The Main Event is more than a week behind us now, and we thought it would be a fitting time to clean out the camera and take a photographical refresher of the first couple of days of action.
The greatest legend in the game, Doyle Brunson kicked off the Main Event festivities on Day 1a. The event drew 6,865 players, each of them required to put up $10,000 as an entry fee.
Since we're talking old school, here's another veteran Main Event champ, Berry Johnston.
Scotty Nguyen, baby. Another former Main Event champ, baby. Old school, baby.
Olga Varkonyi is not a previous Main Event champion, but she does have a gold bracelet from a side event. And her husband...
Her husband is Robert Varkonyi, and he is a former Main Event champ -- from 2002.
Johnny Chan. Boss. And two-time Main Event champion.
The man who beat Chan out of a third Main Event title in 1989, Phil Hellmuth tends to make an entrance during this special week. This year's spectacle was a bit more subdued than usual for The Brat.
The cameras always lurk nearby for the inevitable Hellmuth eruption.
It took Carlos Mortensen until Day 2b to accumulate enough chips to work with. And for Carlos, \"work with\" means something a little different than it does for others.
Remember this guy? Yes, that's 2003 Main Event champ and the face of poker in the modern era, Chris Moneymaker.
The man who followed Moneymaker in 2004, Greg \"Fossilman\" Raymer, seen here sporting the piece of WSOP jewelry that put he and his fossil-trading monopoly on the map.
The man who followed the Fossilman, Joe Hachem. Pass the sugar.
The other Hachem, brother Tony ends up playing a significant role in the later stages of this year's Event.
The next champ behind the Aussie, American Jamie Gold. In 2006, Gold won the largest prize ever awarded in tournament poker - $12 million.
The runner-up from 2009, Darvin Moon.
The man who shot the Moon in 2009, Joe Cada.
The defending champion, Montreal's Jonathan Duhamel.
Annette Obrestad won the WSOP Europe Main Event in 2007 at the age of 18. She drew one of the more enjoyable starting seats on Day 1, out of position against Jason Alexander.
Apart from Obrestad, the other women in poker were well represented during the starting days. Ellen Deeb (grandmother of Shaun) takes the new title of most senior member of the Main Event field, weighing in at a feisty 91 years young. And she's rolled, apparently.
PokerNews' own Elissa Harwood survived a tough table with a smile on Day 1d.
Erika Moutinho is a face you'll see a lot of on the ESPN coverage this summer, but we'll try not to spoil any more of the details for now.
Straight from Croatia, the lovely Tatjana \"TattyTats\" Pasalic.
And this gentleman dressed up as Snow White, we'll count him, too.
Props to Sara Abdich, winner of the Dealer of the Year vote for the 2011 WSOP. Adbich was given the honors of announcing the most famous words in poker on Day 1c of the Main Event.
That Day 1c was the day that 2008 Miss World contestant Krisztina Polgar began turning a lot of heads at the poker tables.
And Shannon Elizabeth always brightens her table a little bit. Elizabeth is one of the more formidable celebrity-turned-poker-geeks out there, but she wasn't the only one to show up to play for Day 1.
Everyone took a few minutes to let Brad Garrett and Ray Romano open Day 1c with a little impromptu stand-up comedy routine.
Garrett tries to look serious at the table…
... but it doesn't work for very long. The Main Event got to enjoy a few good days of Brad Garrett this year before he bowed out shy of the money.
Garrett's partner in crime, \"Everybody Loves\" Ray Romano. An early exit in this year's Main Event.
Another funnyman from your television set, Jason Alexander. He's one of the most accomplished and well-rounded performers of our time and can hold his own at the poker table. Things went well in Alexander's Main Event for a while…
... and then not so well.
Another face from the television realm, but one that's a bit harder to pick out of a crowd. Creator of, among other things, The Simpsons, please put your animated hands together for Sam Simon.
The owner of this ring played the 2011 Main Event as well. And he surprised a lot of people by advancing a few days into the Main Event.
It's Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce, son!
Even Nelly popped into the Rio, spending a few minutes of Day 1d playing the Main Event.
We think he's a celebrity, so we'll include him, too. PokerNews' former Live Reporting Manager, Garry Gates had a great Main Event, grinding his way through some tough (and featured) tables to cash in 173rd place.
As the early days thinned the field, the story lines began to develop.
Notables fell by the scores. Bertrand \"ElkY\" Grospellier and his white coat were two of the early victims.
Ali Eslami couldn't make anything happen with his short stack.
And the Mizrachi brothers were sent off one, by one, by one, by one.
Daniel Negreanu had one more shot at bracelet No. 5 this summer, but he was brutally run out a few days deeper into the event.
The aforementioned Hellmuth stuck around for a while, too...
... but Kara Scott was eventually faced with the exit interview and hearing about the series of unfortunate events that led to his elimination.
And with that, he was off.
Andrew Robl. Out.
Carter Gill. Also out, but in a most unusual way. After surviving Day 1c with 49,000 chips, Gill had a day off to, well, get himself into some trouble. Gill found himself banned from Harrah's properties, a significant hindrance to one playing the Main Event at the Rio. He was blinded out completely on Day 2.
Day 4 brought the money bubble, and Paul Baron was just one of a hundred short stacks praying to survive a few more minutes.
With 694 players remaining, the tournament was hand-for-hand. A single hand would be played at each table, then the dealer would stand and hold the action until the rest of the room caught up. Then, another hand all together.
It was Reza Kashani who was the unlucky winner of the wooden spoon, though he was given an entry into next year's Main Event as a consolation prize.
And he got to spend some time on TV with Kara Scott, too. Not so bad, is it Reza?
You probably won't remember Reza Kashani for very long, but here are a few names you won't want to forget. Starting with Ben Lamb. Already a bracelet winner and (at the time of this photo) second in the Player of the Year standings, Lamb decided to, you know, lead the Day 1b field after the first five levels, and on-and-off for much longer than that. You're going to be seeing plenty of him in the upcoming months...
As you will Bryan Devonshire.
And Eoghan O'Dea, the Irishman. In case the name didn't tip you off to the nationality.
Remember the hair. Guillaume Darcourt. He'll play a significant role in the French subplot of this Main Event as it progresses as well.
We'll take just a quick moment to recognize the WSOP staff who worked so tirelessly for the full summer. Including one Friday afternoon when they all decided to show up for work in their whites.
And we'll remind you (as Ty Stewart did the players before Day 3) about the 2011 WSOP Europe in a new location this year. Cannes, France, will be welcoming the brand to one of the most scenic locations in the world from October 7-20.
And we'll leave you with an unusual look at the Amazon Room for now, with the rest of the unusual story to come very soon in the next edition.
