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

Layne Flack got all in on a flop of J 9 8  holding A Q T 3  for the straight with nut flush draw. Shannon Shorr looked him up with K J T 7  for the lower straight. It looked like Layne was headed for the double-up, but the last two cards came K K giving Shannon Kings full of Jacks and giving Layne the rest of the night off.

They reached the money bubble with 73 players remaining and began hand-for-hand play.

Aurelien Guiglini got all-in in a three-way and was busted, earning the honor of being this event’s bubble-boy, finishing in 73^rd place.

Once the bubble burst a few players managed to get their chips in and bust out before the end of level 10, which is also the end of day 1. 69 players have survived and will return at 2pm Wednesday to continue play.

Once the end of day chip counts are available, they will be posted here. Looks like Larry Wright is the end of day 1 chip leader with ~84k.

Play continued after the break with Level 9: Blinds 500/1k.

Kathy Liebert got her last chips in with AJT5 against a player holding AJ32. The board came 7 5 4 6 7 giving her opponent the straight and nut low to scoop. Kathy hit the rail.

Layne Flack got all-in against Shannon Shorr with 7732. Shannon held AKTT. Layne flopped trips which held up to double him up. He later got all in against two players, flopped a set, rivered a boat, and stacked up to 60k.

Layne was not happy to sit on those chips, though. He got involved with Shannon again. On a flop of K 9 2  Shannon fired and Layne raised enough to put him in. Shannon made the call with K 6 4 2  for two pair with flush draw. Layne showed A A 9 9  for middle set and the nut flush draw to crush Shannon’s flush draw. Shannon’s tournament life was left hanging on two outs – the two remaining Kings. The last two cards were T K , giving Shannon the bigger full house with the two-outer on the river to double up.

Play continued into Level 10: Blinds 600/1,200.

Gonzo: Sam Simon, George Danzer, Eric ‘Rizen’ Lynch, Luca Pagano, and Matt Vengrin.

76 players remain. Average is ~28,400. Just four more must go to reach the money, so play has tightened up. Martin Klaeser is the chip leader with 83k.

Vince Burgio got his chips in with QJ98 (ns) against a player holding AA62 (ss). The board came J 5 4 5 Q and his opponent scooped, sending Vince back to his kitchen.

Lots of pots are being chopped, which means the pace of departures has slowed. 102 players remain and 72 will get paid.

Level 8 came to an end and players took a 20-minute break.

Play resumed with Level 9: Blinds 500/1k.

Ed Smith has taken the chip lead with 56k. Gabe Costner is second with 54k.

Lee Markholt got his last chips in with AQ53 against Erik Seidel, who held AAA3. The pocket Aces held up and Lee was a goner. Erik chipped up to 26k.

lan Smurfit got the last of his chips in with JJ54 against a player with AAQ9. The flop of J77 looked good to the Smurf as it gave him the full house. Unfortunately, the last two came K A and the river gave his opponent the bigger boat, sinking the Smurf’s.

‘Minneapolis’ Jim Meehan got his last chips in on a flop of K 7 3 with the nut low draw. Shannon Shorr looked him up with middle set. The last two were bricks, however, and Jim can head back to Minneapolis…or wherever he came from.

Play continued into Level 8: Blinds 400/800.

With one short-stack all-in, Joe Hachem called, then another short-stack moved in and Joe again called, showing AQ52 (ds – clubs & hearts). SS1 held A973 (ss - diamonds) and SS2 held A972 (spades). The board came J T 2 4 K giving Joe the Broadway straight for the scooper since no low was possible. Two more souls joined the wailing rail.

Kathy Liebert doubled up a short-stack and is down to 3,600. Layne Flack got all in with two callers and pulled out a scooper to triple up.

Jack Rosenfeldt is the chip leader with 53k. Joe Hachem is close behind with 51k.

Play resumed after dinner about 8:30pm with Level 7: Blinds 300/600. 153 players remain, making the average stack a bit over 14k.

The final player count was 720, generating a prize pool of $982,800. 72 will get paid:

Play continued into Level 6: Blinds 200/400.  

On the turn with the board showing 9 9 4 9, a player fired enough to put Kathy Liebert all-in. She happily complied, showing AKJ9 for the stone-cold-quadz. She doubled up to ~7k.

Rolf Slotboom’s success was short-lived. He got his chips in pre-flop with KKxx and ran into AAxx. The Aces held and Rolf is done.

Layne Flack flopped Broadway to scoop and send another player home.

Gabe Costner and Mike Fatter appear to be leading the field with ~40k each.

Level 6 has come to an end and the remaining ~175 players have been sent on a 90-minute dinner break. Play will resume about 8:30pm.

Jean-Robert Bellande got his last chips in on a flop of T 9 7  holding A K J 3  for the nut flush draw with gutshot. His opponent held A 7 5 4  for middle pair with backdoor low possibilities. The last two came 3 4  giving his opponent two pair and a low to scoop. Jean-Robert was later all-in and ran into a wheel. He has once again been voted off the island...

Rolf Slotboom scooped a pot after getting all-in on the turn. He’s approaching 18k now.

Michael Binger was scooped when his opponent flopped a wheel. He was severely short-stacked and busted out soon after.

Blair Rodman got his last chips in pre-flop with A652 (ss). His opponent held AA86 (ss). The board came 9 9 5 7 T making a low impossible. His opponent scooped with a better two-pair and Blair was busted.

About 210 players remain.

Scott Clements got his last chips in with KK32 (ss) against a player holding AA42 (ss). The board came 8 8 2 J 2 and with no low possible, Scott had to play trip deuces with a King kicker, which was notched by his opponent’s trip deuces with Ace kicker. Scott was felted.

Players wrapped up level 4 and headed out for a 20-minute break. More than half the field has already departed.

Play resumed with Level 5: Blinds 150/300.

Erik Seidel scooped a nice pot to chip up to 13k. Dutch Boyd got his last chips in against Jeff Bryan on an 8 6 4 flop. Jeff held AA97 (ss) for the Aces with open-ender and bad low draw. Dutch held A986 (ss) for two pair. The last two came 2 T giving Jeff the straight and giving Dutch the wooden shoe….er….boot.

With that pot, Jeff rockets into the chip lead with ~38k.

These players are busting faster than balloons in a dart factory. More than half the starting field is gone already after less than four levels of play.

Joe Hachem had two players, one of which was Marco Traniello, all-in pre-flop. Joe held AAJ5 (ss); Marco held A772 (ss); and the third player held KKQ3 (ss). The board came K 7 4 Q T giving Joe the Broadway straight and the scoop. The other two just scooted to the rail.

Barney Boatman was all in against Steve Graboski and Gavin Smith. After the Q 6 4 rainbow flop, Gavin got his last chips in the side pot and called by Steve. Gavin held 6432 for two pair and low-draw. Steve held A852 (ds) for the nut low draw. The last two were 9 3 and running diamonds, giving Barney a flush and Steve the nut low and a wheel to scoop the side pot and take the low half of the main. Barney got the high-half of the main pot and Gavin just got the shaft. With that pot, Steve Graboski was up to 26k, good for the chip lead.

Dutch Boyd was all in with three-way action. He caught a full house on the turn and tripled up to ~12k.

Goners: Allen Cunningham, Alan ‘BodogAri’ Engel, Steven Wong, Clonie Gowan, and David ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott.

Players started the hour with a twenty minute break. According to the World Series of Poker website, registration topped out at 720 players of which nearly 100 of them have been eliminated already.

Notable eliminations in the last hour:

Don Humberto Brenes
Perry Friedman
Andy Bloch
Clonie Gowen

Present chip leader looks to be Gavin Smith. Jean-Robert Bellande continues in the hunt.

Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson is in today's event. I hoped to catch an exciting hand to add to the blog, but Jesus' table refused to help.

Allen Cunnigham is also playing today's event.

Jeff Madsen is also out there mixing it up.

Reports have the field at just over 700. If that number holds true, we've surpassed the number of entrants that took part in 2007. The 2008 WSOP continues to march on in impressive fashion!

The last hour has seen some agressive play from Survivor participant Jean-Robert 'Bobby' Bellande. Bellande has pushed his stack to the middle a few times today, and so far the strategy is working for him. He looks to be the present chip leader.

Also noted while out on the floor was one of the best hats I've seen so far here at the Rio. As you can see, the gentleman seated to the right of Chip Jett is wearing a chef's hat. Perhaps he'll whip up some food for us all in between hands.

Two of my favorite players are now seated next to each other. Irishman Padraig Parkinson is seated to the right of Steve Dannenman. The two were observed chatting and laughing. If you've never had the chance to get to know Padrag, Google his name and find yourself a video or radio show in which he is the guest. I assure you it will be worth your time. The guy is hillarious!

And finally, I thought it might be nice to include an overview shot of the Amazon room. It certainly isn't as filled as it was yesterday for the Seniors event, but it is busy. Tables have started to consolidate just a bit, and players find themselves with new tablemates.

Busted so far:
Barry Greenstein
John Friedberg
Tom Schneider
Arnold Spee
Carol Kline

Walking out of my house this morning I had to look down at the latest in a pile of unread newspapers to verify that today is Tuesday. Such is the life of a WSOP tournament reporter.

Tuesday brings with it the 43rd event of this 2008 World Series of Poker. Players in this Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-better event will be paying $1,500 in hopes of taking down a bracelet and some nice first place prize money to go with it.

Last year, 687 players took their shot at a title, and Lukask Dumanski was able to beat them all. Action is sure to be hot and heavy in what is a European and pro influenced field. We'll post all of the pertinent tournament info as soon as it is available.

Notables in the field in my first run through the tournament floor include:

One of the top women players in all of poker, Kathy Liebert. Liebert looked up for a second when I was about to take the shot, but then must have decided for a more serious pose. I'd say this is her "I'm playing poker " pose.

Also taking part in today's event is the Champ, Joe Hachem. So far no chants of 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie' from Mr. Hachem.

Seated a few tables behind Joe is the bearded one, Barry Greenstein. Mr Greenstein has already taken down a bracelet in an earlier event here at the 2008 WSOP. Will Event 43 be his second of '08?

Other notables spotted include wunderkind Jimmy Fricke. While Fricke's table presence isn't all that scary, I'm sure his game is in the eyes of the others players seated at the table. Fricke has been running deep in many of the events he has entered. Maybe we'll see another deep run in this event.

And all the way from Costa Rica is Don Humberto Brenes (Don is the Spanish equilvalent of Sir for the non-speaking Spanish crowd out there). Don Brenes is always a crowd and media favorite as he plays with a good nature, and keeps the table entertained. We'll be keeping an eye on the colorful Tico.