It is still early in a limit tournament, which means big hands and exciting action is few and far between. With that said, we have spotted two former champs of this event in the field. Todd Witteles won this event back in 2005 after conquering 406 players. He won his first bracelet while also taking home the $347,385 first-place prize.
The other former champion is PokerStars Team Pro (Canada) Daniel Negreanu, who won in 2008. That was Negreanu's latest bracelet, bringing his total to four. He overcame a field of 479 runners to lay claim to the $204,863 first-place prize.
Both of these players will certainly be worth keeping an eye on.
We saw Daniel Negreanu call a player’s turn bet on a board. Negreanu called the player’s bet on the river as well and the opponent said “you’re good” as Negreanu showed . The player then said “wait a minute, you’re not” and showed for a missed straight draw that turned into a backdoor flush that he hadn't realized at first. Negreanu was down to 6,600 after the hand.
We walked upon Eric "Efro" Froelich's table to see him raise to 150 from the hijack. Only the big blind made the call and the duo watched the flop come down . The big blind promptly checked, Froehlich bet 75, the big blind check-raised to 150, Froehlich three-bet to 225, and the big blind made the call.
When the dealer burned and turned the , it went check, bet 150, raise to 300, and call, leading to the on the river. Once again the big blind checked, Forehlich bet 150, and the big blind made the call. Froehlich rolled over , which sent the big blind shooting out of his chair and revealing .
"Chop," one of their tablemates said. "Calm down, calm down." Indeed, a chop was the result.
We caught up with the action on an board where Eric Froehlich bet and was called. The action was the same on the river and Froehlich showed . He had his opponent’s outkicked and has chipped up to 11,000 so far.
If you're looking for some fun facts about the WSOP, check out these numbers provided by the WSOP Media guide.
The WSOP by the Numbers
$1,228,375,121—total prize money awarded
$8,944,310—Amount Jonathan Duhamel won for winning the 2010 Main Event
525,000- # of individual poker chips deployed to run the WSOP each year
420,834- # of entrants that have competed in the WSOP
50,792- # of total entrants to compete in the WSOP Main Event
$50,000—Highest buy-in for a WSOP bracelet event in 2011
41,417- # of entrants that have cashed
7,318- # of people Jonathan Duhamel beat in 2010 to become champion.
1970—Year that the first WSOP was held at Binion’s Horseshoe in Las Vegas
893- # of WSOP Gold Bracelet winners [WSOP classifies all past winners as Bracelet winners]
888- # of Official WSOP events [5 Mixed Double events had 2 winners, but were 1 event]
858- # of gold bracelets awarded [In 1974, the Main Event winner received a bracelet. 1975 became the first year all event winners received a gold bracelet. In 1982, gold watches were awarded to the 15 winners instead].
$500—Smallest buy-in for a WSOP bracelet event in 2011 [Employee’s Event]
193- # of millionaires created by the WSOP.
117- # of nations represented at the 2010 WSOP [82 nations competed in Winter Olympics]
97- Age of Jack Ury in 2010, the oldest player ever to compete in a WSOP event.
40- # of cameras ESPN uses to cover WSOP [FOX used 32 to cover Super Bowl XLIV]
After a quick roam around, we've spotted the following players in the field. However the majority of tables are far from filled yet so we're sure that plenty of others will be taking their seats soon enough.
board. Negreanu called the player’s bet on the 
river as well and the opponent said “you’re good” as Negreanu showed 
. The player then said “wait a minute, you’re not” and showed 
for a missed straight draw that turned into a backdoor flush that he hadn't realized at first. Negreanu was down to 6,600 after the hand.
, it went check, bet 150, raise to 300, and call, leading to the 
on the river. Once again the big blind checked, Forehlich bet 150, and the big blind made the call. Froehlich rolled over 
, which sent the big blind shooting out of his chair and revealing 
.
board where Eric Froehlich bet and was called. The action was the same on the 
. He had his opponent’s 
outkicked and has chipped up to 11,000 so far.
