Official chip counts and seat assignments at the end of Day 1:

That's a wrap on Day 1. In the last hour, the bubble burst and the bust bonanza began.

The bubble boy didn't want to identify himself, somehow thinking the moniker "bubble boy" would spare him some shame. Christian Hold bet out 3,500, and bb (bubble boy, as supposed to Big Blind) raised to 10k. Hold called, and both checked the J 3 3 flop. After an 8 turned, Hold bet 10k, and bb called. The river brought a 2, and Hold bet 33,000. After a bit of thought, bb called all in, tabling a pair of Queens. Hold flipped over J-J for a flopped a boat, sending bb home with no money and a bit of a complex. Not a good time to lose 65k.

The rest of the field cheered their good fortune, then threw their chips into the middle with abandon. In less than half an hour, 52 players lined up at the cashier to collect their money. Among them were Theo Tran, Nick Binger, and Arnold Spee.

Mike Zukler ends Day 1 as the chip leader with 113,000, followed by Eric Beren with 105,000. Barry Greenstein, Bill Gazes, and Humberto Brenes also have formidable stacks. All will return at 2:00 pm PDT on Sunday to play down to the final nine.

The field is hovering just above the money bubble, and no one seems inclined to risk their chips. So many people would rather check down everything that the TD felt it was necessary for a reminder announcement - "Collusion is bad." With 285 still alive, hand-for-hand play should begin in the next level.

Not among the 270 getting paid are both Boatman brothers, Erick "E-dog" Lindgren, and Scott Clements. Clements shipped it with pocket 4s on an 8 6 5 flop to discover that his opponent held 9-9. The turn and the river didn't help, so no money for Scott.

Barry Greenstein has taken over the chip lead, sitting on 95,000 but still not looking happy. Tristan Wade is next with 88,000.

Only 100 eliminations to go before the money, and there are two hours of play left in the night. Bill Gazes donated some of his chips to Chris Weaver, giving Weaver the chip lead with 97,000. Gazes is still in the running with 50,000. Barry Greenstein is second on the leader board with 73,000.

Allen Kessler isn't in the hunt anymore. He raised to 2,500, and the button and the SB called to see the flop come A T 7. The SB checked, and Kessler shoved for 8,300. The button insta-called, and the SB got out of the way. Kessler tabled A-J for top pair and was surprised to see his opponent turn over pocket Aces. The turn and river couldn't save him, and Kessler was sent home early.

Jimmy "gobboboy" Fricke, Grant Hinkle, and Tony Cousineau also have the rest of Saturday night free. Watch out, Vegas.

Players have been back from dinner for about an hour, and the pace of eliminations has slowed quite a bit. Only 130 people bit the dust during Level 7. Level 8 brings with it 400-800 blinds and an ante of 100. The average chip stack is just over 17,700.

Bill Gazes was sitting on top of the leader board earlier and well ahead of the rest of his table. That all changed when Chris Weaver and Dan Dianni got new seats within a matter of minutes. Weaver, the current chip leader with 70,000, is now sitting on one side of Gazes, and Dianni and his 62,000 are sitting on the other. Not one to be intimidated, Gazes has picked up 12k since they sat down. He now has a formidable 58,000.

David Singer busted in dramatic three-way fashion. A few hands after finding himself out-kickered for most of his chips, Singer got his last 8,500 in the middle with pocket 9s. He picked up two callers - Queens and A-K. An Ace in the door and no help from the rest of the board meant big slick tripled up, and Singer made his exit.

Maureen Feduniak, Edward Sabat, and Jim Pechac join Singer on the rail.

Busting Out and Chowing Down

Only 591 players survived until the dinner break. That means 2,129 people busted at a rate of 5.9 a minute.

Jonathan Little shipped it with A-K but couldn't improve against pocket 9s. Joe Hachem's A-Q had similar difficulty against a pair of Jacks. 

M.J. Bernstein must have done something to anger the poker gods.  Just before dinner, the big slick turned on him.  His Jacks didn't hold up against A-K, costing him much of his stack.  Pocket Jacks beat A-K on the next hand.  Unfortunately, this time the A-K was his.  A few minutes later, he got his last chips in with K-J and ran into...A-K.  At least it took three shots to take him down.

So much for girl power. Caroline Cooper, Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck, and Sabyl Cohen-Landrum all made early exits. Other pre-dinner casualties include David Williams, Mike Caro, Hevad Khan, Bertand Grospellier, and Rob Hollink.

Scotty Nguyen and Scott Clements had a nasty showdown that ended with one elimination and one chip leader. Clements bet 1,200 UTG, the Prince of Poker raised to 4,000, and Clements called to see a J 4 2 flop. Clements bet 3,000, and Nguyen called. They got it all in after a 9 on the turn. Clements' K-J had flopped top pair, but Scotty tabled pocket Aces for the dominant hand. Until a King on the river gave Clements two pair and Nguyen an early dinner break.

Scott Clements is now the chip leader with 46,000. Barry Greenstein and Bill Gazes are a hair behind him with 45,000.

The slaughter continues at 8:30 pm PDT. Will they make the money tonight? Only 321 eliminations to go.

Death Toll Climbing

The field is below 1,000 already, logging 1,800 eliminations in four and a half levels. Jared Hamby's pocket 8s lost a race to the big slick with a King in the door. Rolf Slotboom shoved for 2,240 with K-4 off and couldn't connect against an opponent with A-Q. "Miami" John Cernuto was also busted by A-Q.

Kevin "BeLOWaBOVe" Saul, Terrence Chan, and Mark Seif have the rest of the night off. So does Nikolay Evdakov, who will have to wait for another event to pick up his 8th WSOP cash of the year and tie the record for most cashes in one Series.

Speaking of cashes, the official payout structure has been announced. The total prize pool of $3,712,800 will be shared by 270 players. The minimum take is $2,784, and the winner will go home with $631,656.

Time Out for the PokerBrat

As usual, Phil Hellmuth arrived two hours late. Anything earlier wouldn't assure him the title of fashionably latest since entries are allowed for the first two levels. His stay at the table was also fashionably brief and quite eventfull. Hellmuth lost most of his chips quickly. With only 900 left, he raised to 700, the SB called, and the BB moved in. Phil called all in, and the SB folded. It was Hellmuth's pair of Queens against the BB's T-T, and the board ran out J 9 3 2 4, giving Phil a healthier 2,900. Two hands later, he risked it all with A-K against J-J, and the Jacks held up to eliminate the PokerBrat. But don't worry. His ego will survive the blow. He's already out in the hallway signing autographs for a long line of fans.

Less vocal but just as out this round: Bill Chen, Alex Jacob, Antonio Esfandiari, and Shannon Shorr.

Girl Power

As players head off on their second break of the day, Scott Clements sits on top of the chip counts with 23,200. While I am aware that Clements isn't a woman, there are two ladies in the top five, quite a rare occurance in such a large masculine, mostly unwashed field. Maureen Feduniak got a little help from the ladies in the deck, catching pocket Queens to double up to 22,300. Sabyl Cohen-Landrum isn't far behind.

Call FEMA. The death toll just keeps rising. In three hours, the field has gone from 2,720 to 1,560. Michael "Grinder" Mizrachi ran his 7s into Queens to make his exit. Allen Kessler's A-Q chainsawed Joe Awada's A-7 with a Queen in the door.

Liz Lieu shipped the rest of her short stack on a A K J flop holding A-J for two pair. It wasn't good enough as her opponent tabled Q-T for the flopped Broadway straight.

John Juanda had been running strong until the SB at his table moved in with A-K, and Juanda called with A-9. The board was no help, knocking him down to 2,000. He was out a few minutes later when he shoved with T-6 off and couldn't improve against an opponent with Q-7.

Amnon Filippi shoved with A K on a K 7 5 board and was called by a player with A 9. Filippi was still in good shape after the 2 on the turn, but the 4 on the river flushed him out of the tournament.

Kathy Liebert's A-9 was no good against an opponent with K-J. PokerKat was scratched when the board fell K J 6 Q 3.

Also adding to the body count: Sarah Bilney, C.K. Hua, Erik Seidel, Young Phan, and David "The Dragon" Pham.

Watch out. The masses have just flooded the hallways for their first break. And it's wall-to-wall people, and most of them aren't exactly aware of their surroundings. It's illegal to drive with headphones in. It should probably be illegal to walk around the Rio during the first break of a $1,500 with headphones in as well.

The official number of entrants is up to 2,720. And the number of busts before the day ends is likely to be almost as high. Dealers can barely keep up with all of the busts.

Jacobo Fernandez won't be making another surprise final table appearance. His A-T couldn't connect against pocket 7s. Daniel Negreanu is also history. Already pretty short, he shipped it with 9 4, and his opponent's 8-8 held up. He didn't seem to mind much, but he might be sorrier when he realizes that it's 115 degrees out.

Joe Sebok also hit the rail quickly. He was crippled when he shoved with J-J on a T T 5 board. His opponent tabled K-K to take most of his chips. A few hands later he got his short stack in with K-Q, but his opponent's Q-Q held up to end Joe's tournament.

Also out this round: Nenad Medic, Svetlana Gromenkova, Isaac Haxton, J.C. Tran, Emad Tahtouh, and Eric "Rizen" Lynch.

Cards are in the air, and a whole lot of people are crammed around the felt at the Rio. It's that time again - $1,500 NLHE free-for-all Saturday. Hard to believe how quickly another week has gone by, bringing us that much closer to the Main Event.

The field is already around 2,500, and new entries keep appearing on the board almost as fast as dealers shout, "Seat open!" Among the early busts are several big names. Carlos Mortensen ran his 7s into an opponent's Jacks, and a few seconds later, Andy Bloch's Jacks had a nasty head-on collision with a pair of Queens.

Greg Raymer, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Chris Ferguson, Burt Boutin, and Jean-Robert Bellande are all back to the pool already.