WSOP Event #44: It's Time For Razz!

A total of 315  showed up for this tournament, thus generating a prize
pool of $724,500. Only 32 players will end in the money with the first
place finisher being awarded $188,370 and a WSOP gold bracelet.

Many familiar faces were seen at the tables and many of them were
packing their bags before the night came to an end. Scott Seiver, Huck
Seed, Jeff Madsen, Carlos Mortensen, Shannon Elizabeth and Dan
Heimiller were just some of the less fortunates ones who couldn't make
it through the day.

Dario Minieri (pictured left) was having a good
time. His stack wasn't all too bad, even after taking a few hits here
and there. In one of such hands, Minieri held (X)(X)6-K-A-8(X) and his opponent held (X)(X)A-K-3-6(X).
Dario completed on third street and got one called. The fourth street
brought a king for both players and the action was checked to Minieri
who commented, "I think I am still ahead here, So I bet." Minieri raised to 400 and a re-raise came from the opponents corner which Minieri called and said, "Are you raising there because you think you are ahead? Or because you're gambling?"

His opponent mumbled, "I'm gambling." The fifth street came and his opponent fired a bullet. Minieri asked, "Did you pair the three?". "No", came the answer and Minieri made the call. Another bet came on the sixth street and Minieri said, "How about the six?", before mucking his hand. Minieri lost this hand but he still had roughly 20,000 in chips left.

Justin Bonomo (pictured right) and Mike Sexton had their own battles throughout the day, with the last one going to Sexton. Bonomo had (X)(X)4-2-3-J(X) and Sexton had (X)(X)A-4-T-5(X).
Another player at the table completed on the third street with a 6 up,
Bonomo raised, Sexton re-raised, the player who bet figured it would be
best to fold and Bonomo decided to make the call.

Sexton fired another
bullet on the fourth street and Bonomo called again. The fifth street
saw Bonomo taking the lead and Sexton peeled one off after catching a
ten. Sexton regained the lead on the sixth street when Bonomo caught a
jack. He bet out and Bonomo called. Sexton bet again on the river and
after some consideration, Bonomo mucked his cards. Sexton rose up to
14,000 by winning this hand.

In the end, only 112 of the original 315 players managed to survive,
thus securing their seats for Day 2. Some of the notables still alive
and with large stacks are Yan Chen (52,000), Ville Wahlbeck (46,000),
David Chiu (42,000) and John Juanda (36,500). The list of the remaining
112 player hides some more known names such as Chris Ferguson, Daniel
Negreanu and Jeff Lisandro.

Here are the top 10 chip stacks after Day 1: