PokerWorks

The largest day thus far of the Main Event started with 1,928 poker players putting their poker dreams and hopes on the line. The total number of participants through the first three days was 4,383 meaning with a day of just over 2,000 players on Day 1D the 2008 Main Event would top the 2007 Main Event and be the 2nd largest poker tournament in history (behind only the 2006 Main Event, which might never be topped). On this day, country singer Andy Griggs started things off with a new song called “It's all about the money” and then tournament director Jack Effel was given the honors of saying “shuffle up and deal.”

Amateurs abound started the day and many of them had to tangle with some of the biggest names in poker. The pro's had as rough a time as any of them though and before the day was over the following pro's would no longer be playing: Michael Gracz, Dustin Woolf, Max Pescatori, Daniel Alaei, Mike Sexton, Gavin Griffin, Scott Seiver, Isaac Haxton, Justin Bonomo, Joe Tehan, J.C. Tran, Jeffrey Lisandro, Bryan Devonshire, Kirk Morrison, T.J. Cloutier, Tony G., Marcel Luske, Sam Farha, Jared Hamby, Scott Freeman, and Nam Le.

Former Main Event winner Huck Seed would be one of the first to go when he got it all in with 9-7 on a 3-7-7-Q board and found he was outkicked by his opponent's A-7. Seed lasted just under 20 minutes. Former champions Brad Daugherty, Joe Hachem, and Chris Moneymaker made it through the day.

Of the 1,928 that started, over half were still alive at the end of the day as 1,026 still had chips left when play was stopped. After the first three days, 2,277 players are remaining. This number will be close to 3,500 by the end of day 1D. Here are some of the notable players and their chip counts (players started with 20,000 in chips):

David Singer 119,425
Brad Booth 110,825
Evelyn Ng 110,225
Russell Rosenbloom 95,550
Nenad Medic 93,200
Brett Richey 87,975
Sorel Mizzi 86,500
Brian Townsend 85,650
Brian Rast 76,150
Chris Moneymaker 68,525
Liz Lieu 68,025
Matt Matros 66,475
Jim McManus 63,850
Gabe Costner 59,900
Rolf Slotboom 52,425
Mike Matusow 52,000
John Strzemp 51,350
Bertrand Grospellier 49,900
Bill Chen 48,750
Arnold Spee 44,475
Isabelle Mercier 40,725
Matt Graham 37,425
John D'Agostino 35,400
Lee Childs 34,550
Eric Baldwin 33,550
John Murphy 33,250
Jordan Rich 27,475
Michael Binger 24,825
Brad Daugherty 22,250
Adam Levy 19,325
Mel Judah 14,150
Joe Hachem 13,000
John Juanda 12,300
David Sklansky 6,350

Norwegian player Henning Granstad is the day 1C (and overall thus far) chip leader with 242,950 in chips. Players from 1C will return on day 2B on Wednesday.