2010 World Series of Poker

Event #57: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship
Event Info

2010 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aj
Prize
$8,944,310
Event Info
Buy-in
$10,000
Prize Pool
$68,798,600
Entries
7,319
Level Info
Level
41
Blinds
800,000 / 1,600,000
Ante
200,000

Event #57: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship

Day 1d Completed

Official Day 1D Chip Counts (full)

Level 5 : 200/400, 50 ante
Player Chips Progress
Steve Billirakis us
Steve Billirakis
WSOP 2X Winner
187,150 187,150
Khamsy Nuanmanee
Khamsy Nuanmanee
170,525 170,525
Steven Tabb us
Steven Tabb
170,275 170,275
Nestor Martinez
Nestor Martinez
158,825 158,825
Roger Pruzansky
Roger Pruzansky
155,700 155,700
Daniel Springfield
Daniel Springfield
150,100 150,100
Theodore Bort
Theodore Bort
146,825 146,825
Frank Gu
Frank Gu
144,800 144,800
Aaron Gustavson us
Aaron Gustavson
143,950 143,950
Andras Koroknai hu
Andras Koroknai
142,250 142,250
Archie Karas us
Archie Karas
137,775 137,775
Eric Blair us
Eric Blair
137,550 137,550
Cole Miller us
Cole Miller
137,325 137,325
Samuel Oberlin us
Samuel Oberlin
136,925 136,925
David Benyamine fr
David Benyamine
WSOP 1X Winner
130,800 130,800
Daniel Collins
Daniel Collins
130,100 130,100
Jamin Stokes
Jamin Stokes
126,925 126,925
Benjamin Patterson
Benjamin Patterson
126,675 126,675
Jack Ellwood gb
Jack Ellwood
126,500 126,500
Craig Swinney
Craig Swinney
126,200 126,200
Gary Brown
Gary Brown
126,000 126,000
Paul Scaturro us
Paul Scaturro
125,325 125,325
Kenneth Baldrey
Kenneth Baldrey
120,950 120,950
Elia Ahmadian us
Elia Ahmadian
120,575 120,575
Thomas Johnston
Thomas Johnston
118,300 118,300

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Day 1d Concludes

Steve Billirakis
Steve Billirakis

The fourth and final Day 1 flight has come to a close. Today saw the largest field of all four flights -- 2,391 -- fill the Amazon and Pavilion Rooms. Added to our first three days, the overall total of 7,319 players means this year's Main Event is the second-largest tournament in live poker history (behind the 8,773-player 2006 Main Event).

That field together creates a $68,798,600 prize pool to be divided up between the top 747 finishers. And come November, the one player from this group who manages to accumulate every last chip will claim $8,944,138, the gold bracelet, and poker immortality.

A number of notables chose the last starting day, and for some their starting day was also their finishing day. Phil Gordon was an early exit, as were John Tabatabai, Justin Smith, Michael Craig, Jose "Nacho" Barbero, and the top two finishers from the 2005 Main Event, Steve Dannenmann and Joe Hachem. Others failing to survive to Day 2 included John Juanda, Allen Kessler, Cliff Josephy, Sorel Mizzi, and Wendeen Eolis.

Meanwhile, David Benyamine, Bill Chen, Phil Ivey, Kara Scott, and Jason Mercier all jumped out to good starts today, though they were soon overtaken by Khamsy Nuanmanee. She would be the first to six digits, then would spend much of the evening near or at the top of the leaderboard.

At night's end, though, it was Steve "MrSmokey1" Billirakis making a late charge to claim the lead, with Steven Tabb, Julian Foussard, Dan Springfield, and Lestor Martinez also ending the night filling their bags with extra chips. And a quick glance down the leaderboard shows other familiar names such as Archie Karas, Vanessa Rousso, Josh Arieh, and probable 2010 WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kassela having done especially well for themselves today, too.

Of the 2,391 who started today's Day 1d, about 1,700 made it through, meaning we're still looking at more than 5,000 players whose 2010 WSOP Main Event dreams remain alive. Tomorrow those who made it through Days 1a and 1c will come back for Day 2a, with the rest (from Day 1b and Day 1d) continuing their tourney journeys on Day 2b.

Thanks for following our coverage today! And be sure to come back tomorrow at noon Vegas time when the cards go back in the air once again.

Boatman Remains Afloat

Ross Boatman
Ross Boatman

For a moment, I thought Freddy Krueger had burst through the felt as a piercing scream emanated from the center of the room. Although I'm not a believer in such boogie men, there had indeed been a butchering, and the victim wouldn't be sleeping easy tonight.

It was Lyle Berman who started the nightmare, raising it up as he had done many times before. Another player then pushed all in for 18,000 leaving the decision on Ross Boatman who held pocket nines. Boatman, who later claimed that the man could easily have been steaming from previous hands, made the call, only to be shown picket aces.

But despite the predicament, Boatman spiked a nine in the window (hence the scream), and so eliminated his foe. As a result, Boatman will be joining his brother in Day 2 (although different days, if that makes sense) with 44,675.

Tags: Ross Boatman

Pay the Boatman

A horrible noise coming from the throat of a player alerted our reporter to the fact that said player was all in with {a-Spades}{a-Clubs} against Ross Boatman's {9-Spades}{9-Clubs}. The board had run out {9-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds}{2-Diamonds}{k-Hearts}{10-Diamonds}. Boatman's stack increased to 38,000.

"There's no crying in poker," commented another player as the luckless gentleman busted out.

Tags: Ross Boatman

Eolis Exits

Just not her day at the Main Event
Just not her day at the Main Event

Wendeen Eolis, the first woman to ever cash in the Main Event, was all in and at risk with {a-Hearts}{10-Clubs} and was unfortunately dominated by an opponent's {a-Diamonds}{k-Hearts}.

The {a-Spades}{k-Clubs}{k-Spades} flop was all she wrote and after the turn and river came {9-Hearts}, {4-Clubs} respectively, Eolis' tournament came to an end.

Tags: Wendeen Eolis

Vedes Teases

I joined the action on the turn of a {3-Clubs}{K-Hearts}{5-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds} board, Tommy Vedes facing a bet of 5,000. After a brief pause, he threw in, reluctantly, it seemed, a single orange chip.

The river was the {K-Spades}, and after the initial aggressor had checked, Vedes reached into his stack and flicked 7,700 across the imaginary line. His opponent took a quick peek at his cards to make sure they hadn't turned into quads before making the fold.

Vedes climbs to 62,000 with the final whistle looming.

Tags: Tommy Vedes