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Here's how the Day 1 of this event is going to unfold. Players are playing five 90-minute levels today. There will be a 20-minute break at the end of each level except for Level 2. At the end of that level, players will receive a 60-minute dinner break.
By my gorilla math, given our 5:15pm start time, that means the survivors will bag their chips at 2:45am.
He was not in costume, nor was he trailed by a gaggle of models, but Phil Hellmuth has entered the Amazon Room.
Carrying a take-away sandwich like a waiter might hoist a silver platter, Hellmuth entered the Orange section of the Amazon Room trailed instead by ESPN's cameras as he took his seat at Table 329 alongside James Van Alstyne, Erik "erik123" Sagstrom, and last year's champion David Bach. Hellmuth broke with tradition and abandoned his usual Johnny Cash-inspired wardrobe, accessorizing his black hat and jacket with a bright lime green polo shirt. Advice from his new life coach, perhaps?
Limit Hold'em:
There's no slow starting at Orange 327. With the game starting at limit hold'em, there have already been several showdowns. Mike Matusow's pocket jacks got the best of Erick Lindgren's big slick by rivering a straight, 
. A few hands later Ted Forrest and Brian Townsend both showed down unimproved ace-broadway, but Forrest's queen out-kicked Townsend's ten.
The circle was completed when Townsend's 
raked a pot against Matusow at showdown on an ace-high board. The usually garrulous Matusow didn't have anything to say as he mucked his hand.
Limit Hold'em:
Joe Serock opened for a raise and David Bach defended his big blind. Bach checked the 
flop over to Serock, who bet out. Bach raised and Serock called. Bach led out with bet when the 
hit the turn, Serock making the call. The river was the 
and Bach bet again. Serock called, mucking as soon as he laid eyes on Bach's 
.
Limit Hold'em:
Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond raised from middle position and Justin "Boosted J" Smith looked him up from the big blind. Galfond check-raised the 
flop and Smith called. Both players checked the on the turn, and when the 
hit the river, Smith check-called one more bet from Galfond.
Galfond couldn't have felt too good about his hand as he rolled over 
, but much to his surprise, Smith mucked and he took down the pot.
One of the newest arrivals into the field is none other than internet legend Tom "durrrr" Dwan. He took his seat at Daniel Negreanu's table just in time for the game to change to razz.
"You want low cards," Negreanu jokingly explained to Dwan. "All low cards. Straights, flushes, doesn't matter." Dwan, a regular in high-stakes mixed games online, just smiled and took his seat.
Omaha 8/b:
Daniel Alaei, Ted Forrest, Erick Lindgren, Mike Matusow and Eli Elezra all saw a 
flop. Alaei led out from the big blind for 800, Forrest called from UTG, Lindgren raised to 1,600, Matusow cold-called the two bets and Elezra made it 2,400 to go. Alaei called, Forrest folded and both Lindgren and Matusow called. All four remaining players checked the 
on the turn. The river was the 
and Alaei checked to Lindgren, who bet 1,600. Matusow and Alaei both called.
Alaei turned over 
and made a surprising scoop, as neither of his opponents made a low. Alaei is up to 178,000 from his 150,000 starting stack.
Limit Hold'em:
Under the gun, Ted Lawson open-limped, and David Benyamine followed suit in the next seat over. Chau Giang limped his button, and Phil Ivey knocked the table to take a free four-way flop from his big blind.
The dealer spread out 
, and Lawson was the one to fire the first bet. Benyamine folded, but Giang put in a raise. That was enough to fold Ivey as well, while Lawson called the extra bet to proceed in the hand.
Fourth street came the , and Lawson check-called a bet of 1,600 there, and another one on the 
river. Giang showed up for top pair, and it was good. Lawson flashed the 
, but his kicker apparently wasn't up to snuff as he sent his cards back into the muck.
Giang - 165,000
Lawson - 140,000
Razz:
Pat Pezzin (X) (X) 
Yuval Bronshtein (X) (X) 
(X)
Phil Ivey (X) (X) 
(X)
Pat Pezzin brought it in with a king, Yuval Bronshtein completed, Phil Ivey raised, Pezzin ducked out of the way and Bronshtein called. Bronshtein made the low board on fourth and led out, Ivey making the call. On fifth, Bronshtein paired eights while Ivey caught a queen. Ivey checked, Bronshtein bet and Ivey called. Ivey led out on sixth and earned a call, but on seventh street, Bronshtein gave up his hand after Ivey put in one final bet.
Ivey is up to 170,000 while Bronshtein is down to 143,000.
It didn't take even a single level in the first open event for players to find a controversy at the 2010 World Series of Poker. Here's what we've been able to piece together:
There is a group of player who registered late for this event. The group includes Lyle Berman, Robert Williamson III, Tony G, Todd Brunson, Barry Greenstein, Huck Seed, Amnon Filippi and Josh Arieh. Arieh said that the line at the cage was the reason that he bought in late; others were in the same line behind Arieh. Nick Schulman, in front of Arieh in line, was apparently the last person to get in "on time".
Rule 12 for the 2010 WSOP reads in relevant part,
"A late registrant is defined as a player that registers for an event after the Tournament has officially started. Any player registering for an event after all initial tables allocated for that tournament have been filled will begin play at the start of the subsequent level."
The late group has been told they'll be allowed to enter play at the start of Level 2. The odd thing about that decision is that there are four empty tables along the rail with chip stacks, cards and dealers sitting at them. Those tables were in the field at the start of play but for some reason are not being considered as part of the initial table allocation at this time.
"I don't mind," said Tony G when we asked him about the controversy. "Rules are rules."
