The discussion during that break among many of the players had to do with how much more poker would be played tonight. Two more one-hour levels are scheduled, but it sounds as though we may well stop at some point before that depending on how many more eliminations we see.
The Tournament Director was explaining to a table just before the break that they'd definitely be playing through Level 9, then perhaps stopping at some point before the end of Level 10. Once the field gets down in the 11-15% range (of today's starters), he said, that is when a decision will be made about stopping play today.
Even though we have watched many poker professionals fall by the wayside throughout the day, there are still quite a few remaining. Here are some of them:
Shannon Shorr
Al Krux
Allen Kessler
Alex Jacob
Sigurd Eskeland
Scott Montgomery
Thierry Van Den Berg
Matt Matros
Nikolay Evdakov
David Sklansky
Kara Scott
Tony Dunst
Liv Boeree
Allen Kessler got off to a good start today, using pocket rockets on one of the very first hands of the day to nearly double his starting stack. He built up further from there a bit, but gradually slid back to below average before finally busting out here in Level 9.
Eelke Arjaans opened with raise -- as he has often done today -- this time for 1,500 from under the gun, and the table folded back around to the player in the big blind who called.
The flop came . The big blind checked, Arjaans continued for 2,800, and his opponent quickly folded.
Arjaans has built one of the bigger stacks in the room so far today, and presently sits with 68,000.
On a board of , the player in Seat 6 bet enough to put Scott Montgomery all in. Montgomery didn't seem confident but called nonetheless. Seat 6 showed for a straight which was good enough to win the pot. Montgomery flashed as he mucked his cards. He has been eliminated from the tournament.
Surprise! We thought we'd be making it to the end of Level 9, but in fact they've just announced players will be playing just one more hand before we stop for the evening.
A small cheer went up at the news, with some of the shorter stacks no doubt suddenly happy they've made it to Day 2.
Day 1a of Event #54: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em saw 2,340 players spread throughout both the Pavilion and Amazon Rooms. Among those who entered with the hopes of winning a gold bracelet were Tom Dwan, Chris Ferguson, Matt Hawrilenko, Berry Johnston, Faraz Jaka, Dennis Phillips and Dwyte Pilgrim. Unfortunately for them, they were unable to make it through the day.
On the other hand, a number of pros did survive and will be part of the approximately 350 players who will return for Day 2 on Saturday. Among them are Liv Boeree, Tony Dunst, Nikolay Evdakov, Shannon Shorr, Kara Scott, and Thierry Van Den Berg. Also in contention are the big stacks in the room including Eelke Arjaans, Ron Schutsky, Alan Keating, Sean Prendiville, and Tommaso Breotti.
Tomorrow a whole new field of players will take their seats at noon local time to compete for the last $1,000 gold bracelet of the series. We will also learn the total number of entries into the tournament and the subsequent prizepool. Join us then as PokerNews brings you all the latest hand updates, chip counts and action from Day 1b.