wsop main event begins

The main event of the WSOP started today. Meanwhile the last five days have been an absolute star parade of tournament winners. Since my last post on the WSOP, We've had a Phil Hellmuth/Daniel Negreanu/Erik Seidel finish in the $3k no-limit holdem;
John Juanda (left) beat out a final table including Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and Phil Ivey in the $2.5k pot limit omaha; 2001 world champ Carlos Mortenson won the $5k limit holdem; and yet another win for Men "The Master" in the $1,500 A-5 triple draw lowball.

These big name finishes are great for poker, especially coupled with the WPO coverage. Getting a celebrity circle going is crucial for the popularity of any sport, and the number of big names winning events this year is pretty amazing. Although it makes me feel like more of a longshot to win one than ever, it's good for the game.

The main event has set new records with a huge 839 entrants ponying up $10,000, including around 50 entrants who won spots in online tournaments. (Never mind that they probably won them illegally if they were playing online from the US). Top prize is going to be $2,500,000 and second a cool $1,300,000. A few years ago top prize was just $1m -- it's more than doubled since then as interest in poker and the WSOP has ballooned in the USA and abroad.

The highlights: John Juanda is out with AQ against AJ; Negreanu made the first bust of the day with a J-high flush against kings; Hellmuth seems to be doing pretty nicely. There is some great live coverage at The Gutshot Poker Collective.

Update: Live Action Poker also has some pretty decent daily coverage on WSOP results. Latest: last year's cinderella story Robert Varkonyi busted out with KK vs. Scotty Nguyen's AA. Day one results at PokerPages here - Ivey, S. Nguyen and Hellmuth all doing pretty good.

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