World Series of Poker Main Event Update

Published on July 5th, 2009 5:27 am EST

Day 1a and Day 1b of the 2009 World Series of Poker main event are now in the books.

1,116 players turned out for Day 1a of the event, while 873 players turned out for Day 1b.

Saturday's turnout was weak due to the July 4th holiday, and also due to the fact that many players prefer to play on Day 1c and Day 1d (especially Day 1c) of the main event.

Expect a much larger turnout on Sunday and Monday - I would not be surprised to see the main event field still exceed 6,000 players, even though the first two days of the event have only seen a total of 1,989 entrants.

Eric Cloutier finished as the Day 1a chip leader with a total of 151k in chips, while Brandon Demes finished as the Day 1b chip leader (140k).

Doyle Brunson, Chris Moneymaker and Allen Cunningham are some of the well-known names who have already been sent to the rail after the first two days of play.

Here are some of the more notable names who have gotten off to strong starts:

Lex Veldhuis - 84k
Eli Elezra - 83k
John Hennigan - 76k
Joe Sebok - 75k
Greg Raymer - 55k

Day 1c will get underway at noon local time on Sunday. I would expect a very heavy turnout tomorrow, as mentioned.

We'll have another update once play finishes on Monday night.

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Filed Under: The World Series of Poker