Day 1 Complete
Just like that another Day 1 has come and gone. It only took eight levels of play to cut the field of 482 starters down to just about a quarter of that in what was a very lackadaisical poker day compared to what we're normally used to seeing.
For a solid hour or even more, the entire field could care less about what was happening at their table and had all eyes locked in on the NBA Finals Game 7 between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers won, but they failed to cover the spread, making for a very interesting sweat as the clock ticked away in the game. Players were so worried about the game that you were almost shot if you happened to stand in someone's view of the TV screen. This really put a damper on our ability to get in the field and move around without getting screamed at. It was the same for floor staff, cleaning staff and dealers as well. Heck, even Chris Ferguson, who was seated right in front of the TV screen, removed his hat for the benefit of all the other players watching. Some players even tried to lobby to have the tournament clock paused while everyone watched the game.
Despite all of this, there was poker to be played. Justin Smith was extra busy multi-tabling the $5,000 six-handed event and this one along with Phil Ivey. The two ran back and forth and back and forth between events and it seemed to work for the most part as they both made it to the end of the day here. Smith finished out better than Ivey, bagging up 130,000 chips. In fact, Smith eclipsed the rest of the remaining field and will be the overnight chip leader going into the second day of action.
Also remaining are Shaun Deeb, Victor Ramdin, Ashton Griffin, Jesper Hougaard, Joe Serock, Andy Black, Liv Boeree and Jeffrey Lisandro.
A few of the notables to hit the rail were Greg Raymer, Matt Vengrin, Chau Giang, John Juanda, Layne Flack and Scott Clements. Daniel Negreanu had himself one heck of a roller coaster ride while it laster for the first few levels before he was too eliminated.
Play resumes tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. local time here in Las Vegas at the Rio for Day 2 where all the remaining players will still be in contention for the $260,517 first-place prize and the gold bracelet. Be sure to get right back here for all the live coverage as only PokerNews can bring it to you! We'll see you tomorrow.