Today 596 players entered Event #28 $2,500 PLO and now only about 100 remain. Among those who started the day with high hopes were Tom "Durrrr" Dwan, Phil Ivey, Jason Mercier, Robert Williamson III, David "Devilfish" Ulliott, Greg Raymer, and defending champion, JC Tran. Alas, all of these players failed to make it to Day 2.
There are a number of notables who survived the day and are in contention for a PLO gold bracelet. They include an old school player in T.J. Cloutier; the French phenom, Bertrand Grospellier; Big Game regular, Chau Giang; a former World Champ in Joe Hachem; and a former Main Event final tablist, Tex Barch, who won a bracelet in PLO just a few days ago. However, they are all chasing our chip leader, L.J. Klein, who sits with 180,000.
The remaining players will return tomorrow at 2:30 pm local time and play towards a final table, breaking the money bubble at 54 players in the process. Check back tomorrow for all the latest action and updates provided by Poker News.
We're almost done here for Day 1. We're nearing the 10-minute mark, when the tourney clock will be stopped and it will be determined how many more hands will be dealt.
Just now we had an all-in situation on Table 8. The river card had been dealt, making the board . Andy Seth bet, and Joshua Tieman -- winner of Event No. 6, the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout -- reraised all in for about 11,000 more. Seth went into the tank for several minutes, and finally the clock was called.
Seth let it run all of the way out, and his hand was declared dead. Tieman dragged the pot, which with his raise totaled a bit over 40,000, while Seth fell to 32,000.
On a flop of , and about 6,000 in the pot, a player who was under the gun bet 6,500. Erik Seidel moved all in for a total of 6,800 and received a call.
Seidel:
Under the Gun:
The turn was the and left Seidel drawing dead. The on the river was irrelevant and Seidel was eliminated with just 16 minutes remaining in Day 1.
Preflop betting meant Humberto Brenes had committed most of his stack from the big blind against an opponent on the button when the flop came .
Brenes made his familiar wordless, two-handed gesture to indicate the rest of his chips were now going in, and his opponent called. Brenes showed , while his opponent tabled for the straight draw.
The turn was the and the river the , and Brenes survived. He's now at about 35,000 with half an hour left in Day 1.
There will be no repeat champion in this $2,500 PLO event, as last year's winner J.C. Tran was eliminated a short while ago. Tran was knocked out by a player currently enjoying a massage and noise-canceling headphones. With that hand, the player appears to have the chip lead, but unfortunately he is not interested at the moment in sharing his name.
The night is nearly through, however. There are about 40 minutes left in this, the last level to be played. So once all of the hands have been dealt and the massage is done, we'll be able to report his name soon enough.
T.J. Cloutier limped under the gun as did the players in Seat 7, on the button, and the small blind. The player in the big blind decided to raise to 800 and everyone made the call.
The flop came down and both blinds checked to Cloutier, who forcefully bet 2,400. One by one the players mucked and when no one but Cloutier had cards, he turned them over and said in his big booming voice, "Top Set."
Indeed, he had two kings in the hole. Cloutier is now up to around 72,000 and in great shape to make Day 2.
. Andy Seth bet, and Joshua Tieman -- winner of Event No. 6, the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout -- reraised all in for about 11,000 more. Seth went into the tank for several minutes, and finally the clock was called.
, and about 6,000 in the pot, a player who was under the gun bet 6,500. Erik Seidel moved all in for a total of 6,800 and received a call.
on the river was irrelevant and Seidel was eliminated with just 16 minutes remaining in Day 1.
, while his opponent tabled 
for the straight draw.
and the river the 
