Poker News

Johnny Chan finished Day 1C of the World Series of Poker Main Event ranked an unbelievable 2nd out of  1,646 survivors.

The 53-year-old, who has 10 WSOP bracelets, played typically aggressive poker throughout to dominate a huge field.

Canadian Mathieu Sauriol finished chip leader on a day in which another 2,314 players entered the tournament, meaning the prize fund is likely to be the second biggest in history.

It means 4,928 players have now entered the Main Event with one starting day - Day 1-D – still to go.

The largest live poker tournament ever held was the 2006 WSOP Main Event, which was contested by 8,773 players.

Today's play was started by reigning World Champion Joe Cada, who told  the assembled masses to “Shuffle Up and Deal” shortly after Midday.

It was another hugely impressive field and included former world champions Tom McEvoy (1983), Phil Hellmuth (1989), Huck Seed (1995), Scotty Nguyen (1998), Carlos Mortensen (2001), Jerry Yang (2007), and Cada (2009) as well as Johnny Chan (1987/1988).

Chan’s incredible performance is the first time since 2008 he has made a serious early challenge. That year he finished a credible 329th.

Scotty Nguyen, Carlos Mortensen and Cada also survived the day, despite suffering early scares.

After a typically dramatic entrance, Phil Hellmuth busted out in the middle of level four. Hellmuth's  pocket jacks lost to a higher pair, but very unusually he seemed in good spirits and even signed autographs on his way out of the Rio Hotel and Casino.

Huck Seed was knocked out just 45 minutes into play - the quickest exit of any former champion so far this year.