Event 33 - $10,000 World Championship Limit Hold'em Day 1 | 2009 World Series of Poker

06-15-2009 11:56 UTC-12

Limit Hold'em World Championship Set To Commence

[user67765]

Welcome to our continued coverage of the 2009 World Series of Poker. The action from the Rio Hotel and Casino just gets bigger and better as today we bring to you one of the premiere events on the schedule, the highly anticipated $10,000 Limit Hold'em World Championship.

This event is one for the pros as it's set to attract a small but world-class field here this afternoon. Last year saw 218 players come together, with Rob Hollink capturing the bracelet and $496,931 in prize money.

The action kicks off in about 15 minutes time so stay tuned!

06-15-2009 12:12 UTC-12

A Chance for the Late Comers

[user67765]

It looks like tournament officials are giving players a few extra minutes to register for this event as the clock has been bumped back an extra 15 minutes until play gets underway. It currently displays 113 entrants with that number ticking up regularly.

Interestingly, Daniel Negreanu has been spotted here on time and ready to play, despite reports that he had sent twitter messages indicating that he'd "never play the first two levels of a limit tournament ever again".

Level: 1

Blinds: 100/200

Ante: 0

06-15-2009 12:22 UTC-12

Shuffle Up and Deal!

[user67765]

While many tables will start out short-handed, the immortal words have been spoken and the cards are now in the air.

We currently have 123 registered players.

06-15-2009 12:27 UTC-12

Who's Here So Far?

[user46392]

Wow, check out this field:

Jeff Lisandro
Max Pescatori
Matt Woodward
Erik Seidel
Scotty Nguyen
Bill Chen
Shaun Deeb
Dario Minieri
Daniel Negreanu
Barry Greenstein
Dragan Galic
Chad Brown
Brock Parker
Annie Duke
Maria Ho
Andrew Feldman

And with all these big names already here, most of the tables aren't even full yet -- expect the really cool kids to start filtering in around level two or thereabouts. This field isn't star studded, it's positively encrusted with the blighters.

06-15-2009 12:31 UTC-12

Some Interesting Tables

[user67765]

There are few soft spots in a field such as this, so most tables would be considered "tough".

A couple of tables that caught our eye in the early goings included table 233 with Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu, Justin Smith, Jerrod Ankenman and Todd Witteles, and then table 243 with Vitaly Lunken, Erik Seidel, Scotty Nguyen and Gavin Smith.

Also on table 246 we see two of the world's better known female players in action with Liz Lieu and Annie Duke sharing a table.

06-15-2009 12:40 UTC-12

Is This Short Handed?

[user46392]

There are so many empty seats that one could be forgiven for thinking this was a six-max event. When your bloggers arrived at 1:30pm, there were only 66 players registered and that number has since swelled to 137 -- so presumably all our missing high rollers will shortly appear, further increasing the enormous sickness of the already sick field.

06-15-2009 12:51 UTC-12

Pass the Dutchie for the Second Time?

[user46392]

Reigning champion in this event Rob Hollink is here, representing for the Netherlands. Hollink's bracelet last year remains the only bracelet ever to go to a Dutchman -- but among our latecomers today we have Pokernews Cup Alpine winner and EPT Grand Final final tabler Marc Naalden, as well as crazy-haired whippersnapper Lex Veldhuis, also hoping to bring it home for Holland.

And since he has just this minute busted out of the other event he was playing, we may well shortly see Noah Boeken as well...

06-15-2009 12:53 UTC-12

Negreanu Starts Well

[user67765]

Daniel Negreanu has collected a nice early pot to gain the ascendancy on the table of death that is table 233.

He bet/3-bet the flop and the turn against Barry Greenstein in a battle of the blinds, before firing one last barrel on the river on a board of {10-Clubs}

. Greenstein made the call but mucked when Negreanu tabled {Q-Spades}

for two pair.

Tags: Barry Greenstein Daniel Negreanu

06-15-2009 13:01 UTC-12

Some Late Arrivals

[user67765]

Some late arrivals include high stakes players Jennifer Harman and David Benyamine, seasoned overseas pros Jason Gray and Barney Boatman, and the man who recently captured his second WSOP bracelet, Daniel Alaei.