ESPN Poker Blog

Posted by Andrew Feldman

I'll be honest. Usually after I come back from the WSOP, the next two weeks are spent trying to catch up on anything and everything, followed by a vacation. This year has been a little bit different, as the excitement of poker around the office simply hasn't diminished. While we continue to gather information about the November Nine and follow all the additional stories throughout the summer, the team here has been in development of a new 30-minute ESPN.com digital show called "ESPN Inside Deal."

Debuting Tuesday, Aug. 4, the show will feature ESPN The Magazine contributor and previous Ryan Seacrest intern Laura Lane, professional poker player and ESPN.com columnist Bernard Lee, and … yours truly. With great guests in studio here in Bristol each week, we're going to be more than just a news show. Interviews are of course on the schedule, but we'll also have contests, never-before-seen footage from the WSOP broadcasts, and an inside look at the industry we all love to follow.

We're going to do our best to have fun with the show, and we'll have weekly episodes every Tuesday from Aug. 4 until the conclusion of the main event final table. You can email questions and comments for Chris Moneymaker (which may be used on-air) to InsideDeal@espn.com.

After that quick announcement, let's go around the felt

• National Poker Week concluded Friday, and the Poker Players Alliance-sponsored imitative turned out to be quite a success in the eyes of many. Representatives of the PPA, as well as some of poker's most notable names, lobbied politicians and staffers in Washington, D.C., with hopes of gaining support for Barney Frank's online gaming bill. Reaching 51 co-sponsors, the bill, with hopes of future regulation, is gaining momentum. With the support of over 383,000 signees on the PPA's Poker Petition (Poker Is Not A Crime), it looks like the online poker industry has just started to move into a new direction … finally.

• While the U.S. (hopefully) heads in the right direction, Russia has moved in the opposite direction in regard to the poker industry. Russia has revoked poker's title as an "official sport" and made it illegal to play poker except in a few areas across the country. Most affected by this change was the European Poker Tour, which had a stop in Moscow scheduled for the middle of August. Moscow was quickly replaced by Kiev, Ukraine, which actually might be better, as U.S. citizens aren't required to have a visa to enter Ukraine, as they would've needed to go to Russia. In any case, it's a shame that a country that has put out some amazing poker talent recently (Ivan Demidov, Vitaly Lunkin and Alexander Kravchenko) has taken these steps to limit the progress of the poker industry in their country.

• Alexandre Gomes became the first Brazilian to win a World Poker Tour event by winning the $15,000 buy-in Bellagio Cup. Gomes defeated a final table that included Justin Smith, Alec Torelli and Erik Seidel. Gomes earned $1.18 million for the win after a quiet WSOP, while Smith followed up his five WSOP cashes with a $464,870 third-place finish. The 21-year-old "BoostedJ" continues to surge onto the live poker scene, and after tremendous online success, we can expect only more impressive results in the future.

• The TV network G4 has taken a step into the poker industry with a new show, "Two Months. Two Million." Dani "Ansky" Stern, Jay "Krantz" Rosenkrantz, Emil "Whitelime" Patel and Brian "Flawless_Victory" Roberts will play online with hopes of making $2 million in … yeah, you get it. The show debuts Aug. 16, and they mix in the Vegas scene, celebs, Playboy, etc. One of the coolest things that was shown in the promo video is that they have a "Tilt Room" where they use baseball bats, hockey sticks, or anything they can find to blow off steam by bashing whatever is lying around. Great idea.

Small blinds: The oddsmakers have been busy determining the bets for the November Nine. Some have Phil Ivey at 8:1. I disagree. … Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho are on the next season of CBS' "The Amazing Race." Could be entertaining to watch. … The WSOP Academy will host an event in Chicago. ESPN.com's Bernard Lee will be one of the teachers, joining Annie Duke, Matt Graham and Joe Navarro. … The Asia-Pacific Poker Tour starts its third season in Macau. … Bobby's Room saw a poker boom of its own during and after the WSOP. Doyle Brunson tweeted that they were playing Chinese poker at $15,000 a point. That's just sick. … Joe Cada joins Phil Gordon and me on the Poker Edge podcast Thursday.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

4:30 a.m. ET: We have our November Nine, and yes, Phil Ivey is one of them. After an eight-level final-day marathon last year, it was quite shocking that the final table had been determined by 3 a.m. ET. The final 27 players showed up on perhaps the biggest day of their poker careers, and as they had for the entire main event, they played fast. By 6:40 p.m. ET, under four hours into play on Wednesday, only 18 remained. Antonio Esfandiari was eliminated in 24th place, and hopes of a double-superstar final table vanished. From that point, all eyes were on Phil Ivey, who was the short stack almost the entire day. Ivey battled and battled as the field got smaller, but he never faced an all-in moment during the final day.

Meanwhile, as the field of 18 became 10, Darvin Moon's stack increased, and it was only fitting that Moon finished the job just 45 minutes into the 10-handed final table. On the final hand, Eric Buchman raised, was called by Moon, and then was reraised by Jordan Smith. Buchman folded and Moon called, leading them heads-up to a flop of 8-4-2. Smith checked and Moon led out for $4 million. Smith, with a total of nearly $15 million, reraised all-in and was instantly called by Moon who had flopped top set. Smith showed A-A and sheepishly hoped for a miracle card to either hit the turn or river. The turn was a 5, giving Smith some additional outs. He needed either an ace for a better set or a three for a straight. However, Smith would be the biggest bubble boy of the year as the river was a 10 and Moon raked in the chips to give him a stack of $59 million when play begins in November.

Even though Phil Ivey is one of the short stacks, he's definitely the one the rest of the players are watching. After interviewing Ivey on Thursday's Poker Edge Podcast, it's clear that he's been waiting for this opportunity his entire life. He wasn't concerned about any of the other players at the final table, and he joked that he's going to change his cell phone and leave the country … then he said he was serious. Since his poker face was on with that statement, who really knows what he meant, but that is the enigma of Ivey. No matter what his actual intentions are at this time, he will be the focus of the media and of poker fans everywhere as the days count down to November. Can he win the bracelet that nobody ever thought a pro could win again? We'll find out in November.

Gary Wise breaks down the final nine here, but here are my closing thoughts on the main event:

(1) The fact that Darvin Moon and Billy Kopp put so much money in the pot after they both flopped flushes surprises me. Neither of them had the nuts, yet both players were willing to take such a risk with so much at risk.

(2) I honestly cannot wait to see some hands when they start airing on ESPN later this summer. While the first show is July 28 and will cover the $40,000 no-limit hold 'em anniversary tournament, a few weeks later the main event will start to be broadcast, and we'll truly see the full journey of these players. Without a doubt, I'm leaving this year with more questions about hands played than ever before, and I know that TV will come through and show us everything we want to see.

(3) How will Phil Ivey actually act over the next few months? Will he really not talk to anyone? His best line of the night: "I might start watching poker on TV."

(4) Will Darvin Moon show up in November with an endorsement deal or no? He held out this long, but the online sites will definitely put up some large money to logo the chip leader.

(5) Out of all the players who were part of the final 10, I would never have predicted that it would be Jordan Smith who would go out 10th. With so many chips and being in such a great position entering the final table, never did I think the only other bracelet winner left would be the one on the rail.

(6) Two European players (Antoine Saout and James Akenhead) … seems familiar … oh wait, Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov. While Saout and Akenhead are the short stacks, both have had some tournament success, and with the blinds at $120,000/$240,000, each has some play left.

(7) It was great to see a friendship form between two of the November Nine: Steven Begleiter and Kevin Schaffel. The two met in June and will now spend the next four months sharing this experience.

(8) A great job by the staff here at the WSOP: The tournament ran well and appeased the players, with only one slipup on Day 1D. Nobody's perfect.

(9) While I didn't mention this specifically in earlier posts, Jeff Shulman didn't make any friends at the WSOP with some of his recent comments. As initially reported on Wicked Chops Poker, Shulman reportedly said that if he won, he'd "renounce the WSOP bracelet." When asked if that was true, he said, "If by renounce it you mean throw it in the garbage, then yes." Will he change his tune over the next four months? This is one story I'm interested in following until November.

(10) Finally, a big thank you goes out to everyone for following the blogs, podcasts, videos and all the content here on ESPN.com. Appreciate the comments, the questions and, of course, the corrections.

That's a wrap from Vegas. I can't wait until the final table in November.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

1:50 a.m. ET: I'll give a full recap of the day in the next update, but here are your November Nine:

Darvin Moon -- Logger from Oakland, Md.
Eric Buchman -- Not sure, since he didn't fill out his sheet, but he has many tournament results and he's from Long Island, N.Y.
Steven Begleiter -- Former Bear Stearns employee who now works in private equity. From Chappaqua, N.Y.
Jeff Shulman -- His second WSOP main event final table, Card Player's editor from Las Vegas, Nev.
Joseph Cada -- Professional poker player from Shelby Township, Mich.
Kevin Schaffel -- Semiretired from Coral Springs, Fla.
Antoine Saout -- Engineer turned professional poker player from France
Phil Ivey -- Seven-time WSOP bracelet winner, professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nev.
James Akenhead -- Professional poker player from London, England

Posted by Andrew Feldman

1:05 a.m. ET: Poker fans everywhere could be getting their "one time." Phil Ivey just eliminated Jamie Robbins in 11th place to create the 10-player final table in the main event. The last three eliminations have happened within the last 20 minutes, with the latest being Robbins.

A shock fell among the Amazon Room after the elimination of Billy Kopp was mentioned. For most of the day, Kopp was our chip leader, but he got involved in a hand with Darvin Moon, and both players flopped flushes. After a flop of Kd-9d-2d, Kopp led out for $750,000 and Moon called. The turn was another 2. Kopp bet $2 million. Moon raised to $6 million, Kopp moved in for $20 million, and Moon called! Moon showed Qd-Jd to beat Kopp's 3d-5d. Absolutely unbelievable.

And then there were 10. Here's a look at the chip counts:

Darvin Moon $45.1 million
Eric Buchman $35.0 million
Steven Begleiter $30.3 million
Jeff Shulman $22.6 million
Jordan Smith $15.0 million
Joseph Cada $13.2 million
Kevin Schaffel $10.8 million
Antoine Saout $10.0 million
Phil Ivey $9.7 million
James Akenhead $5.5 million

Posted by Andrew Feldman

12:35 a.m. ET: Only 12 remain, and the bubble I thought would come between the 12th- and 13th-place finishers lasted a total of one hand. Both eliminations occurred at the secondary feature table. Jeff Shulman eliminated Ben Lamb in 14th place when his A-K held against Lamb's A-J. With that pot, Shulman reached $22 million, and he has put himself in a great position to make the final table.

Immediately after Lamb's elimination, James Calderaro's K-J lost a race to Kevin Schaffel's 10-10. Quickly, we were down to 12 players, and the fact of the payout difference between $896,730 (10th-12th) and $633,032 (13th-15th) never even settled in the players' minds. The next pay jump occurs with the cut to the final table of the November Nine, but there's much more at stake at that point than just the money.

The blinds are $120,000/$240,000 with a $30,000 ante, and the average stack is $16.2 million. Phil Ivey is currently 10th in the standings, putting him on the final table bubble.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

11:35 p.m. ET: Here are the chip counts as players return from break:

Eric Buchman $28.7 million
Steven Begleiter $27.3 million
Darvin Moon $23.8 million
Joseph Cada $19.5 million
Jordan Smith $18.8 million
Jeff Shulman $15.5 million
Billy Kopp $13.5 million
Antoine Saout $12.4 million
Kevin Schaffel $10.6 million
Phil Ivey $7.3 million
Ben Lamb $5.2 million
James Akenhead $5.0 million
James Calderaro $5.0 million
Jamie Robbins $1.3 million

10:10 p.m. ET: After the elimination of Nick Maimone, the play has slowed considerably, with only a few major pots. If you've been following @ESPN_Poker, you know the updates have come few and far between in Level 32. However, two players doubled up during the level, Ben Lamb and Antoine Saout.

Lamb's victim was Jeff Shulman. Holding 10-10, Lamb sweat out a race against Shulman's K-J. The board came clean, and Lamb's fans, who are extremely loud, went nuts. Shulman hasn't had the best level and is in the $9 million-chip range.

At the feature table, Saout won his own race with 8-8 against James Akenhead's A-K. Saout surged to fourth in chips while Akenhead became the short stack of the event. As was said to me by a Twitter follower, "Don't you love tournament poker?"

Perhaps the best moment of the level came from Eric Buchman, who was involved in a pot with Phil Ivey. After a flop of three rags, Buchman bet out $6 million … into a just above half a million-chip pot. Ivey looked at him, as if saying, "You serious?" and quickly folded.

As usual, right at the end of my post, the action picks up. Jamie Robbins picked up pocket aces against Akenhead's K-Q. Of course, the flop came K-J-Q and Akenhead took the lead, but there were still two cards to come. Akenhead had to sweat out the turn and river, a 7 and a 5 and has doubled up, to the cheers of his supporters.

Players are on their 90-minute dinner break and have that time to think about the implications of the rest of their night. No pressure, guys …

Posted by Andrew Feldman

8:45 p.m. ET: Don't be surprised: I was wrong -- it was not Nick Maimone's night. After the incredible first level, Maimone was caught with a weaker two pair at the start of Level 32 to take a small hit. Next thing we knew, there was a major pot happening on an 8-10-J board and Maimone was all-in with A-Q against Eric Buchman's J-9. The turn was a J, reducing Maimone's outs to only a king, but a queen on the river gave Buchman a straight and the pot.

Maimone was eliminated in 15th place, earning $633,022. The next big pay jump is from 13 to 12.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

8:30 p.m. ET: There are only 15 players left after the elimination of two players, one at each table, in the last hand of Level 31. At the feature table, Steve Begleiter called Ian Tavelli's all-in postflop on a 6-4-2 board. Begleiter had K-K and had Tavelli's 9-9 dominated. The kings would hold and Tavelli would be eliminated in 16th, giving a nearly $16 million-chip pot to Begletier, our new chip leader.

At the outside table, Ludovic Lacay lost a race against Jeff Shulman to be eliminated in 15th. Lacay's 7-7 was outflopped by Shulman's A-K, and that was it for the French superstar. Andrew Lichtenberger was the other casualty since the last update, and Darvin Moon got the best of him. Moon picked up pocket kings and avoided a bad beat against Lichtenberger's pocket jacks to continue to chip up.

With 15 left standing, here are the current November Nine:

Steven Begleiter ($27.9 million)
Darvin Moon ($21.2 million)
Jordan Smith ($18.4 million)
Billy Kopp ($16.5 million)
Eric Buchman ($16.5 million)
Joe Cada ($14.3 million)
Kevin Schaffel ($13.5 million)
Jeff Shulman ($12.8 million)
Nick Maimone ($10.5 million)

Phil Ivey sits around $7 million.

Small blinds: Comment of the break: "Can you really believe this?!?" -- Steve Begleiter. … All the PokerStars-sponsored players were doing video interviews during the break. … Ivey lost another small pot to begin Level 32. … Jordan Smith doubled off of Billy Kopp to get back in the competition. Smith had Q-Q to Kopp's A-K. … There still hasn't been a comment on whether Antonio Esfandiari's deal was a one-timer or a full sponsorship from Doyle's Room. Weird fit for him anyway. … Begleiter has really turned up the aggression since this level began. I'd have to say he's won three of the first four pots. … The blinds are $100,000/$200,000 with a $30,000 ante. … Courtesy of Bluff's Lance Bradley, Ivey has three top-23 finishes in the main event since 2000. This would be his fourth.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

6:40 p.m. ET: Eerily similar to last year, we're down to our final two tables rather quickly. I left off my last blog at 21 players. Since that post nearly 45 minutes ago, we've lost Jonathan Tamayo, who was eliminated by Eric Buchman. Tamayo put all his chips in the middle ($3 million) with A-Q and faced off against Buchman's K-K. Tamayo hit a queen, but that was it and he was eliminated in 21st place. The feature table saw the other elimination in spectacular form. As if you had any doubt, Nick Maimone was on the winning end, this time hitting quad kings to eliminate George Caragiorgas. Maimone flopped top set, but had a small sweat when the hands were shown postflop. Caragiorgas had Qh-Jh for a flush draw, but another king on the turn ended Caragiorgas' tournament.

Our big-money bubble boy was Tommy Vedes, who missed out on an additional $147,000 that the final 18 will receive. Vedes was eliminated on one of the outer tables by Buchman, who flopped a set of sevens versus Vedes' set of threes.

Ivey's downward swing continued during the first hour of Level 31. He's currently at $5.4 million.

The clock has been stopped as players redraw for tables. Ivey isn't moving tables, but joining him at the feature table is Steve Begleiter and his loud "Begs! Begs! Begs!" fans, Joe Cada, Antoine Saout, James Akenhead, Jamie Robbins, Ian Tavelli, Eric Buchman and Maimone.

The payout for 27th through 19th was $352,832 and jumps to at least $500,557 for the remaining 18.

Here are the chip leaders:

Billy Kopp: $26.2 million
Darvin Moon $17.8 million
Steven Begleiter $16.8 million
Eric Buchman $16.0 million
Kevin Schaffel $12.3 million

Small blinds: I think the crowd is getting behind Joe Cada. … Jordan Smith wished all the players good luck as he headed out to the secondary feature table. … Ivey went over to talk to the Humphreys during the delay. … Maimone is all smiles right now. He has now moved to Ivey's right after being in Ivey's big blind since the start of the day. … Logo breakdown: PokerStars (2), Full Tilt (4), Everest Poker (1), Ultimate Bet (1), no logo (1). I thought there was a logo rule that no more than three players could wear gear from the same site.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

5:50 p.m. ET: Antonio Esfandiari was wearing Doyle's Room branding -- for which one of the agents reported that The Magician got "a good deal" -- but he couldn't pull off the biggest trick of them all and make it to the November Nine. Holding pocket fives, Esfandiari was eliminated by Steve Begleiter's K-10 after all the chips went in on a 10-high flop. Begleiter chipped up to more than $15 million that level, but he still trails chip leader Billy Kopp, who is at $21.2 million.

Phil Ivey's chips were also spread out among the feature table today. First, he lost with J-J to Nick Maimone's Q-5 … and I'll get to Maimone in a second. After that hand, Ivey was knocked down another $2.5 million with J-J against Marco Mattes' Q-Q. Ivey ended up at just less than $7 million for the level, and the hopes of poker fans everywhere that a big name pro will make the final table have been slightly diminished. At the start of the next level, Ivey doubled up George Caragiorgas when his A-10 couldn't win a race against 2-2. His stack currently sits at less than $4 million.

After the queens versus jacks hand, Mattes then gave the chips he won off of Ivey to Maimone, but as I said, I'll get to Maimone in a second. Mattes was crippled and moved in on the very first hand of Level 31 against Joe Ward and managed to double up. He's still the short stack, and with the blinds at $80,000/$160,000, he'll need to make a move here in this level.

Then there's Nick Maimone and perhaps the greatest level of his life. If there ever was a player who was destined to make it into November, at this point, I would say that it's Maimone. He has less than $10 million, but that doesn't even matter. OK, I'll explain why.

First, Maimone was all-in against Joe Cada with Q-8 versus Q-J. The board double-paired and the players chopped the pot. Then came the miracle turn 7 with Maimone holding 7-7 against his opponent's 10-10. Then came the winning race for Maimone with Q-Q versus Mattes' A-K. He started the day with $1.5 million. He headed into the first break with $9.4 million.

What a level.

Also of note, Maimone told ESPN.com that he doesn't care about the bracelet. It's all about the money for him, but since he sold pieces of himself, he won't be getting all of whatever he takes home in main event prize money.

And we're down to 22. Mattes has just been eliminated when his 5-5 couldn't beat out Cada's 8-8.

Just kidding : Make that 21. Warren Zackey out, too. Here's a look at our chip leaders:

Billy Kopp ($26.8 million)
Darvin Moon ($16.8 million)
Steven Begleiter ($13.4 million)
Kevin Schaffel ($13.1 million)
James Akenhead ($12.0 million)

Small blinds: Jeff "Happy" Shulman said he won't do any interviews as the tournament is in progress. … Thanks to all of those who have spent the past six weeks chatting with me. … Three more players need to be eliminated until the next pay jump. … For those that were wondering what the Jeff Shulman rumors are, there's a Web site that has just reported the rumors. … It seems that Maimone and Andrew Lichtenberger have a little bit of history. Maimone spoke about "LuckyChewy" as if they've played before in a recent interview.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

3:30 p.m. ET: With only 27 players left, the focus has been on Phil Ivey and Antonio Esfandiari. However, it turns out that I wrote about one of the other 27, Jordan Smith, already this year. Smith, who started out the day by winning a $1 million pot off of Phil Ivey, won his first bracelet earlier this WSOP in the $2,000 no-limit hold 'em Event 36. As I wrote then, Smith's poker career has been up-and-down, and now it looks like he could be back on his feet for good with at least a $353,000 score no matter where he finishes. Smith started the day at $4.51 million and is already closing in on $6 million just 15 minutes in.

This day might last for a very long time; there are prop bets around the Rio that we'll be here past 4 a.m. Thursday, 6 a.m. Thursday and that the breakfast places will be closed by the time we're out of here. With so much on the line for these players, the play will slow down to a crawl with nobody wanting to be the November Nine bubble boy. I think this could allow experienced players like Ivey and Esfandiari (if they are around) to take advantage of the WSOP rookies.

I'll be at the feature table all day bringing you updates here and on Twitter, so be sure to follow @ESPN_Poker for everything that I'm seeing and hearing throughout this very long day.

As far as the action, the biggest news is that short-stacked Francois Balmigere doubled up against Ben Lamb.

Check that.

Leo Margets, the last woman standing, was eliminated in 27th place. She played the short stack well for the past two days and finally was eliminated. Immediately after that there was a hand at the feature table between Nick Maimone and Darvin Moon in which Maimone was all-in and at risk with Q-10 versus Q-J. The board double-paired, giving Maimone another chance. Also, wow, this all happened as I'm writing this, Ian Tavelli doubled through James Akenhead with A-A versus K-K. Sick.

Down to 26, don't forget to chat with me at 4 p.m. ET.

Small blinds: Jeff "Happy" Shulman is sitting to Phil Ivey's left. It looks like a couple more players picked up endorsement deals overnight. Darvin Moon is not one of them. … Antonio Esfandiari is at the secondary feature table. … One of the three tables is placed, literally, in the center of the Amazon Room. … Blinds are $60,000/$120,000 with a $15,000 ante. … A waiter just carried over beef jerky to the players.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

1:30 a.m. ET: The WSOP main event is down to the final three tables and 27 players who hope to reach the final table and become part of the November Nine. Phil Ivey did his part throughout the day and was able to chip up to remain in the top five heading into the final day of play on Wednesday. Ivey continually picked apart his table … it didn't matter which one. He put himself in great position for a run on Wednesday, and among the players in the remaining field, nobody can match Ivey's experience when it comes to late-stage tournament play. His biggest concern of the day was the potential of having an "eight-level" Wednesday. While that may seem a little extreme, it can't be counted out yet since the average stack is over 67 big blinds.

Sixty-four players started the day, and three of the five very notable names were eliminated before dinner. Joe Sebok, Tom Schneider and Blair Rodman were sent home, leaving the focus on Ivey and Antonio Esfandiari.

Esfandiari looked to be sailing along until one key hand against Darvin Moon with 10 minutes to go before dinner. Half of Esfandiari's stack was gone, and he would need to battle through during the final two eliminations if he wanted to earn an additional $100,000 in his main-event paycheck. After dinner, Esfandiari moved all-in on one hand, but wasn't called. Then he won another medium-sized pot and looked to be back … then lost most of his stack again to Moon, then doubled up with aces versus jacks, and finally ended up with just over $4 million. What a roller coaster for Esfandiari, who had all the fans cheering for him in the Amazon Room.

Outside of the feature table, Luis Nargentino was eliminated in 29th, and Joe Ward went out in 28th, resulting in our remaining Day 8 field of 27 players. Everyone believed that the day should've been over a little quicker after a player open-shoved with Ah-10h and was called by his opponent's pocket jacks. Of course, the A-10 flops a flush and doubles up.

Players will return to the Amazon Room at noon on Wednesday for a very long day, and they'll play until only nine remain. The 2009 November Nine will have four months to prepare and let the public learn their stories. While the media might not know a ton about them now, we'll interview them and share their stories and hopefully allow everyone a little insight into the nine players who had an amazing run during the 2009 WSOP.

Here are the current chip leaders:

Darvin Moon ($20.1 million)
Billy Kopp ($15.9 million)
Steven Begleiter ($11.9 million)
Phil Ivey ($11.4 million)
Kevin Schaffel ($11.2 million)
Antoine Saout ($11.1 million)
Jeff Shulman ($10.2 million)
Eric Buchman ($10.0 million)
Jamie Robbins ($9.8 million)
Ben Lamb ($9.4 million)

Small blinds: One player at the feature table today never removed any of his player bracelets from the previous day, so his wrist is full of blue bracelets. … Luis Nargentino was all alone out here and ate by himself while he watched the All-Star Game. He lost a hand when he moved all-in postflop with the nut flush draw and ran into the top pair, top kicker of Ben Lamb. … Robert Williamson has been here watching the entire day. … Leo Margets has a very vocal following. … There is a guard here at all times during play, watching the WSOP championship bracelet. … I still don't get the guy opening the pot with a 30 big blind shove. And of course, he was rewarded. … Darvin Moon showed that he had pocket aces -- again! Twice! "Life is good," he says. … The new chant is, "Ivey, Ivey, Ivey, Ivey!" Say it quickly. That's what his fans are doing. … Some lady did the Antonio Esfandiari wave, the one he did after winning his WPT event. Quite funny. … Joe Ward was eliminated when his A-K was rivered by his opponent's A-Q.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

10 p.m. ET: And we're done … until the end of dinner break.

As it was stated in the comments section from the last blog by xiayun78, "Can't believe we're down to 36 players already before dinner. The pace has been relentless."

I couldn't have said it any better myself and neither can the rest of the gang in media row who sit beside me and wonder just how long we'll be here on Day 8. There are 29 players heading to dinner break and with 27 being the number the tournament staff was looking for at the start of the day, I don't expect we'll spend much time in Level 29, the fourth level of the day.

One player who didn't fall because of the pace was Blair Rodman, who had been nursing his short stack for nearly two full days. Rodman finally got it in with J-8 from the button and was called by the small blind, Luis Nargentino, who held 4-4. A flop of Q-10-Q was placed on the felt, giving Rodman more outs. A 7 hit the turn, giving three more outs to Rodman, but an ace on the river ended the tournament for the "Kill Phil" author. Rodman finished in 34th and after his elimination, they started to drop like flies once again. Jason Brice took 33rd, Scott Sitron finished 32nd, Ryan Fair was 31st and Mark McLaughlin finished 30th. All of these players earned $253,941 and two more players will receive that payout and miss out on a $100,000 jump for making the final three tables.

Antonio Esfandiari took a major hit during Level 28 against Darvin Moon. Moon raised preflop and Esfandiari called. The flop was Q-3-3, Esfandiari led out, Moon raised, Esfandiari reraised and Moon moved all-in, resulting in an insta-fold from Esfandiari. He apparently folded a monster, judging by the way he reacted. He looked beaten after the hand and he really needed to take the dinner break, when I'm sure most of the field would've rather continued to play.

Phil Ivey continued to chip up and finds himself above $13 million. He is currently in the top three in chips and all the focus is on him despite Esfandiari's spot at the feature table.

Small blinds: Moon is a card rack. … Players must leave the Amazon Room during the dinner break. … Our chip leader remains Bill Kopp. … Leo Margets currently has $1.75 million and finds herself in 26th. … There are only four tables left in action. This room seems really empty. … For about two days now, the floorman on the microphone at the feature table has been calling Darvin Moon "Warren." Close enough. Moon never even corrected him.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

Editor's note: If you want more frequent updates, follow @ESPN_Poker.

8:25 p.m. ET: Most of the time we see A-K go up against A-K and we think that we're free-rolling. With two players holding the same hand, it doesn't happen often that one is able to hit a flush and pull through. After making it into the top 50, Dennis Phillips held Ad-Kd and was up against Francois Balmigere's As-Ks all-in preflop. After a flop of 4s-Kc-6s, Phillips needed to dodge another spade to save his tournament life. After the 10h on the turn, the 5 of spades hit the river and eliminated Phillips in 45th place ($178,857).

Phillips was mobbed by fans and press after he started his walk out of the Amazon Room. Everyone wanted to talk to Phillips and shake his hand to congratulate him for another great run. Will this go down as one of the best back-to-back main event performances in history? I'd have to argue yes, and by all means, argue with me in the comments section of the blog.

We're down to 39 players after the eliminations of Manuel Labandeira, Montagna Corrado, Jeff Duvall, Adam York and Scott Cook. Play will continue until 27 remain, but the payouts are something to note. Players that finish from 39 until 37 will win $178,857 and those from 36 to 28 will make $253,941 -- then there will be a massive $100,000 jump for the final 27.

Phil Ivey chipped up over the $10 million mark at one point, but lost a big pot to currently sit at $8.6 million. Antonio Esfandiari also managed to win a few pots and is back over $5 million. Blair Rodman doubled up to $2.5 million as well. He's sitting at Ivey's table and has really just been sitting back and letting the action happen around him.

Our chip leader is still Bill Kopp at $15 million, followed by Tommy Vedes at $10 million and Darvin Moon at $9.35 million.

Small blinds: I interviewed the Humphreys. What -- you don't know who they are? They're the elderly couple who follows Phil Ivey around. There's some great stories they shared with me and you can listen to the interview in its entirety on the Poker Edge podcast. … Four players were eliminated within the first 12 minutes of Level 28. … Moon is heading to the feature table as the tournament staff continues to balance the number of players at each table. … Joe Cada was instructed by his agent not to do any interviews on video until he had a logo. So of course, he blew off the Pokernews.com interview. … I can't believe we're already down to 39. And it might be 38 -- Moon just reraised Eugene Katchalov's all-in. Moon showed K-K against Katchalov's A-10. Yep, kings hold. Down to 38.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

6:35 p.m. ET: It was Billy Kopp's level. Kopp became the chip leader when he took a huge pot from Tom Schneider during the middle of Level 26. Kopp turned a straight and Schneider called a nearly $1 million bet on the river to jump to the top of the leaderboard. Phil Ivey had an up-and-down level, but made perhaps one of the best calls of the tournament so far. Ivey started the hand with a $135,000 preflop raise, which was called by Christopher Bach. After a flop of 9-3-3, both players checked to see a turn 9. Bach bet and Ivey called. The river was a 7 and Bach bet out again, this time for $360,000. Ivey made the call with A-Q, Bach showed his bluff with Q-10 and the pot was awarded to Ivey.

We're down to the last 49 players, and since the start of Day 7, we've lost some of the fan favorites. Joe Sebok, Tom Schneider, Charlie Elias and Scott Bohlman were sent to the rail. We've lost our last Tran (Thai Tran) and, as mentioned in the previous blog, Prahlad Friedman.

Day 6 chip leader Darvin Moon has kept steady pace in keeping above $10 million, while online professional poker player Joe Cada has chipped up to $8 million. One notable to watch is Luis Nargentino, who recently doubled up to eclipse the $7 million mark. The Queens, N.Y., native is here on his own, but he's making friends everywhere in the Amazon Room. He said that if he were to make the final table, "The entire place would be filled with people from Queens."

Antonio Esfandiari hasn't had an easy day at the feature table so far. To his left is Ryan Fair, who is constantly reraising him preflop. Actually, Fair isn't reraising just Esfandiari, but the entire table. He's playing extremely big preflop poker and I'm sure the entire table is trying to figure out how to trap him.

Dennis Phillips was involved in an interesting hand in which the preflop raiser (who had A-A) mucked his cards after Phillips had called the raise. Since the player mucked, Phillips was awarded the pot and has since chipped up to nearly $4 million. Blair Rodman is still in the field, as is fellow professional Fabrice Soulier. Check that. Soulier was just eliminated as I finished the last sentence.

Down to 48.

Small blinds: Nargentino is a die-hard Mets fan, but wears an Oakland A's cap since he plays baseball in New York for a hardball team called the A's. … I will say that almost every player is wearing a logo right now. Except for Antonio. … Steve Begleiter has been moved off of the feature table. … Another table will break after a few more eliminations. … Jack Effel said that he's expecting to play at least four levels even with the quick eliminations so far. … The big pay jumps are coming. The player who finishes 28th will miss out on an additional $100,000 that is given to the top 27. … Players have the payout sheets at their tables. … Antonio Esfandiari is shoeless at the feature table.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

3:10 p.m. ET: Less than 1 percent of the original 6,494-player field remains. Play is under way here and we'll be playing until 27 players remain, something that tournament director Jack Effel believes will take around five levels. Antonio Esfandiari is at the feature table, and more significantly, he is not wearing any logos. He has just finished Googling every player at his table to see if they have any significant results -- a common move at this point in the tournament. Poker databases have ensured that the remaining players could do their research as they enter Day 7, and with so much at stake, who can blame them?

All eyes today will continue to be on Phil Ivey, as he attempts to further cement his legacy, and on Dennis Phillips, who continues to show that his third-place finish last year was no fluke. The cameras have been following Prahlad Friedman, Joe Sebok and Tom Schneider as well, and I'm sure their stories will be told in depth when coverage begins later this summer.

Actually, Friedman has just been eliminated, and with that elimination, play has been paused and the current feature table has been broken. Esfandiari is moving a seat over to Seat 2 and he is now joined by Steven Begleiter (a former senior managing director and member of the President's Advisory Council at Bear Stearns), James Akenhead, Ryan Fair, Ivan Tavelli, Hung Pham, Mark Ader, Day 5 chip leader Warren Zackey and Adam York.

The secondary feature table is composed of Card Player's Jeff Shulman, Leo Margets (the last woman standing), Scott Bohlman, Scott Cook, Jonathan Tamayo, Jason Brice, Grayson Ramage and Andrew Lichtenberger. Ivey, Phillips, Sebok and Schneider all are on the outside tables … for some reason.

Small blinds: "Hello, gentlemen," Esfandiari said. "The last table wasn't talking, so they booted them out of here." … Feature table area is standing room only at this point. Esfandiari is quite a draw. … Today is the day when camera crews go table to table to make sure they have enough footage of every player in preparation for the production of the shows. … Players had to fill out profile forms when they got to their seats this morning. … Esfandiari started out aggressive and lost the first two pots at the new table. … Quiet room today. Guess the pressure is getting to some of these guys.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

4:50 a.m. ET: Only 64 players remain in the WSOP main event, and amazingly, some familiar names are among the leaders heading into Day 7. Phil Ivey and Antonio Esfandiari, two of the most recognizable players in the industry, are sitting third and sixth in chips, respectively. They have made their way through the tremendous field of 6,494 players to reach this stage and hopefully prove that a big name can make the WSOP main event final table. Not that Ivey didn't get lucky … during the second-to-last level of the night, he hit a set of jacks to overcome his opponent's pocket queens and get him back in the tournament. Later, Ivey hit a river heart to make a flush with J-5 and defeat his opponent's top pair. Ivey was running great and ended the night at $6.3 million.

Esfandiari loved his table all day but made the most of his chips on a key hand on which his opponent put a million in the pot on a bluff. Esfandiari, with top pair and top kicker, called and sent his opponent to the rail, and started his ascension.

"He either had two aces or he had a bluff," Esfandiari said on The Poker Edge podcast for Tuesday. "There's no other hand he could've had. When I decided he either had aces or a bluff, I had to call because nobody ever has aces -- well, once in every 220 times or something."

Esfandiari ended at $5.6 million. Although he is one of the brighter stars in the game, he doesn't have a sponsorship deal. Expect pressure for that to change rather quickly, but if he doesn't get the contract he wants, I doubt he'll settle for a simple one-time endorsement to put on a logo during Day 7 or beyond.

Beyond Ivey and Esfandiari, all eyes should be on one player: Dennis Phillips. Phillips so far has outlasted more players in two consecutive main events than anyone else (13,271) and is the only remaining member of the 2008 November Nine after Peter Eastgate was eliminated during the last level of the night. Eastgate's elimination wasn't so pretty. After getting it all-in with A-J, flopping an ace and turning a jack, he was eliminated when Ben Kopp hit a flush on the river holding 8-8. The champ put on a great show and received a standing ovation as he exited the feature table.

I spoke with Phillips on The Poker Edge podcast, and he said he just wants to keep having fun. He never takes the smile off his face, and despite playing a full five levels on Day 6, he stayed around for all the media to question last year's third-place finisher. He has only 55 more players to beat if he wants to make the 2009 November Nine, but as he said, "It's still a long way to go."

Putting up a great fight was Joe Sebok, who started the day short of $1 million and ended the day with exactly $1 million. Down to $120 at one point, Sebok won a race with pocket fives and then had his pocket nines hold up as he continued to outlast the hyperaggressive field. Scott Bohlman had an up-and-down day and ended up with $865,000, or as he called it, "a re-shove stack". Bohlman was up to more than $2 million after his pocket jacks held against his opponent's 9-5 attempted steal, but he lost a few big pots before moving to the final table, where he couldn't get anything going against Phillips and Tom Schneider.

The "DonkeyBomber" (Schneider) had some massive swings and ended up at $2.9 million. He was moved about five times on Day 6, including twice to the feature table. Blair Rodman spent most of the day to Ivey's right and managed to chip up to more than $2 million.

Darvin Moon, a logger from Oakland, Md., is the chip leader with $9.7 million. Moon's lead over Billy Kopp, from Erlanger, Ky., is $1.5 million, and with the blinds at $25,000/$50,000, that lead is quite significant.

Here's a look at our top 10:
Darvin Moon ($9,745,000)
Billy Kopp ($8,245,000)
Phil Ivey ($6,345,000)
Steven Begleiter ($6,315,000)
Ludovic Lacay ($5,965,000)
Antonio Esfandiari ($5,610,000)
Tommy Vedes ($5,430,000)
Antoine Saout ($5,195,000)
Ben Lamb ($4,975,000)
Nick Maimone ($4,900,000)

Small blinds: Barry Greenstein showed up after his Day 1 at the Bellagio $15,000 to support Joe Sebok. … Leo Margets won the title of "Last Woman Standing" and was given a trophy by Wicked Chops to honor the occasion. … Esfandiari said his contract with the WPT finally has been settled, and as he said, "Great timing." … Phillips had about 10 lookalikes on Day 6. … Margets wasn't even planning on being in the event, but her sponsor, 888.com, put her in. That decision by 888 will most definitely pay off. … The minimum cash for Day 7 is $90,344. After one player is eliminated, the payouts will be at least $108,047. … Play will continue on Day 7 until there are 27 players remaining. … Great video with Vanessa Rousso is available on the ESPN Poker index. … Prahlad Friedman ate by himself tonight. … The logos are starting to come out, and all it takes is a walk to the feature table. One table was told it was moving, and by the time the players walked over to the feature table, some of them already had logos.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

1:50 a.m. ET: The remaining 81 players are heading to the last break of the night, and some notable names finally are a little healthier. Phil Ivey caught a miracle jack (with pocket jacks) to overcome his opponent's pocket queens and double up right after dinner. Since then, Ivey has stayed around the $3 million mark and has a tough seat at the secondary feature table with a few of the players in the top 10 in chips. Antonio Esfandiari made a great call in a $2 million-chip pot to surge ahead. On a 7-5-5 board, Esfandiari led out with a $400,000 bet and was called by Wesley Ismay. The turn was a king, and once again Esfandiari led out, but this time for $700,000. Ismay moved all-in, and after minutes of deliberation, Esfandiari made the call with A-K and eliminated Ismay when he tabled Q-8 and was drawing dead. That gave Esfandiari a perma-smile and the chips to make a good run.

All our players are chasing Darvin Moon, who has had one amazing Day 6. Moon has chipped up to $7.5 million after starting the day with $3.2 million. Heading in the opposite direction is Tom Schneider, who is down to approximately $1.1 million. As I wrote in the last blog entry, he's been at a tough table, and although he didn't lose a huge pot during the last level, he was chipped away repeatedly by his opponents' pressure. Schneider isn't looking to get involved for all his chips at this level, something his opponents intend on forcing him to do.

The two women also are heading in different directions. Leo Margets has been very involved at her table, and the Barcelona, Spain, native is up to $3.4 million. Nichoel Peppe has dropped to less than $1 million, is stuck at an aggressive table and hasn't had an opportunity to make raises preflop.

After mounting a comeback to around $1 million, Kenny Tran suffered a tough beat and was knocked down to $600,000 before he moved his stack in preflop with A-5. He was called by his opponent's 8-8, and after a flop of A 4-4-3, there was a glimmer of hope for Tran with some additional outs. The turn and river brought no help, and Tran was eliminated in 86th.

Other notables I haven't mentioned: Joe Sebok (who doubled up twice and still is at less than $700,000), Dennis Phillips (up to $3 million), Peter Eastgate (down to $710,000), Prahlad Friedman ($600,000), Blair Rodman ($810,000), Owen Crowe ($1.3 million), Jeff Shulman ($3.5 million) and Scott Bohlman ($2.6 million).

Small blinds: The PokerRoad Crew is competing with the Phillips fan club for loudest at the feature table. … Agents lined the Amazon Room as players went on break to try to sign players to endorsement deals. … In fact, right now, all of them are standing within 10 feet of each other. … The Harrah's staff couldn't find Joseph Hachem's total rewards account. … Esfandiari has a group of friends cheering him on as well. No Phil Laak, though. … The $15,000 Bellagio Cup got only 79 players. Ouch. … Seriously, how are Peter Eastgate and Phillips doing this? Amazing job and congrats to both. … $1,000 chips colored up during the break. … Next payout jump comes in one player, and then everyone is guaranteed $68,979. … Blinds are now $20,000/$40,000 with a $5,000 ante.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

9:45 p.m. ET: Two empty seats were left at the feature table during Level 21, and for those covering the event, we've begun to look for new stories. 2005 WSOP champion Joseph Hachem (103rd place) and J.C. Tran (108th place) were eliminated about 20 minutes apart, with both moving in with severely short stacks. Tran fell to Dennis Phillips, who flopped top pair, and Hachem couldn't win a race with K-9 against 4-4. Moments later on the outer tables, David Benyamine had his aces cracked by 3-3 and is probably on his way to Bobby's Room in the Bellagio.

Tom Schneider has been at a tough table all day, with massive stacks putting pressure on every hand. After getting down to as low as $1.5 million, Schneider doubled up with A-A versus A-K and is back well above average. Noah Boeken took a crippling blow holding pocket kings after his opponent called his preflop four-bet for his tournament life with A-Q. An ace flopped and Boeken ranted about the call his opponent made.

We're down to a few notable names and some of them even have some chips to play with. Phil Ivey, Antonio Esfandiari and Schneider are all over $2 million, while Dennis Phillips, Peter Eastgate, Kenny Tran and Joe Sebok are all playing the short stack. Card Player's Jeff Shulman eclipsed the $3 million mark earlier this level, along with Fabrice Soulier. I have most definitely overlooked Soulier so far this main event and apologies are due. He might not be a household name, but the seasoned pro had six cashes during this WSOP and has over $1.3 million in lifetime earnings.

When players return from dinner break, they will have two more levels to play tonight. The next pay jump occurs at 99 players remaining, and that could weigh heavily on the minds of the short stacks as they head to dinner with 101 players remaining.

Small blinds: We have a truck horn again. Great. … Dennis Phillips has filled up the stage with fans of his. It's great to see him have such a strong following. … Gavin Smith won $1,000 on a prop bet in which he predicted no player who was in the top five from any of the starting days would make the top 100. … The guys at Wicked Chops had a trophy made for the last woman standing. … The $100,000 chip has been introduced into play. … Tom Schneider's wife is on the rail and vocal when he wins a pot. … You can get more ESPN Poker coverage on Twitter. … Lots of friends are showing up on the rail as the day goes on. Guess the flights have landed. … The ESPN TV team has to make three shows out of the action from today. I think there's plenty of footage for them to work with. … Time to go eat -- I'm hungry.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

8:06 p.m. ET: While Joe Hachem, Dennis Phillips, J.C. Tran and Peter Eastgate occupied the feature table, the cameras on the outside tables have been busy. After two levels of play on Monday, we're down to 116 players. We lost 31 during the past level, and I guess that's a sign of a slower pace. There were only 23 eliminated with 20 minutes left in the level, but the all-in fever kicked in to eliminate the final eight.

During this past level, there were two significant eliminations: Blair Hinkle and Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier. Hinkle reraised all-in for more than $900,000 preflop with A-J and was instantly called by his opponent's A-K. The board provided no help for Hinkle, and while that hand didn't end his tournament, he was done just a few hands later. His opponent has since eliminated a few more players and has a ton of chips, but he refuses to color them up. While I don't know this player's name, he is a little bit superstitious and told the floor person that unless anyone at the table feels his chips are getting in the way, he'd prefer not to color them up because he hasn't done that all tournament.

Grospellier's tournament was ended when he lost with A-K to pocket kings after losing a massive pot with A-K on a king-high board. It was a three-way pot in which one of his opponents checked his full house (fives full of threes) on the river. At that point, Grospellier just looked to want to get it in, found a spot and was eliminated when he couldn't spike an ace. He put his hands on his head, speaking inaudibly, and left the Amazon Room before the tournament staff could even announce his elimination.

This level also marked the end for Theo Tran. But the good news is that we finally saw some good poker. On a board of A-9-A-X, Noah Boeken folded A-K face up in a $2 million chip pot. With cameras all around him, his opponent flipped over 9-9 to confirm the pro had the right read. It was a very impressive play on a day when we've seen too many preflop all-in hands.

Antonio Esfandiari, Tom Schneider, Kenny Tran, Joe Sebok and Blair Rodman are all still fighting for their tournament lives on the outside table. Phil Ivey has been an observer to some horrific beats at the secondary feature table and David Benyamine has been steady all day.

Blinds as the players return will be $12,000/$24,000 with a $3,000 ante. Still plenty of play considering the average stack is somewhere near $1.7 million. One more level until the dinner break and finally, the prize money is starting to increase. Here is the current payout table for the rest of the day:

64th-72nd ($90,344)
73rd-81st ($68,979)
82nd-90th ($57,991)
91st-99th ($47,003)
100th-162nd ($40,288)

Small blinds: A player was late to return during the start of the third level. … The room itself is much quieter since there are less players shuffling chips. … There's rumors that one of the players has two bodyguards. I'm looking into that story. … Matt Affleck, one of the chip leaders the past two days, has taken a big hit and is now around $1.3 million. … Hey look, Humberto Brenes. And no "charks." … The player who really needed to pull up his pants was just eliminated. Thank you. … Joe Sebok has been on death watch the past two levels. Even by the floor staff. … Congrats to the "Tao of Pokerati" team for winning the team portion of the Dream Team Poker event.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

5:36 p.m. ET: Since I finished up with today's chat, the floor staff has been quite busy here in the Amazon Room. Both the feature tables are being switched out. I see J.C. Tran, Dennis Phillips, Phil Ivey all heading toward the feature table area. Because they're at two different tables, I expect Phillips and Tran to be at the main feature table, while Ivey should occupy the secondary.

The first level of Monday's competition witnessed 39 players ending their WSOP hopes. The biggest name of the group was Jordan Morgan, who was eliminated just 15 minutes into the day. The chip leader entering the day, South African Warren Zackey, increased his stack during the first level to get up to $5.1 million. The biggest mover of the level seems to be Tim Kahlmeyer, who gained nearly $2 million during that level to put him in the top 10 with $3.1 million. Besides Ivey, who chipped up to $1.9 million, the rest of the pros stayed around their starting stack. Phillips won a couple of pots to keep him at more than a million. Tran dropped slightly to $450,000 and is losing the "Tran battle," with four Trans still remaining in action (J.C., Kenny, Theo and Thai).

Small blinds: The Wicked Chops Poker blog seems to believe that Leo Margets will last longer than Nichoel Peppe. I disagree. … Because Ivey has moved to one of the feature tables, the crowd that was in front of me has moved. … It's still interesting to see that players are alone during the breaks. No family and friends are in town to hang out with them yet. … They removed the TV screen close to me, so I can no longer just look up and see the blinds and antes. … Down to 144. Joe Serock eliminated. No, not Sebok, Serock. … The blinds are $10,000/$20,000 with a $3,000 ante.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

3:36 p.m. ET: Well, things have changed here in the Amazon Room … somewhat. Starting today, with every elimination we're going to hear an announcement telling us who has been eliminated and where they finished. How do I know that so soon? We've already lost four players.

One hundred eighty-one players remain (as I start to type this blog, I'm sure that will change; honestly, I've changed that first line three times already). "We'll play five levels today and play down to 27 tomorrow or longer depending on if we're at where we need to be," tournament director Jack Effel said.

It's time for the blinds to catch up to the stacks, and I think five levels today is a start.

Down to 180.

Down to 179.

Down to 178. Not kidding.

With all the tables in the blue and green section today, I'm going to be spending a good amount of time on the floor and on Twitter (@ESPN_Poker).

Down to 177.

It will slow down. In my recap column last night, I neglected to mention another big name that remains: Kenny Tran. Down to 176. Tran made it through the day yesterday with $752,000, but while he increased his stack, he didn't get involved much. As you'll see on our ESPN broadcasts, his table wasn't as busy as the rest. Tran played a little bit cautious, which isn't usually his style, but I think he adjusted about as well as anyone else to the fast play that we've seen.

The rail is completely filled up today and just like yesterday, as tables are being broken, they are being removed by the staff here at Harrah's. By doing so they're giving spectators a better view of the action, which is great to see. If poker ever wants to become even more mainstream, it'll have to encourage people to come out to Vegas to watch the action, and trust me, watching live poker can be brutal sometimes.

At the top, my eye will be on Kasper Cordes and Tom Schneider. Cordes has a couple of solid players at his table and after speaking to a few of them, they're looking to get involved, but only at the right moments. As for Schneider, this is his day. Down to 175. He has the chance to finally cement his name with a deep run and I can't imagine he's going to blow up with such a big stack.

At the middle of the chip counts, I'm looking at Phil Ivey, Bertrand Grospellier and Nichoel Peppe. The three are explosive and can accumulate a massive amount of chips, or lose them, in a short amount of time. Peppe is a professional cash game player and after speaking to her, it's clear she's here to win. She's not afraid to take risks and her optimistic spirit is usually something people like to see at the table.

On the verge between the middle and bottom stacks, I'm watching both Trans (J.C. and Kenny), Joe Hachem and Owen Crowe. Needless to say, all four of them have the experience to come through. Crowe, perhaps the least known of the bunch, finished in 15th last year. Even though they are shorter on chips, they each still have at least 30 times the big blind and can wait patiently for hours.

Down to 174.

Small blinds: Vote below on some questions you'd like me to ask people here at the Rio. I'll bring around my video camera and post the responses later. … I ran into Scott Bohlman at Starbucks this morning who is ready to still play big pots. … In 173rd, Jordan Morgan. … I'm chatting at 4 p.m. ET at SportsNation. … Down to 171. … Down to 170. … The rail now completely surrounds the tables. Quite cool.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

11:59 p.m. ET: For the second night in a row, play was stopped after three levels. When play began today, tournament director Jack Effel said his staff wanted to get down to 175 players by the end of the night, and after a flurry of eliminations during the first two levels, the staff decided with 20 minutes to go in Level 20 that this would be the last level of the night.

What does this mean for the remaining 185 players? Some very long days are ahead. I know I've said it repeatedly in this blog, but this time, it's actually going to happen. The average chip stack is over $1 million and with the blinds at $8,000/$16,000 (ante $2,000), players will be in no rush as the prize money and pressure increases. After speaking to many of the remaining professionals in the field, they believe that the slow and steady approach is right, but with the aggressive nature of their opponents, trapping with big hands will be key.

Nick Schulman made his exit during the last level of play today when his A-Q ran into his opponent's A-K in a $1.4 million preflop pot. Schulman, eliminated after seeing a board of 8-4-2-K-10, moved to an empty table in the Amazon Room, where friends attempted to console him. Schulman took the loss and needed some time to himself before finally leaving to collect his winnings. Also eliminated during the last level on the very last hand was Lou Diamond Phillips, in a monstrous pot that left Kasper Cordes, a friend of Peter Eastgate, among our chip leaders.

Perhaps the bigger story surrounds those who remain in the field, and the discussion will begin with the accomplishments of defending champion Peter Eastgate and 2008 third-place finisher Dennis Phillips. Both players have made it through two large main event fields, and although they don't have massive stacks, they have positioned themselves for another impressive finish this year. Eastgate, who enters Day 6 with $927,000, played solid poker today and avoided the mistakes he's made over the past few days (mostly the calling massive river bets of his opponents). Phillips was patient all day, but became aggressive during the last level to chip up to over $1 million. The other main event champion remaining, 2005 winner Joseph Hachem, has $540,000.

Phil Ivey had tremendous swings during Day 5, but ended on a high note. Ivey was down to less than $200,000 at one point, then began his upward surge to finally finish at $1.38 million. Ivey's closest competitor to start the day was Bertrand Grospellier, who lost half of his stack on one of the first hands of the day. Aces didn't hold for Grospellier the first time around, but the second time was for his tournament life and they came through. Grospellier ended the day in 82nd place with $973,000. Surging ahead to fourth place overall was Tom Schneider, who started his day when Kevin Saul moved $1 million into the pot preflop with A-K against Schneider's pocket aces. From that point on, Schneider continued to chip up and finished the day with $3.17 million.

Also making it through to Day 6: Blair Rodman, Jordan Morgan, J.C. Tran, Theo Tran, Blair Hinkle, Joe Sebok, Prahlad Friedman and Noah Boeken. There are two women left standing: Nichoel Peppe (who I interviewed on the Poker Edge podcast after Day 3) and Leo Margets of Spain. Although the title of "Last Woman Standing" doesn't mean much to them, Peppe is ahead of Margets by $1.1 million. However, all these players trail one man: Warren Zackey of South Africa. Zackey, a product of the Raymond Rahme final table a few years ago, has $4.87 million and will start Day 6 with Eastgate at his table.

Here are the top five:
Warren Zackey (South Africa): $4.87 million
Kasper Cordes (Denmark): $4.35 million
Darvin Moon (Oakland, Md.): $3.2 million
Tom Schneider (Scottsdale, Ariz.): $3.17 million
Bernhard Perner (Austria): $3 million

Play is planned tomorrow until the field reaches 63 players.

Small blinds: The families are most definitely in town as the rails are getting populated by hand-made T-shirts promoting their favorite players. … All tables now are in the blue and green sections. … Antonio Esfandiari spent the entire day at the secondary feature table. … Hachem sat with Eastgate on Saturday and Grospellier on Sunday. … Poker Edge podcast guests include Tom Schneider, Blair Rodman, Matt Affleck and an interview by Gavin Smith with Joe Sebok. … Now I know why Adam Schoenfeld was here. He was cheering on Jeff Shulman, who finished the day with $1.2 million. … I still find it funny that Joe Sebok and Joe Serock have both made it this far. … Kara Scott, Sorel Mizzi and David Levi were all eliminated on Day 5.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

8 p.m. ET: Lance Bradley and I were discussing around 6 p.m. how we had three world champions left and each of them stood with solid chip counts. Our primary focus at the time was Dan Harrington, who was cruising. He built his chip stack up over $2 million and was rolling over this table … then he decided to pull out "Action Dan" and make a huge bet on the river with air. The fact of the matter is that Harrington's big bet with 8-9 offsuit was ill-timed, but the call with pocket queens on a board of A-K-10-K-3 was simply impressive. The player, Charlie Elias, went into the tank for quite a while and finally pulled the trigger on the call, taking more than half of Harrington's stack. About 20 minutes later, Harrington moved all-in with a flush draw and was eliminated by Eric Cloutier.

We're down to 232 players and among them is Joe Sebok, Phil Ivey and Peter Eastgate who all doubled up during the last level. Sebok hit a river king to beat his opponent's turned top pair and double up. Immediately afterward, Sebok eliminated a player and is now up to $825,000. Barry Greenstein came over from the Dream Team Poker tournament to talk to Joe and provide some support. Sebok does have quite a support staff here in the Amazon Room with a couple of members of the PokerRoad family covering the event. Wearing a PokerRoad sweatshirt, Ivey chipped up to $600,000 during the last level and has the full rail cheering for him (including, of course, the couple that wears the "Go Phil Ivey shirts").

During the last couple of hands of Level 2, we noticed some movement from some familiar faces. Nick Schulman won a nice pot and Bertrand Grospellier doubled up after suffering some tough luck earlier in the day. After losing with aces during the first hour, Grospellier picked up aces again and doubled up against 10-10. However, the biggest mover of the day is Tom Schneider. The 2007 WSOP Player of the Year has basically taken over the table with his chips, and thankfully, he colored up a little bit to make his $2.5 million easier to handle.

I briefly spoke to Dennis Phillips about the aggressive play in this main event, and his simple answer: "I don't get it, but I like it."

Small blinds: We've lost five players in the first 13 minutes of Level 3. Only 52 more players will need to be eliminated until the day is over. … If you haven't been following me on Twitter, you probably should. I'm updating the Twitter feed with whatever I see while I'm walking the floor. So make sure to follow @ESPN_Poker. … Lou Diamond Phillips and Antonio Esfandiari are sharing the spotlight at the secondary feature table. … The rail behind Ivey and Eastgate's table is gradually getting closer to the players. I think the Harrah's team needs to make some adjustments. … They are currently taking down the lights from the ceiling in the Amazon Room. The good thing is that they're saving electricity. The bad thing is that I can't see anything. OK, I can see, but more light would be nice. … Seen walking around the room during the past level: Greenstein, Adam Schoenfeld and now, the night floor staff. … Tom Schneider will be joining me on the Poker Edge podcast tonight.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

5:15 p.m. ET: I'm sitting here scratching my head and talking to myself, but before I get into that, a correction from the tournament staff. We will be playing until there are 175 players left, not until we lose 175 players. That said, we're down to 305 players and they are off to their 20-minute break. Yes, we've lost 102 players during the first level, which is absolutely ridiculous considering the average stack is 58 times the big blind. I saw an isolation reshove for $650,000 only to see him get called and eliminated. I saw $1 million pots preflop with A-K versus A-Q. It simply doesn't make sense.

This is something that everyone on the floor (not playing) has been babbling about for days. Play this year has reached a new aggressive high and it seems the only explanation is that players feel they must chip up as fast as possible. They're in a rush to get chips or go home when they could be patient, and probably wait out another 100 eliminations. Everyone here is waiting for play to slow down, but it just hasn't happened. With 130 more players left to be eliminated today, we're guessing that the last level will be played before dinner tonight.

Among the eliminations this level were some pretty significant names. Vitaly Lunkin, champion of the $40,000 no-limit hold 'em event and final-table participant in the $50,000 HORSE event, was knocked out, as well as Andy Black, Kevin Saul, Sorel Mizzi and Amir Esfandiari.

Phil Ivey had a miserable level and went from the top 20 in the chip counts to the bottom 10. Ivey ran into a set of aces, which took a good portion of his stack, but his downward spiral started almost immediately after the day began. Moving in the other direction was Peter Eastgate, who doubled up right before the level ended. Tom Lutz became our first $3 million man, as he eliminated two players simultaneously with a flopped set of jacks, and Tom Schnieder, Matt Affleck and Ben Lamb each eclipsed the $2 million mark.

As the level continued, I saw other names make their presence known. Blair Rodman, David Benyamine and Nick Schulman chipped up. JC Tran doubled up, but then gave it all back, and Joe Sebok is still playing solid with the short stack.

Small blinds: Seen walking the floor today: Alexander Kravchenko, T.J. Cloutier and Alex Outhred. Cloutier and Outhred are playing in today's Dream Team Poker event. … To clarify on the payout structure for the rest of the day (since I now know we're paying until 175th place), everyone that survives the day will make $36,626. … Tables are actually being broken. Not only are they moving players as the field gets smaller, but the tables are being taken apart and removed by the staff here. As the tables are removed, the ropes for spectators are put up closer so they have a better view. … Current chip leader Lutz isn't sponsored. Or at least he's not wearing a logo. … Kenny Tran hid Antonio Esfandiari's sandals. The floor staff announced that a player whose table was broken left his shoes, but it was Tran's trick on the magician. … Dan Harrington's neck brace is on again. … There are either four or five women left and we'll have an article on all of them left standing tomorrow. … Murderers' row: Nick Schulman in Seat 1, Ludovic Lacay in Seat 2 and Jordan Morgan in Seat 3 at Table 61.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

3:35 p.m. ET: For 175 players, today will be the last day of their main event journey. Tournament director Jack Effel announced that only 175 players would be eliminated today and then everyone would have a few extra hours to rest. It's interesting to see that after the issue of spacing just a few days ago, the Amazon Room is spread out with tables with plenty of room for the TV cameras and media to walk around. I'm not going to get into the big names we're watching as Gary Wise already took care of that, but as play has only been under way for less than 30 minutes, we haven't seen an exit from any of them.

Another name to add to the list is Scott Bohlman, who is currently at a table with Dan Harrington to my left at Orange 63. Bohlman used to play with endorsement from Absolute Poker, but that ended and quite honestly, we hadn't heard much from him since. Well, he's back and is approaching $1 million so far today and should be on our radar moving forward.

The payout structure is still pretty flat for those that are eliminated today. Players who finish anywhere from 407th place to 361st place, will take home $27,469. After that point, players who finish through 289th will earn $29,911, and the final jump of the day will take place for all remaining players as they'll earn $32,963. The player who finishes in 232nd place will complete Day 5 and everyone will be a couple of thousand dollars richer for another day's work.

Small blinds: The first all-in took place only two minutes into play today. … Joe Hachem and another player at his table got into a slight altercation. I have no idea what it's about, but I do know the floorman handled the situation.… There were six all-ins announced as I wrote that last sentence. I'm not kidding. This is ridiculous. … I ran into the guy who folded pocket kings preflop on the bubble last night. He sticks by his move as it was a $20,000 fold. … The feature table has Bertrand Grospellier, Jeff Shulman, Rolf Slotboom and Andy Black. … The Dream Team Poker event is currently under way here at the Rio. … Only four women remain in the main event. … From my seat I have a view of Harrington, Bohlman, Hachem, Kenny Tran and a lot of guys wearing PokerStars.net gear. … I just heard that Grospellier's aces were cracked by kings at the feature table.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

11:45 p.m. ET: Tournament directors believed that the field had taken enough. The rapid pace of eliminations throughout Day 4 (with the exception of the bubble) has left 407 players who still have hopes to be the 2009 WSOP main event champion. Out of all those eliminated, it was Phil Hellmuth who stole the show with 50 minutes to go in the day. Hellmuth was knocked out with pocket aces against a turned straight and was sent to the rail shaking his head. He gave a speech, left the Amazon Room and collected the $25,027 for his 436th-place result.

With the elimination of Hellmuth, all eyes turned to the feature table to see Phil Ivey chip up and break the $1 million mark. Ivey finished the day with $1.27 million and is in the top 10 heading into a planned five-level Day 5. There are some other big names keeping company with Ivey. Bertrand Grospellier, Jordan Morgan, Blair Hinkle and Theo Tran all have more than $1 million, but they trail chip leader Matt Affleck ($1.8 million). Tom Lutz is in second place with $1.608 million, and Ludovic Lacay is in third with $1.6 million. After watching Lacay for most of the day, I know a couple of things. First, he'll play rags. He has no problem with floating flops and making strong continuation bets. Second, I think his table adjusted to him late in the day, which resulted in him losing a couple of pots during the last level.

The bubble played the most significant part of the day as Kia Hamadani made 468 players here in the Amazon Room very happy. After his elimination, the line to collect winnings was the popular place to be. 2006 runner-up Paul Wasicka, Chris Ferguson, Kelly Kim, Jesper Hougaard, Mike Sexton, Tom West, Surinder Sunar and John Myung were some notable eliminations.

There are still some big names moving on who have work to do during Day 5. Defending champion Peter Eastgate, 2005 champion Joseph Hachem, Dan Harrington, Dennis Phillips, Joe Sebok, Nick Schulman, Kyle Wilson, J.C. Tran and Antonio Esfandiari will need to quickly figure out their tables tomorrow. The blinds will begin on Sunday at $5,000/$10,000 with a $1,000 ante. While many of these players are still relatively deep-stacked, the play here has been overly aggressive and keeping pots small hasn't been a viable option … which is typically a strategy of many pros.

For now, it's Saturday night and players are going to be able to enjoy the night in Las Vegas. A couple of extra hours of sleep will serve them well before action resumes Sunday at 3 p.m. E.T.

Small blinds: After Paul Wasicka's elimination, he said, "It will be a long time before I want to play poker again." … Hellmuth said that if he knew there were only 50 minutes remaining in the day, he would've played differently. … Hachem came out with a book called, "Pass The Sugar." He has made it to Day 5 and his entire family is here with him. … Kelly Kim put up another great battle, but was eliminated on one of the final hands of the night. … The staff here at Harrah's has already begun removing chairs and tables. Action will be spread out tomorrow instead of consolidated in one spot of the room. … The majority of media row here is watching the MMA fight. … Lou Diamond Phillips is winning the "Phillips Battle," out-chipping Dennis Phillips by $120,000. … For all those who are wondering, yes, Kara Scott is still alive in the main event. … Both Esfandiari brothers, Antonio and Amir, are still in contention.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

8 p.m. ET: After 13 hands of hand-for-hand play and some unbelievable laydowns, the WSOP field is finally in the money. The 649th-place finisher, Kia Hamadani, got a roaring ovation from the remaining players and also had a quick talk with Jack Effel and commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, who informed him that courtesy of Harrah's and Jack Links Beef Jerky, he's been given a free entry into the 2010 main event.

During the 13 hands, I witnessed some amazing action. As expected, the short stacks were sweating and it really showed, as not one, but two players let go of pocket kings preflop. The first time, a short-stacked player raised. He was called by Seat 5 and then Seat 7 pushed his large stack in the center. The player, Josh Chait, went into the tank and started talking to himself. He finally said, "I won't be the bubble boy and I know that you [the dealer] are going to give me a bad beat." Chait folded and we were on to the next hand, when the pocket aces of a short stack went up against K-J off-suit all-in preflop. The flop was K-8-J and everyone around was excited. However, a turn 2 and river 2 gave the short stack aces-up and extended life.

Oh, I'm not finished yet.

Bobby Baldwin was all-in with As-9s postflop on a board of Ks-6c-7s. His opponent held pocket queens and was looking good until a river spade saved the 1978 champ. I think it was at this point that the massive rail started to boo. They wanted an elimination! They wouldn't get one on the next hand, when Brian Hodhod folded pocket kings preflop after a very long deliberation. Forget the fact that we were on the bubble, Hodhod made the right read, because Michael Shvartsman, who had him covered, showed pocket aces. One more hand would take place and the boos got louder when a player was all-in with A-A against A-J. After a jack flopped, the aces held and we'd keep going. Finally, Hamadani was eliminated.

Players were given an extra 39 minutes in Level 16 before their next break and the payout line is getting increasingly longer as I write each sentence. Now on the line is Amir Marmar, Max Greenwood and Robert Roos. We're rapidly losing players, as expected, and 215 more will be eliminated before the end of play today.

Small blinds: It's great to hear all the players react after the bubble burst. It's a relief for the players and the tension in the room is gone. It'll return as we get toward the final table, but now, the real tournament begins. … Tables need to be broken faster than tournament staff can handle. We've lost more than 40 players in 15 minutes. … The shortest player I saw at the bubble (well, besides the bubble boy), had $14,000. The blinds are $2,500/$5,000, so he didn't have much time left at all. … Ylon Schwartz is getting a massage at a table that is not being used right now. … Kelly Kim, Peter Eastgate and Dennis Phillips are still in action. … Dan Harrington got involved in a major pot at the bubble and finally let his hand go after dropping $200,000. … Best remark: "Oh, I didn't see this coming," said by one of the players at Bertrand Grospellier's table after he had raised (and reraised) the first few pots during hand-for-hand play. … Players must now listen to each other at the tables. No more iPods or electronics allowed.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

5:05 p.m. ET: Players are heading to their first break of the day, but the story during the first level is the pace of eliminations. "These players can't play a lick!" one floorman joked. We've seen some incredible overbets and all-in moves this morning when we would've believed that the play was going to slow down.

There are now 659 players left, with 129 hitting the rail during the first level, before heading to the break. We are now 10 spots out of the money. Tournament director Jack Effel said we'd play until we reached 400 players today, and given the pace of the action, that might happen relatively soon. Hand for hand play will begin when there are 653 players left, so the tournament staff can keep track of every elimination.

Notable names that will miss the money include Greg Mueller, J.C. Alvarado, Hevad Khan (who cashed the past two years in the main event) and Chris Bell. It wasn't a great level for Phil Hellmuth, who has been focused on making the big laydowns during Level 15 instead of calling his opponents. I think those at his table have picked up on that, and honestly, have gotten into Hellmuth's head. He's already given a couple of speeches, but not going after anyone personally.

Bertrand Grospellier had another amazing level, increasing his chip lead to more than $500,000 above his next competitor. "Elky" now sits with $1.6 million. Other big stacks have also chipped up during the level. Almost every player in the top 10 from last night has increased his/her stack a considerable amount. Blair Hinkle, Jordan Morgan and Ludovic Lacay have cemented their positions behind Grospellier and as the bubble truly approaches, we'll see a lot of stealing from the chip leaders as they put pressure on the shorter stacks.

It might take some time for the bubble to burst should play slow down, but then again, this field never ceases to surprise me. I'll have full coverage of the bubble on the Poker Edge podcast that will be posted Sunday.

Small blinds: We witnessed a penalty given out for excessive theatrics. Kevin Saul flopped a set of kings and his opponent had pocket aces. The turn and river gave Saul's opponent a straight and he let out a massive yell. The WSOP staff spoke to him and told him that it was not acceptable. … Chuck Pacheco, the producer of the movie "My Sister's Keeper," is still in the hunt to make the money. … One hand was still in progress seven minutes into the break and resulted in another elimination. … Jesper Hougaard hit a miracle card to stay in the event. He put on his backpack and was walking away from the table when he turned around to see the hand hit. … Phil Ivey has a ton of support at the feature table. Fans love watching him -- whether he likes to be there or not. … Joe Hachem and Peter Eastgate are at the secondary feature table. Not a bad combo. … One player at Paul Wasicka's table was picking his brain about his appearance on "High Stakes Poker." Wasicka said that players sign up for five-hour sessions and they can't play any longer unless they're going to play another five hours. … Jack Effel took his entire staff into the Red section during the break to discuss the payout strategy and organization.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

3:30 p.m. ET: Day 4 is under way and play has picked up right where it left off. Within the first minute, the table right in front of me, Orange 69, had a double all-in. The first two players of the day were eliminated and everyone suddenly moved closer to making the money in the 2009 WSOP main event. As I mentioned in my Day 3 recap, play is going to speed up early (as it has) then slow down dramatically as players just hope to make the money.

Not much to report in terms of big play today -- it's simply the short stacks moving in at every table and either taking the blinds down, or getting called. Phil Ivey won one small pot for $50,000, but really, it's shove and fold poker for many in the room. Justin Bonomo called one of the all-ins with A-K and ran into A-A, which dropped his stack nearly in half. Tables are breaking from my left in the Orange section, which personally, I don't like. The tables will disappear from my view quicker, which means that I'll have to find a new spot on the other side of the room very soon. We're less than 20 minutes in and they just broke the third table. Wow.

For now, I've got a great view of Paul Wasicka, Dennis Phillips, Mike Sexton, Antonio Esfandiari and J.C. Tran, who just doubled up. The feature tables will be home to Ivey and Peter Eastgate today, according to WSOP public relations director Seth Palansky. I'll walk over there in a few and find out who else is there.

Small blinds: From Benjo's Blog: "Elky [Bertrand Grospellier] shows up late and is in the big blind. He has a pair, sees a flop, flops a set, busts a player. How sick!" … Dan Harrington is back in the neck brace. Guess it was hurting him again. … Nothing from Phil Hellmuth's table yet. … I'm estimating a bubble burst at 6:30 p.m. ET. … Dennis Phillips lookalikes still here. Don't these people work? … We're looking at two ESPN camera teams per section now, so there shouldn't be much action missed. … Still lots of non-logoed players. That will change today. … Big cheer from the feature table. I have no idea what happened. … Players will have to remove their headphones when they reach the money, per WSOP rules.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

6 a.m. ET: It's the middle of the night (well, for me … good morning, East Coasters), and our greatly diminished field has left the Amazon Room. Two-thousand forty-four players began Day 3, and only 788 survived to approach the money bubble on Day 4. After five levels today, some big names emerged, but nobody came close to Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier. The current leader in the Bluff/ESPN Poker Power Rankings, Grospellier gathered more than $1.1 million during today's play. His aggressive nature allowed him to surge to the top and stay there by becoming the table bully. He speaks fluent English, but his favorite word is most definitely "raise." With a big stack, Grospellier dominates. His friendly disposition is accompanied by relentless aggression, and he will be one to watch entering Day 4.

Grospellier, along with the other big stacks, will start the day understanding that there are many players who are just trying to make the money. We'll see a flurry of eliminations in the first hour, then a massive slowdown as the bubble approaches. The tournament directors then will enact hand-for-hand play. With 648 players getting paid, I expect hand-for-hand play to begin at 660. Play will slow dramatically at that point, and the bubble, which I'm guessing will burst at 6:30 p.m. ET, will mean players make money. After the players know they are walking away with paydays, look to see stacks moving in time after time. We're going to lose a lot of players very quickly on Day 4, especially because the "double up or go home" mentality is a popular one once players are guaranteed some cash. The pay structure is very flat, and 505th place versus 648th place really means only $2,000. The big money is at the top, and taking risks to build a chip stack is common during post-bubble play.

Unfortunately, it is not the "Summer of George." Jason Alexander was eliminated during the last level of play on Day 3 by current third-place player Christian Heich. Alexander got all his money in ahead with J-J on a 6-3-4 flop, but another six fell on the river, and Alexander's run was over. Jordan Farmar also was eliminated early in the day, leaving the celebrity hopes with Lou Diamond Phillips, who at one point was at more than $400,000. Phillips has become a staple here at the WSOP, and he can play; it's no act.

Other notables eliminated on Day 3 include Jeffrey Lisandro, Sammy Farha, Greg Raymer, Nick Binger, Josh Arieh, Nam Le, Liz Lieu, Jean-Robert Bellande, Jennifer Harman, Roland De Wolfe and Erik Seidel

The field is still pro-influenced, with Grospellier and Jordan Morgan leading the mix. Morgan has had his share of success at the WSOP, but even though he's made eight top-25 appearances, he still is bracelet-less. He has a WSOP Circuit title to his name as well as a second-place finish at the United States Poker Championships. Peter Eastgate still is grinding to defend his title, and he's extremely focused on doing just that. He joked with me today that there's only 800 players left he has to beat. Phil Hellmuth, Kenny Tran, Justin Bonomo and Mike Sexton also find themselves in the top 50 in chips, while Phil Ivey, Dennis Phillips, Joe Sebok, David Benyamine, Chris Ferguson, Joseph Hachem, Kevin Saul, Antonio Esfandiari and Paul Wasicka will most likely make moves on Day 4.

There's a rumor that there might be only four levels played on Day 4, but I'm assuming it'll be dependant on the number of players left. I'm amazed the field dropped this quickly and, as discussed on the Poker Edge podcast, we don't expect it to change anytime soon.

Small blinds: Joe Sebok's post-dinner run was very impressive. He was down to $30,000 at one point and finished play with more than $300,000. … Tony Cousineau still is hanging in. I think. His chip count is listed at $28,000, which is just seven big blinds. … Day 4 is the day when the staff here at the Rio starts to break down the tables. I think the red section is completely done, and I'm going to need to find a new seat, since the orange section is next. … Did you know that they put all the bags of chips into one garbage bag at the end of the night and that's how they are stored? Seems strange that a garbage bag is the best way to do this. … Why did the Mets trade Ryan Church? … I'm expecting Elky to be at the feature table tomorrow. At the secondary, I guess Hellmuth will be back, unless there is a really loaded table. … Poker Edge guests tonight include Eastgate, Morgan, Grospellier, Kenny Tran and Nicole Peppy-Jergens, who is the female chip leader at the moment.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

12:35 a.m. ET: It was a great dinner for Phil Hellmuth. No, I have no idea where he went, but when he returned to his table, he was still hungry … for more chips. OK, that was terrible, but you get the point. Hellmuth won a nearly $400,000 pot when his set of kings defeated his opponent's set of nines. The flop was A-K-Q, and Hellmuth bet. His opponent called to see what he thought was his miracle card, a nine, on the turn. All the chips hit the center, and Hellmuth, his chip stack and his ego, increased once again. Hellmuth finished 45th in the main event in 2008, and while a big chip stack means a lot right now, there's a lot of play left before we even consider him to make an equally impressive run.

Another player on the way up after dinner is Joe Sebok, who said he simply loves his table. Most of Sebok's chips came in a pot with $150,000 after the turn. Sebok moved all-in on the river with a full house for $11,000 more, and both his opponents folded. Wow. Although he's been fighting being ill for a couple of days, Sebok now has some chips to play with, and that can make anyone feel a little better.

During Level 13, Owen Crowe became the first player to eclipse the $1 million chip mark. Crowe is one of those players we don't always talk about but definitely should be on the radar. In last year's main event, he finished in 15th place. More recently, Crowe finished fifth in Event 51 here at the 2009 WSOP. He's an extremely talented player who has proved he can make a deep run. Bertrand Grospellier also hit the million-chip mark later in the level.

Continuing with his theme of, as he said, "spinning his wheels, getting to the top of the mountain and falling back down," Tony Cousineau is hovering around $50,000. He was up to $90,000 when he opened a pot with A-J and was called by the big blind. The flop was J-4-4, and his opponent let out. Cousineau checked, and his opponent moved all-in. Believing he was beat, Cousineau folded and is back grinding … exactly what he is known for. Unfortunately, Cousineau is sitting a couple of seats away from Greg Mueller, who is getting the longest massage in WSOP history. Maybe not really, but his shoulders have been massaged for at least seven and a half hours so far today.

WSOP hopes that were ended during this level: John Juanda, Robert Mizrachi, Nam Le, Dutch Boyd and Raymond Rahme.

Small blinds: From my seat right now, I have a pretty good view. Dan Harrington, Chris Ferguson, Mueller, Cousineau, Dennis Phillips, Hevad Khan, Tom Franklin, Antonio Esfandiari and Joe Sebok. … Hellmuth and Josh Arieh are at the same table. … Number of iPods at Orange 72: four. … What do you think the toughest tournament of the year is? Vote below. You also can view a video interview with Jeffrey Pollack if you look at the recent tab. … The floor staff has been coloring up chips during play. I thought that only happened during breaks. … We're at fewer than 1,000 players left. … There are seven Phillips lookalikes on the rail. And one at his table. He's looking a bit tired, though. … Joe Hachem also looked tired at the feature table, but he was able to gain some chips off Jeffrey Lisandro anyway. … Mike Sexton is at more than $430,000.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

9:35 p.m. ET: It's been hard to keep track of everyone here in the Amazon Room today. Tables are breaking, but more significantly, the field of 2,044 players has been whittled down to 1,161 as players head to their dinner break. It's quite unbelievable. I've been speaking for days about how important it would be to lose a lot of players today, and I guess the tournament directors knew the players this year are being absolutely ridiculous. No, I'm not exaggerating here. At this very juncture, it costs a player $6,000 a round. The average stack has $180,000. So, the average player has an M of 30. Why are people playing such big pots?

Anyway, some big names have been the benefactors of the quick play. Most significantly, Bertrand Grospellier, Alexander Kostritsyn, Sorel Mizzi and Phil Ivey. At one point, Grospellier and Ivey were at the same table (along with David Levi), and the rail was packed with spectators trying to get a glimpse. Dennis Phillips had a terrible Level 11, losing more than half his stack, but he has rebounded in a big way and has taken advantage of his table here in Level 12. He chipped to more than $400,000 at one point, but I'm unsure of his stack size right now, since I just watched him lose a big pot.

Previous main event champions have gone in separate directions. Greg Raymer from 2004 and Carlos Mortensen from 2001 were eliminated, while defending champion Peter Eastgate and Phil Hellmuth were able to accumulate some chips. Joe Hachem's day at the feature table hasn't gone as planned, and he's sitting on a short stack as he heads to dinner. Dan Harrington is Dan Harrington and still sitting directly in front of me. I think he has around $150,000.

Other notable eliminations include Humberto Brenes, Bill Edler, Jennifer Harman, Sammy Farha, Darus Suharto, Cliff Josephy and John Cernuto. Celebrity watch: Jason Alexander has about an average stack, Jordan Farmar is getting really short and Lou Diamond Phillips is cruising today with more than $300,000.

Small blinds: Swine flu mask guy is back. Can't miss him! So is the American Indian. Costumes are still cool here. … Funny enough, Dennis Phillips is sitting with one of his lookalikes. … The guy next to Dennis Phillips just busted. … Jeffrey Lisandro is now the WSOP player of the year with the elimination of Ville Wahlbeck. … Antonio Esfandiari and Robert Mizrachi are at the same table. … Norman Chad will be happy to know that Kara Scott is still alive and has a good amount of chips. She'd be great to have as part of the November Nine. … Final November Niners left: Eastgate, Phillips and Kelly Kim. … Number of iPods at Orange 66: 0! I never thought it would happen.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

5:35 p.m. ET: Really quick update: It was a great first level for two of the November Nine. Dennis Phillips won a major pot during the last hand before the break, and he is most definitely among the top 10 percent of chip leaders. Peter Eastgate also had a great first level. He made a great read and folded to his opponent's flopped set, after Eastgate had led out with a bet postflop. Jason Alexander managed to double up with pocket aces against his opponent's pocket queens and is keeping the dream alive for the "Summer of George."

While nearly 400 players were eliminated during the first level of play today, only a few notables hit the rail. Erik Seidel, Billy Gazes, Roland de Wolfe, Bryan Micon, Jason Young and Farzad Rouhani were among the casualties.

At least 20 tables have already moved from the Brasilia Room here to the Amazon Room as we get closer to having the entire field in one place. Currently, I have a great view of Dennis Phillips and Liz Lieu at Orange 65, Dan Harrington at Orange 67, Cliff Josephy at Orange 88 and Jesper Hougaard at Orange 89.

In terms of stories, I've still got my eyes on Bertrand Grospellier, the celebrities (Jordan Farmar, Lou Diamond Phillips, Jason Alexander) and the champions (Joe Hachem and Greg Raymer).

Small blinds: In case you missed it, here's a link to today's poker chat. … More celebrations in the Amazon Room today than in the past six days. Hitting hands actually matters at this point. … Only a couple Dennis Phillips lookalikes on the rail today. And no truck horn. … A lot of non-logoed players still here. I'm not sure if they just didn't want to wear the gear provided for them or if they really do not have any affiliation. … Number of players wearing bandanas in view: one. … I also see a Full Tilt hockey jersey, which, I believe, is against WSOP guidelines. The logo is too big.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

3:50 p.m. ET: Good morning/afternoon, everyone! All the players had a day off yesterday, but the media was quite busy. I played in the media tournament, and suffered an entertaining beat that is covered fully on the Poker Edge. After the media tournament, PokerStars had its yearly party at Rain in the Palms. They put on a great party and I never in my life thought I would be in attendance for a Nelly concert, but there I was listening to "Shake Ya Tailfeather." The crowd was into it and a ton of players were there, including many who are still alive in the main event. I spoke to Jordan Farmar, whom Gary Wise wrote about today, and he was enjoying the experience of being thrown into a completely different celebrity world.

Anyway, enough about yesterday -- let's talk about today. Day 3 kicked off with a bang. The remaining field of 2,044 took their seats, with Tom Franklin performing today's "Shuffle Up and Deal." I noticed that from my seat I had a good view of Bertrand Grospellier. Right next to him was Kent Senter, the player who was diagnosed with cancer and has only six months to two years to live. On the first or second hand, Grospellier eliminated Senter and has since knocked out another player to grow his stack to nearly $300,000.

It was announced at the start that players would be here until 3:45 a.m. ET after five levels of play. I can't believe they put a definitive time on the day, but I guess I'm happy that today won't go for more than five levels. Tables are being broken to my left in the Orange section, but quickly replaced by tables coming from the Brasilia Room. The field still isn't all in one place, but will be at some point today.

Day 3 is typically moving day, when players begin to fight for position for a deep run. While it still will be that in some sense, the real moving day will be after the money bubble is burst tomorrow afternoon. Today will be another fight for survival, but for some, that fight has ended quickly. We've lost more than 130 players in the first 40 minutes (including Erik Seidel, Roland de Wolfe and Bluff's Eric Morris), and the rapid rate of elimination will continue all through the day. It's time for the table bully to become aggressive and for the short stacks to pick a perfect spot.

In terms of stories, I've got my eyes on Grospellier, the celebrities (Farmar, Lou Diamond Phillips, Jason Alexander) and the champions (Joe Hachem and Greg Raymer). Time to chat at SportsNation.

Small blinds: I just heard a story that a player has renounced his U.S. citizenship. OK then. … Hachem and Jeffrey Lisandro are at the feature table. … Matt Hawrilenko tweeted that he has a tough table and "it had to happen eventually." … Bill Gazes has the cameras stationed at his table. … A player moved all-in, won the pot and wanted to give the guy next to him a high five. He didn't get one.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

3:40 a.m. ET: It's one thing to be on "death watch" all day at the WSOP, but it's another thing to give the cameras a reason to hang around. For those who aren't aware of what I'm talking about, the ESPN cameras circle the room constantly looking for hands from the top players. When your chip stack gets low, the cameras stay put, just waiting for you to make your final push of the main event. For Peter Eastgate, the 2008 WSOP Main Event champion, the cameras were in place since the first level of play today (around 4 p.m. ET). However, as much as the cameras waited to catch his final hand, Eastgate refused to oblige. No, he never gained any chips during the first three levels, but he continued to push in certain situations to steal the blinds and antes. Eastgate was down to $8,000 at one point, and the rail was three people deep as they waited for something significant from the champ. Finally, his patience was rewarded.

On the first key hand, Eastgate hit a straight with A-9 against his opponent's pocket queens. The board came 8-7-10-6-10 for the meager pot of $16,000, but it was a start. Minutes later, he was all-in with 6-5 against the J-10 of his opponent. Eastgate flopped a five, but was still behind when his opponent hit a 10. The fortunes changed with a turn six, and just for good measure, another six on the river. From there, Eastgate knocked out a short stack with A-K versus K-Q and chipped all the way up to end the night near $90,000. It was a remarkable display of patience and short-stack play, and he truly proved to all the spectators just one of the qualities it takes to be a great poker player.

Besides Eastgate's revival, it was the day of Phils. Phil Hellmuth started the day with a bang, doubling up on the very first hand. Hellmuth then went on cruise control for most of the day to finish at $142,000. On the Poker Edge, he said that being at the feature table comes naturally to him and he isn't nervous about that added pressure. The same can't be said for the majority of his tablemates, who made their TV table debuts on Wednesday. From the start, Hellmuth positioned himself to be the table captain and earned the respect throughout the day to earn an above-average stack.

The other Phil, Phil Ivey, had one direction: up. Well, something like that. Ivey started off with a roller-coaster first level, winning a couple of big pots and then bluffing off a good part of his stack. From that low point, Ivey was simply dominant. With his table surrounded by fans, Ivey began his ascent to the top with a key hand; his pocket kings held against his opponent's A-K. Becoming the table bully, Ivey was selectively aggressive and never put too much of his stack at risk. He ended the day with $350,000. Then, as if he didn't have enough poker already, he headed over to the Bellagio to play in the big game.

It seemed as if the pros really took advantage throughout the day. The top of the leaderboard is filled with notables, including Ivey, J.C. Tran, Kenny Tran, Kevin Saul, Josh Arieh, Paul Wasicka, Bertrand Grospellier and Justin Bonomo. Leading the celebrity pack is Lou Diamond Phillips, who finished the night at $190,000. Other celebrities who made it through Day 2 include Scott Ian and Sam Simon. Marlon Wayans was eliminated during the final hour of play.

The field of approximately 2,050 players will return on Friday to play Day 3. At some point during the day, the field will be entirely in one room for the first time. There are questions about how many levels will be played on Friday, but the tournament directors admitted they'd like to get down to 750 players by the end of the day. It most likely will take more than five levels to reach that number, so if you're still playing (or covering the event), prepare for a very long Friday.

Some notables who won't be moving on to Day 3 include Scotty Nguyen, Erick Lindgren, Vanessa Rousso, Howard Lederer, Tom Dwan, Bernard Lee, Ylon Schwartz and the other Andrew Feldman. No, I didn't play, but thanks for all the e-mails and support.

Tomorrow isn't a day off for the media, and starting at 11 a.m. PT there will be a press conference with WSOP commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. After the commish shares his thoughts on the WSOP, the Hall of Fame nominees and every thing else, we'll head to the media tournament, which will be played in a dream team format. Essentially, each team will consist of three players. Gary Wise, Bernard Lee and I will represent ESPN.com in the charity event, with hopes of somehow pulling off a miracle win. With 250 players and a very short window for the tournament to be played, everyone will have to be aggressive. I'll be Twittering from the table (@ESPN_Poker), so hopefully I'll have some entertaining things to share Thursday afternoon.

Small blinds: Spectators and players: please, please, please use deodorant. I don't care if you're superstitious. … You can still submit questions to commissioner Pollack here. I'll record the video tomorrow and figure out a way to post it. … Jordan Farmar of the L.A. Lakers admitted he's played in only a few poker tournaments in his life and has made it to Day 3. … Players continually leave their seat cushions at the table overnight. I'm pretty sure that they are a $10,000 souvenir. Take 'em! … Antonio Esfandiari also had a solid Day 2. He ended with $164,000. … The average chip count is $95,000. … Jeffrey Lisandro looks to have the Player of the Year title locked up, with Ville Wahlbeck holding a very short stack entering Day 3. … There was a point tonight when the main focus of spectators was on the cash games. Players were yelling from Red 107, and not only spectators but also WSOP players headed over to the table to see what was going on. … I still find it slightly ridiculous that the online poker sites have to use different names for their player suites. Due to Harrah's rules, Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and Ultimate Bet cannot sponsor a room on the premises since they allow U.S. customers. Instead, they have their players, like Phil Hellmuth and Joseph Hachem's "Champions Suite" as the branding for the rooms. For some reason, there's a "Mike Sexton Suite" when Party Poker could've branded the place using its name. … I think I've come to the conclusion that the Internet is so bad here at the Rio because people are using the bandwidth to play online poker. Makes sense, right? … Dennis Phillips' fans love that truck horn. It was heard multiple times today.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

12:20 a.m. ET: Players are back for the last level of the night. The board is showing 1,724 players, meaning there's a strong possibility that we might have more than 2,000 players heading into Day 3 on Friday (including the players left after Day 2AB). Day 2AB ended with approximately 680 players, and I assumed, as I said last night on the Poker Edge, that we'd lose half the field today. What does this all mean? A really long tournament. With so many players left, the tournament staff might start to realize that five levels a night just won't do it. I'm guessing that the players will play five or six levels on Friday, then six more levels on Saturday. If additional levels aren't added, I'm afraid that Days 5, 6 and 7 might be more of a marathon than they usually are. Last year, Day 5 turned out to be a very short day as play went from 81 to 27 players, but I don't see that happening this year.

Tom Dwan was recently eliminated from the main event. In a year when the "Durrrr Challenge" turned heads (and then barely made any noise), Dwan's WSOP was anything but exciting. Granted, he didn't play many events, but poker's "next big thing" (as the poker media dubbed him last year) has made the cash games his priorities for now. Will he eventually go for the bracelets? Sure, but being only 22, playing at the highest stakes is what really matters most. Dwan will still get the attention he deserves, but for now, his summer is over.

The main event has also ended for Ylon Schwartz at the hands of everyone's favorite field goal kicker, Billy Gazes. Gazes held A-K to Schwartz's K-K and an ace hit the flop, ending the tournament for another November Niner. Darus Suharto has stayed about the same in chips all day as he sat quietly at Orange 61. The noise is still being made in the Red section, with Phil Ivey and Bertrand Grospellier playing near each other.

Small blinds: Sick hands I've just heard about: A-A versus K-K versus K-K. Who wins? Of course, one of the K-K players hits a flush. Live poker is rigged. … Right before the end of Level 8, two players go all-in after a flop of Ad-Qd-4d. One player shows A-Q, the other a small flush. The turn: the ace of clubs. … J.C. Tran is wearing his lucky Yankees hat and currently has $190,000. … Peter Eastgate is still on "death watch" and has taken up a camera crew the entire day. Talk about battling as a short stack. … On the last hand of Level 8, most of Bluff's Eric Morris' table had gone to the bathroom on his big blind. He of course, has everyone fold to his pocket aces. … I don't think Kelly Kim has stopped smiling all day. … Dennis Phillips has signatures on his hat once again. I believe he's donating the hat to charity. … Dan Harrington is in a neck brace. I don't know why, but will ask. … Shorter-stacked pros: Lee Watkinson, Humberto Brenes and John Juanda. … Joe Hachem is sitting next to Paul Wasicka. … Best Twitter ever? "Good 4/8K game at Bellagio, but going back into #wsop57 with 250K. - Team Ivey" (It's almost like he had a decision to make.) … On celebrity watch, Marlon Wayans has a tiny rubber chicken on the table. It's either a good-luck charm or he recently won it out of a Cracker Jack box on the break. … You can get even more ESPN Poker coverage on Twitter at @ESPN_Poker.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

10:00 p.m. ET: Oskar Garcia from AP got a great story out of Phil Hellmuth this afternoon. Intentionally or not, the topic of Garcia's latest column fell in his lap after the very first hand at the feature table. Hellmuth flopped an open-ended straight flush draw and got his chips all-in. As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, Hellmuth made his hand, doubled up and made a speech. However, the speech is what was important. He said that he has had enough and that the old, tentative Phil is gone. He wasn't going to lay down anymore but play his hands fast -- essentially being bizarro Phil Hellmuth. Hellmuth has stayed true to his word today and has run over the feature table.

As we approach the middle of Level 8, Hellmuth has approximately $145,000 (up $100,000 the first two levels) and if we know anything about the 11-time champ, he won't be giving those dollars up very easily. However, I'm not sold on the new Hellmuth just yet. Being the champion he is, he didn't get there by playing big pots. He might be able to continue to run over his current table tonight, but I'd expect to see him lock it down as the main event continues.

All day, the story has been the same: a tale of two Phils. While Phil Hellmuth has been cruising on the feature table, Phil Ivey has been crushing his table. Shortly after dinner, Ivey won a large pot with K-K versus the A-K of Jonas Molander. Want the scariest fact for the remaining 1,905 players still in action: Ivey has more than $230,000.

With dinner break finishing up at 6:15, players were back in action with only two levels to play. For some players, dinner didn't sit so well. Gavin Griffin, Adam Levy, Lee Childs, Howard Lederer and Michael Mizrachi highlight the latest eliminations, but Kenny Tran, Hevad Khan and Bertrand Grospellier have made their way into the top 20.

Some words of wisdom to those who busted, "Sometimes there are bumps in the road on the path to greatness." -- Nolan Dalla.

Below the "small blinds" section, submit your questions for Jeffrey Pollack, commissioner of the WSOP. I'll be asking the commish your questions Thursday at media day.

Small blinds: I swear, John Cernuto has doubled up his entire table, yet still has a solid stack of chips. … Michael Mizrachi had a terrible WSOP, but got a very nice round of applause when he was eliminated earlier today. … As far as I know, Ylon Schwartz, Darus Suharto, Kelly Kim, Dennis Phillips and Peter Eastgate are all still alive. I think it would be great to see a couple of them make the money. … Chops might have an entertaining evening. "Chops is going to do it with me," exclaimed Lacey Jones -- who was talking about Chops joining her team in the media event. … Hellmuth flopped top set a moment ago and made a really, really small continuation bet. … Death watch for Eastgate is in full effect. … On celebrity watch, Lou Diamond Phillips is still alive… There's Lee Watkinson. He just moved to Orange 75. … The Lakers' Jordan Farmar still has quite a stack. Guess he can really play and his Day 1 performance wasn't a fluke. … Two players with almost identical chip counts: Jeff Lisandro and Prahlad Friedman. … There has been a Ville Wahlbeck sighting. No surprise, he has chips. … Lacey Jones just gave me some samples of ZizZazZ. Wonder whether I'll be able to sleep tonight. … The tables are breaking in the Red section, but not at a very quick pace. … You can get even more ESPN Poker coverage on Twitter at @ESPN_Poker.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

7:00 p.m. ET: It seems as if the random draw of tournament tables was perfect if you're a spectator at the Rio. Yes, the fans were let in after the first hour, and if you're standing at the rail, you've got a great view of a lot of big names. Most notably, at Orange Table 91 is 2008 WSOP main event champ Peter Eastgate. Sitting with a short stack around $20,000, the defending champ is dressed in black PokerStars attire and just blends in with the rest of the field. In a weird way, Eastgate's presence here is very similar to the way Carlos Mortensen was yesterday. Maybe it's the fact that Eastgate looks so young, but it takes a good second every time I walk by to realize that he is the champ. Eastgate is getting a massage while he continues to bleed chips, but there are no cameras in the section as of yet in anticipation of an Eastgate bust.

Fans in the Amazon Room have a good view of the second feature table (with Dennis Phillips and Michael Mizrachi) and Robert Varkonyi's table (which is just to the left of the secondary feature). From my vantage point, I've still got a great view of Humberto Brenes (whether or not that's a good thing is still to be determined), John Cernuto (who has the cameras on him right now) and Howard Lederer.

With such a large field, it's no surprise that players would be eliminated at a rapid pace. After Erick Lindgren, Victor Ramdin and Shannon Shorr were eliminated during the first level, the second level of the day turned out to be the end of the line for some fan favorites. Scotty Nguyen took an absolutely sick beat when his pocket aces went up against his opponent's K-10. The board came 5-5-K-10 when the money went in, but a king on the river gave Nguyen's opponent a full house. Also eliminated during the first hour of play in Level 7 was Andrew Feldman. No, not me -- the one who has a large bankroll. Jonathan Little, Kathy Liebert, Vanessa Rousso and ESPN.com's Bernard Lee were also sent home.

Without a doubt, Phil Ivey loves his table so far. After starting the day at $84,000, Ivey has already doubled up to $168,000. His climb hasn't been steady, as he took nearly a $30,000 chip loss after a failed bluff attempt, but a few hands later, Ivey was able to convince his opponent to fold a flopped set of nines on a board of 4-J-9-7-8. Ivey won that big pot thanks to a huge river bet and was able to quickly put his stack among the leaders.

By the way, Cernuto's aces were just cracked by a river flush after all the chips were in preflop. He even flopped an ace too. From what I can tell, he's down to about $40,000.

Small blinds: Kelly Kim was very happy with today's column. … Bluff's Jeff Markley's Q-Q was rivered by Bertrand Grospellier's A-K. Markley played Day 1 with Ivey and Day 2 with Grospellier. … Humberto Brenes has been given two warnings already about his "chark" antics. … The guy with the Native American headpiece is back. Wonderful. … You can Ask the Commish anything you want. I'll ask him the most popular questions tomorrow during Media Day. … Phil Hellmuth has tripled his stack since the start of the day and now is at $120,000. … The all-in stand-up is the way to go this year. Players are on their feet as soon as the chips are in the middle. … Even worse than that is when you go all-in, lose and have to listen to never-ending clapping from your opponent. Thank you for that, Table 65 Seat 1. … Jason Alexander left town to host a function tonight. … With only 2½ levels left, Harrah's will need to start planning how they're going to accommodate everyone Friday. … Best sponsorship gear this year has to go to Full Tilt. The long-sleeved zip-up must be more comfortable than the one Stars is giving their players. I also am not a fan of the Stars hat. I have no idea why I'm talking about this. … I think it's mandatory that a player must have either a Red Bull or coffee at every table. … Cernuto just had aces again to eliminate a player. … You can get even more ESPN Poker coverage on Twitter at @ESPN_Poker.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

3:45 p.m. ET: The largest Day 2 in the history of the World Series of Poker is under way, but there's a conspicuous lack of spectators in the Amazon Room. For the first hour, no spectators will be let in, but I'm unsure if that is due to a new policy or space restrictions. With 2,924 players in action right now, every single poker table in the Rio is being used. Players are in the Amazon Room, Brasilia Room, Miranda Room, outside of Buzios Restaurant and in the actual Rio poker room. It's quite crazy to think that this tournament is spread out throughout the property. Although it doesn't typically happen, if players were moved from the Rio poker room to the Amazon Room, it would take them nearly 10 minutes to get to their next table.

The Day 2CD field played their starting days on July 5 and 6. There wasn't as long a wait for them as there was for the Day 2AB, but still, a couple days off should hopefully get people in the right mindset … or so I thought. One minute and 23 seconds in at Orange 75 there was the first all-in and call of the day. The all-in player survived, but think about that for a second: He waited either two or three days to then play one minute and move all-in. I think that's brutal and the part of the WSOP main event that I don't love. With the massive properties that Harrah's owns here in Las Vegas, wouldn't it be more beneficial, for the player, to figure out a way to have everyone play simultaneously? I know it's probably never going to happen, but it seems to me that adjustments can be made.

My concern for the day is, once again, the field size. With 2,924 starting and the day playing only four levels instead of yesterday's five (each field needs to play the same exact amount of time), we may only lose 25-30 percent, leaving us with a Day 3 size of approximately 2,600 players. That's still a ton. It's great when the entire field gets in the same room, but since I'm a broken record, I'll repeat that the added chips have really changed the way the field has played.

Somewhere in the Rio, a couple of the world's best are looking to make a deep run. From Media Row I've got a front-row seat for the Humberto Brenes show. Brenes is rather short to start the day, but the sharks are in hand and with a table filled with PokerStars logos, Brenes has the potential to take advantage. To my right is Miami John Cernuto. I haven't spoken to him about what happened to him a couple events ago (he was sent to the hospital during play), but I'll see if I can get down there and see how he is doing.

Don't forget that I'll be chatting in 15 minutes, so send in your questions now!

Small blinds: Bluff's Matthew Parvis was eliminated during the first 20 minutes of play today. … T.J. Cloutier isn't playing, but he is here walking the floor of the Amazon Room. … Bernard Lee starts his day today in the Miranda Room. … Justin Bonomo and Alex Bolotin are at the same table. … One table from Day 1D restarted again as a whole. They will be the first table to break. … Cernuto just took down a big pot. … Players at Orange 80 are shaking hands and introducing themselves. … I don't know what the Team Italia Poker Team is, but I see the shirt everywhere. … I asked the staff here what happens to all the food that isn't purchased at 3 a.m. Turns out they take all of it to the dealer's break room. Well done, Harrah's. … You can get even more ESPN Poker coverage on Twitter at @ESPN_Poker.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

3:30 a.m. ET: A field of nearly 1,500 players started the day and according to the TV screens around the room, only 680 remain. While many amateurs and unknowns remain in the field from Day 2AB, some very big names have found themselves at the top of the chip counts and will be moving on to Day 3. Greg "FBT" Mueller spent most of the day accumulating chips. Even with Mike Matusow sitting just a seat over, Mueller was able to maintain his composure and pick apart Orange 61 all day long. Mueller started the day with $36,000 and has finished with $287,000.

A member of the 2005 main event final table, Andy Black, also had another solid day. Black, who I am sure you can picture with his upside down and backwards sunglasses, looked calm and relaxed. His table didn't look the same way as Black's chip count continued to increase. A few tables over from Black, Mike Sexton was also cleaning up. The WPT commentator had a solid Day 1 and didn't let up on Day 2AB. Sexton, along with many other pros, had a large amount of black chips in front of him signifying success in stealing his opponent's blinds. Other big names moving on to Day 3 include Chris Ferguson, Sammy Farha, Bill Edler, Joe Sebok, Greg Raymer, Vitaly Lunkin, Tom Schneider and I could probably go on for quite a while.

The big story of the day is about chip leader Eric Cloutier. The well-respected pro started at $15,075 and built that stack all the way up to $384,000 to lead the field … something that everyone believed he had done just a few days ago. When filling out his form on Day 1, Cloutier crossed out the final 0, so instead of him having $150,075, he had just 10 percent of it. In either case, he's the unofficial chip leader from Day 2 and has a great head start for a deep main event run.

As I mentioned nearly 12 hours ago, I was going to spend a lot of time at the feature table watching Jason Alexander battle it out with Greg Raymer. For the most part, Raymer won the battle as he was constantly reraising any of Alexander's bets. Raymer took advantage most of the day, but lost some pots later in the night to end up at $118,000. Even though Alexander didn't increase his stack (he ended with $73,000 after starting at $89,000), he did outlast fellow comedian Brad Garrett. Late in Level 8, Garrett stood up from his table and attracted a crowd of nearly 30 players/media/cameramen/etc. He made his speech about how bad the cards on the board were for him, then made the call anyway. Garrett, holding middle paid with Q-J, was eliminated as his opponent held Q-9 and had made two pair. A quick jab at the camera later, that was all for Garrett who made quite a showing here in 2009. Will it be the summer where a celebrity really goes deep? Will it be the "Summer of George"? I spoke to Alexander at length on the podcast and yes, for all those that wanted a Seinfeld question, I finally obliged.

During the last level, we only lost a few recognizable names. Juha Helppi, Berry Johnston, "Amarillo Slim" Preston and Amanda Baker just missed making it through to Day 3 while players like Gus Hansen, Mike Matusow and Johnny Chan headlined the earlier eliminations. For the survivors of the day, they'll have two days off before returning to action on Friday. After Day 2CD takes place, there's a day off for Media Day and of course, my yearly shot at bubbling a tournament where all the winnings go to charity.

On Wednesday Phil Ivey will be back in action and Josh Arieh will bring in one of the top chip counts. To what room at the Rio? I'm not sure, but it will be a four-level day where I bet the tournament directors hope that a good amount of the field will be eliminated. Also playing tomorrow, Phil Hellmuth, John Juanda and about 3,000 other players. I'm not kidding. This place will be packed with the largest Day 2 field in the history of the WSOP.

Small blinds: Players at the end of the night started to get a little thirsty. Alcohol became commonplace during the last level and why not, it's past midnight. … The ESPN.com MMA team is in town for their first on location shoot of MMA Live. Check it out in a couple of days. … Lon McEachern and Norman Chad are back working the floor. … It looks like many the remaining women have been given logos. I'm not sure if that's a new move this year by the online sites, but it would seem to guarantee the site some TV time if the woman were the last one standing. … More security guards than usual in the Amazon Room tonight. … 95 percent sure that there will be no spectators tomorrow. There just isn't enough room for all the players. … Pam Brunson is the last Brunson standing after her brother Todd was eliminated earlier in the day. … Just how long is a massage necessary? … The Poker Edge on Wednesday will feature Jason Alexander, Greg Mueller, Sammy Farha, Bill Edler, Tom Franklin, Kyle Wilson, Danny Fuhs. … You can get even more ESPN Poker coverage on Twitter at @ESPN_Poker.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

12:10 a.m. ET: After claiming he's been card-dead all day, Mike Matusow finally put all his chips into the middle with K-Q. Unfortunately for "The Mouth," his opponent held K-K and ended his hopes of another deep main event run. Matusow had four deep runs in the main event this decade and sat on his short stack for about seven hours of play today. His patience is what allows him to get through each day, but Matusow will have to wait until 2010.

After the dinner break it seemed like there were two groups of players:

1) The food-coma group
2) The rejuvenated

In either case, with the blinds increasing to $400/$800 and a $100 ante, the shorter stacks are starting to realize that they might need to make a move. Most years I'd advocate patience until Day 3, but with the deeper structure and the money not being made until Day 4, the end of this day will need to be used for position. Sure, pick your spots and don't take unnecessary risks, but at the same time, folding the rest of the night isn't an option for the short stacks. There will be another 12 hours (or more) of play for this field to crack the money bubble, so being complacent at this point shouldn't be acceptable for most players.

The post-dinner eliminations included Gavin Smith (losing a race with A-Q versus J-J), Gabe Thaler, Billy Argyros, Jeff Williams, Nikolay Evdakov, Todd Brunson and Michael Gracz. Brad Garrett has doubled up this level, but also doubled a player up to currently sit at $58,000. Greg Mueller is still at the top of the leaderboard as well as Mike Sexton, Juha Helppi and Tom Schneider.

Small blinds: Billy "The Croc" Argyros just paid for a massage before getting eliminated when his overpair was cracked. He turned around and asked how much he owed to the masseuse, then turned to his opponent and said, "We shared a cab over here, then you bust me." … Greg Raymer was having dinner with his family at the All-American Bar and Grill. At the table next to him, Raymond Rahme. … Lon McEachern and Norman Chad are back working the floor. … Joe Sebok's table has broken as the tables in the Orange section are next in line. … There have been 60,875 entrants during the 2009 WSOP which is a new record. … Unnecessary PDA -- a player in the Orange section fully all over his girl on the rail. Pretty sure that will put most players on tilt. … Courtesy of Pauly's Twitter (@taopauly), Pam Brunson is using her father's Ghostbusters card cap. … A player went all-in at table 67, then came all the way over to the press box as the cards were dealt. Then went back to the table, saw he lost, put on his shoes, and left. Well played, sir. … Sammy Farha looks a little tired and is not wearing sunglasses as in years past. … Four all-ins and a call as I wrote this sentence. … You can follow everything ESPN Poker on Twitter at @ESPN_Poker.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

9:10 p.m. ET: Death watch. It's something that the notable players joke about, but we (meaning ESPN TV) rely on. The camera teams and producers circle the tables, waiting for action. They hope and pray that the notable they are watching does something significant with their small amount of chips. If they double up, great. If they bust, great. Currently, the "death watch" table is Orange 61, where Mike Matusow is sitting. Now, in most cases I'd say it was just for Matusow, but Mike is also sitting with Greg "FBT" Mueller who is just having a great time being one of the chip leaders.

Matusow has about $16,000 which is about where he started the day. When I mentioned I had a good view of him to start the day, his table was then broken, then broken again to put him back in the section right in front of me. He joined Mueller's table a level ago and has been quite quiet as he hopes to find a spot to double up. In the meantime, the cameras will keep waiting and wondering what he'll do with the short stack.

A table away from Matusow and Mueller I found Sammy Farha. Farha has been stealing a lot of blinds recently as he has almost all the green and black chips on the table. Howard Lederer always said that you can tell who is comfortable at the table when they have stacks of blinds and antes. Farha has a lot of chips, but recently lost a small chunk, maybe $10,000 when his 6-6 was outflopped by his opponent's A-8. Sammy is unparsed, involved in every pot, talkative and smiling. Another player who is sitting behind green and black towers is Joe Sebok who has regained his comfort after little upward movement during the first level of the day.

Greg Raymer has also loved being at the feature table. Raymer's chip count continues to increase with a direct correlation in decrease to Jason Alexander's stack. Alexander still has $71,000, but is becoming a little bit of a flopaholic during this past level.

The majority of tables are still filled with unknowns and I bet the tournament staff is going to be very concerned once again that they aren't losing players fast enough. There are still two more levels to play tonight and I'm expecting tables to break rather quickly during Level 9, but even so, Day 3 might be a true "full house."

Small blinds: Submit your thoughts below in our cool feature courtesy of Voices Heard Media. … Tournament staff at the feature table handed off a rack of yellow $1,000 chips to the dealer who is waiting to push. The comment when they were put down: "Guard these with your life." … I watched a player react when his table was broken. He simply looked up and said, "Again?!" This was his fourth move of the day. … There's a pretty solid rumor from a reliable source that there will be no spectators in the Amazon Room tomorrow as they try to fit in more tables in the Amazon Room. … I just watched a player get slowrolled. On a board of A-2-A-10-7, one player moved all-in the other called. The all-in mover flipped up A-K only to wait a couple seconds to see the A-2 of his opponent. Ouch. … Pam Brunson is sitting next to Tom Schneider. … Bill Edler is still hanging in with about $25,000. Brad Garrett has $43,000. … Players will head to dinner break at 9:40 ET for 90 minutes. … … You can follow everything ESPN Poker on Twitter at @ESPN_Poker.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

6:35 p.m. ET: With the blinds slowly increasing (currently: $250/$500 with a $50 ante), the all-ins have become more prevalent inside the Amazon Room. Many notable players were eliminated during the first level and a half, including Johnny Chan, Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly, Tony Guoga, Barry Greenstein and Gus Hansen. The oldest WSOP participant, Jack Ury, 96, was also eliminated, and he was given a round of applause from his competitors here in the Amazon Room.

Moving upward during the first level was Andy Black, Sorel Mizzi and even Jason Alexander. Alexander topped out at $116,000. Mike Sexton, Greg Mueller, Eric Cajelais and Mel Judah also had strong starts to the day, but with 3½ levels left to go, Tuesday will be a long day for many of these players.

I hate to say it, but there have only been a couple major outbursts from tables. Nothing too significant at all. While the aggression level has picked up, the action is still conservative, with a few exceptions here and there. Maybe I'm just used to the typical pressure of the final days when we know all the players in the field, but the start of the tournament has been rather uneventful. Could it be the new blind structure? It's possible. One thing that has changed today is a new floor-staff habit of repeating the dealer's "all-in" calls. Yes, the TV cameras need to know if a notable is all-in, but there can be other ways to handle the situation instead of a loud repeat.

Small blinds: I ran into Jim Hess, who said he spoke to Jason Alexander this morning. Alexander confessed to Hess that he was extremely nervous being on the feature table. It hasn't showed much so far, but Greg Raymer has taken advantage, winning a couple pots off the TV star. … While I thought the tables were breaking from the Orange section today, it turns out they just needed to break enough tables to get all the players from Brasilia into the Amazon Room. … My new view consists of Sammy Farha, a frustrated Joe Sebok, Juan Carlos Mortensen, Peter Smurfit and "Bizarro Chris Ferguson." It's not really Ferguson, but he looks like him. … Gavin Smith is sitting next to Billy "The Croc." Insert jokes here. … Dealers carried over the players' chips when moving from Brasilia to Amazon. … Players sporting jerseys in the Orange section: 2. … The ESPN.com Dream Team (myself, Wise, Lee) will play during the media event. I have to go pick up our jerseys. … During the break a floor man said that he didn't care why he was coming over to the table. Yelling "Clock on XXX" wasn't what he wanted, just "Floor." Glad that the strict instructions haven't paid off yet at this level. … You can follow everything ESPN Poker on Twitter at @ESPN_Poker.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

3:10 p.m. ET: Finally, Day 2AB is here and under way. Players filed into the room starting at 11:45 a.m. PT and look a little bit tired. I'm not sure what half these players have been doing for the past two or three days (depending on their start day), but many of them look exhausted. Blank stares, coffee and yawns are quite the trend right now. When players reach their tables, they must give their dealers a copy of the receipt they filled out on Day 1. The dealer then checks the receipts to make sure the right player is in the right seat, and then the chip bag is opened.

From media row today I have a good view of a medium-stacked Cairan O'Leary, a loud Mike Matusow and Erik Seidel. Out of those three Matusow is the shortest, but it seems that being the short stack on Day 2 is just the way he likes it. Last year, Matusow made it through Day 1 with just a few chips, but made his move on Day 2 to gather one of the bigger stacks of the day. Matusow lives for this tournament, and from what I can tell, he recognized only one other player at his table (I can't tell who it is from here).

To kick the day off, Jeffrey Pollack congratulated the players on making Day 2 and Jack Effel said that the field is approximately 1,500 players. There will be five levels today (through Level 9) and dinner break will be after the day's third level. Less than seven minutes in, a player was eliminated right in front of me at Orange Table 69. I'm sure he was happy to have hung around Vegas these past few days to be eliminated that quickly.

At the feature table we have Jason Alexander sitting directly next to 2004 WSOP main event champion Greg Raymer, while the secondary table has Chris Ferguson and Roland De Wolfe.

Small blinds: They are breaking the Orange Table Region first today. … The player to the left of Matusow was just eliminated. … The feature table area is packed, but until I realized Raymer and Alexander were at the same table, I didn't think anyone could get as big a turnout as Daniel Negreanu. … I think even the "cricket" sounds from the chip shuffling are quieter today. … I saw 96-year-old Jack Ury chowing down at the Sao Paolo Cafe during breakfast. I'm not sure which is worse for him: the food there or 10 hours of poker. … Cash games are back in action after stopping momentarily as Day 2AB started. … Norman Chad is walking around the room making friends. … You can follow everything ESPN Poker on Twitter at @ESPN_Poker.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

5:10 a.m. ET: It definitely will not be the last time I bring this up, but for now, the debacle of Day 1D has come to an end. Bluff's Lance Bradley and I discussed the situation at length on the Poker Edge podcast, and there are a few things we all need to take away from the action of the last 24 hours. First, with 6,494 players entering this event, everyone needs to realize that this result is a success. Yes, an estimated 500 to 700 players were turned away (which coincidentally would've made this the second-largest field), but to be able to boast that during these tough times the WSOP can put up a number like this is incredible. Second, Harrah's always learns from its mistakes, and next year, you can bet that we'll see even playing fields across all starting days. Finally, the system isn't perfect. While players should've registered, Harrah's should've been ready.

I know I say it every day, but it truly was a great day here at the Rio. It was probably the best for Troy Weber who, at $353,000, nearly has double the stack of his closest competition. Josh Arieh and buster of ESPN Poker Club players Jesper Hougaard have found their way into the top 10. The leaderboard isn't official as of yet, but Arieh and Hougaard most likely will be at the top of the pack regardless. Other notables moving on include Peter Eastgate, Erick Lindgren, Phil Ivey, Michael Mizrachi, Dutch Boyd, J.C. Tran, Kenny Tran and ESPN.com's Bernard Lee. There weren't a ton of notables eliminated, but two main event runner-ups, David Williams and Ivan Demidov, will have to wait for next year. Jeff Madsen, Mark Seif, Phil Gordon, Michael Binger and Scott Fischman also hit the rail.

Moving on to Day 2AB …

The tiny field of approximately 1,400 players will return to play a full five levels on Tuesday. If you followed my blog or podcast from Day 1A, you know that I'm closely watching the chip count of actor Jason Alexander. A good performance from "George" will result in good times for the poker world. Having a celebrity succeed in the main event is almost as important as a name pro making it deep. Besides, it's clearly the summer of George (or Jason).

Champion of the $40,000 Event 2, Vitaly Lunkin, continues his main-event run on Tuesday, along with Eli Elezra, Andy Black, Phil Laak, Greg Mueller, Joe Sebok and Greg Raymer. Day 2 is another survival day for most in anticipation for a money run on Days 3 and 4. I'll be back in the Amazon Room for all the action, so stick with me as we continue to narrow our remaining field into the 2009 November Nine.

Good night/morning from Las Vegas!

Small blinds: Take a look below for our latest cool feature. The interactive poll below will let you add players and vote on the thoughts of others. During the day, vote and vote up or down the selections of others. We'll change the polls as the days go on and give you the chance to submit your thoughts to everyone here at the WSOP. … Michael Mizrachi told me that on his day off he's planning to go play cash games at the Bellagio. … WSOP Academy instructor Alex Outhred made it through to Day 2. Outhred finished 54th in the 2008 main event. … The MavenVT hasn't launched yet, but their logos are everywhere. … Rafe Furst battled all day to end up with a final chip count around $15,000. … Cash games are still going on at 10 tables. They didn't start until 5 p.m. since the tables were in use for the main event. … I think I calculated that even if Grospellier wins the main event, with Hevad Khan second and Justin Bonomo third, I still lose the ESPN fantasy poker league. … You can follow everything ESPN Poker on Twitter at @ESPN_Poker.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

1:50 a.m. ET: After getting to the dinner break with around $40,000, Eric Mullen felt like he would be the first ESPN Poker Club player to make it to Day 2. He was on cruise control, and for the first hour of Level 4, he was playing tight, but still picking his spots. Then came the hand. With his dad standing behind him on the rail, I watched the action preflop. Jesper Hougaard raised from early position and Mullen reraised. Judging both players' reactions, I knew we were in for fireworks. I walked over to Eric's dad and said, "This is going to be a big one."

Hougaard took a second, asked for a count and then finally made the call. The flop came 10-8-5 and Hougaard checked. Mullen led out for $3,000, about a pot-sized bet. I walked over to his dad and said, "He's in trouble. I think he an over pair to Hougaard's set."

Hougaard reraised another $5,000 after taking a minute to deliberate, only to see an immediate re-reraise by Mullen to $15,000. Here's where the acting started. Hougaard checked his hand twice, was breathing rather heavily and did the "I can't believe you're reraising me" head movements. Joe Navarro would've had a field day. Then, the words were spoken.

"OK. I guess I'm all-in," said Hougaard. Mullen gave me a glance, knowing this was the end. He put his last $13,000 or so in the pot and flipped over his pocket aces. The rest of the table called for Hougaard's set and he obliged. The dealer peeled off two more cards, but no help and Mullen had been eliminated.

"It was great. I wasn't as intimidated as I thought I would be," said Mullen. "It was a lot of fun. I know I got beat by a double-bracelet winner, I guess. I'll have that story forever."

The rest of the interview with Mullen will be heard on Tuesday's Poker Edge podcast.

Plenty of players hit the rail during that last level and, unfortunately, one of them was Ivan Demidov. Last year's runner-up failed to make it out of level four when he ran into his opponent's flopped set. Another runner-up who didn't make it through was the 2004 runner-up, David Williams. Other notables who were eliminated include Jared Hamby, Grant Hinkle and David Benefield. Heading in the other direction was Troy Weber, who became our first player to eclipse the $200,000 mark. You'll also find Dutch Boyd, Blair Hinkle, Hougaard and J.C. Tran at the top of the leaderboard.

Small blinds: Bluff's Matthew Parvis doubled up during the last level, but at only $20,000, he still has a lot of work to do. … Almost the entire red section has been cleared out. I think we might need to lose a lot more players for the tournament staff to feel comfortable about Day 2CD. … This is the third-largest main event tournament in history -- despite the reduction in the field size from last year. … Bernard Lee ended the last level at $50,000. … Defending champion Peter Eastgate has chipped up over the last level to $47,000.… Adam "Roothlus" Levy didn't have a great start to the day, but is still alive with $11,000. … You can follow everything ESPN Poker on Twitter at @ESPN_Poker.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

10 p.m. ET: Players are literally everywhere. There are tables at Buzios, the Miranda Room, the Brasilia Room and of course, the Amazon Room. Tournament director Jack Effel just announced the numbers we've been waiting to hear. There are a total of 6,494 players that entered the 2009 WSOP main event (2,808 players alone on Day 1D), creating a prize pool of $61,043,600 for 648 players. Players to reach the final table will be guaranteed $1.263 million and the winner will take home $8.5 million.

After making a quick stop at Buzios to see if anyone was up there (answer: yes, David Chiu), I made my first stop of the day in the Miranda and Brasilia tournament rooms. As I was walking through Brasilia, my phone rang for the ESPN Houston radio interview that I completely forgot I had scheduled. We spoke about Daniel Negreanu's WSOP rise and fall, the unfortunate circumstances regarding the sellout, which I've written about all day, and Jeffrey Lisandro's rise to WSOP stardom.

Before the call, I was talking to Mark Seif, who said he had a "tricky table." After the 15-minute interview, Seif was gone. Talking about Seif's exit with last year's 54th-place finisher, Alex Outhred, he joking commented, "I'm not surprised he's out. Just that he didn't reach $100,000 first."

I didn't have to walk far to talk to my next player. Sitting at the table next to Seif was my co-host on the Poker Edge, Phil Gordon. (This seems like a perfect time to pimp the Poker Edge Daily podcast from yesterday, which can be found here.)

"The play has been a little bit bigger than expected," said Gordon, who currently has $37,000. He also mentioned that his was a "great table" to start his WSOP main event run. Gordon is playing in only his second bracelet event of the year and is still looking for his first bracelet.

After all the confusion this morning, I wanted to speak to Steve Frazier, one of the tournament directors who works the night shift during the WSOP. I asked him about this morning and he said that a Day 2C could've been put in place and that playing 10-handed should've been an option. He had some good points, but many would argue that playing 10-handed on one day and nine-handed the others wouldn't be fair.

Heading back into the Amazon Room, I checked out the stack of ESPN Poker Club winner Eric Mullen, who has managed to chip up to $42,000. Mullen said he got most of his chips when he was called down on every street on a raggy board holding pocket jacks. Before the hand, Mullen was at his lowest point of the day, at $23,500. ESPN.com columnist Bernard Lee is also feeling great, keeping his stack over the $50,000 mark almost all day.

Small blinds: Bluff's Jeff Markley and Eddy Kleid do not have the best table draws. Sitting back to back, Markley is sitting with Phil Ivey (who he doubled through) while Kleid is sitting to Bertrand Grospellier's right. Ouch. … Jeff Madsen, Phil Galfond and Ray Romano are gone. … Players are off to dinner break and will return around 11:30 p.m. … Tony Hachem is trying to out-chip his brother on his Day 1. Through the dinner break , Tony has $47,000. … Tom Dwan is up over $70,000. … Chad Brown is one of three people who are over the $100,000 mark. … You can follow everything ESPN Poker on Twitter at @ESPN_Poker.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

6:10 p.m. ET: WSOP commissioner Jeffrey Pollack held an impromptu news conference to explain to an extremely angry crowd why main event registration was closed earlier today. Despite speeches from the WSOP about never turning anyone away from the main event in the past few years, the WSOP did just that.

"We are sorry," Pollack said. "I am sorry. The last thing we wanted to do was deny entry to any players. Operationally, we are unable to accommodate any more people."

Pollack explains that it was the biggest challenge he faced in four years, but still the crowd was amazingly hostile. Mickey Appleman will miss his first main event in 30 years. Tom Franklin, Minh Ly, Melissa Hayden and Brandon Adams were also among the notables to be turned away. As to some earlier incorrect rumors, Patrik Antonius was apparently registered in the middle of the night and somehow Sully Erna found his way to a seat in the Miranda room.

The real item to note is that the WSOP could have had a larger field than last year if officials let these players in. Instead, the WSOP will have to deal with the numbers' speaking for themselves. While the official numbers haven't been released, I'm estimating a field of 6,500 to 6,700 players, which would make this the fourth largest WSOP main event in history.

Those in action today are currently discussing the results as well. Bernard Lee was shocked when I mentioned the situation to him and all he could think about it was how mad T.J. Cloutier would be. The news isn't distracting Phil Ivey, who has chipped up in the first level. Josh Arieh is currently the unofficial chip leader with $78,000, but it's way too early to get into the numbers game. ESPN Poker Club winner Eric Mullen is hovering around $27,000, but with Nenad Medic on his right, it might not be an easy day.

Small blinds: Stories and rumors continue to float about players who were registered after registration was officially closed. No proof as of this time. … Phil Ivey has a dedicated camera team in place at his table. … Thanks to the WSOP.com team for dealing with the angry mob during Pollack's news conference. … Scott Montgomery has been eliminated. … The ESPN feature table rafters are packed to watch Erick Lindgren. … You can follow everything ESPN Poker on Twitter at @ESPN_Poker.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

3:30 p.m. ET: After smaller field sizes occupied the Amazon Room during the first three starting days, the WSOP was faced with a massive crowd of players today hoping to register for the main event. Unfortunately, many of those players are being turned away as Day 1D is completely sold out. Brandon Adams, T.J. Cloutier, Patrik Antonius and Sully Erna are just a few names I've heard who will not be able to play in the main event. Players are angry with the tournament staff, but that doesn't mean that anything will change.

"Our decision is final," said one member of the tournament staff in the Harrah's Seven Stars registration room. "There will be no alternates. Registration is closed."

Players who were holding buy-in chips will have their money refunded, but that doesn't make them any happier.

"Harrah's needs to do something," one of the players who couldn't buy in said. "This is not the way it should be done."

While I agree that nobody should ever be turned away from the main event, can you really blame anyone but the players themselves? It's not like the tournament just came from nowhere. They knew months in advance that the tournament was taking place during this week, and for many, it's not like they were just trying to piece together the cash needed for the buy-in. They decided not to register during Day 1A, 1B or 1C and waited until today. Their delay is the big problem.

The solution is to go back to automatically assigning start days. Don't give players the preference. Make sure that the field sizes on each day are equal and go from there. Many asked about alternates and tables being put in play after eliminations, but there are two issues with that.

"With this blind structure players just aren't eliminated quickly enough," said WSOP media director Nolan Dalla. "There could be a Day 1E started at 4 p.m., but for how many players? Two hundred?"

The major issue is actually not today's action, but the concern that there won't be enough of the field eliminated during today's play. If that were the case, there wouldn't be enough room on Day 2CD. While Day 2AB will be a nice, small field of approximately 1,400 players, Day 2CD will be at capacity, and adding more players to that day would overfill the Rio's already crowded poker rooms.

I'll see what else I can find over the day and hopefully, we'll have some audio and video on the site tonight. I will also be chatting at 4 p.m. ET.

Small blinds: Four jacks just 14 minutes in. The table erupted in cheers and one player said, "Jerky! We need jerky over here!" … I spoke to Marlon Wayans as he entered the tournament area today. Nice guy, and just like all the other celebrities, sponsored by PokerStars. … For the first time all WSOP, guards were posted, not allowing any spectators down the hall. Players could walk by, but only with their registration cards. … Final numbers and payout will be available later today. … Bernard Lee lost a couple of chips on the very first hand. A-K not good for Lee. … ESPN Poker Club winner Eric Mullen is sitting next to Nenad Medic. … You can follow everything ESPN Poker on Twitter at @ESPN_Poker.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

2:10 p.m. ET: I'm back down in the Amazon Room staring at what seems to be the last super satellite for the 2009 WSOP main event. There are 10 players left who have worked through the money bubble in this $1,000 turbo mega satellite, but after 15 levels, there's still the grind of the final table left to see who will move on and play the WSOP main event later today.

The board to my left states that the main event will be paying 648 players at this point. While players can still register for the event (until the end of the second level of play today), this number is quite significant. After 1,116 players registered on Day 1A, 873 on Day 1B and 1,697 on Day 1C, it is clear that over 2,800 players are already registered for Monday's starting day. This will be the largest starting day in WSOP main event history and will put to rest all concerns about the smaller field size. I said it a couple of weeks ago, but the WSOP may be recession-proof. Even though last year's number (6,844) will be difficult to reach due to the capacity here at the Rio, almost hitting that mark is a great success for Harrah's during these tough economic times.

If I were to list the notable names starting today, this blog would go on forever, but there's always a mandatory mention for Phil Ivey and Erick Lindgren. Ivey, a double-bracelet winner in 2009, has refocused his game this year and a strong main event run is something we haven't seen from Ivey since 2005. Lindgren has had a tough WSOP, but if there's one event he'd like to succeed in, it's the main event. Other personal notables that I'll be following today will be Peter Eastgate, Ivan Demidov, ESPN.com's Bernard Lee and Phil Gordon and ESPN Poker Club winner Eric Mullen.

That satellite just ended and high-fives are going around the table.

We'll have everything you need to follow the main event on Monday here on ESPN.com. At 4 p.m. I'll be chatting with SportsNation, Gary Wise will take a look at Eastgate's year as champion, and the Poker Edge Day 1C podcast features Joe Hachem, Dennis Phillips, Darus Suharto and the most touching story of the WSOP, Kent Senter. Senter has cancer and was given six months to two years to live and his one dream was to play in the WSOP. His wife contacted Bluff, which contacted PokerStars, which paid for his trip to Vegas and his $10,000 entry fee. It's a great story, and he told us during our podcast that he has kept his head up through this entire process. He has $55,000 heading into Day 2 and it would be nothing short of amazing if Senter made a great run in the main event.

It's going to be a great day here at the Rio, so stick with this blog and I'll bring you all the action until 4 a.m. ET Tuesday.

Small blinds: Dealers just took their seats. … The line for Starbucks stretched about 25 people deep as I walked down today. The Sao Paolo Cafe's line met up with the Starbucks line, showing that the Rio will be quite crowded today. … Only three tables were in action in the satellite room. … Joe Hachem shares a great story about Phil Hellmuth on the Poker Edge. … "American Woman" blasting in the poker room right now. … Five levels again today. … You can follow everything ESPN Poker on Twitter at @ESPN_Poker. … I'll be on Houston's poker radio tonight at 8:30 ET. Host Matt Dean made the final table in 2004.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

3:30 a.m. ET: With the added level on Day 1C (and Day 1D), there was a clear increase of aggressive play and continuous eliminations. The starting field of 1,697 players whittled itself down rapidly during the final level, but due to a lack of posted updates to the field size, I'm simply guessing that we've lost nearly a third by seeing what sections of the room are empty. Players in the Amazon room had tables break from the red section to the orange section. Those in Brasilia stayed in that room instead of moving into Amazon as play progressed.

As tables continued to break, my view here from media row continued to improve. Besides the fact that I have Liz Lieu and Isabelle Mercier in clear sight, other notables I've been following all day have moved into the orange region. Dennis Phillips moved to the same table as Eric Lynch. John Juanda, Darus Suharto, Scotty Nguyen, Lee Watkinson, Kelly Kim, Paul Wasicka and Joe Hachem have also called this section their home to end the day. The camera team has been steadily hovering around just a few tables as just about everyone they're looking for is in the same region.

There have been some major "Ohhhs" and "Ahhhs" during the last level as the bad beat stories continue to be told on the phone as players exit the room. From my seat I witnessed a hand at orange table 66 where pocket eights defeated pocket nines all-in preflop. At orange table 63, a two outer on the river eliminated two players. The winning player simply muttered two words to his fallen opponents, "I'm sorry." Yes, in a game where you do everything you can take the chips of your opponents, he's sorry for winning. I guess that's the type of field we have today.

Notables heading through to Day 2CD include the aforementioned players above, Phil Hellmuth, Jeff Lisandro (who is one of the chip leaders), Hevad Khan, Dan Harrington, Steve Dannenmann and Justin Bonomo. Some players who made a quick main event stay include last year's 20th place finisher Brandon Cantu, Tom McEvoy, David Singer, Annie Duke (eliminated by Dannenmann), Alex Jacob (who will be shaving his head) and Liv Boeree. Out of the six former November 9 players, all advanced to Day 2 besides Chino Rheem.

Day 1D will finally answer all our questions. How many players? How much for first? How many make the money? The massive field of approximately 2,500 players will begin their main event journey at noon PT and I'll be back here bringing you all the action from the Rio then. Have a good night!

Small blinds: There's no need for waiters at Scotty Nguyen's table. The former main event champion wandered away from his table and into the bar area in the back of the Amazon Room. … An amazing story will be told on ESPNNews and the Poker Edge of a player who was given six months to two years to live and his dream was to play in the WSOP. Kent Senter, a 55-year-old from Cape May, NJ had a great Day 1 and is heading onto Day 2. He was given a standing ovation by the crowd when they learned of his story. … Amir Marmar told me that he hasn't hit a flop all day, but that he's up to $50,000. Must be nice. … Gavin Griffin was all-in and behind, but managed to catch a miracle straight on the river to come back to life. Since then, he's accumulated a moderate size stack heading into Day 2. … Shannon Elizabeth is playing the main event on Day 1D. … Just another reminder that the Poker Edge podcasts for the past two days have been posted: July 4 and July 5. …

Posted by Andrew Feldman

12:00 a.m. ET: After 56 events, I'm confident in saying that Jeff Lisandro is simply unstoppable. Three bracelets apparently aren't enough as Lisandro has set his sights on a main event championship by starting off on quite a rush. Shortly after the dinner break, Lisandro has chipped up to $132,000, a position that is currently over $30,000 ahead of his closest reported competitor.

My dinner break was spent with the ESPN Poker Club winner, Eric Mullen. Mullen, his father and I headed to the Voo Doo Steak restaurant at the Rio for dinner and spent the time talking about Las Vegas, his strategy for tomorrow and the wonderful "what ifs" that come with every poker tournament. Mullen is ready to play, but his father said some great things about his son and just hopes that he has a good experience during the main event. After all, it's a freeroll for Mullen who won his seat for absolutely nothing.

I admitted this last year and I'll say it again, I'm a Darus Suharto fan. I spoke to Suharto, who is sitting next to Liz Lieu and is at the same table as Jon Friedberg, and he's still just Darus. He left his job to open his own company and he said he still hasn't bought a car. I don't think he spent a penny besides paying off his mortgage. He doesn't even have any cool headphones! I think he has the ones you can get at the airport for $4.95. While he may have won $2.4 million, he's absolutely the same as when we met last year. That fact alone is very refreshing to see in the poker community.

Small blinds: Scotty Nguyen is walking around the Amazon Room with a Michelob in hand. Yes, he's still playing and is at the same table with Lee Watkinson and boxer Antonio Tarver. … Joe Hachem has more than doubled up and is currently at $76,000. He told me he doesn't want to bring any attention to the table and he'd like to fly under the radar. … Recently busto: Jamie Gold, Tom Dwan's father, Lacey Jones and John Caldwell. … The board currently states that we're paying 594 players, meaning that there must be over 6,000 players registered. … David Singer and Kevin Saul are sitting at the same table. … Just another reminder that the Poker Edge podcasts for the past two days have been posted: July 4 and July 5. …

Posted by Andrew Feldman

8:10 p.m. ET: Six of the 2008 November Nine (Dennis Phillips, Darus Suharto, Chino Rheem, Ylon Schwartz, Kelly Kim and Craig Marquis) started play today, but for Rheem, there'll be no repeat performance. Rheem was eliminated midway through Level 2 when he ran into the full house of Jean-Robert Bellande. Bellande's Bodog teammate, Justin Bonomo, also gathered some chips during the last level, doubling up to nearly $53,000.

The feature table was also done recording today after Level 2. Daniel Negreanu was eliminated very early in the level when he called all-in with his 3-3 against his opponent's Q-Q. Negreanu, who many say was simply not feeling well, left the tournament area after posing for a couple of photos and signing autographs. After Negreanu's elimination, I headed into the PokerStars Champions Lounge with hopes of catching up with him. Unfortunately, he wasn't there, but 2004 world champion Greg Raymer was. Raymer was playing Wii Bowling with his dad and challenged me to a Wii Tennis match. Let's just say I got crushed. The Fossilman is also a Wii expert … as if he needed something else to be good at!

From there I walked into the Brasilia Room to check out the action there. Only half the room was filled with WSOP tournament tables while satellites took up the remaining space. I ran into Jamie Gold, Steve Dannenmann and Annie Duke, who were all relatively short stacks. I plan on catching up with the 2006 WSOP champ in a day or two to get the full story on his recent couple of months. As you may or may not know, Gold no longer represents Aced Poker and there was controversy … which has become commonplace with Gold endorsement deals.

Finally, check out the photo at right of Phil Hellmuth. After Hellmuth's entrance there was a 20-minute break where he changed into his typical poker garb. He is currently occupying the second feature table with a crowd of onlookers trying to see if the "Poker Brat" can make it through to Day 2. After the second level he was hovering near $35,000.

Small blinds: Alex Jacob said that if he doesn't make the money, he's going to shave his head. … Jeffrey Lisandro is already up to $70,000. The guy is unstoppable. … Duke and Dannenmann are sitting at the same table. … Dan Harrington must wish he had brought headphones. Harrington is sitting next to Amir Marmar, who is more talkative than Mike Matusow. … There is a player dressed up like a Native American. Completely. … Just another reminder that the Poker Edge podcasts for the past two days have been posted: July 4 and July 5. … Quick correction from the Poker Edge on July 3, courtesy of B.J. Nemeth, who let me know that there have been seven women to make WSOP final tables this year instead of the mentioned three.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

5:50 p.m. ET: Phil Hellmuth has arrived in a major way. As I mentioned a couple posts ago, Hellmuth was dressed as Julius Caesar, and was escorted by women in body paint, a trumpeter and rose pedals. As he walked to the secondary feature table, apparently, I caught his eye. Hellmuth walked over to me and asked if I liked his costume. Quite stunned, I said, "It's very entertaining, Phil." In fact, I was just amazed. I can't imagine what he's going to do next year, and I'll get a picture up of this year's costume as soon as possible. I haven't seen Hellmuth since the break, but I'm sure he has changed because he a) had no pants and b) didn't have an UltimateBet.net logo on. The best comment of the entrance came from the crowd. Hellmuth, waving and talking to fans, heard someone yell, "Hail Caesar!" Immediately, someone else followed that up with, "Hail moron!"

I spoke to Jack Effel during the last level. He said that they are expecting a possible sellout on Day 1D. If you're in Las Vegas and expecting to play, show up and register soon. Given that data, we're looking at a field size of approximately 6,400 players. Registration is still open for Day 1C for another hour and a half, so there is plenty of time for that number to rise.

Numerous players had solid starts to the day, including John Juanda, Lee Watkinson, Jeff Lisandro, Gavin Griffin, Dan Harrington and Scotty Nguyen. There are four more levels to play today with the dinner break coming after the third. …

Small blinds: Phil Hellmuth and Tony Cousineau are sitting at the same table. … Daniel Negreanu is off to a rough start down to $22,000 at the feature table. … Joe Hachem, Jamie Gold and Justin Bonomo are also in the bottom of the chip counts. … I just found Isabelle Mercier sitting directly in front of me. Hello, Isabelle. … The Poker Edge Podcasts for the last two days have been posted: July 4th and July 5th. …

Posted by Andrew Feldman

3:30 p.m. ET: Dennis Phillips is a great ambassador for the game. As Gary Wise writes in his latest column, Phillips just tried to do his best, and the poker world has responded with open arms. Today, his fans welcome him back to the Rio. I'm staring at maybe 50 Dennis Phillips look-alikes who are on his rail in the red section. Phillips himself is chatty at the table and happy to be back. Also back is the truck horn that was so popular during the final table last year. I can't imagine the guy holding the horn is going to make too many friends today.

As I guessed earlier, there will be five levels today. With players in action all around the Rio, there will simply be too many players from both Day 1C and 1D surviving. With five levels being played, action will end at approximately 3:30 a.m. ET, meaning that the true WSOP grind begins today. For those looking for the Poker Edge daily podcast, we're working on them … I hope. The feature tables will host Phil "Caesar" Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu. Negreanu is at the secondary table, but drawing a bigger crowd than the feature since Hellmuth won't arrive for a couple hours.

It's also the day of former main event final tablists. This morning I ran into Kelly Kim, Ylon Schwartz and Steve Dannenmann. Each of them is in good spirits as play begins today. Dan Harrington has also made his appearance at the WSOP sporting his typical green Boston Red Sox hat.

Small blinds: The first player of Day 1C was eliminated only seven minutes into play. After a player with pocket aces got out of the way after a flop of J-10-5, one player showed 10-10 for middle set while the other player had 5-5 for bottom set. Money well spent. Thanks for playing. … Tons of notables in action: John Juanda, Humberto Brenes (and his "charks"), Howard Lederer, Justin Bonomo, Jonathan Little, Lee Watkinson, Eric Lynch, Kevin Saul, Gavin Griffin and many more. After all, there are plenty of players currently in action. … Congressman Barney Frank announced today's "Shuffle Up and Deal." … Significantly more fans on the rail today. … We're over 5,700 registered players, and the number continues to rise every hour.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

1:50 p.m. ET: Good morning, Las Vegas! There's a buzz around the Rio I haven't felt yet since I've been here. The buzz of an excitement, of a room at full capacity and of a main event that is ready to finally explode. Looking at the tournament update screens at the Rio, there are currently around 5,500 players registered for the event. That number doesn't mean anything at this point. Over the next two days there will be a flurry of registrants, and I'm very confident we'll easily have more than 6,000 players. With the additional entrants, there will most likely be five levels today. While still not confirmed at this point, Media Row has been discussing the math, and there simply isn't enough room to accommodate the resulting surviving field on Day 2CD if four levels were to be played. Unless, of course, part of the field wants to play at Caesars.

Currently the Amazon Room is relatively empty. Very few spectators, just the tournament staff. Dealers haven't shown up yet, but they'll be here shortly. Action begins in approximately an hour, but Phil Hellmuth, who begins his WSOP main event journey today, will most likely show up during the second level in his typical ridiculous fashion. Hellmuth will be dressed like Caesar and be surrounded by gladiators, 50 models and 11 muses to represent his 11 bracelets. There willl be trumpeters in the halls and rose petals on the floor as he walks. Yes, I'll have pictures. I think he's taking this a little too far. OK, way too far. At least he won't crash a race car this year.

Small blinds: Players are walking around trying to find their seats, even though they aren't supposed to be in the tournament area right now. … Beef jerky and a seat cushion for every player this year … I can't believe Roddick lost. Half the screens in the Amazon Room were tuned into the finals. … There's a really cool card stacking display right outside of Poker Palooza. The card stacker is building the London skyline, and it is quite cool. I'll try to get a picture up here soon. … Lots of notables in action today. … Music of choice today over the Amazon Room speakers: U2. … There's a family wearing matching T-shirts to support their father. The shirt says "Official WSOP Poker Player Support Group," with his name on the front. I can't read the name from here. … Dennis Phillips fans are here and dressed just as they did during the November Nine last year. … The WSOP topped $1 billion in prize money in 2009. Quite impressive. That's prize money for the entire history of the event, not this year.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

3:05 a.m. ET: OK, I'll be honest. I headed out of the Rio on July 4, but it was still work as usual as I headed to Phil Gordon's yearly BBQ to get some great content for the Poker Edge podcast. The BBQ featured many professional poker players, media members and even the commissioner of the World Series of Poker, Jeffrey Pollack. Besides the food, there were some entertaining pool matches between Gordon and Gavin Smith, beanbag competitions with Mark Vos and Andy Bloch, and of course the World Series of Roshambo. I had to leave before the $10,000 first-place prize was awarded, but believe me, winning that event is all about the bragging rights.

Back at the Rio the field size was the major discussion. Only 873 players decided to play July 4, giving a two-day total of 1,989. The fact that less than 200 players hit the rail on Saturday might raise eyebrows and concerns about only playing four levels on the two larger starting days. In any case, the decision to play more levels hasn't been made, but I'm expecting that change to be announced before play begins tomorrow. I spoke to Jack Effel about the decision on the podcast and he was simply adamant that it was in the players' benefit to have these shorter starting days.

July 4 was the day of champions, with seven former WSOP main event winners participating, but the two who were eliminated -- Chris Moneymaker and Doyle Brunson -- were big ones. Notables making it through to Day 2 include past champions (Greg Raymer, Carlos Mortensen, Jim Bechtel, Chris Ferguson, Amarillo Slim Preston), Barry Greenstein, Joe Sebok, Mike Matusow, Bill Edler and Erik Seidel. While most pros took the four-level day relatively easy, a couple didn't make it through to Day 2. Ralph Perry, David Pham and Jeremiah Smith (who doubled up in the first half hour of play), were eliminated.

Sunday's play should feature a huge field with another set of hopefuls ready to start their main-event experience. Joe Hachem, Dennis Phillips and Phil Hellmuth will most likely steal the focus of the feature tables. Hellmuth mentioned on Friday's Poker Edge about his plans to enter and let's just say that even Caesar himself would be impressed with the effort Hellmuth is going through this year. Play begins at noon PT, which means Hellmuth should finally take his seat by 3 p.m. With such little time to play on these starting days, it would be shocking if he didn't make it to Day 2.

Small blinds: A player made the mistake of removing his chips from the tournament area. Yes, that's a $10,000 mistake. He left behind a $100 chip and was quickly blinded out thereafter. … Brunson was eliminated holding bottom set while his opponent turned a straight. … Marlon Shirley was eliminated during the third level of Day 1B. … ESPN Poker Club winner Eric Mullen arrived in Las Vegas. He will play on Day 1D. … Even the dealer chairs are sponsored this year. … Sunday is the final day of Poker Palooza, the poker convention just a few steps away from the Amazon Room. … I walked by the satellite room this afternoon and every table was filled.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

7:35 p.m. ET: Chris Moneymaker was one of the first major casualties of Day 1B. The 2003 world champ was eliminated when his 10-10 ran into his opponent's pocket aces. However, that's not the entire story. Just moments before, Moneymaker lost another key pot to the same opponent and was visibly frustrated. Seemingly steaming, his tournament quickly ended after the dealer failed to put up a 10. Walking out of the Amazon Room, Moneymaker commented that he played poorly, but he also might have been tilted by his attire. Apparently, Moneymaker lost a prop bet which resulted in him wearing a Florida Gators jersey to the felt. As his chip stack dwindled, the jersey came off, but it wasn't enough to keep Moneymaker around for Day 2.

Players have now gone on their 90-minute dinner break. Yes, once again, it's 4:30 p.m. PT. I don't get it. What I also don't understand is a recent rumor around Media Row that there will be five levels played on Day 1C and Day 1D. Due to the massive field sizes on the final two starting days, maybe the tournament staff realized that they might not have enough room at the Rio to house all the Day 1 survivors. If there are five levels played on Day 1C and 1D, the remaining players will return for Day 2CD and, I'm assuming, only play four levels to even out with the fields from Day 2AB (who will begin play on Level 5).

While it's a smart decision, I think it was made too late. You're going to end up with a situation where some players are going to be more tired than others due to the extended Day 1 grind. It's a mistake, in my opinion, to give any reason for players to believe that the action isn't conducted evenly across all days. Yes, both sets of players will have played the same amount of time, but a grueling five-level first day will take more out of the Day 1C and Day 1D fields for the rest of the tournament.

Small blinds: Phil Gordon is hosting his annual BBQ today and of course, there will be a Poker Edge Podcast right from the venue. … Joe Sebok, Barry Greenstein and Greg Raymer made some positive upward movement during the last level after a tough start. Chris Ferguson, Shaun Deeb and Todd Brunson have also accumulated a good stack. Meanwhile, Jeremiah Smith suffered a bad beat with aces and has dropped down to around $45,000. … Amarillo Slim is playing today. … At the two feature tables, Mike Matusow and Doyle Brunson are both hanging around their starting stacks. … Boxer Winky Wright was eliminated early in Level 2. … One player here is proud of his Canadian heritage during Independence Day. He's wearing an oversized Canadian flag hat and matching T-shirt. … The World Series of Roshambo takes place tonight. … Dennis Phillips might show up in "Fossilman" sunglasses tomorrow. I also found out that Phillips is actually good friends with rapper Nelly.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

5:20 p.m. ET: Not too many smiling familiar faces here at the Rio so far on July 4th. After getting off to a quick start, Greg Raymer ran into quads, then trips on the river to reduce his stack to $16,000. Joe Sebok is in the same boat and he's visibly frustrated. The biggest hand he played actually resulted in a chop and he's down to $14,000. Chris Moneymaker ($11,000), David Pham ($21,500) and Barry Greenstein ($23,000) also find themselves at the bottom of the chip counts as the players headed to their first break of the day. Obviously with the blind structure very slow on this starting day, there should be plenty of time for any of these players to grind back up, but this isn't the start they wanted to the biggest event of the year.

Many of you will enjoy today's story by Gary Wise on Marlon Shirley. Shirley is quite a remarkable person and as I watched his video interview earlier this morning (will be posted on the site shortly), it's incredible to think about what he has accomplished. Leaving a legacy he will, but one would think that after the gold medals, United Nations awards and ESPYS, he would be content. In fact, it's the opposite. Always one to do his best, Shirley has now entered the WSOP and started a new journey. I highly recommend you read more about it here.

Small blinds: For those of you who are looking for today's podcast, you might have to wait a little longer. We're working on it and believe me, you'll want to listen. … One player who had a great start today was Jeremiah Smith, who managed to pick up aces against his opponent's kings very early in play. After speaking to the rest of his table, they pretty much declared he was a card rack during the first level. … No quad jacks yet today. … The field looks to be around 1,000 players. … Greg Raymer and Alexander Kravchenko are sitting at the same table. … If you missed any of yesterday's action, check out the video recap.

Posted by Andrew Feldman

3:30 p.m. ET: Sorry for the delayed start today everyone! The Internet has been up and down here in Media Row, but now that we're up and running, welcome to Day 1B! Another small turnout is in store for today as many players opted to stay outside for fireworks, a couple of drinks and, of course, their favorite July 4th BBQ.

There are a number of notable players in the field today, which I believe is a smart decision on their part. The next two days will be filled with incredibly tough fields and monster turnouts, so playing today, although it is July 4th, is strategically a good move. Mike Matusow is currently occupying his seat at the table and I'm sure that "The Mouth" is mentally prepared for another deep run. I read his book on the flight over here, and honestly, I learned a lot about Matusow. He's had so many ups and downs and made mistakes, but his desire for validation shows through in every step of his life. I'm not much of a book reader, but I do need to give credit to the authors -- it truly is Matusow telling you his interesting story.

Other players in action today include Greg Raymer, Bill Edler, Joe Sebok, David Pham, Doyle Brunson, Jeremiah Smith, Mike Caro, Carlos Mortensen, Hoyt Corkins, Chris Moneymaker, Erik Seidel and Phil Hellmuth's favorite "idiot from Northern Europe," Cristian Dragomir.

Small blinds: Doyle Brunson was given the privilege to announce today's "Shuffle Up and Deal." The entire Brunson clan is playing today. … The American national anthem was played before play began. … The consensus has been that playing poker on Independence Day is a good idea. Players like the fact that it is an American game and they're honoring their country by being here. … Two players doubled up within the first half hour. Jeremiah Smith was one of them. … There are no tournament tables in action in one section. That's amazing. Cash games are taking up only half that section as well. … Play will once again be four levels today with a 4:30 p.m. dinner break. … We have a 96-year-old in the field today! Wow. His name is Jack Ury, and this is his third year playing in the WSOP. I'm sure we'll get him on camera for the TV show. Good luck today, Jack!

Posted by Andrew Feldman

2:04 a.m. And that's a night! No, they haven't been playing extra time, but I have been on the floor getting interviews with Jason Alexander, Gus Hansen, Mike Sexton, Jennifer Tilly and Phil Laak for the Poker Edge podcast. The last level included the elimination of Jerry Yang and the catapult to success for Alexander, who is sitting at nearly $90,000 heading into Day 2, and believe me, there's nobody more surprised than him. After hitting a miracle runner-runner full house to defeat his opponent's flopped flush, Alexander finds himself at the top of the leaderboard entering Day 2.

Many players are also concerned about the loss of the final level of play tonight. Not only did they not play the fifth level, but play stopped with 10 minutes remaining on the clock during Level 4. Some pros liked the extra break off (like Hansen and Tilly), while others believed it's a mistake made by the WSOP that will result in much longer days as the main event rolls on (Sexton). The concern is also significant as the field size was quite small today and yet only 25 percent of the field was eliminated. If that pace keeps up, the two Day 2s will be quite crowded and perhaps cause seating issues.

Either way, that's it for tonight. Play resumes tomorrow with Day 1B at noon PT when another set of players will start its main event journey.

Small blinds: Johnny Chan, although short, made it through to Day 2. Playing a short stack for most of the day, Chan battled for pots late in the day to continue on. … Annie Duke gave Alexander a lesson on how he played his hand. Of course, you'll have to listen to the Poker Edge for the entire discussion. … Notables that were eliminated during the final level: Andy Bloch, Allen Cunningham, Men Nguyen, Orel Hershiser and Isaac Haxton.

11:25 p.m.: Jerry Yang, Johnny Chan and Steve Paul-Ambrose are all sitting at the same table. Funny enough, the player with all the chips at the table is the player sitting in between Yang and Chan, who are both relatively short stacked. Yang has mounted a small comeback during the past level. After getting to his low point of $3,500, Yang then doubled up twice to reach nearly $15,000 as he headed to break.

Although the chip counts don't mean much on Day 1, some notables at the top include Jeff Williams, Eli Elezra, Keven Stammen and Tom Schneider. More to come after the last level.

Small blinds: Right after I watched Perry Friedman eliminate a player, he was then knocked out. Perry has made Day 2 of the WSOP main event only twice in his career. … Also eliminated recently: Gabe Kaplan, Mark Vos, Matt Glantz and Nelly. … Jason Alexander and Brad Garrett both have a good amount of chips entering the last level. Both have increased their starting stack. … Remember the official sponsor All-In Energy drinks? Yeah, they're not at the WSOP. Red Bull is everywhere.

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10:13 p.m.: I guess dinner didn't sit well for some people. After players returned there was a flurry of eliminations, but still, nothing too substantial to the field. I just witnessed Freddy Deeb hit the rail coming up short against his opponent's full house. At the same time, Perry Friedman flopped trip nines to overcome his opponent's A-A. The "all-in and a call" remark from the dealers has picked up as has the attentions of those at the surrounding tables. Almost immediately after the dealer announces the situation, there's an immediate movement of players in the area to surround the table in question and see the action.

Day 1A had 1,116 players register, down from 1,297 a year ago. The drop shouldn't be surprising and as we learned from last year, we have no idea what the final number will be until Day 1D is under way. Due to the small field, cash games are thriving in the back right corner and in the satellite room. Single-table tournaments continue to be played, but I haven't seen more than five or six tables in action at the same time.

Small blinds: Perry Friedman actually had to explain to a player at his table why his hand won. Yikes. … The quad jacks for the Jack Links Prize Pack continue to be hit around the room. … And they were hit again at Table 72 just recently. … Humberto Brenes' "Chark" has been everywhere. I think it's time to retire that act. … Crowds of spectators still continue to fill the rail as they try to get a glimpse of a recognizable player. … The bad beat hallway is also in full effect and I feel bad for all those who are on the other end of those conversations. … There's no line at registration at the moment.

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7:30 p.m. ET: Umm … it's dinner time? Sure. Players have left on their 90-minute break at 4:30 p.m. PT to grab some food or maybe a nap before the final two levels of the night. The action has been pretty uneventful so far, but with such deep stacks, that is to be expected. Some big names filed in during the break, but the biggest names will most likely play on the final two starting days. There also have been rumors around the room that the estimated field is going to be above 8,000. I would be simply amazed. Five minutes after I heard that rumor, I was told that the field would be under 6,000. I think I'll just wait until the official numbers are released before believing anyone's estimates.

I walked through the Poker Palooza expo and saw Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson and Mike Caro signing autographs. The expo is quite different than in past years, but I think that visitors to the WSOP would find it a great place to get books, clothing or even a poker lesson or two. If you're in Vegas, it's cool to see and just about every booth is giving away some sort of prize for registering with them.

Besides the Poker Palooza, all the online sites are represented in their own courtesy suites in the convention center. However, due to certain stipulations, they cannot be branded by online sites, but merely with names like "Champions Suite" (instead of PokerStars). These suites offer their players food, couches and a place to chat with their representatives.

That's it from here for now. The action continues at 9 p.m. ET!

Small blinds: The field is beginning to fill with more notable names. This hour I've seen Johnny Chan, Roland De Wolfe, Gus Hansen, Brian Townsend, Mark Vos, Michael Craig and Gabe Kaplan. … Sitting at the same table: Jason Alexander, Brad Garrett, Mark Vos and Mel Judah. … A jack-high straight flush lost to a royal flush. Sick. … ESPN's Lon McEachern is on crutches after knee surgery. He said he's feeling OK and that the first two episodes of the WSOP came out great. … Phil Laak is quite talkative today and he has his table laughing -- even the dealer. … De Wolfe was chowing down on some sushi at the table. No chopsticks.

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5:25 p.m. ET: I just heard a couple of great remarks from Andy Bloch. However, the reason why the discussion started is because it was announced that the 90-minute dinner break will be held after the next level! That's 4:30 p.m. local time! Really? I asked Bloch about it and he said it was a Rio "Stimulus package." He said the players are going to eat at the dinner break, then again at the end of the night! Talk about brilliance on Harrah's to get back the massive amount of money they lost by the small turnout during the $50,000 HORSE event … but that's not all.

We then discussed the merits of playing on Day 1A and the shortened levels. With fewer players getting eliminated on the Day 1s, more players will be staying in Las Vegas and booking up the hotel rooms. The hotels have been relatively empty lately (as have the restaurants), and I guess this is a way to book nearly one to two thousand more hotel rooms over the holiday weekend. Bloch also noted that the pros just don't like the wait they'd have if they played on Day 1A. Making the money would take a week if you're a Day 1A starter. I'm expecting a stacked field on Day 1D, the same as in 2008.

The bracelet presentation ceremony has also just completed with Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack giving out four bracelets to WSOP champions. Unfortunately, the speaker system continued to cut out and I barely heard what was being said, but hey, congrats to all.

Small blinds: I still can't believe that dinner will be at 4:30. … Thanks to all those who stopped by during the poker chat today. … There are still cash games being played in the Amazon Room. …

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3:16 p.m. ET: And we're off! The cards are in the air, but there was one major announcement made before the tournament began. Players will be playing only four levels today instead of the scheduled five. I'm quite surprised by this move, but honestly, that makes me question the turnout organizers are expecting. Play will end tonight at approximately 1:30 a.m. instead of the wonderful 3:30 a.m. we're used to seeing during the main event.

I also got a chance to speak to Orel Hershiser, who is really focused for the event. On top of that, he is assigned to the "Monday Night Baseball" game on ESPN, which he will make even if he does make it to Day 2. At the feature table today we have Allen Cunningham and Eli Elezra while Greg "FBT" Mueller, a double-bracelet winner in 2009, occupies a seat at the secondary feature table.

At exactly 3:15 was the announcement that the first player had been eliminated, meaning their $10,000 had just been spent in 15 minutes. That's $666.67 per minute. Thanks for playing.

Small blinds: Perry Friedman is sporting a Full Tilt grill and an "I Love Hip-Hop" T-shirt. His parents, who are standing on the rail, are just happy that he "enjoys life." I personally think they're the most supportive parents in all of poker as they're here for the entirety whenever he's playing. … Also seen today: Mel Judah, Jerry Yang, Gavin Smith, Jason Alexander and Nelly. … Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack is standing behind me with the Jack Links Sasquatch. OK then. … The Poker Edge podcast has been posted. Listen to the Poker Edge Daily Podcast »

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1:29 p.m. ET: Welcome to the WSOP blog! For the next 14 days I'll be posting daily from Las Vegas, giving you a feel of what's going on inside the Rio during the 2009 WSOP main event. The action begins at 3 p.m. ET and I guess the first question of the day is how many players will show up. Last year we noticed two very small turnouts during Day 1A and Day 1B. Will the trend continue? I'm assuming so.

Believe it or not, there are still cash games going on right now. I would've thought that the tournament staff would've shut them down at this point, but there are still about four tables in action. In any case, the tournament staff is putting Everest Poker seat cushions on the players' chairs and the media is just starting to file in.

Although it took me awhile to get to Las Vegas yesterday (thanks O'Hare), it was a great day to be at the Rio. The Ante Up For Africa celebrity charity tournament had a great turnout with 138 players putting up the $5,000 entry fee. The winner was Aleksandr Bolotin and he donated a portion of his winnings to charity. Very generously, 17 out of 18 players who made the money did the same. Phil Gordon, host of the Poker Edge podcast, finished sixth! Yes, Phil Gordon at a poker table. Don't act that surprised.

"This is a fantastic opportunity to shed some light on a very serious issue," said Gordon. "Annie Duke and Don Cheadle have been extremely supportive about getting their friends together and to come out for a very worthy cause. I think this highlights that so many people from so many different walks of life come together and play poker at a high level."

I spoke to many of the celebrities on the soon-to-be-released Poker Edge podcast and of course, hanging out with Jason Alexander is always a good time.

"Why am I here?" said Alexander of the tournament yesterday. "Well, we haven't fixed it yet. It's still a mess. I believe when you start something you keep at it. I sometimes worry that good causes like this are overshadowed by celebrities and by poker. The trick when you do something like this is to stay informed about what you are playing for. This is for people who are literally starving. They are homeless. They are refugees. There is no education. There are no social services. And they have no voice. This is a real coup to have such a great cause right next to the greatest poker event in the world."

Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Charles Barkley, Sarah Silverman, Dean Cain and Brad Garrett also put on a good show during the tournament. The event will air on ESPN later this summer.

After the Ante Up For Africa event I headed over to the Palms, where I got to see perhaps one of the coolest hotel rooms in the world. Bodog rented out the "Kingpin Suite," where there is actually a bowling alley. Quite cool. Bodog's players were on hand to talk poker to the qualifiers and it was a cool experience that I'm sure those Vegas rookies will never forget.

Small blinds: Ty Stewart, who handles a good amount of the business for the WSOP, was one of the people putting beef jerky and seat cushions out for every player. I joked with him, asking him about tough economic times, but as he said, hiring someone else would be more expensive than what he gets hourly. I think he's right. He never stops working. … The WSOP added some more sponsorship banners around the Amazon Room. Did you know there is an "Official Nut Bar of the WSOP"? Go figure … Nelly is going to be performing at the PokerStars players' party on July 9. He's been at the tables a lot this summer and I'm assuming a full celebrity sponsorship/endorsement is going to be announced soon. … Poker Palooza Day 1 was good to see. It's still smaller than in year's past, but had lots of vendors. …

Posted by Andrew Feldman

This blog has been left vacated for quite a while now and quite honestly, I feel pretty awful about it. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about it now other than saying that the next 17 days will be filled with blog entries from the WSOP main event. While the recaps for the first 56 events have been the big items to follow, I thought I'd take a look back at what we believed would be the big stories to watch in 2009. After all, it's hard to predict a completely unpredictable game.

1. The 40th WSOP: Harrah's and all at the WSOP have done a great job this year, and the 40th annual World Series of Poker has been quite amazing. No criticism here. The 40th running was a true celebration of the event.

2. The November Nine: I have no idea how this is going to end up; all I know is that I'm excited to see that final table be reached July 16. The 2008 November Nine have all had some success during their 2009 campaigns, but the only final table belongs to Ylon Schwartz in Event 47. Schwartz finished in third place in that event and 18th in Event 40 to eclipse the $4 million mark in WSOP earnings.

3. The Economic Crisis: The true impact of the struggling worldwide economy will be seen during the main event, and I'm sure I'll address that in just a few days. However, during the rest of the WSOP, people have asked "What bad economy?" There have been multiple sellout events, including a massive 6,008-player field in the $1,000 stimulus special tournament (Event 4). Yes, the $50,000 HORSE final tournament only had 95 players, but many can attribute that poor showing to the lack of TV presence.

4. The $40,000: In the $40,000 no-limit hold 'em (Event 2), 201 players bought in in the hope of making it to the final table of what many would say is the toughest no-limit hold 'em field in history. If you could have asked 100 players who would have won that event, I doubt anyone would have come up with Vitaly Lunkin. After his amazing WSOP with three final tables in four cashes, his name won't be forgotten any time soon. As Gary Wise wrote in his column, there are some who believed this tournament was a mistake, and that still holds true. Players spend their money in the first week, and losing that tournament had a major impact on the mental games of some. Like it or not, the tournament will most likely be on the schedule next year.

5. The Legends: An invitation-only tournament to all the previous main event champions resulted in Tom McEvoy defeating Robert Varkonyi for the title. Not quite the final two that everyone expected, but McEvoy was extremely determined. He wanted to win the event, and said so repeatedly. The event airs on ESPN later this summer.

OK, here's where things get a little fuzzy. We were right on the big stories above … but then …

6. The Race: What race? The race to 12 barely existed in 2009, with Phil Hellmuth not making a single final table. Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan both had chances to tie Hellmuth at 11, but neither could capitalize upon their opportunities, and unless they win the main event they will remain behind Hellmuth for one more year.

7. The Player of the Year Candidates: Well, we went 2-for-4. Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier and Erick Lindgren had a tough time during the 2009 WSOP. Daniel Negreanu (eight cashes) and Barry Greenstein (seven cashes) both did some great work, but it's amazing to believe that neither of these two is in contention for POY honors. In fact, with just a few events yet to be counted, Jeffrey Lisandro only holds a 35-point lead over Ville Wahlbeck.

Lisandro won three bracelets and bubbled a fourth final table. Wahlbeck won a bracelet, finished second, third and sixth in his three other final-table appearances (all in $10,000 events) and then had two additional cashes in 12th and 13th place … talk about amazing. Before 2009, Wahlbeck had four WSOP cashes with nothing better than a 20th-place result in a seven-card stud event. Even though Lisandro won his three bracelets and will most likely take home POY honors, Wahlbeck has implanted himself in the poker spotlight.

Oh, by the way, the main event counts in Player of the Year standings.

8. The Hellmuth Rule: Who cares. Next.

9. The Hall of Fame: Voting is still going on, so please go here to submit your votes for who you believe should be inducted this fall.

10. The $4 million, baby: Scotty came up just a little bit short … $3,966,332 short to be exact. Something tells us he's still not retiring even if he doesn't win the main event to reach his goal.

11. The rookies and bracelet virgins: In our wonderful selection of nine veterans without a bracelet, we didn't get one right. Who we should have picked: James Van Alstyne, Greg Mueller, Nick Schulman and Roland de Wolfe. Our rookies made some final tables, but no bracelets this year. I can't wait for the class of 2010.

So we were right … and wrong. What else is new?! If we could do it all over again, here are the stories that would have been right on.

1. Repeat performances: We had four players winning two or more bracelets. Led by Lisandro's three bracelets, Phil Ivey, Brock Parker and Greg Mueller created the group. Just think about the odds of one player winning two events! Four! Really? I'm still amazed.

2. I'll take a first and a second: Forget the idea that players get down on themselves after finishing second in a WSOP event. This year, there were multiple players who managed a first- and second-place finish. Quite amazing.

3. The HORSE effect: We knew HORSE numbers would be down, but only 95 players really raised some eyebrows in Las Vegas. I'm sure Harrah's and the WSOP will have to be creative in figuring out how to re-establish HORSE as the tournament everyone wants to win … and can afford.

4. The main event number: Will recent actions and seizures of poker funds affect the entries in the WSOP main event? With the early numbers in the first two weeks of events, I was optimistic that we'd see nearly 7,000. Now I'm stuck wondering if we'll reach my original guess of 6,200.

5. My fantasy poker team: Yes, once again I've had another terrible fantasy poker year. I'd like to thank Lindgren, Grospellier, Mark Seif, Jonathan Little and Hevad Khan for letting me feel the pain of the basement for a second straight year. Here's a look at the leader board and the absolute drubbing Daniel Negreanu has put on his competition:

Negreanu: 834
Lederer: 471
Phillips: 312
Lance: 297
Chops: 218
Seif: 211
Lee: 164
Smith: 157
Dan: 157
Feldman: 156
Wise: 116

Small blinds: The WSOP announced Tuesday that if you managed to get four jacks during the main event, you'll win a "Stacked Jacks Go Wild Jack Link's prize pack" courtesy of Jack Links Beef Jerky. Wow! What an added bonus! … Full Tilt's new TV show "Face the Ace" begins taping next week in Las Vegas. … During the middle of the WSOP, the WPT announced its eighth-season schedule. Tournaments will be played at the Bellagio, Bicycle Casino, Borgata, Bellagio, Foxwoods, Beau Rivage, Commerce Casino, Bay 101 and the Hollywood Casino. The first event begins July 13. … Adam Fyshe entered five events and cashed in four to have the highest cash-to-entry ratio. … U.S. citizens earned 33 of the first 51 bracelets. the United Kingdom and Canada tie for second with three each. … The ESPN Poker Club is giving away a trip to the WSOP Academy. … The Seniors World Championship sold out at 2,707 players. The previous high mark was set at last year's World Series of Poker, when there were 2,218 entries. … The $50,000 HORSE final table lasted nearly 19 hours, and it is believed to have the most hands dealt (492) out of any WSOP final table in history.