PokerWorks

On Wednesday, July 7th, Day 1C of the World Series of Poker began with a host of big names among the playing field including Tournament of Champions winner Huck Seed, 2008 Champion Jerry Yang, PokerStars pros Daniel Negreanu and Tom McEvoy, Full Tilt Pro Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Johnny Chan, UB Poker pro Annie Duke, Kathy Liebert, Matt Savage, Barny Boatman, Robert Mizrachi, and Men "The Master" Nguyen.

However just as in the past several years, the biggest spectacle was Phil Hellmuth, who did not disappoint his fans or his home poker room UB, in drawing attention to himself by making another bizarre grand entrance. His arrival this year at the Rio was marked by him being robed as an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter as he was preceded onstage by an entourage of rappers. Along with an entire crew of "fly honeys” Hellmuth was introduced by UFC announcer Bruce Buffer, who boomed his announcement as Hellmuth was joined entering the Rio by UFC fighter Wanderlei Silva. The UFC theme this year was in conjunction with the UB Poker promotion where players can win prize packages to the UFC events which are a mixed martial arts sport.

The World Series of Poker Main Event on Day 1C saw a total playing field of 2,314 entrants which was up by 618 entrants from last year’s 1,696 players, which marks an impressive 36 percent increase. But even with the larger field of competitors this year, there were high expectations for Hellmuth to run deep in this year’s Main Event. But according to compncards' pick, those expectations definitely fell way short when Hellmuth was eliminated on his first day right after the dinner break. After getting off to a less than stellar start, the11 time WSOP bracelet winner came up against pocket Queens that royally sent him packing. As he calmly exited, fans cheered him and he graciously made many stops on his way to the door to sign autographs and smile for the cameras.

But Hellmuth wasn’t alone in finding the exit, he was joined by several other big name players who did not make the cut for Day 2A including; Huck Seed, Tom Dwan, Men Nguyen, Scott Fischman, Heads-Up Champion Ayaz Mahmood, Chad Brown, and Shaun Deeb. There were still some famous faces in the running at the end of the day however including Johnny Chan, Daniel Negreanu, Annie Duke, Kristy Gazes, Sam Farha and David Ulliott.

As far as the chip counts were concerned, Mathiu Sauriol ended the day with the chip lead of 168,900, while the top 10 chip leaders from Day 1C included Johnny Chan in second with 163,700 chips and Lauren Kling earned the title as top female player with 149,650 chips. Barny Boatman ended with 144,000 and Robert Mizrachi had 134,000.  

Coming in off his impressive performance of third place in the Tournament of Champions on the previous Sunday, Johnny Chan continued to make his mark from the very start of the day. He started his assault on the green felt when he more than doubled his chip count in just the first hour, and then managed to gradually increase his stack throughout the day. Thanks to his Day 1C performance, Chan has now silenced the critics who for the last few years have questioned both his desire and determination to win the World Series of Poker Main Event. This could be the year that Chan adds another bracelet to the 10 he already has, and if so, he will tie Hellmuth who is the record holder with 11 jewel encrusted wrist baubles.