WSOP: Main Event Day 1D

The final day of registration at the World Series of Poker has become a day where the collective number of the group means more than any one player in the field. Although there were many big names that both survived and busted on Day 1D of the 2008 main event, all eyes fell upon the magic number. How many players would participate in the 2008 main event? The answer is in and that total is 6,844 players, making a total prize pool worth $64,333,600. The top 666 players will get paid, with the last man standing in November taking home $9,119,517 in prize money. There is quite a lot of poker to play between now and then though, as over 3,000 players still remain in the hunt for the prizes in this marathon of poker.

Day 1D was by far the largest of the day 1 flights in the 2008 WSOP, as 2,461 players waited until the final day to make their entrance in the tournament (there were six more players today than both day 1A and 1B combined). None of those players made an entrance with more pageantry than Phil Hellmuth, who arrived late in a military jeep, dressed as a general ready for battle. He was escorted in by a small platoon of ultimate bet soldier-ettes and he then took his seat in the field and still remains in the tournament at the end of play tonight. Another legend in the field today was Doyle Brunson, who was playing the same day 1 as his son, Todd Brunson, but Todd was eliminated before the end of the evening. Phil Ivey was another one of the biggest names in the game of poker to fall on day 1D, the odds-on favorite was out before the dinner break.

Another one of the most recognized faces in the game playing on day 1D was Johnny Chan. He started his day at the same table as a poker newcomer who is famous in his own right, UFC fighter Forest Griffin. In an ealry pot, with a board of Q-10-7-5-Q on the table, Griffin called all in and flipped over pocket sevens for a full house. His opponent mucked and Griffin doubled up to about 30,000. Griffin had hesitated calling on the river, and Chan said that with a full house there you pretty much always have to go with it. "It's much easier on a computer," Griffin replied. "I don't know what's going on here." Griffin was playing in the main event coming off of a victory over Quinton "Rampage" Jackson last night, and he had the bruises to show for it on his poker face down at the Rio today. Griffin had bruises on his forehead and ear, and his right eye was nearly swollen shut. Joining Griffin from the realm of UFC in the realm of poker today was Chuck Liddell.

John Phan had his quest for three bracelets at the same WSOP cut a little short today, in a way that can only serve as a testament to the extreme amount of luck a player has to have behind them these days to win this tournament. Phan was crippled late in level 4 when, after a lengthy period in the tank, he called his opponent's all-in bet of 9,000 on a board of K 5 5 A 10. His opponent showed A A for aces full and Phan mucked, having lost most of his stack in the hand. On the following hand, Phan moved his remaining 3,400 all in preflop and he was called by Colleen Caitlin. Phan confidently showed Q Q and asked, "You have pocket tens?" But Caitlin shook her head and flipped over A K. The board ran out A 9 5 4 9 and Phan was eliminated.

Here are some of the other notable eliminations on Day 1D: David Williams, Annie Duke, Noel Furlong (1999 world champion), Andy Bloch, Tim Phan, Chris Ferguson (2000 world champion), Dario Minieri, Micheal “The Grinder” Mizrachi, and Layne Flack.

Action ended just before 1 a.m. and the happy group of players bagged and tagged their chips for the night. Notable players near the top at the end of the day included David Oppenheim (123,000), Victor Ramdin (121,000), 2001 world champion Carlos Mortensen (109,000), and Gus Hansen (105,000).

Tomorrow will be an off day for the WSOP main event, after which the 1,251 remaining players from day 1A and 1B will combine at the Rio for day 2A, which begins on Tuesday, July 8 at noon.