Day 1 Comes to an End
The last $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event of the 2010 World Series of Poker kicked-off today with a moment of silence for Amir Vahedi, who passed away ealier this year. Tournament Director Jack Effel announced that as an added bonus, and as a tribute to Amir, the winner of the tournament would win a box of his favorite cigars.
The tournament drew a field of 2,543 players who created a prizepool of $3,433,050, with $609,493 of that going to the victor. Among those who entered with the hopes of taking down a gold bracelet were Phil Hellmuth, Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, Eric Baldwin, Chino Rheem and Vanessa Rousso. Unfortunately, none of these players managed to make it through the day.
This is not to say a few big names didn't navigate their way through the massive field. Allen Kessler, Andy Bloch, JP Kelly, Liv Boeree, David Pham, Roland De Wolfe and Chad Batista all made it through to Day 2. Also in contention are a number of big stacks including Shawn Prendiville (110,500), Kyle Knecht (104,400), Ben Eilers (110,000), Greg Roy (119,600), Andrew Gillis (120,500), Roberto Stamerra (120,100) and Guiseppe Zarbo (156,500).
Approximately 315 players will return at 2:30 PM local time for the start of Day 2 as they make their way toward the money bubble, which awards the top 270 players. From there, they will continue on their march to the final table. Join us then as PokerNews brings you all the latest hand updates, chip counts and action from Day 2 of Event #49.