The second of two events to start on Friday will be Event #12, $1,500 Limit Hold'em. Eight levels of play are scheduled for the first day, with a deliberate early pace and the feeling out of opponents the order of the evening until bustouts begin a few levels in. Action will continue through Sunday when the champion is crowned.
Gary Stycznski won this event in 2007, triumphing over a 910-player field. His victory was worth $280,715.
Players registered for Event 12 are starting to take their seats as play is scheduled to begin in approximately 10 minutes. There are currently 738 players signed up for the event, though we expect that number to grow over the next hour or so due to late registration.
The tournament clock now shows 831 players registered for this event, and counting. Event 12 now occupies the entire orange section of the Amazon Room, as well as several tables in the red, which are generally consumed by cash games.
Thus far we've spotted the likes of Terrence 'Not Johnny' Chan, 'Cowboy' Kenna James, Shannon Elizabeth, Tom 'Donkey Bomber' Schneider, Shane 'Shaniac' Schleger, Shaun Deeb, Michael Tomeny, Fred Goldberg, and a guy who looks an awful lot like the actor who plays "Hurley" on the hit television show 'Lost' (Jorge Garcia). We'll find out if it's really him, or just a very convincing look-a-like.
Australian pro Van Marcus suffered a minor setback after flopping a Royal Flush draw holding on a board against an opponent who held . Marcus improved to two pair when the fell off on the turn, but the river blanked ( ) and his opponent's trip jacks held up to take down the pot.
After the hand, Marcus was left with 2,025 in chips.
Our trusty field reporters have just informed us that we've lost our first casualty of the day. Despite the elimination, however, the 'Players left' graphic on the tournament clock continues to rise as more and more late arrivals make their way to their seats.