Friday marked the second day of the 2008 World Series of Poker. It’s crunch time now. Players know what to expect, who to watch for, and what it takes to survive the first day of this grueling 11-day tournament. There were officially 1,297 players who entered on Day 1-A, though reports earlier in the session indicated that the number was over 1,300. Players had until the end of Level 2 to enter the tournament. If you’re wondering, entering late doesn’t get you any sort of special treatment. You still start with the same number of starting chips, which means that you’re entering the tournament with fewer chips than many other players have since play has already begun. Let’s check into the Amazon Room for the latest from the 2008 WSOP.
The day began with Jerry Yang, who took down the 2007 WSOP Main Event, yelling out the traditional “Shuffle Up and Deal” command. It’s always a bad sign if you’re the first person out. On Day 1-B the distinction of first bust-out went to an opponent of Stephen Ladowsky. The two were all in on a board of 9-10-8-9-K. Ladowsky held pocket nines for quads and his opponent held pocket kings for a full house. Other memorable names in the Rio this afternoon included Hal Lubarsky, who you may recall from watching coverage of the 2007 Main Event is blind. He has a caller, who reads out his cards and then it’s up to Hal to act accordingly. Lubarsky made a deep run in last year’s Main Event and looks to do the same in 2008. ESPN followed him religiously in 2007 and I’d expect similar spotlight coverage on 2008.
2008 World Series of Poker Player of the Year Erick Lindgren is in the house today as well. The Full Tilt Poker aficionado won his first WSOP bracelet in Event 4, the $5,000 Mixed Hold’em tournament. His first cash ever in the WSOP came back in 2003, right around the time when he took down two World Poker Tour titles. Ted Forrest was briefly involved in Day 1-B, but was the unfortunate victim of an early bust out after his opponent rivered a flush after Forrest had flopped a set. Still in Day 1-B is Tom McEvoy, a four-time WSOP bracelet winner who scored a pair of bracelets all the way back in the 1983 World Series of Poker.
Two recent WSOP Main Event champions are in the Amazon Room today. Greg Raymer, who won the 2004 WSOP Main Event and is now a PokerStars pro, can be found dueling it out today. After logging five cashes during the 2007 WSOP, Raymer has had a quiet 2008 tournament series, cashing just once for nearly $10,000. Jamie Gold is also playing on Day 1-B. He won the 2006 WSOP Main Event, but his reign as champion was marred by rumors of reneging on a commitment to fork over half of his earnings to a business partner. A settlement was finally reached. Gold has just three cashes since his $12 million payday in 2006. He had a memorable pot early on in the day bluffing at a board of A-J-A-A-J with pocket tens and taking down the pot.
Day 1-C begins on Saturday, July 5th at 12:00 noon PT. Day 1-D will kick off at the same time on Sunday. Stay tuned to MacPoker.net for all of the latest from the world’s largest poker tournament.
If you’re looking for some quality WSOP live coverage, check out WorldSeriesofPoker.com.