WSOP main event kicks off with 1,297 players on first “Day 1″
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Thursday marked the first day of the World Series of Poker, as Day 1a began with 1,297 players. But by the end, just 636 remained.
Mark Garner, who finished 25th in the main event in 2006, leads all players with just under 200,000 chips.
According to the WSOP live blog, Josh Arieh, Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul, Dan Harrington, Joe Sebok, Freddy Deeb, David Benyamine, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Eli Elezra, Lyle Berman, Erica Schoenberg, “Miami” John Cernuto, Gavin Smith, J.J. Liu, and 2007 Main Event runner-up Tuan Lam were all eliminated.
Of note in the top 50: Kido Pham, Mark Vos, Alexander Borteh, Svetlana Gromenkova and Bob Slezak.
Many celebrities played on the first day, according to wsop.com:
The starting field included a few well known celebrities and professional athletes but the only one to make it to Day 2 was former sitcom star Ray Romano. National Hockey League tough guy Brad May busted out shortly after the dinner break and ER star Mekhi Pfifer was sent packing just before play ended for the night.
Romano finished up the night with 61,000 in chips and was happy with his play, despite a few missteps.
Day1b, the second of four “first days,” is today.
