The Main Event got underway today with Jack Link\’s mascot Sasquatch grunting his way through the \”Shuffle Up and Deal\” with a field of 1,116 (down from last year\’s 1,297) starting day 1a. Jeffrey Pollack\’s vlog with Wicked Chops Poker, shown below, hopes to get 5,000 entrants, which would be about 25 precent below last year\’s 6,844. The lower than expected numbers could also explain the decision to play only 4 two-hour levels on days 1 and 2.
At the moment, there\’s about 4,000 registrants already signed up, most of which are on days 1c and 1d, so don\’t be surprised if you hear rumors about Monday\’s day 1d being \”closed\” for registrations to add some entrants to days 1b and 1c. Notables who have already been eliminated today include: Jerry Yang, Freddy Deeb, Orel Hershiser, John Phan, Gabe Kaplan, Davidi Kitai and 2009 EPT Grand Final winner Pieter de Korver. The unofficial chip leader is Dragan Galac at 110,000 in chips, followed by by 2006 EPT Grand Final winner Jeff Williams at 106,000.
Other notables with chips: Jason Alexander (84,500), Eli Elezra (84,300), Tom Schneider (57,000), Phil Laak (46,000) and Jimmy Fricke (45,000). More stuff this weekend, so come back to Pokerati often.
