been announced, and while the list is compiled, I can say that the second place finisher will receive $1.2 million, and the winner will take home a cool $2.4 million.

Pocket change, right?

Indulge me while I ndrop a few more names: Isabelle Mercier, Joe Cassidy, David Levi, Dan Harrington, Jean Robert Bellande, David Sklansky, Tom Franklin, Evelyn Ng, Ted Forrest, Vanessa Rousso, Chad Brown, Jeff Madsen, and Mark Newhouse.

Word is that another pro - Mark Seif - has been eliminated from the event as well.

Oh geez. I was just handed the entire list of entrants for the LA Poker Classic. It's quite the thick packet, so rest assured that I will not be writing the entire list for you, but I will give highlights as possible.

We've reached the first break, and it came about 10 minutes too late for Jamie Gold, who has already been eliminated from today's event.

We have the official count - today's field consists of 790 players. Incredible!

In another pass around the tournament areas, more players stood out in the crowd: Freddy Deeb, Gus Hansen, Patrik Antonius, Gavin Smith, Jesse Jones, Davood Mehrmand, Nam Le, Bill Edler, Mimi Tran, Antonio Esfandiari...

This is one of the most anticipated tournaments throughout the poker year, and it is obvious by the crowds that have shown up today.

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The main tournament room is jam-packed with tables.

There are so many tables that the main tournament room is overflowing with tables set up on the outdoor balcony and even a few downstairs in the high limit room on the casino floor.

Other notables who have arrived: Brad Booth, Tuan Le, Phil Laak, Jerry Buss... More names to come...

And on another note, two players have already busted out of the tournament.

When I pulled up to the valet, my little car was sandwiched between Barry Greenstein and Chip Reese. That is only a tiny indicator of the big names that are here today.

Other notables in the main room include Joe Sebok and Jamie Gold at the same table, Shaun Sheikhan and Huck Seed at another, Layne Flack and Mike Matusow at another (table talk, anyone?), Chau Giang, Frank Mariani, David Matthew, Chip Jett, Allen Cunningham, Anahit Galajian, Kelly Griggs, Erik Seidel, John Juanda, Mike Matusow, Isaac Haxton, James Van Alstyne, Steve Dannenman, Dan Harrington, Ted Forrest...

Need I say more?

Okay, I will when I get more information. Time to get some photos...

Welcome to the LA Poker Classic!

Apologies for the late start... We just got a solid internet connection, so we should be ready to roll.

The field here is amazing! I heard that there were 94 tables, but there may have just been more added, so I will verify as soon as possible. It looks like somewhere between 850 and 900 players, and we should have the final number within the hour.

Jennifer Newell is a freelance writer (and now tournament reporter!), originally from St. Louis but now living in Los Angeles. She fell in love with poker while working at WPT and began writing about it in 2005.