End of Day 1A chip counts can be found by clicking here.

At 10:20 p.m. players were advised that there would be 3 more hands left of play for the night.

Players were advised by the tournament director's that they had made it to Day 2 of the main event. A huge burst of applause came through the walls of the Rio.

The remaining players are now bagging and tagging their chips.

Stay tuned, for Day 1B action tomorrow which begins at 12:00 p.m. local time.

Level:

ANTE: 25
SB:   150
BB:   300

Nikolay Evdakov is on the button and sees a flop of 2  4  3 .  Seat one bets 1k, and Nikolay makes the call.  The turn comes an A  which both players check to.  The river is a 4 .  Seat one bets 2k, and Nikolay makes the call.  Seat one turns over A 5  for the flopped straight, and Nikolay mucks his hand.

The very next hand, Nikolay calls a raise from seat 9.  The flop comes 7  8  3 .  Seat 9 checks, and Nikolay checks behind.  The turn is a 3 , and both players check again.  The river is a Q , giving the board a four card flush.  Seat 9 thinks for a moment and then bets 1300.  Nikolay checks his cards and reluctantly folds his hand.

Nobody puts Gus Hansen in the corner: Gus Hansen called a big river bet of Aaron Rupert on a King high board. Rupert turned over KK for three kings and Hansen mucked his cards. Hansen was then seen raising a few pots afterwards to take down the blinds and antes.

The average stack in the room is 39,157.

David Gray was eliminated from the tournament.

Johnny Chan doubles: Johnny Chan was all in preflop for his tournament life. He turned over A K  against his opponent's A  Q . The board came 2  J  2  3  A  and Chan rakes in the pot. As he stacks his chips, he says "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner".

Jennifer Tilly called  Bojah Gledoric's bet of all in for his last 13,000 in chips. Tilly had him covered. She held A  9  against Bojah's 3  3 . The board would come 6  2  Q  J  4  and Tilly would lose a good portion of her stack.

A few hands later, Tilly was all in preflop this time. An unknown player from the big blind thought about the call for awhile right before a clock was about to be called, the player folded. Tilly raked in the pot to stay alive.

Mike Sexton is still in the field, as is Jason Alexander. Alexander has around 96,000 in chips.  Beth Shak is still stacking her chips. She has them all in one giant tower.

Brad Garrett moved all in on a board of 4  K  8  2  Q . He had his opponent covered who called. His opponent turned over 10  9  for a flush. However, Brad Garrett would have the nuts when he turned over A 5 .

The night is almost over. Players have around 10 minutes left before the tournament director announces how many hands will be left in play for the evening.

The players took their last twenty minute break of the day.

They return to levels of:

ANTE: 25
SB:   150
BB:   300

The players returned for the last level of the night.

Before the break, Orel Hershiser was eliminated from the tournament. He was all in on a flop of J98 with 98 against the JT of Luke Patten. The turn would come a 6 keeping Orel's hopes alive. However, the river would counterfeit Orel's two pair when it came a T giving Patten a better two pair. Patten rakes in the pot while Orel makes his exit from the main event.

Alexander knows how to crack a flush: There was an all in between Jason Alexander and an opponent. Alexander showed T  T against the 8  6  for his opponent. The flop came J  2  5  giving Alexander few outs to improve. He would need the board to pair and then either a ten or to have three of a kind on the board. The turn was a J . Alexander would need to catch one of his four outs (either a Jack or Ten) to improve. The river was....... a J ! That gave Alexander a full house and sent his opponent packing on day 1 of the main event.

We walked over to Isaac Haxton's table while it was being filmed. Haxton had raised to 3,200 preflop and his opponent was pondering a move. His opponent eventually folded and Haxton turned over the 3 .

Top pair any good? Vitaly Lunkin raised to 900 preflop. An opponent from the small blind made it 2600 to go. Lunkin made the call. The flop came 5 K  6  and both players check the action to the turn. The turn was a 2 . Both players look at eachother and decide to check. The river was an A . Once again, both players do not put any money into the pot. Vitaly Lunkin turned over AJ for a rivered ace. His opponent showed QQ. It was a little peculiar why there was not any action before the river. However, Lunkin took in the pot and left us all wondering.

Jerry Yang eliminated: 2007 champion Jerry Yang was eliminated when he was short stacked and all in preflop with J  7 . He was called by a player with A  K . The flop came 9  8  7  giving Yang a pair of sevens and a gut shot straight draw. It also gave him the best hand. However, a nightmare of a card would come on the turn when it was a K . Yang would now need to improve on the river. The river was a 4  and Jerry Yang will not be making a repeat performance as champion as he busted in the last level of Day 1.

FIELD UPDATE: Johnny Chan is still in the hunt. Also still going are Jason Mercier, Jennifer Tilly, Gavin Smith and Sandra Naujoks. Naujoks and Smith are seated at the same table together.

Playing Day 1A of the main event is Poker Pages FREE School player Jerry "xxPiratexx" Garver. We want to wish him the best of luck in the main!

(Jonas Alt and Elissa Harwood reporting)

Fade To Grey:

It folded around to the blinds, and the player in the SB limped. David Grey checked his option and the two went to the flop. It came down 8 A 7 , and the SB checked to Grey. Grey tossed out 300 chips, and the SB happily check-raised to 1,000. Grey decided to keep his remaining chips for a different hand, he mucked.

Freddy Got Fingered:

There was a raise pre flop to 900 that got called by three players, including Freddy Deeb. The flop came out Q K 4 . The first player to act, led out with 2,200, one player folded, Keven Stammen called, as did Deeb. T on the turn was checked by all. Q fell on the river and Stammen checked to Deeb. Deeb bet 6,000 which caused the third player in the hand to fold. Stammen check-raised Deeb to 37,000. Deeb only had 11,000 chips left and they went into the middle. Deeb turned over A J for the Broadway straight, but it was second best to the K Q of Stammen who had a full house. Deeb was sent to join the others who had already been eliminated.

The Ducks:

After the flop had come down 2 3 Q , and the turn fell J , Paul Sexton opened with a raise to 10K. His opponent moved all-in for just a few thousand more, and Sexton called. Sexton turned over 2h 2c for a set, and his opponent tabled K K . The A on the river would be no help to his opponent, who was eliminated.

Adios Mark:

Mark Vos was eliminated after moving all-in pre flop holding pocket Q's. His opponent called holding Big Slick and picked up an A on the turn. Vos couldn't really get anything going today, and now he's gone.

Boat For Gracz:

With the flop down and reading 2 3 2 , Michael Gracz led out with a bet of 2,500, and got a call from his opponent. 9 on the turn and Gracz wasn't slowing down. This time he bet out 4,900, and got another call. 5 showed up on the river and Gracz bet 11K into the pot. His opponent made the call but mucked after Gracz turned over 3 3 for the full boat.

Double For Yang:

After getting severely short-stacked, Jerry yang moved all-in after facing a raise from another player. His opponent called and the cards were turned over. Yang was holding K Q while his opponent held 2 2 . The board ran out Q Q 3 K 2 , giving Yang the win and the much needed double-up.

Mizzi Is Sore:

Sorel Mizzi opened the action with a raise of 600, and 2 players called behind him before the button raised it to 3,000. Mizzi re-popped it to 10,500(enough to push the button all-in). The 2 players that called Mizzi's initial raise folded back to the button player who made the call putting himself at risk. The button was in good shape though as he tabled A A and Mizzi could only muster J J . The board ran out Q 8 2 K 4 , keeping the A's good and delivering a hit to Mizzi's stack.


Back Slide For The G:

With the board showing A K 4 , Tony G led out with 1,000 and he was min-raised by his opponent. Tony called, and then check-callled a bet of 5,000 after the 6 showed up on the turn. T fell on the river and Tony check-called another bet of 10,000. His opponent turned over A K , and Tony mucked. This was the second hand that Tony lost to this opponent in a row. After starting the day off very well, he has taken a turn for the worse with the losses, but still has chips to play with.


Win For Black:

Andy Black led out after the flop of A 4 2 from the SB, and the player on the button made the cal. Q on the turn and Black was betting again, and again his opponent called. 8 showed up on the river and another bet from Black and another call from the button. Black revealed his A Q and scooped the pot when his opponent mucked.

Raking With Big Slick:

The player UTG bet 1,200 and got a call from Isaac Haxton in the BB. The flop was J 3 3 and Haxton check-raised all-in for his remaining 9,650 after a bet from his opponent. Haxton tabled A K while his opponent showed K T . 3 on the turn, and then the Q on the river, and it was Haxton raking in the pot.

Lovely Ladies of Day 1A:

Several women in the field have remarked today that they don’t see too many other ladies at nearby tables. There seems to be one female at every three or four tables, which is pretty standard for the Main Event. Women made up less than 5% of the last year’s field. Though not large in number, the ladies playing today are a very impressive group. Katja Thater, Beth Shak, Mandy Baker, Wooka Kim, Van Nguyen, Jena Delk, Sandra Najukos, and Wendeen Eolis are all accumulating chips. 

On a A 8 6 rainbow flop, the small blind bet 2,900, and Mandy Baker called to go heads up to the Ten on the turn. The sb check-called Baker’s bet of 5,000. He checked to Baker again after a 9 on the river. Baker fired 8,000, and the sb called again with AK. TPTK was no good, as Baker tabled T9 for a runner-runner two pair. Ms. B. was up to 44,000 after the hand. 

The players have left on their 1 1/2 hour dinner break. Play should resume shortly after 6pm Vegas time.
A Side Note: Cards Anyone?

There is a very impressive house of cards being built at the end of one of the halls here at the Rio. Apparently the man in charge of the build is known for creating some intense structures that include the U.S. capital building, and Big Ben. Not sure how long his latest creation will take him, but here's a look at the work in progress.

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Friday, 03rd of July 2009 04:00 PM

(Jonas Alt and Elissa Harwood reporting)

Chan-ed Entrance

As some players bust, others are just arriving. Johnny Chan made his entrance with 1:05 left in Level 2. The dealer didn’t have the chips to give Chan, so they called the floor over while ESPN hovered around the table, which also includes Wooka Kim and Steve Paul-Ambrose. The floor staff sent for chips ASAP and tried to halt play at the table so that Chan could play the next hand in the big blind. Another player complained, and eventually they dealt Chan out and kept playing, and the ESPN cameras moved off in search of more interesting action. Gus Hansen and Freddy Deeb also joined their tables in the past hour.

Vos Cracked

When I caught up with the action on the Qh 9 3 flop, there was already 12,100 in the pot. The big blind checked to Mark Vos, who bet 4,500. The BB called, and the turn brought the J. Check-check to the 7 on the river. The BB tossed out to orange chips for a bet of 10,000, and Vos made the call to see his opponent’s two black Jacks. Mark just shook his head as he flashed A A and tossed them into the muck. Vos was down to just 7,000 after the hand. He’ll have a lot of rebuilding to do if he’s going to recreate he tower of chips from last year.

Feature Table Fluctuation

By the river of the K Q 3 2 6 board, Cody “thugmoneymakr” Slaubaugh already had a large chunk of his stack in the middle. Eli Elezra put him all in, and Slaubaugh called with K 5 for top pair, weak kicker, missed flush draw. Eli showed K 6 for two pair, winning the hand and busting Cody from the feature table. C.K. Hua replaced Slaubaugh, and probably wishes he hadn’t. In his first orbit at the table, Hua made a set of 2s that turned into a boat on the river. His opponent had a set of 3s that became a better full house, scooping the giant pot and leaving Hua with around 11,000. 

YelloSub Still Afloat

Jeff “YellowSub” Williams had some problems early on when his aggression didn’t meet with enough respect at the table. In the first level, I caught a hand where Williams called the button’s raise from the big blind, then bet out 1,200 on the 5 3 2 flop. He fired another 4,000 at the Queen on the turn. The button called again, and after the 8 on the river, the Sub gave up and checked. His opponent checked behind and, Williams showed T8 for air until the river. The 8s weren’t good enough when the button turned over pocket 9s. But don’t count Williams out yet. He flopped a set of ducks on an 8 5 2x board and got it all in against a guy with A Q. But the turn and river were good to Williams, who is up to 43K after doubling his stack.

Still Hot in Herre

After a player opened in early position, a guy in mp and Roland de Wolfe on the button both made the call. But Nelly was having none of it, shoving in his last 8K from the big blind. The original raiser folded, and the mp decided to see a showdown with the rapper. De Wolfe ducked out, and Nelly showed ATs. He was racing pocket 6s and made it clear he thought the call was a terrible play. He didn’t mind so much, however, when he turned a Ten to double up and stick around awhile longer.

 

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Friday, 03rd of July 2009 03:00 PM

(Jonas Alt and Elissa Harwood reporting)

The players are back from their first break of the day. Here are some of the notable chip counts around the room at this point:

Jonas Klausen - 65,000
Tony G - 63,500
Erik Cajelais - 40,000
Roland de Wolfe - 38,500
Mel Judah - 37,000
Jimmy Fricke - 35,000
Andy Black - 21,000
Jerry Yang - 18,500
Nick Frangos - 18,000

Bloch Blinded:

Andy Bloch limped from the SB, and the BB checked his option. THe flop came down J 9 2 , and both players checked. 4 came on the turn and Bloch tossed out a bet of 400 that was called by his opponent. 3 showed up on the river and it went check check. The BB turned over A 9 for a pair of 9's. Bloch mucked.

New And Old Friends:

Jason Alexander has been moved to Brad Garret's table and the two are swapping stories across the felt. Alexander's old table mate, Nelly has been moved to another table as well. He is now seated at a table with Roland de Wolfe. Nelly's and Alexander's friendship was just getting started but it has been ended by the breaking of their table. Such is the case with so many relationships that start on the felt.

Jan Gone:

Jan Von Halle moved all-in after Toa Dang shoved with the board reading J 7 3 4 . Dang showed A K while Jan was holding 8 8 . Drawing dead, Jan left the table before the river card came out and headed for the exit.

Gus Hansen has finally appeared, much to the shagrin of his table mates. The hyper-aggressive Hansen is always fun to watch, but not always fun to play with. We'll have to wait to see if his table can handle the action he will be giving.

Jerry On The Rise:

Jerry Yang raised to 800 from early position before the player to his left re-raised to 2,600. Yans called and the two went to the flop. 6 7 T came on the flop, and Yang check-called a bet of 2,625. His opponent then raised it up to 12,000 after the 4 showed up on the turn which was enough to put Yang all-in. Yang called, putting himself at risk and turned over T T . His opponent tabled K K and was behind the set of Yang. Yang needing to fade a K, was over joyed to see the T fall on the river. Yang scored the double-up and is now around 34,000 in chips.

Robbing The Baron:

After a flop of T J 8 , Isaac Baron bet enough to put his opponent all-in. The other player made the call and turned over T T . Baron had the best of it with his 9 7 , but his opponent wasn't dead yet. 4 came on the turn, and Baron was still good, but when the J paired the board on the river, his straight shrank to nothing. Baron now has only 10K in chips left.

The Ultimate River Card:

With all the cards down, and the board reading J J 8 7 J , Radek Stockner raised a bet from his opponent. Stockner was then re-raised. Stockner moved all-in and got an immediate call from his opponent. His opponent tabled A J for Quad J's, but Stockner turned over 9 T for the straight flush. His opponent couldn't believe the cooler the dealer laid down on the river, but there it was. Stockner moves up to around 67K in chips after his elimination of the player.

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Friday, 03rd of July 2009 02:00 PM

(Jonas Alt and Elissa Harwood reporting)

Razor Cut

John “the Razor” Phan isn’t having quite the Series he did last year, but ESPN was staking out the colorful pro’s table anyway. Good thing they got their coverage in early, because the Razor has already been shaved from the Main Event field. On a T 5 4 6 board, Phan’s opponent checked to him, and he bet 1,500. The other guy then pulled out the old check-raise, making it 4,000. Phan called to see a Queen on the river, and his opponent fired 5,100. Phan knew something was up and just flatted with QQ for a rivered set. His opponent tabled 87 for the turned straight and the pot. Phan had only 4,000 chips to his name after the hand. A few minutes later, he got it all in on a 9 8 7 flop, showing pocket Aces. His opponent’s K9 was in bad shape, but picked up chop outs with a Ten on the turn. Then he took down the whole thing with the King on the river giving him two pair and busting John Phan in under a level. 2008 – 2 bracelets, 2009 – 0 cashes 

BFFs (Best Felt Friends) Forever

There are some interesting pairings throughout the room today. Gavin Smith looks very grumpy for a guys sitting across from the beautiful Sandra Najukos. Mike Sexton was sitting quietly on the left of his dealer, ignoring the stream of noise coming from Daniel “amichaiKK” Makowsky on the dealer’s right. John Duthie is sharing the felt with Jan Von Halle, and Tony G is sitting with C.K. Hua. But by far the most interesting pair is Nelly, who has position on Jason Alexander. For now, Nelly seems content to listen to his iPod and let his bling do the talking while Alexander entertains the table. Fellow funny guy Brad Garrett is on the other side of the room, one table over from screen star/poker pro Jennifer Tilly.

Feature This

Besides the stacked tables on the floor, there are very impressive line ups at the feature tables. Eli Elezra, Lex Veldhuis, Allen Cunningham, and Cody “thugmoneymkr” Slaubaugh headline the table on the ESPN main stage. Over on the secondary feature table, Greg “FBT” Mueller is matching his double-bracelet-winning skills with Sam Farha, perhaps the only person in the poker industry to lose money on Moneymaker’s victory.

Masters in the House

Men “the Master” Nguyen and his wife Van (whom he calls Mrs. Master, but who has a career that can stand on its own), arrived a little late, but at least one of them has been making up for lost time. On an A Q 5 board, Van checked from the big blind, a player in early position bet 600, and Jason “JP_OSU” Potter called. Nguyen also made the call. After the 6 on the turn, she checked again, and both opponents checked behind. The river was the 8, and Nguyen bet 1,200. The player in ep called, and Potter got out of the way as Nguyen turned over 5 5 for a flopped set and took down the pot.

What Should I Wear?

We haven't spotted any outrageous costumes yet today (we'll get to Wendeen Eolis' hat later), but there are PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker patches, hats, shirts, backpacks, jackets, etc. everywhere you look. One player sharing a table with Roland de Wolfe was very concerned about his logo placement. Full Tilt has promised to pay $10 million to anyone who satellited in on the site if they win the Main Event (and agree to an exclusive deal and wear their gear at all times).   "You're a Full Tilt Pro, right?" he asked de Wolfe? "You know how many things with the logo I have to wear to get the $10 million? I wore two just in case." de Wolfe just laughed at the guy, who is decked out in a black FTP hoodie and an FTP baseball cap.

The field has now flooded into the hallways for the first break of the day. 

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Friday, 03rd of July 2009 01:00 PM

(Jonas Alt and Elissa Harwood reporting)

The players are still filing in as we are just getting started at this year's Main Event. I'm sure a lot of the pros are taking their time getting here since the players will start with 300 big blinds. We figure a player could sit out until dinner and not really be worried about it.

Some of the notable faces that are here at this point are: Gavin Smith, Isaac Baron, Padraig Parkinson, Jason Mercier, Barry Shulman, Andy Black, John Phan, Jerry Yang, Roland de Wolfe, Mike Sexton, and Nick Frangos.

The Amazon room is full to the brim with some of the spill-over in Brasilia.

Jonas Klausen Fills Up:

After a flop of 7 4 4 , the player in the SB led out with a bet of 7,800, the player UTG folded, and Jonas Klausen shoved. The SB called and the cards were shown. Klausen was holding 7 7 while his opponent turned over 4 3 . 3 on the turn changed nothing, as did the 8 on the river. Klausen doubles-up to just over 60K while his opponent hits the rail early her on day 1.

Looking Tough With A Little Hand:

After calling a pre flop raise from his opponent, Erik Cajelais also called another bet after a flop of K 3 3 . Q came on the turn, and Cajelais' opponent check-called a bet. A showed up on the river and Cajelais raised a bet from his opponent. The other player called but mucked when Cajelais turned over 3 2 for trip 3's.

Sexton Shoved Out:

Mike Sexton checked the flop of T 9 6 . His opponent bet, and Sexton came along. 9 on the turn was checked by both players. J on the river and Sexton checked one more time before folding to a bet from his oppnonent.

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Friday, 03rd of July 2009 12:00 PM

(Jonas Alt and Elissa Harwood reporting)

It’s 103° in Las Vegas today, but the real heat is at the Rio, where Day 1A of the big show is under way. The parking lot is full, the halls are packed, and hopes are high as the first wave of 6,000 people get set to take their shot at a multi-million dollar score. Plenty of big poker names and Hollywood personalities are among the hoards, as are online grinders, home game heroes, and thrill-seeking fish, all looking to become the next household poker name. Is there a Moneymaker among us? Keep your browsers right here, and PokerPages will bring you all the action you can handle Live from the Rio for the next 12 days.

The entrants all begin with 30,000 in chips and will start with blinds at 50/100. They will play four two-hour levels today. Cards will get in the air momentarily, as Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, TD Jack Effel, and Jack Links mascot Sasquatch just took the stage. The hairy man himself (Sasquatch, that is) has the honor of announcing, “Shuffle up and deal!”

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It's the event that we've all been waiting for. The 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event is finally upon us! With a $10,000 buy-in this event normally attracts a massive field requiring four Day 1's of play. With past champions including the likes of Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, Stu Ungar, and Chris Ferguson, just to name a few, the eventual winner will be making history and becoming an instant poker celebrity. In 2009, Peter Eastgate outlasted the other 'November Nine' as well as the original 6,844 entrants to win this event and take down $9,152,416 in first place prize money. Day 1A action kicks off at noon PDT Friday and Poker Pages will bring you LIVE coverage.