Wednesday, August 02, 2006

After four days of intense play, the first round of the world's most
prestigious poker tournament is complete with 3,200 players still vying to
become the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion. The story so far
from the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Vegas is the strong play of
defending champions Joe Hachem (2005) and Greg "Fossilman" Raymer (2004). At
one time, professionals and amateurs alike wondered aloud whether these two
might be one-hit wonders. Now, their lasting power in some of the biggest
poker tournaments ever played is changing opinions. With two final able
appearances and three cashes already in 2006, Hachem has an above-average
stack in the Main Event after the completion of the "Day Ones." Likewise,
Raymer, who finished 25th in last year's Main Event, is in an above average
stack position after nearly busting early in the tournament. Both players
will seek to add to their big tournament reputations tomorrow (Aug. 2, 12
p.m. PST) when play begins again for Day 1-C and Day 1-D survivors.
Remaining players from Day 1-A and Day 1-B, a 1,600 player field that
includes a variety of big names an unknown amateurs alike, will compete
again today (Aug. 1).

Each Day 2 event will continue until WSOP officials are able to narrow the
field down to 700 players. Beginning on Friday, the field will finally
combine into one large group, with the tournament continually condensing
until the winner is crowned on Aug. 10.

All Hail the Big Stack

In the history of WSOP Main Events, being the chip leader after the first
day barely ensures making the final table, never mind winning the whole
thing. However, with more than 50,000 chips than his nearest competitor and
twice as many chips as the Day 1-A leader, Hossein Tagh Avi, who has 229,125
chips, is in a great position to go deep despite being an unknown face. In a
survey of the Internet's largest tournament poker databases, Avi's name did
not appear once, however, with the size of his stack going into Day 2 play,
that may not be the case for much longer.

Notable Names Still in the Hunt

Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Allen Cunningham, Robert
Varkonyi, Ted Forrest, Freddy Deeb, Kathy Leibert, Huck Seed, Charlie
Sewell, Layne Flack, David Chiu, David Grey, Jeff Madsen, Hoyt Corkins, Mike
Caro, Carlos Mortensen, John Juanda

Notable Main Event Busts

Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, Howard Lederer, Dan Harrington,
Gus Hansen, Jennifer Harman, Mike Matasow, TJ Cloutier, Bobby Baldwin, Chip
Reese, Erik Seidel, Chris Moneymaker, Juha Helppi, Lee Watkinson, Tony G.,
Clonie Gowen, Sam Farha, Phil Gordon, Tuan Le, Jeff and Barry Schulman,
Steve Danneman, Hasan Habib, Liz Leui, Antonio Esfandari, Marcel Luske,
Patrik Antonius, and more.

Notable Celebrity Busts

Jennifer Tilly, Lennox Lewis (Heavy Weight Boxing Champ), Tobey Maguire
(Spider Man), Shannon Elizabeth (Nadia - American Pie), Ron Jeremy (Porn
Star)