Day one of the $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em event has officially come to an end. There are exactly 270 players remaining which means that every player left will earn at least $3,478 for their efforts. Hand for hand play began with 22 minutes left in level 10 with 277 players remaining. Play became extremely tight, with no player wanting to be eliminated on the dreaded bubble. The atmosphere was one of panic as many players raced around the floor trying to see every hand, frantic with anticipation. Other players remained calm. Erick Lindgren frequently left after folding his hand and the more seasoned players simply remained seated throughout the whole ordeal. Roland De Wolfe, with the benefit of a large stack, seemed more concerned with the clock and his bet made earlier with Lindgren.

Play continued through the end of the level and past 2 a.m. Level 11 began and the blinds rose to $1,000-$2,000 with a $300 ante. The bubble burst at approximately five minutes after 2 a.m. and the Amazon Room was filled with a joyous roar. High fives and hugs replaced the hard stares and competitive behavior from earlier in the day. Many notable names remain in the field including Erick Lindgren, Thomas Wahlroos, Roland De Wolfe, Chris Moneymaker, Young Phan and David 'The Dragon' Pham. Play will resume tomorrow at 2 p.m. and event four, $1,500 Pot Limit Hold 'Em will begin at 12 p.m. There were 1,101 entries into this event last year and Rafe Furst took home the World Series of Poker bracelet and $345,984. Check back in to CardPlayer.com for tournament recaps and updates.

With three events still going on in the Amazon Room, the chaos and the crowds show no sign of letting up. Event number one, $5,000 Mixed Hold 'Em has 14 players remaining and play will continue until there are only 9 left. Event number two, $500 Casino Employees No Limit Hold 'Em is down to three tables, with 27 players remaining. Today's event, $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em is down to 308 players with 270 spots getting paid.

Following a flop of 632, the player in seat 3 pushes all in against Roland De Wolfe, who makes the call. The player in seat 3 shows 55 and De Wolfe is holding 93. The turn takes the mystery out of it when the 7 hits. The river was the 4 and De Wolfe continues to run through his table. Shortly after, Erick Lindgren was heard making a $2,000 bet with De Wolfe whether the tournament would get into the money with one level left to play. De Wolfe took the bet and said the tournament would not reach the money, to which Lindgren replied, "Ha! You're drawing dead!"

After amassing a respectable stack, Dustin 'Neverwin' Woolf took a $10,000 hit when he called an opponent's all in bet with AK. His opponent was holding QQ and Woolf never improved. One more level of play is scheduled for the day and with the hours adding up and the bubble rapidly approaching, play should continue at a steady pace.

The players have taken an extended break while tournament officials color off the green $25 chips. The announcement came over the loud speaker that the break will last at least 20 minutes because there are so many $25 chips in play.

Daniel Negreanu was eliminated during level eight when he got involved in a pot with Eugene Todd. All the money went in on the turn with a board of Q-5-4-Q. Negreanu had paired his five on the flop and Todd showed 7-6.  A three came on the river to complete Todd's straight and eliminating Negreanu.

Davidson Matthew was also eliminated during level eight. All in pre flop, Matthew turned over AQ and his opponent in the seven seat was holding QQ. The flop comes K63 and the only ace that couldn't help Matthew, the A comes on the turn. The river was the 9 and Davidson Matthew was eliminated.

Shortly before the break Chris Moneymaker found himself involved in a preflop betting war with two other players. Moneymaker was eventually all in against the player in seat one. Moneymaker exposed AA and his opponent reluctantly turned over K-K. The other player involved in the hand expressed his relief by saying, "Ha, good thing I folded my jacks." The board came J53J5 and Moneymaker doubled up to $60,000 and his opponent was left crippled. The player in the six seat and the other players at the table couldn't believe the two jacks hit and both Moneymaker and his opponent thanked him for folding.

The current chip leader is Michael Bonducci with $103,000 and there are two other players that are above $100,000 as well.

There are approximately 540 players remaining in today's $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em event. The field has condensed into the Amazon Room and level eight is already underway. Blinds have increased to $400-$800 with a $100 ante. The players will go on break following the completion of this level and the $25 chips will be raced off.

Roland De Wolfe looks calm and comfortable as he is getting a massage and hovering near the chip lead with almost $70,000. Erick Lindgren has been steadily putting pressure on the players at his table as well, raising often and using his stack effectively. With a board showing J76K, the player in seat two bets out $2,400. Lindgren smooth calls and the turn is the 2. The player in seat two leads out with $3,000 and Lindgren calmly says, "raise." Lindgren makes it $11,000 to go and the player in seat two goes deep into the tank. After several moments and several players at the table growing impatient the player in seat two makes the call. Lindgren turns over 108 and his opponent quickly mucks his cards, angry that he let Lindgren see the river.

Across the floor Bryan Devonshire continues to add to his stack. Devonshire bets out $2,200 preflop and gets three callers. The flop comes KQ5 and Devonshire fires out $6,000. His three opponents slowly fold. Devonshire turns over his cards with a huge grin and shows KK. "I'm sorry but I had to show you guys," said Devonshire as he collected the pot.

The players are back from a much needed break in the action. The remaining 22 minutes of level six have expired and level seven has begun. The blinds have risen to $300-$600 with a $75 ante and action picked up early following dinner.

Daniel Negreanu has finally moved into the Amazon Room to table 54. Though surely happy to be amongst the rest of the field, his seat is directly up against the rail with spectators only inches away. Commenting on his seat draw, Negreanu joked with the railbirds that he was fully aware they were there in cahoots with the players across the table from him. To the delight of the few closest fans, Negreanu was playfully careful about how high he lifted his hole cards for the next few hands.

Shortly before the end of level six Andy Black was eliminated when his AK ran into his opponent's 98 after an eight had hit on the flop. A few tables away Bryan Devonshire doubled up through the player in seat four with A10 when a 10 came on the river.

7:30 p.m. has arrived and the players are on a dinner break for an hour and a half. There are 22 minutes left in level six and cards will be back in the air promptly at 9:00 p.m. Both Nam Le and Jeff Shulman were eliminated from the tournament before the dinner break, leaving the exile of the Poker Pavilion for good. There are eight tables remaining in the Pavilion and things are relatively calm and quiet. One player observed out loud that, "It feels like we are close to the final table, but we are no where near it." One voice can be heard in the Pavilion however, and that is the voice of Daniel Negreanu. With the benefit of a large chip stack, Negreanu has been in his usual upbeat mood. Raising to $1,500 before the flop, Negreanu causes his opponent in the one seat to push all in for $4,075. Negreanu asked his opponent if there was any chance he had jacks and exclaimed to the table, "Well, you can rule out a bluff. There's no chance he's bluffing." Negreanu eventually mucked his cards after several minutes and then said aloud, "Good fold. That was a good fold, I'm proud of myself. Ace, queen." Following the dinner break, play will continue until 2 a.m.

Level five has come and gone in today's $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em event. Players are still filtering in from the Poker Pavilion ,with the likes of Davidson Matthew, Jeff Shulman and Daniel Negreanu still waiting for their chance to leave the warm and stuffy Pavilion and join the rest of the field in the Amazon Room. An increase in the number of cash games and satellites are the reason players were forced into the nearby Pavilion and we'll see if that becomes a common trend for the rest of the series.

Mark Seif and Kirill Gerasimov are currently seated at the same table in the Poker Pavilion and are causing headaches for their opponents as well as each other. Seif, Gerasimov and three other players all limp into the pot. The flop comes 1043 and all five players check. The turn is the 4 and the action checks to Seif who bets $400. Gerasimov raises to $2,500 and three players fold to Seif, who makes the call. The river is the K and Gerasimov pushes all in for $3,225. Seif goes into the tank and starts analyzing the hand out loud to the table. After several minutes Seif angrily folds to Gerasimov and assures the table that Gerasimov definitely had a four. The very next hand Seif lost another $4,000 when his opponent flopped a pair of sixes.

Level six has now begun and the blinds have risen to $200-$400 with a $50 ante. Play will continue until 7:30 regardless of how much time is left in the level and the players will go on an hour and a half dinner break.

As the players reached the second break of the day at the end of the fourth level, the long-awaited prize-pool and entrants have been announced.  A total of $2,998 players entered the tournament for a total prize pool of $4,092,270.  The top 270 players will make the money, with first 35 finishers receiving $3,478 (270-235) and first place being awarded $727,012.

The introduction of the antes in this level has seen the eliminations come fast and furious.  With all the alternates seated, tables have begun to break rapidly, and the tournament supervisors have begun to make shifts to accommodate  the restart of both Event #2 the Casino Employees Event, as well as a multitude of cash games.  Some tournament organizers seem to be a bit tired as they began to have entire conversations over the intercom in order to fill the new tables.

Phil Hellmuth's day ended before the end of level 4.  Hellmuth was all in preflop with K-K versus J-J, and watched as his opponent not one but two more Jacks to send him to the rail.  The railbirds will have plenty to see however with the antics of Negreanu, who has seen his stack swell to over $23,000.  These could indeed be deemed as "chirping chips"  as Negreanu has been very amiable and is having a great time.

 In other news, The tournament director's have also announced that the dinner break will still be at 7:30 despite the tournament having started late.

Freddy Deeb was all in for his last $25 chip after a flop of 1082.  Though he had only ace-high, his AK was in the lead against his opponent's AJ.   The turn increased Deeb's lead, bringing the K and making him top pair.  Deeb need only dodge a queen to take down the pot and survive.  When the dealer tabled the Q on the river, completing his opponents straight, Deeb seemed shocked. 

Phil Hellmuth was in a good mood after the 25 minute break.  This is probably because on the break he met Layne Flack,  followed him to a VIP lounge were a number of the game's greats were putting for money, and proceeded to win $18,000 from Doyle Brunson and Barry Greenstein. After his putting victory, Hellmuth raced back to the table and uncharacteristically, was barely late.  The first hand he picked up was two queens, and after flopping top set he was able to get his money in and double up.  Needless to say, quite a half hour for Hellmuth.

Out in the pavillion which has been cooled off slightly, Jeff Madsen, a new addition to Daniel Negreanu's table, admired the fireworks.  On a board of K442, Negreanu was pondering a call on a bet of about $1,100 by Robert Mizrachi.  Negreanu asked innocently, "Do you always have to have it?"  He then preceded to raise the bet to $3,500.  Mizrachi then pushed all-in, and Negreanu insta-called.  Negreanu showed 22 while Mizrachi was drawing dead with his A7.  A meaingless 7 hit on the river.  As Negreanu stacked his now impressive stack of $16,000, Madsen then quipped," Do you always have to it?" 

Greg Raymer, Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf, and Mark Seif have joined the notable chip leaders, and players like Freddy Deeb, Berry Johnston, and "Miami" John Cerntuo have hit the rail.  As level four is about to begin, players are buckling down, awaiting the announcements of the final numbers of entrants and the prize pool.