WSOP Event #23: The Defending Champ Matusow Entering Day 2

The $10,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw event perhaps didn't see
hundreds of players joining the field, but the 96 that came were more
than enough to attract a lot of attention. With the prize pool of $902,400, top 14 spots paid out and the first place receiving $172,863, everything was ready for the tournament to begin.

The strength of the field
was astonishing and the best example as to why was that so would be Table 248, as it had a
total of 34 bracelets at one point. Doyle Brunson (10), Johnny Chan
(10), Phil Ivey (6), Allen Cunningham (5), David Grey (2) and Villie
Wahlbeck (1). At the time when all these players were seated together, the only player at that table without a bracelet was Andy
Bloch!

Besides tables of death, the tournament also saw some pros needling
each other. Sam Grizzle began the day at Huck Seed's table. Seed won
the 2009 Heads-up Invitational tournament, but Grizzle was still angry
at the fact he didn't get a chance to take part in that event, so he
immediately commented, "Hey Huck, congrats on that tournament they
'gave' you. Better be glad I wasn't there. Wish I'd be so lucky to get
a girl heads-up for the win."

Mike Matusow heard Grizzle and told him, "Sam, that girl is a lot better than you. You think she just makes every final table on accident?" Grizzle continued with his verbal barrage and replied, "You need to take some more of that medication Mike. You're losing it". Matusow added how Rousso "is the best girl No Limit Hold'em player right now" and then decided it would be wiser to just turn his attention back to his cards.

That it was going to be an interesting day, it was obvious from the
starting point of the tournament. Even Gus Hansen (pictured left) was seen prowling
around, which attracted Amnom Filippi's attention and he asked whether
Hansen was going to buy-in or not. Hansen replied, "I look around and I see a hell of a lot of wannabe superstars. I'm not sure yet."
Hansen wasn't quite sure should he pony up $10,000 and take a seat, but
eventually he decided to give it a try and it didn't go quite well as
he expected probably.

Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Dario Minieri, Phil Hellmuth,
Huck Seed, Chino Rheem, Vanessa Rousso and many more notable names were
all sent to the rail before Day 1 came to an end. Rousso commented when
leaving her seat, "This is the most painful tournament I ever played. I'm so glad it's over."

Daniel Negreanu also couldn't make it through
the day, though he did get himself involved in some interesting
conversations regarding rebuy events. Players at Jeff Lisandro's table
were discussing the rebuy events at the WSOP, with Lisandro and David
Benyamine supporting them. Lisandro marked, "If some rich guy wants to buy in ten times in the PLO, let him." Benyamine commented how some people get really ridiculous with their rebuys, saying "How many times did Daniel rebuy...52?"

The
answer is 48, which is a record set by Negreanu in the 2006 WSOP and
will hardly ever be broken unless rebuy events return - all rebuy
events in the WSOP were made freezouts this year. Negreanu supports
this change, as he said earlier in February this year: "When you are
giving away a World Series of Poker bracelet I think everyone should
have an equal chance to win it, not just a chance based on how fat
their wallet are."

Day 1 of the $10,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw event came to an end with 57 players still at the tables, including the defending champ Mike Matusow. Roland De Wolfe will enter Day 2 as the chop leader, followed by John Juanda and Vince Musso.

Here are the top 10 chip stacks after Day 1:

World Series Of Poker Event #23 Standings
Rank	Name	Chips
1st	Roland De Wolfe	180,300
2nd	Stanislav Alekhin	121,000
3rd	Vince Musso	118,000
4th	John Juanda	111,800
5th	Tim Phan	93,500
6th	Justin Smith	83,500
7th	Daniel Harmetz	83,000
8th	Anton Allemann	76,100
9th	Doug Booth	74,000
10th	David Benyamine	69,500