[Illusion]

The Main Event gets underway tomorrow afternoon. 8000 players are expected to play this year.

[Illusion]

LAS VEGAS -- Amateurs, seasoned pros and celebrities sat down Friday as the chips were divvied up and the cards dealt at the world's biggest poker game, the main event at the World Series of Poker.

By 2:30 p.m., there were 8,580 entrants registered, pushing the top prize to $11.7 million.

Alternates were waiting in the wings and new players were being accepted until Monday, when the grand prize could swell even larger.

At the very least, the last 12 players still standing when the 37th annual no-limit Texas Hold 'em tournament wraps up will become millionaires. The final table is scheduled to begin play Aug. 10.

"Everybody's got dreams and aspirations but you've got to get through a lot of people here," said Greg Severson, a 45-year-old building contractor from Upland, Calif., who qualified for his $10,000 seat online.

"One step at a time," he said. "First break, dinner break, first day. One day at a time."

By the break after the first two hours, about 80 players already had been eliminated. The first field of 2,140 players was set to play as long as it takes to get down to 900. A staggered start over four days will chop the field in half by Tuesday.

Celebrities such as "Spider-Man" star Tobey Maguire, Mekhi Phifer from "ER," James Garner of "The Rockford Files" and boxer Antonio Tarver ponied up to the felt for $10,000 each. Pros Gus Hansen, Eli Elezra, Michael Mizrachi, Barry Greenstein and Juan Carlos Mortensen also took to the tables Friday.

There was even a gaseous nun.

"Life's short," said Barbara Silvers, a 54-year-old retired card dealer from New Orleans, dressed in a nun's habit despite being Jewish. She lifted a cheek to cue her noisemaking cushion. "If you don't like this life, I feel sorry for you."

Thirty-three days of poker have led up to the main event at the Rio hotel-casino. In earlier rounds, a 21-year-old University of California-Santa Barbara student, Jeff Madsen, became a millionaire, and pro Phil Hellmuth Jr. won his 10th bracelet, tying the record with poker greats Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson and Johnny Chan.

James McManus, a poker player who became famous when Harper's magazine assigned him to cover the World Series in 2000 and he ended up placing fifth for $247,760, said on Day 1 of the main event, he's already "kind of pooped."

"I've been here since June 26th," McManus said. "If I advance, it'll be seven weeks. It, at least for me, answers the question, 'How much is too much poker?'"

[Illusion]

PLACE PLAYER AMOUT TREND AMMOUNT

1Paul McCaffrey111,800 $-200

2Mark Vos93,000 $-11,200

3Cuong Do86,000 $17,400

4Jeffrey Lisandro79,000 $12,000

5Pete Falk68,200 $-14,800

6Mike Erstling67,000 $-20,000

7Yervand Boyadjian65,000 $7,300

8Mike Epstein62,000 $-6,000

9David Pham59,000 $8,700

10Eric Buchman56,500 $-500

11Tom Richter56,000 $-18,000

12Matthew Maroon52,500 $3,500

12Aaron Katz52,500 $12,500

14Jesse Martin51,000 $15,000

15Hoyt Corkins50,000 $-8,000

16Luke Neely49,000 $-10,000

17Joe Tehan48,500 $9,500

18An Tran48,000 $30,800

18Julian Gardner48,000 $-2,000

20Billy Duarte Jr.47,000 $15,000

21Layne Flack45,000 $4,700

22Jason Strasser44,500 $14,500

22Luan Phan44,500 $-8,500

24Gregg Grivas44,000 $1,000

25John Hoang43,475 $-275

[Illusion]

PLACE PLAYER AMOUNT TREND

1Alex Minilsow94,350 $84,350

2Cory Butler90,250 $80,250

3Edward Brogdon90,200 $80,200

4Lars Bonding88,600 $28,600

5Eric Sonstegard83,000 $2,000

6Theo Tran82,950 $8,950

7Magnus Peterson82,575 $72,575

8David Chiu78,225 $33,225

9Daniel Clark77,750 $67,750

10Allen Cunningham77,625 $-3,375

11Jose Verela76,900 $66,900

12Al Barbieri76,050 $-5,950

13Todd Huynh75,800 $65,800

14Sean Johnson73,925 $63,925

15James Crowshaw73,500 $4,500

16Christopher Budak70,125 $60,125

16Akshay Kumar70,125 $15,125

18Eric Peters70,000 $-9,000

19Nicholas Montuori69,745 $-10,255

20Rob Lederer69,475 $59,475

21Eric Weiner67,000 $24,000

22Benjamin Logan66,625 $56,625

23Ayaz Mahmood64,000 $-4,000

24Harold Kizzire63,750 $53,750

25Adam Sweet63,000 $53,000

[Illusion]

PLACE PLAYER AMOUNT TREND

1Adam Jones123,000 $28,000

2William Thorsson115,000 $21,000

3Brendan Lewis112,000 $13,000

4Dario Minieri103,000 $-10,100

5Richard Gryko100,000 $90,000

6Per Sjogren98,000 $88,000

6Daniel Pelletier98,000 $22,200

8Charlie Sewell95,700 $-9,300

9Shannon Shorr95,000 $-30,000

9Mike Petrillo95,000 $20,800

11Jonas Hanssen90,000 $-4,000

12John Armbrust84,000 $16,000

13Jeff Banghart79,000 $69,000

14Daniel Negreanu78,500 $30,500

15Daniel Heimiller75,000 $23,000

15David Woo75,000 $1,000

17Rick Fratcher73,000 $12,000

18Elie Said70,000 $-20,000

19George Danzer69,000 $3,000

19Mikkel Hasa69,000 $10,000

21Jon Carlson68,000 $3,000

22Aaron Robbins66,000 $56,000

23Manelic Minaya65,000 $15,000

24Bernard Ko64,000 $11,000

25Paul Sexton63,000 $0

[Illusion]

PLACE PLAYER AMOUNT TREND

1Peter Tran142,000 $-6,900

2Alex Balandin120,000 $44,000

3Daryn Firicano117,000 $27,000

4Darrell Dicken110,000 $-10,000

5Jamie Gold107,000 $7,000

6Jordan Rich106,000 $16,300

7Paul Andrzejewski100,000 $90,000

8Justin Ghogomu85,000 $4,700

9Steve Conway80,000 $4,000

10Mike Schneider78,000 $-27,000

11Robert Varkonyi70,000 $5,000

11Mikael Thuritz70,000 $23,000

11Steven Schulman70,000 $60,000

14William Rector68,000 $4,000

15Brandon Redmerski65,000 $55,000

16David Dicken63,000 $31,000

17John Lee62,000 $52,000

17Henry Tran62,000 $-6,000

19Peter Feldman61,000 $21,400

20Alex Azadpeyma60,000 $8,000

20David Filippi60,000 $50,000

22Jeff Cabanillas59,000 $-1,000

23Ted Forrest58,500 $16,700

24Kassem "Freddy" Deeb57,000 $9,000

24Minh Nguyen57,000 $5,500

24Devin Porter57,000 $12,000

[JoshW]

Illusion - Thank you for all these poker updates over the WSOP, have enjoyed keeping up on winners.

[Illusion]

PLACE PLAYER AMOUNT TREND

1Jon Lane405,000 $55,000

2Ken Jacobs395,000 $81,000

3Jason Strasser330,000 $-22,000

4Matt Woodward290,000 $0

4Paul Wasicka290,000 $14,000

4Michael Lynn290,000 $0

7Joe Fuhriman280,000 $40,000

8Justin Holmes235,000 $10,000

9Matthew Maroon230,000 $5,000

10Bill Gustafik220,000 $100,000

10Eric Molina220,000 $0

12Sean Le215,000 $1,500

13Jeffrey Lisandro211,000 $53,000

14James Crowshaw210,000 $-25,000

14Sean Johnson210,000 $91,000

16Nelson Dismukes200,000 $-20,000

16Tyler Pendleton200,000 $190,000

18Richard Lewis190,000 $-10,000

18Ernesto Tohme190,000 $45,000

20Walter Novelli185,000 $-7,500

21Lee Kort180,000 $35,000

21Darryl Dare180,000 $24,000

23Gary Jones175,500 $26,500

24William Hill175,000 $41,000

24Aaron Clark175,000 $-20,000

26Allen Cunningham172,000 $-2,900

27Akshay Kumar169,000 $-9,000

28Lars Bonding165,000 $45,000

29Mark Petersen160,000 $69,900

30Erik Friberg156,000 $46,000

31WeiKai Chang152,000 $27,000

32David Chiu150,000 $25,000

32Robert Osborne150,000 $140,000

32Thomas Wahlroos150,000 $0

35Cuong Do148,000 $52,000

36Bruno Jais145,000 $0

37Rob Lederer142,000 $8,000

38Eric Sonstegard141,000 $81,000

39Brian Nadell140,000 $-10,000

39Mike Landers140,000 $-15,000

41Ted Lawson137,000 $-8,000

42John Kincaid133,000 $35,900

43Benjamin Logan131,000 $-1,000

43Michael Bower131,000 $31,200

45Michael Tait130,000 $-10,000

45Stan Goldstein130,000 $25,000

45Peter Sun130,000 $0

48Michael Brody125,000 $115,000

49Jon Einarsueen124,000 $114,000

50Robert Newton120,000 $-30,000

[Illusion]

PLACE PLAYER AMOUNT TREND

1Dmitri Nobles553,000 $-27,000

2Daniel Pelletier335,000 $140,000

3Daniel Negreanu331,000 $11,000

4Terris Preston310,000 $50,000

5Philippe Boucher305,000 $55,000

6Michael Binger254,000 $34,000

7Dario Mineri246,000 $1,000

8Jon Finkel240,000 $-50,000

9Alex Balandin237,000 $82,000

10Bradford Davenport220,000 $0

11Jeff Cabanillas210,000 $0

12Daniel Heimiller200,000 $25,000

13Jordan Rich195,000 $10,000

13William Thorsson195,000 $82,000

15Shannon Shorr190,000 $122,000

15David Filippi190,000 $60,600

17Richard Gryko180,000 $20,000

18Matt Wilson178,000 $168,000

19John Gale170,000 $50,000

19Jamie Gold170,000 $30,000

19Freddy Vaghefi170,000 $-8,000

22Mike Mustafa165,000 $-20,000

23Steve Conway160,000 $-5,000

23Phi Nguyen160,000 $-5,000

25Tomoyuki Otsuka155,000 $25,000

26Marcello Del Grosso151,000 $6,000

27Elie Said148,000 $90,000

28Alan Schein145,000 $-5,000

29Jeffrey Edy143,600 $133,600

30Joseph Hachem142,200 $14,200

31Johan Backfjard140,000 $2,000

31Chris Martin140,000 $-58,000

33Sirious Jamshidi135,000 $15,000

34Brendan Lewis131,000 $16,000

35Johan Wemmenhag130,000 $-50,000

35Debra Lalor130,000 $-50,000

35Brian Kornfeld130,000 $120,000

35Randy Gil130,000 $0

39Corey Marsh127,000 $33,000

40Ted Forrest125,000 $35,000

41Devin Porter122,000 $2,000

42Kevin O'Donnell120,000 $-28,000

42Brett Mayers120,000 $-3,000

42Erik Lindbarg120,000 $0

45Paul Sexton116,000 $-14,000

46Justin Ghogomu110,000 $10,000

47Bernard Ko100,000 $-25,000

47Rob Roseman100,000 $-80,000

47Mikael Thuritz100,000 $25,000

50George Danzer97,000 $-2,000

50Jonas Hanssen97,000 $14,600

50Albert Padilla97,000 $-10,100

[Illusion]

PLACE PLAYER AMOUNT

1David Chiu650,000 $60,000

2Kyle Bowler600,000 $105,000

3Jon Lane580,000 $80,000

4Lars Bonding560,000 $120,000

5Eric Lynch540,000 $126,000

6Dmitri Nobles530,000 $-4,500

7Mark Garner525,000 $45,000

8Jamie Gold515,000 $10,000

8Thomas Wahlroos515,000 $100,000

10Terris Preston500,000 $170,000

11Debra Lalor475,000 $15,000

12Mike Hwang450,000 $440,000

12John Magill450,000 $30,000

12Andras Karkus450,000 $115,000

15Albert Padilla445,000 $0

16Humberto Brenes440,000 $-20,000

17Mitch Schock430,000 $-20,000

18Matt Woodward420,000 $20,000

19David Angel415,000 $75,000

20Daniel Pelletier410,000 $20,000

21Bucky McMillan400,000 $390,000

21Noah Siegel400,000 $390,000

21Doug Kim400,000 $390,000

21Jason Strasser400,000 $-55,000

25Elie Said395,000 $20,000

26Dustin Holmes384,000 $-36,000

27Theodore Park383,000 $373,000

28Gary Jones380,000 $70,000

29Walt Schafer Jr.377,500 $367,500

30Ken Jacobs375,000 $15,000

31Mikael Thuritz365,000 $65,000

32Lee Kort360,000 $0

32Kevin O'Donnell360,000 $-10,000

32Rick Malcamura360,000 $350,000

35Mark Petersen350,000 $0

35Andres Korn350,000 $-40,000

37Brendan Lewis345,000 $130,000

38Peter Placey340,000 $5,000

38Paul Viola340,000 $-10,000

40Chris Martin335,000 $-125,000

41Matt Wilson330,000 $36,000

41Paul Wasicka330,000 $42,000

41Kelly Fitzsimmons330,000 $41,000

41Aaron Bartley330,000 $5,000

41Rob Acton330,000 $5,000

46Darryl Dare320,000 $25,000

46Eric Molina320,000 $-105,000

48Vipul Kothari315,000 $305,000

49Michael Katz310,000 $300,000

49Michael Lynn310,000 $-75,000

[Illusion]

PLACE PLAYER AMOUNT TREND

1Jamie Gold3,700,000 $240,000

2Max Reele2,358,000 $1,234,000

3James Routos2,279,000 $389,000

4Kyle Bowker2,272,000 $322,000

5Michael Binger1,889,000 $434,000

6Prahlad Friedman1,558,000 $408,000

7Ricki Nielsen1,388,000 $0

8Kevin Aaronson1,354,000 $-96,000

9WeiKai Chang1,343,000 $3,000

10Noah Siegel1,283,000 $803,000

11Brian Hansen1,273,000 $0

12Luke Chung1,271,000 $-129,000

13Dmitri Nobles1,252,000 $357,000

14John Ma1,250,000 $35,000

15Jeffrey Lisandro1,208,000 $3,000

16Dustin Holmes1,176,000 $26,000

17Eric Lynch1,085,000 $-15,000

18Ricardo Velasco1,050,000 $-200,000

19Mark Garner1,048,000 $298,000

20Chris Damick1,039,000 $39,000

21Richard Gryko994,000 $29,000

22Dan Abouaf992,000 $0

23Dave Murray991,000 $-109,000

24Doug Kim937,000 $9,000

25Lee Kort936,000 $-264,000

26Annie Duke919,000 $-11,000

27Cuong Do914,000 $-51,000

28Rick Mombourquette911,000 $-39,000

29Ken Jacobs896,000 $-69,000

30Thomas Wahlroos884,000 $4,000

31Cheng Yu876,000 $0

32Matt Wilson860,000 $0

32Tyler Teague860,000 $405,000

34Andrew Schreibman835,000 $0

34Humberto Brenes835,000 $175,000

36Tony Moretina817,000 $117,000

37Brady Shepard808,000 $-32,000

38Fred Goldberg791,000 $-29,000

39Kevin O'Donnell789,000 $0

40Lasse Ubostad782,000 $500,000

41Clint Brotherton760,000 $-290,000

42Alan Resh709,000 $-91,000

43Chris Kealy708,000 $433,000

44Dan Nassif702,000 $232,000

45Alex Balandin681,000 $-469,000

46Mitch Schock674,000 $-126,000

47Erik Friberg650,000 $330,000

48Paul Raeburn646,000 $-54,000

49Pat Dattilo638,000 $73,000

50John Magill636,000 $271,000

[Illusion]

LAS VEGAS -- Defending champion Joseph Hachem was knocked out of the World Series of Poker on Saturday night and finished in 238th place.

Hachem, who won $7.5 million last year, went all-in with a pair of aces, but lost to his opponents three of a kind.

At about 12:30 a.m. ET, Jamie Gold was the chip leader with 1.8 million. Alex Balandin was second with 1.5 million, WeiKai Chang was third with 1.35 million and Kyle Bowker was fourth with 1.23 million.

Other pros still in the running for the $12 million top prize were Annie Duke and Allen Cunningham.

Ken Jacobs, son of poker pro Tom Jacobs, had fallen far back in the pack.

The day saw several notables bust out, including pros Daniel Negreanu, Kathy Liebert and Cyndy Violette, and longtime player Hoyt Corkins. None of the remaining players will go home empty-handed. The final 873 players in the tournament are "in the money," meaning they win some portion of the $10,000 buy-in back.

The final table of nine will play down starting Aug. 10.

[Illusion]

Only 45 players left and it's anybodies event!!!

PLACE PLAYER AMOUNT TREND

1Jamie Gold7,330,000 $-770,000

2Erik Friberg5,905,000 $25,000

3William Thorsson3,545,000 $-405,000

4Rhett Butler3,210,000 $1,610,000

5Kevin Aaronson3,190,000 $-10,000

6Ricki Nielsen3,170,000 $170,000

7Siddharth Jain3,090,000 $-10,000

8Michael Binger3,045,000 $-155,000

9Jeffrey Lisandro2,995,000 $175,000

10James Routos2,775,000 $175,000

11Richard Lee2,350,000 $50,000

12David Einhorn2,340,000 $-325,000

13Robert Betts2,235,000 $-100,000

14Andrew Schreibman2,200,000 $100,000

15Dan Schmiech2,155,000 $-135,000

16Paul Wasicka2,055,000 $195,000

17Lee Kort2,005,000 $355,000

18John Magill1,955,000 $-95,000

19Eric Lynch1,940,000 $-160,000

20Rob Roseman1,845,000 $145,000

21Mark Garner1,810,000 $570,000

22Mitch Schock1,785,000 $565,000

23Kevin O'Donnell1,600,000 $50,000

23Prahlad Friedman1,600,000 $120,000

25Mikael Thuritz1,500,000 $400,000

26Paul Raeburn1,385,000 $-5,000

27Eric Molina1,360,000 $-40,000

28Doug Kim1,335,000 $-515,000

29Marc Friedmann1,315,000 $40,000

30WeiKai Chang1,295,000 $-105,000

31Allen Cunningham1,290,000 $110,000

32Brian Hansen1,230,000 $-120,000

33Rob Berryman1,150,000 $-100,000

34Cuong Do1,115,000 $-585,000

35Dustin Holmes1,100,000 $-100,000

36Fred Goldberg1,080,000 $180,000

37Kyle Bowker885,000 $235,000

38Sirous Jamshidi845,000 $-430,000

39John Lee805,000 $-35,000

40Richard Wyrick800,000 $0

41Humberto Brenes565,000 $-70,000

42Luke Chung560,000 $-40,000

43Leif Force510,000 $-200,000

44Dan Nassif495,000 $-805,000

45Lowell Kim350,000 $-15,000

[Illusion]

PLACE PLAYER AMOUNT

1Jamie Gold13,000,000 $-100,000

2Erik Friberg7,735,000 $185,000

3David Einhorn6,905,000 $-145,000

4Rhett Butler6,400,000 $-100,000

5Dan Nassif5,430,000 $-80,000

6Richard Lee5,275,000 $1,525,000

6Michael Binger5,275,000 $-160,000

8William Thorsson3,765,000 $165,000

9Jeffrey Lisandro3,750,000 $-50,000

10Kevin Aaronson3,670,000 $120,000

11Doug Kim3,595,000 $220,000

12John Magill3,275,000 $400,000

13Allen Cunningham2,650,000 $350,000

14Leif Force2,265,000 $-510,000

15Kevin O'Donnell2,130,000 $30,000

16Prahlad Friedman1,850,000 $350,000

17Eric Lynch1,785,000 $-115,000

18Lee Kort1,700,000 $0

19Rob Roseman1,685,000 $585,000

20Fred Goldberg1,611,000 $61,000

21Dustin Holmes1,210,000 $-40,000

22Sirous Jamshidi1,190,000 $-260,000

23Luke Chung1,100,000 $-200,000

24Paul Wasicka700,000 $0

25Siddharth Jain675,000 $-25,000

26Mark Garner635,000 $-60,000

27Richard Wyrick570,000 $-255,000