End of day 1A chip counts for the 47 survivors:

*Corrected from original erroneous report of 2,300.

	Brandon Cantu - end of day 1A chip leader

The bell has rung ending level 10 and play for day 1A. The remaining 47 players are doing the count'em and bag'em dance now.

There are five Shooting Star bounties that survived the day: JC Tran, Layne Flack, Kathy Liebert, 'Miami' John Cernuto, and Men 'the Master'. All survivors will get tomorrow off and will join the day 1B survivors for day 2 at 10:30am PDT Wednesday.

The second starting flight, day 1B, will begin at 10:30am PDT Tuesday.

It is official: Brandon Cantu is the end of day 1A chip leader with 242,300 chips. Brandon has earned $10,000 for this and he has also already collected two bounties, so he's covered his buy-in and is up $10,000 already from this event.

JC Tran has also collected two bounties for $10,000 to cover his buy-in, so he's free-rolling from here on.

End of day chip counts will be posted here when available.

Joe Sebok will not be collecting the "Joe Sebok Award" tonight. He got his last ~15k in with AK and ran into JC Tran's pocket Jacks. The board came rag, rag, rag, rag, rag and Joe's day is done. JC collected the bounty which was his second of the day. JC is one of only five bounties remaining today. The others are Layne Flack, Kathy Liebert, 'Miami' John Cernuto, and Men 'the Master'.

Kathy Liebert got her last chips in with A8 and got looked up by big-stack Brandon Cantu, who held KJ. The board was nothing but bricks and Kathy's Ace-high was good for the double up.

	Thanh Che

On a flop of J 6 3 JC Tran lead for 2,200. Thanh Che raised to 10k smooth. JC took a minute, then raised another 20k on top. After taking a minute or so, Thanh released his hand. After that pot, Thanh was very close to 200k and Brandon Cantu is also hovering around the 200k mark, so the current chip lead is too close to call.

Level 10: Blinds 400/800 with 100 antes. Play has resumed. This will be the last level of the day!

These folks have also departed at some point today: Amnon Filippi, Kevin Saul, Theo Tran, and Weikai Chang.

	John Juanda - gone

Brandon Cantu raised to 1,800 from the button and John Juanda came over the top for 8k straight from the small blind.  Brandon then moved all in (for ~70k).  John called all-in, showing AK.  Brandon rolled over pocket 3s. John would need help to survive. The board came 5 4 4 J 9 and John couldn't find a pair, anywhere. Brandon Cantu collects another bounty and is now the chip leader.

Men 'the Master' Nguyen is down to about 15k after doubling up another player at his table.

Only 6 bounties remain among the 59 players still hanging in tonight.

End of level 9 and the break may be longer than 15 minutes as they are coloring up the green 25 chips.

	Chau Giang - ousted

Chau Giang moved all in on a flop of Q 8 2 with two clubs and got called by Chris McCormack who held AQ (top pair). Chau held A 6 for the flush draw. He would need another club or two runners to survive, but the last two cards came J T with no club and Chau was ousted.

Only 7 bounty players remain.

	Bill Edler - stardust

Bill Edler got his last chips in with AK and got looked up by Brandon Cantu, who held pocket Jacks. It was off to the races. The board came Q T 3 6 Q and Bill couldn't catch an out and is now out. Bandon collects the Shooting Star bounty. Now only 8 bounties remain.

Toto Leonidas moved in from the button for just over 10 times the big blind. Both blinds made the call to see the flop of K 8 7. The small blind checked. Layne Flack moved all in from the big blind and the small blind folded. Toto held QJ and was in bad shape against Layne's pocket 8s (middle set). Last two cards were J T and Toto can head back to Kansas.

	Nam Le - left

On a K 6 3 flop, Nam Le got all his chips in the middle with pocket 3s (bottom set). The bad news was that Joe Graziano held pocket Kings (top set). Nam was drawing to the case 3, which did not arrive. Joe collects $5,000 for shooting the star...I mean for the shooting star.

Level 9: Blinds 300/600 with 75 antes. Play has resumed.

End of level 8 and players are taking 15. 70 players remain.

George Panagakis reports he's up to 65k.

	Joe Sebok

David Tran's pocket Kings hold up against a player's pocket Queens and David sends another one to the rail, continuing to chip up.

Steve Brecher and Florian Langman have both hit the rail.

Ten Shooting Star bounties remain: Bill Edler, Chau Giang, JC Tran, Joe Sebok, John Juanda, Kathy Liebert, Layne Flack, Men 'the Master' Nguyen, 'Miami' John Cernuto, and Nam Le.

Also, the end of day chip leader will earn $10,000, jokingly called "The Joe Sebok Award" because Joe is always an early chip leader, then flames out before the money or on the TV table bubble.

	Eric 'Rizen' Lynch - fallen

Eric 'Rizen' Lynch got his chips in good with pocket Queens and got looked up by Thanh Che, who held pocket 5s. Then the board came K J 4 J 5 and that river card sent Lynch to the rail and shipped the big pot to Thanh, who chipped up to ~128k.

Chanh Pham has moved into the chip lead with 158,000 chips.

Here are some rough counts for the chip leaders:

	Todd Brunson - toast

Level 8: Blinds 250/500 with 50 antes. Play continues.

Just before the blind increase, Todd Brunson got his last chips in with pocket 9s against Andrew Robl, who held pocket Aces. The board came Q 5 3 Q T and Todd is the latest Shooting Star to be shot down.

	Joanne 'JJ' Liu - jilted

JJ Liu moved in for ~8k and Men 'the Master' Nguyen made the call. JJ's pocket Kings were out in front of Men's A3 suited, but an Ace hit the flop to give Men the better pair. Then another Ace hit the river to add salt to the wound. There will be no repeat final table appearance for JJ -- Men has collected her Shooting Star bounty.

83 players remain putting the average over 35k.

Bill Edler got his short stack in with JT; Kathy Liebert followed suit, getting all her chips in with AK; the player in seat 7 made the overcall, showing pocket 9s. If the pocket pair held up, the player would get a $10k double bounty for busting two Shooting Stars. Then the flop came A 7 5 and Kathy took the lead with a pair of Aces. A Ten on the turn gave Bill an underpair and some outs, then a Jack hit the river to give Bill two pair and the triple-up. Kathy took the side pot.

After a player opened for 2,000, Florian Langmann called, then Chau Giang moved all in for ~9,400. The opened folded, but Florian opted to call because Chau is a bounty. Chau's pocket Queens were ahead of Florian's K6, but a King hit the flop giving him the lead. Chau was headed for the rail when a Queen landed on the river, giving him the pot and the double-up to about 25k.

	Michael 'the Grinder' Mizrachi - grounded

Michael 'the Grinder' Mizrachi moved in on the flop of A J 6. Taylor Raines made the call, showing pocket 6s for bottom set. Michael held AT for top pair and needed help to survive. Unfortunately for the Grinder, the last two cards came 2 K and the Grinder was grounded. Taylor Raines collects the pot and the $5k bounty.

Kenna James also busted out - check out his blog on PokerPages.com for the details, straight from the horse's mouth, er, well keyboard.

	David 'the Dragon' Pham - snuffed

Erik Seidel found himself all-in with AK against John Juanda -- who held pocket Aces, again (he said he's had them four times today). The Aces held up and Erik's day was done. John got the $5k bounty and Erik's autographed T-shirt.

David 'the Dragon Pham got all in with pocket 7s and this time found a caller, Chris Ramayat, who held pocket 8s. No help for David on the board and he's finally busted out.

Level 7: Blinds 200/400 with 50 antes. Play has resumed.

End of level 6 and time for dinner. The remaining ~95 players will get a one-hour respite from the action. Play will resume at about 6:25pm PDT.

	Chad Brown - no longer hangin'

Chad Brown moved in for his last ~4,500 chips on a flop of A 8 6. Seat 2 looked him up with pocket 4s and was actually ahead of Chad's 97 suited (open-ender). The last two cards came 3 8 and Chad couldn't close the deal. He's the lastest Shooting Star to be extinguished.

	JC Tran

A couple of short-stacks are hanging in there: Michael Mizrachi was all in on an A 8 6 flop, holding A5. His short stack got called by a player holding K9 off, no pair, no draw, but hoping to get lucky and collect a bounty. Last two cards came 9 A and the Grinder doubled up to a bit over 10k.

On a 6 4 2 flop, Toto Leonidas moved all in and got looked up by seat 7. Toto held J 5 for a flush draw with one overcard. His opponent held 7 6 for top pair. Turn was the 5 giving Toto a small pair and a few more outs. River was one of them -- the 8 -- and Toto made the flush to double up to about 20k.

John Juanda has dropped down to under 60k. JC Tran is now the chip leader with about 77k.

	Jonathan Little - jilted

On a board of 9 3 2 8, Jonathan Little got all in with pocket Jacks, only to get looked up by Men 'the Master' Nguyen, who held 93 for two pair. The river was a 7 and Jonthan, who was definitely the only player to play his chips and play under his name here today, was busted.

Level 6: Blinds 150/300 with 50 antes. Play continues. About 105 players and 17 bounties remain.

	Hoyt Corkins - corked

Hoyt Corkins moved in on a flop of 7 6 3 and got called by Danny Lee. Hoyt held 74 for top pair with a gutshot, but Danny held pocket Aces for THE top pair. The board bricked out, shipping the pot and the Shooting Star's $5k bounty to Danny.

	Gus Hansen - gonzo

On a flop of Q 4 2, Gus Hansen moved all in and was called by JC Tran.  Gus held Q6 for top pair, but JC held KQ for the same pair with a better kicker.  Gus was drawing slim, needing a 6, but the last two cards were A 3 and Gus was done.  Gus being dispatched by JC Tran is the first instance of a Shooting Star shooting a fellow Shooting Star.

David Pham is all in again and this time gets called by a player holding AK. David held pocket Aces and after the board bricked out, he doubled up to almost 20k (back to where he started today).

	Sabyl Cohen - Aces cracked

Sabyl Cohen got all in on the flop with pocket Aces against Brandon Cantu, who had flopped a monster draw -- an open-ended straight draw and flush draw. His flush card hit on the turn and it was over for Sabyl.

John Juanda has vaulted into the chip lead with ~90k. About 118 players remain.

	Kenna James

Kenna James moved in on the river with the board showing Q 8 3 2 7 (no suit) and a call from seat 7. Kenna rolled over pocket 7s for the set and seat 7 mucked. Kenna doubled up.

David 'the Dragon' Pham is working his short-stack hard. He's been all-in three times and has yet to get a caller.

'Miami' John Cernuto is up to ~56k and appears to be the chip leader.

Level 5: Blinds 100/200 with 25 antes. Play has resumed.  About 122 players remain, making the average almost 24k.

David Tran is up to ~50k.  George Panagakis is up to ~40k.

End of level 4 and players are taking 15.

	Gavin Griffin - goner

Before the break: On the river with the board showing Q Q 7 A T, Kenna James bet 2,400 and after a bit of thought, his opponent surrendered. Kenna is idling at about 10k.

Gavin Griffin got all in with pocket Queens only to run into pocket Kings. Then the flop came A K 7 giving his opponent a set. Unfortunately Gavin did not have a . It was all over when the A hit the turn and Gavin was gone.  Paul Britto is the player who collected Gavin's bounty.

	Noah Schwartz - the schwartz is no longer with us

Noah Schwartz is off the phone now and told me what happened. He was up to ~30k in chips and probably got a little cocky as he raised from early position with AT. A late position player called his 500 chip raise with pocket 8s. The flop came A T 8 and it was all over. All the chips went in the middle and Noah's top two pair fell to bottom set. He's still kicking himself over making that move with AT.

	Vanessa Rousso - rousted

Vanessa Rousso got all in with pocket Tens and called by Mel Nicholson, who was holding A Q . The flop was K Q 7 which gave her opponent the lead, but gave Vanessa a flush draw since she held the T . Last two cards were 4 8 and -less, however, and Miss Rousso is the latest Shooting Star to hit the rail while Mel collected the $5k bounty.

Noah Schwartz has also busted out and if he would ever hang up his cell phone, I would ask him what happened.

Level 4: Blinds 100/200. Play continues. About 130 players remain.

Layne Flack just got all in and called on a flop of A J 8. His A8 (two pair) had his opponent's AQ trailing. Layne managed to dodge all his possible outs and double up.

	Dan Alspach - ousted

John Juanda called an all-in and showed his opponent the nuts: pocket Aces. The other guy held AK suited and was in very bad shape. A King on the river was not enough and the unknown player was busted.

Dan Alspach got his last ~6k in with a flush draw and overcard and got called by a player holding top pair.  Dan couldn't catch a break and has busted out.  This means it is again up to his wife, Joanne 'JJ' Liu to represent the family in this event.  JJ finished second here last year and would very much like to improve on that result.

Gus Hansen has finally arrived and taken his seat, so there will be no easy bounty today. He had to wade through a crowd of fans on the rail to get to his seat -- the fans are about 8 deep on the rail around the tournament tables.

Level 3: Blinds 75/150. Play has resumed.

End of level two and start of a 15 minute break. About 135 players remain.

	Andrew Robl - shoots into the chip lead

Before the break: 'Miami' John Cernuto took out a player when his pocket Queens held up against a flush draw. Andrew Robl busted a player when his set of ducks held up against his opponent's flopped top two pair on a board of Q J 2 A 9. Andrew has taken an early chip lead with over 40k.

An interesting twist:  Gus Hansen is supposed to be playing today and has a chair and a stack on the table, but he has not yet arrived.  He is a bounty player, so if he never shows and gets blinded down to a point where his last chip is in for a blind or ante, someone may get an easy shot at his bounty.

	Roy 'the Oracle' Winston - washed out

Roy 'the Oracle' Winston got all in with 98 on a J J 9 flop, only to be shown his opponent's J8. Roy's only hope was running 9s, but it was not to be and Roy's was the latest bounty to be collected.

	Jerry Yang - bounty collected

Jerry Yang got his chips in with pocket Kings, only to run into pocket Aces held by Kevin Croy. The board came 9 3 2 Q Q and Jerry was the second Star shot down today.

Here are the pros that I spotted on my first pass through the room (not all of these are bounties): Roy Winston, Layne Flack, Gavin Griffin, Chau Giang, Brandon Cantu, Bill Edler, Steve Brecher, Howard 'Tahoe' Andrew, (who is celebrating his 87th birthday today) Michael 'the Grinder' Mizrachi, Dan Alspach, Noah Schwartz, Nam Le, Weikai Chang, Jerry Yang, David Tran, JJ Liu, Jonathan Little, Quinn Do, Kathy Liebert, Robert Mizrachi, Vanessa Rousso, Kenna James, Erik Seidel, John Juanda, Justin Bonomo, Eric 'Rizen' Lynch, 'Miami' John Cernuto, Joe Sebok, Amnon Filippi, Kevin Saul, Sabyl Cohen, David 'the Dragon' Pham, Todd Brunson, Men 'the Master' Nguyen, Toto Leonidas, Chad Brown, Zachary Hyman, Hoyt Corkins, Theo Tran, Allen Kessler, and JC Tran.

Level 2: Blinds 50/100. Play continues.

	David Williams - Shooting Star shot down

The first Shooting Star has been skewered. David Williams got all-in pre-flop with pocet Queens and faced the pocket Aces of Chanh Pham. To make matters worse, and Ace came on the flop. David still had hope when a Queen landed on the turn, but he was drawing to the case Queen for his life. River was a Jack, however, and David Williams' is the first bounty to be paid out today.

Allen Kessler has taken it on the chin early today. In a super-cooler, he held Queens and was up against both Kings and Aces. The board was -rich, which is what saved him as the players checked it down. He took another hit a bit later when his pocket Kings got cracked by a 74 that made a straight. Allen is down to about half what he started with.

Level 1: Blinds 25/50. TD Matt Savage has kicked off today's event and cards are in the air. Players start with 20,000 chips and levels are 60 minutes long.

There is a bit of delay as they reassign the players and bounties. They've only got about 150 players turning out today and they had 25 bounties spread out on 25 tables. Now many tables will have two bounty players instead of just one.

Players also have to complete their WPT release forms, which is taking some time.  Still waiting for things to get sorted out and get underway.

Kaelaine Minton Reporting

Kaelaine is one of the hardest working reporters on the tournament cicruit, and she can play poker, too!  She won the 2007 World Poker Open Media Tournament at the Goldstrike in Tunica, besting a field of 50 to win the event and the WPO gold bracelet!   Her motto is "will do anything poker-related for money".

Contact Kaelaine