We have an unfortunate situation, where a player is suffering some medical distress. Players have been sent on a 15-minute break while the player is attended to.
Harrah's medical staff were swift in their assistance and the tournament staff showed great compassion in clearing the area.
Our best wishes are with the player during this unfortunate time.
In the first few hands of action, one deck was discovered with two Jack of Spades and two Nine of Spades, and one deck was missing these cards. The mistake was quickly corrected after three hands or so had already occurred, but it prompts the question: Weren't the decks checked before the start of play?
Shannon Elizabeth stopped in for a moment, and it looked as if she might be playing. Nope - she's just dropping off a water for a friend of hers. How nice! And how lucky for the recepient.
Out of the 336 or so entries, there are at least 30 faces that we recognize. That's a good percentage of high-caliber players, making this a tough field indeed. Some of the players who put up their two grand:
Erik Seidel, Bill Chen, Richard Brodie, Mel Judah, Bryan Micon, Davidson Matthews, James Van Alstyne, Mike Sexton, Allen Kessler, Perry Friedman, John Juanda, Greg Raymer, Cyndy Violette, Sabyl Cohen, Paul "Eskimo" Clark, Chip Reese, Thayer Rasmussen, Jeff Madsen, Erick Lindgren, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Young Phan, Marcel Luske, Marsha Wagner, Ted Lawson, Chau Giang, Ted Forrest, Steve Zolotow, Eric "Rizen" Lynch and Captain Tom Franklin.
David Sklansky is also here and chatting, and finally sits down.