PokerWorks

It was a relatively quiet day at the Rio as only one final table got underway and the noon event was the always small crowd drawing limit Deuce to Seven Triple Draw event. Things picked up a little at 5 p.m. as a $1,500 event kicked off but even that event was only able to draw 731 players. Here are some highlights from the day's action.

Event #39 - $1,500 NLHE

218 of the original 2,720 players returned. The players were already assured of getting at least their buy in back so the pressure of making the money was gone. It was time to determine who the best of the best was. Taking an early leave of absence were players such as Tony Dunst, Scott Seiver, Kenna James, Barry Greenstein , and Adam Levy. After the dinner break, they were down to three tables and Minh Nguyen was the only real notable name remaining. He would be eliminated in 22nd place, leaving the field to a bunch of unknown amateurs, professionals, and Internet players.

The final nine and their chip counts are as follows:

Thom Werthmann 1,600,000
Thanh Dat Tran 1,255,000
Curtis Early 1,225,000
David Woo 1,090,000
Matt Wood 675,000
Habib Khanis 645,000
Eric Beren 640,000
Jim Paras 535,000
Michael Glasser 495,000

Event #40 – $2,500 Limit Deuce to Seven Triple Draw

It's not often you see a field of 238 go down to 30 in a limit event, unless that limit event is Limit Deuce to Seven Triple Draw where raises and calling bets are the rule rather than the exception. Most of the big names in poker started the day in this event but as is usually the case in a poker tournament, most of them were gone by the end of the day. Those that started but did not make it through included Tom Schneider, Doyle Brunson, Maria Ho, Layne Flack, Daniel Negreanu, Chris Ferguson , Tony G., Allen Cunningham, David Benyamine, Erick Lindgren, Howard Lederer, and Phil Hellmuth.

There is still plenty of “star” power left though as some of the players remaining are Billy Baxter, Chau Giang, Ray Henson, Bill Chen, Robert Mizrachi, and Greg Raymer. Shun Uchida is the end of day one chip leader with 79,200 in chips. Play will resume at 2 p.m. as they play down to the ‘in the money’ spot of 24th place.

Event #41 - $1,500 Mixed Hold Em (Limit and No Limit)

A mixed hold em event is an usual beast. For 30 minutes, you get to play poker without having to put all your chips in (unless you're short that is) playing the limit hold em portion of the tournament. The next 30 minutes, insanity ensues as the NLHE specialists try and take advantage of the part of the game that they are best in. It's a fine balancing act that requires the ability to shift gears quickly and to understand the differences between the two games.

731 players started the $1,500 Mixed Hold Em event and they were unable to reach the money by the end of play as 98 players had survived the first day. The tournament pays 72 spots, so there is still some work to be done. Among the players still in contention are Nam Le, Rolf Slotboom, Stuart Paterson, Todd Witteles, Nick Binger, Alex Bolotin, Fabrice Soulier, David Levi, Brandon Lee, and David Plastik. The chip leader is Jonathan Tamayo who has 98,100 in chips. Play will resume at 3 p.m.