Main Event Day 1c Recap + Flipchip's WSOP Photos
Complete 2007 WSOP stats at the Poker Prof's World Series of Poker 2007 Information Page. Poker from behind the WSOP Curtain only available from Dr Pauly of Tao of Poker.
Sunday at the Rio Casino featured the third flight of Day 1 of the WSOP main event. After a lackluster first two flights, the third one featured several sports stars and celebrities along with former WSOP champions. Day 1c was the largest filed to date with 1,743 runners. There were so many players that the Poker Tent had to be utilized for the first time at the Main Event. By the end of Day 1c, about 685 players remained.
The Buzz
"Did you hear about Phil Hellmth's wreck in the parking lot?" was what one media rep told me. Apparently, Phil hellmuth was driving an Ultimate Bet sponsored racecar in the parking lot. He totaled it when he ran into a light pole. The Poker Brat emerged unscathed, but his crash caused quite the stir in the Amazon Ballroom.
The Backstory
With the largest flight of the main event, the total number of entrants will most likely pass the 6,000 player barrier. Ever since the UIEGA shook the poker world, all of the poker pundits wondered how that would effect the WSOP. The last two years featured record numbers courtesy of the numerous online staellite winners. All the numbers are much lower than last year, 6,000 players is still an impressive number.
Sight of the Day
Nelly walked into the Amazon Ballroom with part of his entourage. The four-time Grammy award winning artist who is most famous for his hit song, "Hot in Herre," showed up a little late. He didn't last very long, but most of the media circled his table while he played. The press were elbowing each other trying to get pics while ESPN's camera crew filmed his every move.
Quote of the Day
"This might be the only chance y'all have to knock me out!" joked Light Heavyweight boxing champion Antonio Tarver.
Hand of the Day
One of the craziest hands of the day was a 1,000 to 1 shot that Takashi Takii caught after he cracked a set of Aces with 8-8. His opponent flopped a set of Aces, but Takki caught running 8s to bust his opponent.
Celebrity Players
Day 1c featured plenty of celebrities such as Jen Tilly, Seinfeld's Jason Alexander, Shannon Elizabeth, Nelly, Rene Angelil, and Swedish pop star Dilba Demirbag. Former NHL player and coach Rick Tocchet was in the field along with boxer Antonio Tarver and former baseball pro Jose Canseco.
Noteworthy Stacks
EPT Grand Finale Champion Gavin Griffin was among the first players to pass the 100K mark along with Chad Brown. Carl Olson jumped into the top 5 right after the dinner break. He passed the 200K mark around Midnight.
Noteworthy Bustouts
Phil Laak was one of the first pros to bust on Day 1c. Other notable eliminations included... Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, Todd Witteles, Shannon Elizabeth, Antonio Tarver, Jose Canseco, Nelly, Greg Raymer, John Gale, Phil Ivey, Chris Bigler, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Jennifer Tilly, Josh Prager, Emad Tahtouh, Dan Schmiech, Rafe Furst, Tex Barch, Nick Schulman, Rehne Pedersen, Olga Varkonyi, Clonie Gowen, JC Alvarado, Pat Poels, Scott Lazar, Andy Bloch, Tim Phan, Per Ummer, Frank Kassela, Amir Vahedi, Shannon Shorr, David Sklansky, Chau Giang, Al Krux, Joe Cassidy, Devin Porter, Vanessa Rousso, TJ Cloutier, Kenna James, Steve Brecher, Gavin Griffin, Burt Boutin.
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