WSOP Main Event Up and Running
Sunday, 6 July 2014
The most famous poker tournament in the world is under way.
Day 1a of the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event attracted 771 players to the Rio tables including a host of former champions, bracelet winners, rising stars and hopeful amateurs.
By the close, around 500 were still in with a shot of the mammoth $10m first prize with Martin Jacobson leading the way. The Swedish pro built his stack up to an impressive 200,100.
Of the five former World Champions aiming for more Main Event glory, Johnny Chan enjoyed the best start, bagging up 83,375 at the close. Ryan Riess closed on 70,255 followed by Chris Moneymaker on 69,850 and Tom McEvoy 31,900. It's not quite chip and a chair territory for Greg Merson but the 2012 champ will have his work cut out with a stack of just 7,125.
Plenty of other notables made solid starts to their 2014 Main Event challenge including Kenny Tran (115,400), Layne Flack (75,400), Ole Schemion (75,000), Antonio Esfandiari (59,775), Annette Obrestad (54,625), Mike Matusow (53,625) and John Monnette (38,500).
The British challenge is a strong one with Tom Middleton, Barny Boatman, Ben Jackson, Matt Ashton, David Vamplew surviving the opening day with decent stacks.
Irishman Seamus Cahill also made a great start. The 2011 Irish Open finalist bagged up 150,000 chips, good enough for third overall.
Day 1B starts at noon local time, (8pm in the UK) with an even bigger field expected.