Day 1a and 1b of WSOPE Main Event is in the books Day 2 underway

A look at Day 1a of the 2010 World Series of Poker Europe

137 players registered for the first of two Day 1 flights of the 2010 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event, and when the smoke cleared there were but 78 players who were able to bag their chips before a much-needed day-off tomorrow. The remaining players will join the survivors from Day 1b to take part in Day 2 of the WSOPE on Saturday.

Attendance was down slightly from last year, but the 19 fewer players can easily be made up for tomorrow. In 2009 156 players registered for Day 1a, with 79 players making it through to Day 2.

Some of the big names that fell by the wayside on Day 1a were Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler, Vanessa Selbst, Andy Bloch, Chad Brown, Scott Seiver and James Dempsey. Two November Nine members also failed to make it to Day 2 Jonathan Duhamel and Joseph Cheong. The biggest elimination of the day was Phil Hellmuth, who showed up with marching band in tow, the obligatory models, and Lady Gaga blaring.

A number of top pros were able to extend their stay in London by at least two days; among those surviving Day 1a were Bruno Fittousi, Huck Seed, Allen Cunningham, Jason Mercier, Faraz Jaka, Nick Schulman, Eugene Katchalov, Leo Margets, Ross Boatman, Barney Boatman, David Baker and Arnaud Mattern.

A look at Day 1b of the 2010 World Series of Poker Europe

Day 1b of the 2010 WSOPE saw a huge number of players take to the felt at the Casino of the Empire in London. In all 209 players registered for the second starting day of the event, crushing the 178 number put up at last year’s WSOPE. Combined with Day 1a’s numbers, the tremendous turnout from Day 1b also eclipsed the attendance record set last year by 12 players: 346 compared to 334.

Two November Niners made it through to Day 2 of the WSOPE, John Dolan, who is currently second in chips, and John Racener. Since virtually every name in the tournament seems to be a top poker pro, here is just a taste of some of the other big names that survived Day 1b: Phil Ivey, Viktor Blom, 2009 champ Barry Shulman, and 2009 runner-up Daniel Negreanu.

Day 2

As I write this Day 2 of the tournament is in process and the big names are flying up the leader-board! Here is a look at the top 10 chip-counts (unofficially):

1. Phil Ivey  302,000
2. Viktor Blom  290,000
3. James Mitchell  210,000
4. Barny Boatman  185,000
5. McLean Karr  185,000
6. Andrew Pantling  183,000
7. Thomas Bichon  180,000
8. Nick Schulman  169,000
9. Darren Woods  161,000
10. Quinn Do  155,000