There was a special guest today to announce "shuffle up and deal" to the poker players in attendance for this event. Congressman Joe Barton from Texas' 6th congressional district came out to show his support for the game and reassure poker players that there is hope for the eventual return of online poker to the United States.
Barton urged players to join the Poker Players Alliance and continue to fight for the rights of poker players.
As a thunderous applause for Barton subsided, cards were officially in the air for this massive bracelet event.
Welcome to our coverage of World Series of Poker Event 53: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em. We're expecting an enormous field for this one as the line to register is currently wrapped all the way through the queue and down the hall. Over 2,000 players are already registered and late registration will go through the first four levels. These $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em events always have large turnouts and because of that the prize pool becomes remarkably high. Once registration closes today we will have official prize pool information.
Last year this event saw an astounding 2,713 entries and may be on par to receive even more this year. This event was won last year by Athanasios Polychronopoulos, who not only has two final tables and one bracelet under his belt, but he also happens to have the longest name of any bracelet winner which is a title he will most likely hold for a long time.
Players will play a full eleven levels today which equates to eleven hours of poker. They will take a 90-minute dinner break after six levels and a vast majority of the field will have been eliminated by the end of the day. If this event follows the same trend as past $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em events this WSOP, we will hit the money after a few levels into Day 2 play.
As we wade through the remarkably large field today, make sure to also check out activities on the other side of the WSOP as forty-eight players return for Day 3 in Event 50: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em.
We're mere moments away from cards flying here in the Brasilia room and the mood is electric as every player who walks through the doors is focused on becoming the next WSOP champion. Stay tuned for all of the latest updates throughout the day!
