![[user252447]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
With more than $8.6 million in career tournament earnings and two WSOP Main Event titles, Johnny Chan is a true master of the game. Back in 1987 and 1988 Chan managed to take down the Main Event followed by a runner-up finish in 1989 to Phil Hellmuth.
Today Chan plays at one of the highlighted tables in the Amazon room, but unfortunately for the fans the first day won't be filmed by ESPN.
Also at this table is John Monette, winner of two WSOP gold bracelets. Monnette's a mixed game specialist but also knows his way around the no-limit hold'em tables. In 2009 Monnette recorded his best Main Event run when he finished 155th.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 |
The big names keep heading into the orange section and show no signs of slowing down.
We've spotted high-stakes superstars Noah Schwartz and Yevgeniy Timoshenko in their seats, along with Italian duo Andrea Dato and Dario Sammartino. Also in the field are the loose-aggressive Frenchman Johan Guilbert and British online grinder Sebastian Saffari.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
A tournament director has been called in the Purple section where two players having been playing heads-up for the first 15 minutes of the level.
With cards only supposed to be in the air when there are five players at the table, Eric Spencer and his opponent played a hand that saw Spencer turn a straight against his opponent's 
.
Once the tournament director was called over, he halted play since the table was three players short. Spencer - who already had built his stack to over 37,000 - now had to wait an indefinite period of time before he could continue building his stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
37,050 | 7,050 |
He has no less than seven bracelet but for now the Main Event's not one of them. Poker legend Billy Baxter has decided to enter this year's Main Event on Day 1a, as we've just spotted him at one of the tables in the Amazon Orange section.
Since 2008 Baxter has cashed in just two tournaments, a WPT and the $2,500 Razz at last year's WSOP. Baxter's first bracelet dates back to 1975 when he won the $1,000 no-limit 2-7 single draw. In the following years Baxter won two more tournaments of the same format and the $2,500 no-limit ace-to-five lowball.
Baxter's known as a lowball specialist, since all of his bracelets except for one came in this format. The last time Baxter raised his arms aloft to celebrate a bracelet win was back in 2002 when he won the $1,500 Razz tournaments. Today he'll try to survive Day 1a of the Main Event, a tournament he last cashed in 2007.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 |
Among the many faces in the orange section of the Amazon Room are a quartet of established grinders hoping to secure a $10 million payday.
Frenchman Bruno Fitoussi is hard to miss because his masses of grey curly hair, plus the man has recorded cashes dating back to the early 1990s.
British trio Duncan McLellan, Albert Sapiano and Barny Boatman are also in their seats. We spoke to Boatman before the tournament started and he said that he felt in the zone and was confident of a deep run in this massive tournament.
McLellan is a bricklayer by trade, but also a poker enthusiast who has had plenty of success on the United Kingdom poker, while Albert Sapiano is a legend in UK poker circles thanks to his unrivalled passion for the game and his willingness to get his stack into the middle of the felt with alarming regularity. Sapiano is self-made, making his fortune from importing honey many years ago.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
