If you're a recreational player, and you decided to take a shot in today's $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-better event, then you probably don't want to find yourself at Table 32. There you can find Phil Ivey (8 WSOP bracelets), Mike Matusow (3 WSOP bracelets), and Matt Graham (2 WSOP bracelets). The three have a combined four bracelets in Omaha events, and Ivey also has a bracelet in Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo.
None of these players have cashed this year yet however, and Matusow is the only player among the three who recorded a cash in 2011. Ivey famously boycotted the WSOP, and Graham played very few events himself. Despite cashing three times, Matusow didn't have a stellar 2011 either - he recorded just over $30,000 in cashes.
All three players could use a WSOP boost, so why not start now?
The final number of entrants is 967, creating a prize pool of $4,351,500. The top 117 spots will be paid a minimum of $2,480, while the winner will win a hefty $264,400.
Play was four handed, and the board read , when the action checked to Dan Shak who fired a bet. Only Shaun Deeb called, and the completed the board. Shak bet again, and Deeb was forced to fold his hand.
Shak quickly flashed his cards to Deeb who smiled, and then tossed them into the muck.
Besides "split pot," which is something we'll be hearing a lot over the next three days, here are a few interesting things we've heard over the last level.
"I can hear that from over here," Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier quipped at Paul Volpe. By the looks of it, Mercier, Volpe, and possibly Eli Elezra, were playing a game of Chinese poker on their iPads and iPhones. Volpe couldn't turn the sound down on his phone, and it was annoying Mercier, who could apparently hear it even though he has a pair of Bose Headphones on.
At another table, a dealer was struggling with a broken chair, when David Steicke, who won the 2009 $100,000 Challenge at Aussie Millions, offered an empty chair at the table.
"Oh no," the dealer declined. "They'll yell at me for that."
Steicke tried to call a floor person to the table to rectify the situation, but unfortunately there was nothing they could do.
PokerStars Team Online Member George Lind III has the line of the day thus far. After a hand in which Josh Arieh was quartered, he offered some sage-like advice: "Hey, if you get quartered in every pot for the rest of the tournament, you won't get eliminated."
The entire table erupted in laughter, even Arieh who took a big hit to his stack.
The monitor hanging in the corner of the Brasilia Room reads "Entrants 928," meaning we've surpassed last year's field of 925 runners. With one more level of late registration to go, we expect that number to increase even more.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, when the action checked to Dan Shak who fired a bet. Only Shaun Deeb called, and the 
completed the board. Shak bet again, and Deeb was forced to fold his hand.
