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 After
a long first day of poker at the main event of the Jack Binion WSOP Circuit at
Grand Casino, 77 players remained in the field. The 164 players who were
knocked out on the first day earned exactly as much as the 50 players who were
due to be eliminated - namely, a free walk back to their hotel rooms. The chip
leader at the beginning of the day was Josh Prager, a Full Tilt Poker
qualifier from California whose only career cash was 96th in the 2005 WSOP
Main Event. He brought $89,825 in chips into play as the day began. Close on
his heels were Bryant King, Don Mullis, Hertzel Zalewski, and Brian Lamkin, as
well as familiar professional players Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, and Layne
Flack. The starting field on Day One might have been smaller than usual, but
the competition was certainly fierce.
The first hour saw the departure of a number of accomplished players. Dutch
Boyd, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, David "The Dragon" Pham, Chris Bell, Frank
Kassela, Bob Stupak, and 2005 WSOP Main Event final tablist Andy Black were
all eliminated in that time. Before the first break, 22 players had been
knocked out of the field. That left only 28 more players to be eliminated when
the second level of the day began, which appeared to be a sign that things
would move along quickly on Day Two.
The second level saw the departure of more familiar faces. Probably the most
recognizable player to take his leave was Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, who was
taken out by fellow Full Tilt pro Erik Seidel. Matusow called a fairly large
preflop raise from Seidel with J-T and managed to catch top pair on the flop.
Seidel was first to act and bet enough to put Matusow all-in, leaving the
Mouth to make a particularly tough decision. Eventually he made a great call -
Seidel held A-K - but Seidel spiked a king on the river to send Matusow
packing. On the very next hand, Gavin Smith got all-in with A-Q but was
eliminated when Jeff Siebert called with 6-6 and his pair held up. The last
departure of the level was Matusow's fellow WSOP final tablist Tex Barch, who
got in with the best hand but found himself outdrawn on the final card. In
all, 11 players left the field on the second level of the day.
The day's third level saw the elimination of probably the best story in the
entire field. Jessica Brown, who had never played in a live tournament before,
was taken out in the upper 30s when she made a desperation move with Q-9 and
ran into A-K. Her road to the main event was the kind of story everyone dreams
of - she played a $65 satellite and won, played another $65 satellite and won,
and then took her winnings to a $1,000 satellite and won that as well. Her
departure left a field consisting entirely of men, as Kathy Liebert had been
eliminated long before Brown. Joining Brown on the rail by the end of the
third level were Chau Giang and Jean-Robert Bellande. Several more
accomplished players were knocked out in the next level as well, including
Padraig Parkinson, John Juanda, and Karlo Lopez. One of the final players to
be taken out was the man who came into the day as the chip leader - Josh
Prager found himself sent to the rail at the hands of Chad Brown.
At the end of the day, the picture of who might make the final table was
beginning to form. Daniel Negreanu and Bryant King continued to run well,
consolidating their chip positions. Brian Lamkin of Austin, TX, and Don Barton
of Pahrump, NV, built powerful stacks and found themselves at the top of the
leaderboard, while Daniel Alaei of Santa Fe Springs, CA, and Lee Markholt of
Eatonville, WA, were lurking close behind. Also in the running were
professional Bill Edler, WSOP Circuit regular Don Mullis, respected pro (and
Super System 2 contributor) Mark Gregorich, 2005 Tournament of Champions final
tablist Brandon Adams, and high-stakes player Todd Brunson. Only 9 of the
remaining players would finish outside the money on Day Three, leaving room
for plenty more drama when play resumed on Thursday.
Don Barton $244,200
Brian Lamkin $218,900
Lee Markholt $169,600
Daniel Alaei $140,900
Daniel Negreanu $140,200
Ernest Shepherd $132,500
Khosrow Naraghian $116,500
Brandon Adams $111,400
Bryant King $110,300
Bill Edler $106,100
George Bronstein $98,200
Hertzel Zalewski $95,100
Chad Brown $86,100
Phil Galfond $79,400
Kia Mohajeri $77,600
Wendell Barnes $67,900
Willis Fillers $54,000
Robert Schulz $49,000
Mark Gregorich $45,300
Michael Tait $40,400
Roland Israelashvili $40,000
Galen Kester $39,800
Todd Brunson $36,900
Larry Satterwhite $34,600
Miguel Mateo $31,800
Don Mullis $18,300
Bruce Sturgeon $13,600
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