A light day of action at the 2007 World Series of Poker saw only a couple of events starting play, though one of those was the entertaining Event #24, $3,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split, which drew 236 entrants. Among those seated at the start were Greg Raymer, Ralph Perry, Annie Duke, Minh Ly, Mel Judah, Chad Brown, Mike Matusow, Layne Flack, Ted Forrest, John Juanda, Scotty Nguyen, Chip Reese, Brett Jungblut, and Phil Ivey. Late arrivals included Howard Lederer, Tony G, Daniel Negreanu, Chris Ferguson, Erick Lindgren, and Mike Sexton.
Small fields and higher buy-ins invariably produce starting tables with multiple big names. One table included Cyndy Violette, Barny Boatman, Raymer, and Nguyen, while another featured Steve Zolotow, Jungblut, Juanda, and 2006 WSOP double bracelet winner Bill Chen. Another example was the so-dubbed 'Math Wiz' table that featured Chris Ferguson, Mickey Appleman, and Afghani banker Sherkan Farnwood. Ferguson spent 13 years studying computer science and is an expert in game theory, while Appleman has an MBA in statistics.
The early levels in any limit-format event bring a relaxed, friendly pace. Matusow even left his table and the casino itself to drive home to fetch his iPod, while Event #19 runner-up John Phan celebrated, having Kirk Morrison and Jeff Madsen join him in a round of beers at the table. Despite the day's distractions, several players, including John Cutter, Marcel Luske, and Matusow, made big runs on Day One and sit near the top of the overnight chip counts.
118 players remain in the event, led by John Richardson at 30,000 in chips, with Scotty Nguyen and Marcel Luske among those close behind. The top ten at the end of Day One action:
PLAYER — CHIPS
John Richardson 30,000
Scotty Nguyen 29,800
Steve Hohn 29,800
John Cutter 29,500
Marcel Luske 29,400
John Harknoss 28,100
Matt Lafkowitz 25,600
Mickey Seagle 25,100
Yueqi Zhu 24,300
Jeff King 24,100
Other notables high on the board include David Sklansky, Hasan Habib, Chris Bjorin, Morrison and Matusow. Join Pokernews.com's Day Two 'Live Reporting' of Event #24, $3,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split, beginning at 3pm PDT.
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