Seiver Leads Day of $50K Poker Players' Championship; No Ivey or Brunson
Day 1 of Event #44: $50,000 Poker Players' Championship attracted 73 players, but that number is likely to go up a bit as registration is open until the start of play on Day 2. Neither Phil Ivey nor Doyle Brunson made an appearance, and the poker world is waiting with bated breath to see whether or not they'll show up.
One man who did show up was Scott Seiver, who bagged up a nice lead with 350,700. His next closest competition is David Oppenheim with 279,000, while Justin "BoostedJ" Smith sits close behind with 273,300.
The first elimination of the day occurred in around of no-limit 2-7 single draw. It happened when Adam Owen opened for 1,800 from the cutoff and the aforementioned Smith three-bet to 8,000 from the small blind. Owen then four-bet hammed for 67,300 and Smith snap-called.
According to updates, Owen tanked for nearly four minutes before drawing one to 
. Smith stood pat with 
, meaning Owen, who received a 
, was drawing dead. Others who joined Owen on the rail as the night progressed were James Obst, Kevin Song, and 2011 champ Brian Rast.
Others who advanced to Day 2 are former champs Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (249,500) and Matthew Ashton (220,800), reigning WSOP Player of the Year George Danzer (217,800), and the reigning champ John Hennigan (212,100). Day 2 will get underway at 2 p.m. local time on Monday.
Top 10 Day 1 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Seiver | 350,700 |
| 2 | David Oppenheim | 279,000 |
| 3 | Justin Smith | 273,300 |
| 4 | Abe Mosseri | 267,900 |
| 5 | Randy Ohel | 250,000 |
| 6 | Michael Mizrachi | 249,500 |
| 7 | Dan Kelly | 242,500 |
| 8 | David "ODB" Baker | 238,000 |
| 9 | Matthew Ashton | 220,800 |
| 10 | Jens Lakemeier | 220,400 |