Northeast Regional Championship!

It's been five days since last we left the Ballroom at Harrah's Atlantic City, and we're back today to close out the World Series of Poker Circuit events for the 2010 calendar year. It's the inaugural $10,000 Northeast Regional Championship, and it is going to attract a relatively small but pro-heavy field.

The $1,500 event last weekend drew 352 runners, and we'll hazard a guess that we'll have about half that many for this one. One of the many appears to be T.J. Cloutier who is loitering around our media table talking about the Durrrr Challenge, oddly. Also spotted at this early hour are Jon Aguiar, Steve O'Dwyer, David "Bakes" Baker, Eric "sheets" Haber, and Allen Kessler.

"Best bet in the world is that he'll make it through the first day," Cloutier said when Kessler walked in the doors.

There are about 80 players registered thus far with the window open for at least three full levels. We're just about 15 minutes shy of our 11:00 starting time, and the dealers are hurriedly preparing their tables and suiting their decks for play. It looks like we'll be starting six-handed today as three of the nine stacks are in the well.

Sit tight; we'll be back when the cards go in the air.