$5,150 Championship Main Event Day 1 | 2008 WSOP Circuit Event - Lake Tahoe

11-14-2008 15:43 UTC-7

Introducing Travis Erdman

San Francisco, California native Travis Erdman is currently our unofficial chip leader with 36,000 in chips. Erdman has experienced tremendous success here in Tahoe, having made the final table of this event in each of the last two years, finishing 9th ($14,231) last year and 5th ($36,297) in 2006.

We'll keep an eye on Erdman's progress throughout the day as he goes for an impressive third straight final table in Tahoe!

Tags: Travis Erdman

11-14-2008 15:27 UTC-7

Game On

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After a quick pizza break, the players have returned to their seats and the cards are back in the air. Harvey's Poker Room staff put out approximately sixty boxes of pizza for the field to snack on during the break. Needless to say, they killed every one of them (with a little help from members of the various media outlets of course).

Of note, bracelet winner Max 'The Italian Pirate' Pescatori has taken his seat amongst the field.

Tags: Max Pescatori

Level: 3

Blinds: 75/150

Ante: 0

11-14-2008 15:10 UTC-7

Break Time

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The tournament clock has been paused while the players go on their first 15-minute break of the day.

11-14-2008 15:04 UTC-7

The Final Tally

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The tournament staff have just informed us that there are a total of 132 players in today's field , which is ten less than last year's event. Registration is officially closed now and the prizepool and payout information will be posted shortly.

11-14-2008 14:54 UTC-7

Tales from the Rail

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"Jesus is here and I saw Jerry Yang too."

"Yeah, Jackie Chan is sitting one table over from Jesus!"

"I think that might be Johnny Chan."

"Oh. Is it Johnny?"

Indeed it is.

Tags: Jackie Chan Johnny Chan

11-14-2008 14:49 UTC-7

Lance Oliver Floats River Boat at The Lake

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Looking at a board of {A-Clubs}

and facing a raise of 3,000, Lance Oliver shipped all of his remaining chips into the middle. His opponent quickly called, putting himself at risk, and slammed down {3-Diamonds}

for a wheel. Oliver turned over {A-?}

and knew he was in trouble. A harmless {10-Spades}

was the turn, before an {A-?}

came on the river to set the table off in sounds of 'oohs' 'ahhs', moans, and groans. Oliver, happy to scrape a sizable pot, acknowledged his suck out as he stacked his chips of approximately 36,800.

11-14-2008 14:44 UTC-7

Madsen Inching Back to Even

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Jeff Madsen, two-time WSOP bracelet winner and poker's favorite white rapper, has just taken down a recent pot that kicked him back up to 12,500 in chips.

The hand began with a raise to 300 from a player in middle position. Action then folded around the table to Madsen in the big blind who chose to make the call. The flop came down {9-Diamonds}

and Madsen check-called a 500 bet from his opponent.

The turn delivered the {7-Diamonds}

and Madsen check-called once more, this time for 1,000.

The {8-Spades}

was the last card off the deck and Madsen open-fired a 1,750 bet. His opponent took one last look at his cards before eventually tossing them into the muck.

Tags: Jeff Madsen

11-14-2008 14:38 UTC-7

The Champ is Here! The Champ is Here!

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Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson just took his seat at one of the two feature tables. As we mentioned earlier, Ferguson is the defending champion of this event and currently owns three WSOPC championship rings -- more than any other player on the planet.

Tags: Chris Ferguson

11-14-2008 14:34 UTC-7