The four Main Event Day One starts are complete.
LAS VEGAS - July 7th, 2008 -- The official “first day” is split into four flights spread over four consecutive days. Due to the large size of the field, it became necessary in recent years to play the Day One sessions in four groups, divided as Days 1-A, 1-B, 1-C, and 1-D. The World Series of Poker Main Event began with Day 1-A on Thursday, July 3, 2008. Day 1-B was played on July 4th. Day 1-C was played on July 5th. Day 1-D was played yesterday on July 6th. The combined number of players entered into the 2008 Main Event totals 6,844. This ranks as the second-largest live poker tournament in history. This year’s turnout surpassed 2007 attendance (6,358) by 7.4 percent. Only the 2006 WSOP Main Event was larger than this tournament -- with 8,773 entrants. The 2008 WSOP Main Event winner will collect $9,119,517 in prize money.
Eliminated Players
Jaime Gold (2006 Champion)
Greg "Fossilman" Raymer (2004 Champion)
Dan Harrington (1995 Champion),
Phil Ivey (five-time WSOP gold bracelet winner),
Daniel Negreanu (four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner),
Chris Ferguson (2000 Champion),
T.J. Cloutier (Six-time WSOP gold bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Fame member),
Tom Schneider (2007 WSOP “Player of the Year),
Mark Seif (Two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner),
Huck Seed (1996 Champion),
Noel Furlong (1999 Champion),
Jim Bechtel (1993 Champion),
Berry Johnston (1986 Champion),
Tom McEvoy (1983 Champion),
Bobby “the Owl” Baldwin (1978 Champion),
Maria Ho (the last female player to survive 2007 WSOP Main Event, finishing 38th),
Sabyl Landrum (highest female finisher in the 2006 Main Event),
Jennifer Tilly (Oscar-nominated actress),
Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell (UFC fighter),
Orel Hershiser (World Series (of baseball) MVP and major league all-star)
Jose Canseco (former Major League Baseball player),
David Wells (former Major League Baseball player),
Larry Flynt (Pblisher and free-speech advocate),
Forrest Griffin (UFC Light Heavyweight Champ). Incredibly, just hours after he won the UFC Light Heavyweight World Championship (which took place the night before), the iron man played in the WSOP Main Event.
Remaining Players
Nine former champs remain in the 2008 Main Event. They include – Jerry Yang, Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, Carlos Mortensen, Brad Daugherty, Chris Moneymaker, Joe Hachem, Scotty Nguyen and Robert Varkonyi.
Russian poker player Nikolay Evdakov played on Day 1-D. Evdakov set a new record at this year’s World Series for “Most Cashes in a Single Year” – with ten in-the-money finishes.
Professional golfer Paul Azinger, who is also Captain of the 2008 Ryder Cup Team, played in this day. The best performance in the WSOP ever by a P.G.A. golfer was Rocco Mediate’s 600th place finish in the 2005 WSOP, with 5,619 entrants. Azinger made the cut and will play on Day Two.
Ray Romano (actor) and Shannon Elizabeth (actress) passed the Day 1 audition and will get a call back for Day 2.
Sully Erna (lead singer for Godsmack). This is his third consecutive Main Event. Erna’s performance has been impressive as he cashed both previous years at the WSOP – 713th out of 8,773 entrants in 2006, and 237th out of 6,358 entrants in 2007. He is low on chips, but will continue play on Day Two.
Hal Lubarsky, who was the first blind player ever to cash at the WSOP (197th place in the 2007 Main Event, good for $51,398), played in this day. Lubarsky used a designated “card reader,” who sits behind the player and verbalizes the hole cards and board cards by whispering into his ear. Lubarsky makes all the table decisions. He ended the day with 70,700 in chips, which places him in the top 20 percent of the field.
For the second-consecutive year, Jack Ury was the senior player in the Main Event. At 95-years young, Ury broke his own record (set last year at the spry age of 94) as the oldest player ever to compete in a WSOP event.
Other Notable players advancing from Day 1-A: Scotty Nguyen, Brandon Adams, Mark Vos, Chau Giang, Hasan Habib, Blair Hinkle, Bill Baxter, and Ted Lawson.
Notable players advancing from Day 1-B: Robert Mizrachi, Erick Lindgren, Thor Hansen, Barney Boatman, Tony Hachem, Hoyt Corkins, Dave Colclough, Erick Seidel, Patrik Antonius, Chris Bjorin, Kathy Liebert, Bill Edler, Mickey Appleman, Steve Zolotow, Alex Kravchenko, and Robert Varkonyi.
Notable players advancing from Day 1-C: Chris Moneymaker, Joe Hachem, David Singer, Brad Booth, Evelyn Ng, Nenad Medic, Jeff Madsen, Clonie Gowan, Isabelle Mercier, Liz Lieu, Mike Matusow, Minh Nguyen, Bill Chen, Sammy Farha, Adam Schoenfeld, Jerrod Ankenman, Rhett Butler, Frankie O’Dell, Peter Vilandos, Burt Boutin, Mike Wattel, John Juanda, Brad Daugherty, Mel Judah and Jim McManus.
Notable players advancing from Day 1-D: Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, Jerry Yang, Carlos Mortensen, David Oppenheim, Victor Ramdin, Doug Saab, Gus Hansen, Cliff Josephy, Kirill Gerasimov, Jean-Robert Bellande, Brandon Cantu, Duncan “Pumper” Bell, Thomas “Thunder” Keller, Antonio “the Magician” Esfandiari, John Friedberg, Steve Billirakis, Men “the Master” Nguyen, Hevad Khan, Phil Gordon, Chip Jett, Steve Dannenmann, Bryan Micon, Matt Savage, Jennifer Harman, Allen Cunningham, Scott Clements, Dan Shak, Pat Poels, Paul Magriel, Howard Lederer, Tom Chambers, Lou Esposito, Eric Haber, James Worth, Anders Henriksson, and Bernard Lee.
Additionally:
It’s official. Tournament pro and gold bracelet winner Erick Lindgren is the 2008 WSOP “Player of the Year.”
Specila thanks to Nolan Dalla and the WSOP for information contained in this post.
