As we arrived over on Table 94, the small blind, big blind Toby Lewis, and the player in early position had already checked. 2002 Main Event Champion Robert Varkonyi bet 550 on a flop of and the small blind called. Lewis over-called, and the player in early position folded.
The hit the turn and the small blind led out for 1,000. Lewis folded and Varkonyi called.
As the completed the board and the small blind bet 1,500. Varkonyi thought about it for just a bit before he tossed his cards into the muck.
The Main Feature Table has Vanessa Selbst in the one-seat and Gaelle Baumann in Seat 5. Outer Table 1 has Jamie Gold as the main attraction, while Outer Table 2 has Scott Baumstein and Bryan Devonshire.
Yesterday, the second Saturday in July, the World Series of Poker Main Event got underway. A massive 795 player ponied up the $10,000 buy-in to compete in the premier poker tournament of the year, the biggest Day 1a in recent years. Just 576 of them survived, and they're coming back on Tuesday for Day 2ab.
A trio of former champions competed yesterday. Defending champion Qui Nguyen (96,700) and 2014 victor Martin Jacobson (36,800) bagged chips while 2007 first-place finisher Jerry Yang wasn't so lucky and hit the rail near the end of the day.
Today, the second of three starting days is scheduled. At 11 a.m., players from around the world head to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino for a shot at the most coveted title in poker.
Structure
Players start with 50,000 in chips. Levels are 120 minutes long throughout. After every level, players have a 20-minute break. The dinner break, 90 minutes long, takes place after Level 3, which should be around 5:40 p.m. Late registration for Day 1b of the 2017 WSOP Main Event is open until the end of the dinner break, so registration closes around 7:10 p.m. If you're too late, there's always tomorrow (Day 1c). Day 1b wraps up around 11:40 p.m.
Level
Duration
Small Blind
Big Blind
Ante
1
120 minutes
75
150
-
20-minute break
2
120 minutes
150
300
-
20-minute break
3
120 minutes
150
300
25
90-minute break
4
120 minutes
200
400
50
20-minute break
5
120 minutes
250
500
75
Players to survive today return to the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino Tuesday, July 11, 2017, to play another five levels.
Today's action starts at 11 a.m. PokerNews will be here the entire day with live updates from around the convention center of the Rio. Besides live updates, you can follow along via ESPN2 and PokerGo.
Start time
End time
Where to watch
11 a.m.
3 p.m.
ESPN2
3 p.m.
6:15 p.m.
PokerGo
Action Today
As the Main Event gets the cards in the air again today, a few other events will still be wrapping up. Event #19: THE GIANT - $365 No-Limit Hold'em is down to 27 players from a field of 10,015. After a long summer, where starting flights were held over the course of five Fridays, the players are now guaranteed $7,554 with $291,240 set aside for the winner.
Event #70: Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship is down to just five with Heidi May from Tasmania with a commanding lead. They're all assured $29,256 richer, but the bracelet and $135,098 is what they're all after.
The last event on the schedule today is Event #72: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship. Perry Friedman leads with POY heavyweights Chris Ferguson and John Monnette also still in the mix. Seven players remain, and $245,451 is set aside for the one winning the bracelet today. They have $30,817 already locked up.
PokerNews will be following every tournament to its conclusion this weekend.
A Long Summer
While the Main Event Day 1b is just about to get underway, a plethora of events are already in the books. The 2017 WSOP kicked off May 31 with the $565 Employees Event and $10,000 Tag Team Event. Bryan Hollis took down the first event, and popular poker duo Igor Kurganov and Liv Boeree received the second bracelet of the summer. Since then, dozens of events have been played, and PokerNews.com was there for each and every one of them. Millions in prize money has been rewarded, and hundreds of thousands of hands have been dealt. Take a look at all the results up until now:
$1,000 The Little One for One Drop No Limit Hold'em
World Series of Poker History
The Main Event began as an idea hatched in Texas gambler Benny Binion’s mind to promote his casino. In 1970, a small group of Texas rounders gathered at Binion’s for 10 days playing for high stakes in games like five-card draw, 2-7 lowball, seven-card stud, razz, and no-limit hold’em. Players voted on the winner at the end — Texan and future Poker Hall of Fame member Johnny Moss. By 1972, no-limit hold’em became the premier game and the $10,000 buy-in tournament that players now know as the Main Event was introduced.
In the intervening 47 years, the event has grown to mammoth proportions with numerous preliminary events. The championship bracelet was introduced by Binion in 1976 and has become the ultimate trophy in poker. Owning one has become the litmus test for poker greatness. The series has even expanded beyond Las Vegas with numerous circuit and bracelet events around the country and the world.
Binion surely couldn’t have imagined the scope that the game would become since his showcase began in 1970. In 2016, the WSOP drew 107,833 total entrants in 69 total events — the most in its history. The 2016 series awarded $221 million in prize money too, and the events brought in players from 107 countries — a sign of the international growth the game has undergone, fueled by the growth of internet poker and its popularity on television.
The venue has changed and numerous games and tournaments added, but the history remains. In recent years, some of those original games played in 1970 have even been worked back into the WSOP festivities in games like dealer’s choice and some of the mixed-games events. And the foundation of that remains the Main Event.
When players take their seats beginning today in those first starting flights, they are not just attempting to win a poker tournament; they are attempting to become part of the game’s history — a history that traces its roots from the Revolutionary War to Civil War battlefields to 19th Century steamboats floating on the Mississippi River to scorching Las Vegas summers. Win that bracelet and your name becomes synonymous with some of the best in the game. Thousands will try, but only one will raise that shiny gold bracelet in victory.