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The number on the board now says 605 and registration is open for another half hour. Our prediction is that we are in for a long, long three days of stud hi/lo here.
Among those who have recently appeared at the tables are Nikolay Evdakov, Rod Pardey, Svetlana Gromenkova, David Singer, Richard Toth and Jason Mercier.
This event proved a monumental occasion for comedian Norman Chad last year as he recorded his first ever WSOP cash by finishing 32nd for $3,288. It would appear as though his success has made him hungry for more, as the ESPN host has returned in 2010 with a spring in his step and a glint in his eye - and, I expect, another joke about an ex-wife - and will be looking to build on his performance from last year.
It's been a shaky start so far, however, as Chad has dropped down to just below 4,000 chips.
Team PokerStars has put forward its fair share of big names for this event. Check 'em out:
George Lind
Marcel Luske
Greg Raymer
JP Kelly
Chad Brown
Vanessa Rousso
Michael Keiner
And these are just the players already in their seats. We expect a good few more Team Pros to appear come the start of Level 3 when the late registrants are permitted to take their seats.
Dan Heimiller, whose website declares him one of the best $11 with rebuys online hold'em tournament players in the world, has just arrived and taken his seat at the feature table.
His website may be somewhat lighthearted, but his recent results are very serious indeed - he's already made two final tables at this year's WSOP, including the $1,500 Seven Card Stud a mere two days ago, and narrowly missed out on a third when he came ninth in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship.
Like, well, much of the field, Heimiller is currently on around his 4,500 starting stack.
A three-way pot involving Chip Jett had the board reading:
Opponent 1: {X}{X}/
Chip Jett: {X}{X}/
/{X}
Opponent 2: {X}{X}/
/{X}
Jett, showing a pair of aces, checked on seventh street and his opponent bet. Sensing he was beat, Jett called and announced he just had aces. His opponent tabled down cards of 
for two pair, winning the pot.
Chip Jett slipped to 4,100.
Some of these players have worse punctuality than Virgin trains, but when you've won a bracelet, as is the case with recent stud champion Richard Ashby, then I suppose you can afford the occasional lie-in. Taking their seat alongside "Chufty" are a number of other established pros such as Gavin Smith, Andy Bloch, "Miami" John Cernuto and David Levi, whilst lowball bracelet winner Peter Gelencser is also in the house.
We found David Sklansky turning over his cards on seventh street and revealing a heart flush. Although his opponent spent a minute or two sadly rearranging his trip jacks on the table in case they miraculously made something better if he did that, the flush was the better hand and Sklansky bumped his stack up to 5,400.
Level: 2
Blinds: /
Ante:
Spotted in the field - one Liv Boeree, recent winner of EPT San Remo.
She's reading a book. It is Doyle Brunson's Super/System. It is open to the chapter on hi/lo stud eight-or-better.
"This is my first time playing stud live," she confessed. "I mean, I've played it online, but I'm scared."
Nothing to worry about, Ms. Boeree! It's just the same.
I must confess, with my first year at the World Series being 2005, there are a lot of faces in this event that I don't recognise, but as I snake in and out of the tables I get the strange feeling that there is more character, more history, and more interesting anecdotes in this one field than many others combined.
Speaking to Nolan Dalla on the sidelines, I did learn the name of one individual who would have his fair share of stories to tell. Howard 'Tahoe' Andrew is a name some people may have heard once or twice, but a face very few people in the room will recognise. But despite his unfamiliarity, he is a legend of the game, and holds the record for the most consecutive appearances of at the World Series having participated for the last 36 years.
He is also a double bracelet winner, taking down two no-limit hold'em events all the way back in 1976. These were his first recorded results, and since then he has picked up over $1.3 million in tournament winnings. Sadly, 1976 was both both the first and last time Tahoe won bracelet gold, but maybe this could be his year. It would surely be the biggest gap between bracelet wins, and then it would be I who have a story to tell.
