Casino Employees Get to the Money as Day 1 Concludes

We had to wait an extra 30 minutes for Event 1 of the 2011 World Series of Poker to start, but the wait was well worth it. 850 casino employees started the day and after ten levels just 77 players still have chips. Jordon Dhooghe leads the field with 129,800, followed by Thanh Ngo with 101,400.

Both players have been leading the pack for the last couple of levels of the day, each attacking the bubble effectively. Alex Alashkar and Robert Gullickson are within striking distance though and there will likely be a lot of chips moving to start day 2 as players mix it up having already made the money.

While there are not any household names left in the field, there were a few notables who entered. Jean-Robert Bellande entered late but exited early when he flopped top two pair against a straight. Defending champion Hoai Pham looked poised to repeat but was unable to gain any momentum after the dinner break. Matt Savage, Ty Stewart and Jack McClelland all survived through a few levels but none made it to the money.

Be sure to check back tomorrow when play begins at 2:30pm local time. Until then, goodnight from the Rio!