Hay! $50K HORSE is Underway

It\’s on.

In a way, it was on more than an hour before kick-off time at 5pm PST because the fans were lined up – packed, in fact – all along the rails quite awhile before the players arrived. Everyone knew it would be a who\’s who of poker in the house, and I guess you never know what these nutty poker players might do… Fans had their cameras ready, fingers firmly pressed on the zoom lens due to the space between the rail and most of the tables, and they waited.

The players began showing up, the ESPN film crews were in motion, media cameras were snapping, and the tournament area was bustling. Finally, after a few words from Effel about the tournament, from Pollack about the memory of Chip Reese and the new 2008 trophy in his honor, and from Freddy Deeb about how much the staff\’s work is appreciated, Deeb asked the dealers to kindly \”shuffle up and deal.\”

As expected, the crowds in the tournament area dispersed, and players began what each hopes to be a 5-day grind. (Currently, the board shows a count of 146 registrants.) All of the big names are here, along with some online pros, and some new faces who possibly qualified online. More updates as the evening goes on.