We're in the Money and Dunst Leads the Way
What a day.
Nearly 12 hours ago, 1,203 poker players made their way through through the doors of the Amazon Room (along with a few dozen who started off in the Pavilion) to begin their quest to make the money.
However, simple arithmetic dictated that about 450 of those hopefuls would be leaving with nothing at all. Some notable players who left the Rio $10,000 lighter include Matt Savage, JJ Liu, Kathy Liebert, Dave Sands, Annie Duke, Barry Greenstein, Adam Junglen, Erica Schoenberg and Robert Varkonyi.
Of course the day has also been full of good news, especially for the 747 who secured themselves a place in the money. The $19,263 awarded to even the lowest cashers is still a significant amount of money to many people, especially those who found themselves in the Main Event after winning satellites, or who stand to cash in lucrative online incentives.
One of the day's biggest highlights was seeing all four Mizrachi brothers make the money. While Eric was the first to go, it's hard for anyone to deny that the Mizrachi clan are having one heck of a Series. Don't count them out just yet, though. Robert, Michael and Danny are still alive and well.
Last year's bubble boy was Kia Hamadani. We're happy to say that he survived well into the money this year. Unfortunately the same can't be said for Tim McDonald, who came in 748th place after his were unable to hold out against the of Ismail Erkenov. Don't feel too bad for McDonald, though. He'll be back next year with a free entry to the 2011 Main Event as his consolation prize for bubbling.
Some players to keep an eye on for tomorrow include our chip leader Tony Dunst (1,546,000) as well as Phil Galfond (1,392,000), Garrett Adelstein (1,440,000), Duy Le (1,460,000), Theo Jorgensen (1,340,000) and Matt Affleck (1,395,000). Other notables who will be returning include Johnny Chan (1,159,000), Adam Levy (951,000), Alexander Kostritsyn (750,000), Praz Bansi (662,000), Scotty Nguyen (630,000) and Vanessa Selbst (435,000).
Of course, our journey is hardly complete for the 574 players who will be returning tomorrow. They still have to make the final table, and then go on to take it down from there. Join us through the rest of the week as we play down to the November Nine. We've already met our eventual winner, now we just have to figure out who it's going to be.