ESPN Poker Blog

Posted by Andrew Feldman

The poker rooms at the Rio (seen at right) are simply amazing. However, they do have one major problem: They can't fit enough players. With the maximum set at 2,700 players at any given time (currently 2,050, but expanding to 2,700 on June 11), many events this year were broken up into two starting days. I felt this would hurt the World Series of Poker, as it would force players taking a trip for a single $1,500 event to extend their stay. The majority of the players in these events are amateurs who make their way to Vegas for a chance at poker glory, and honestly, I couldn't believe they would be willing to participate if the events were extended.

Thankfully -- and as usual -- I was wrong. The first $1,500 event of the 2008 WSOP finished with a preliminary event record 3,929 players. The old record? A measly 3,151. This event ranks fourth all-time of tournaments held at the WSOP, behind the 2005, 2006 and 2007 main events.

This gigantic field played down on Day 1A and Day 1B, leaving only 447 players to battle it out for the second bracelet of the WSOP and the $831,462 first-place prize. Talk about an unbelievable return on a $1,500 investment! The money bubble burst at 378 players, and the action continued Monday until there were only 18 remaining. However, the play went not only through Monday, but also nearly six hours of Tuesday. Play was halted at 5:46 a.m. PT, giving players until 1:30 p.m. to rest up and get ready for the final day of play.

Amazingly, out of the 18 left in this record-setter, there are some very familiar names. Chris Ferguson, Perry Friedman, Minh Nguyen, Theo Tran and Frank Sinopoli all are still in the hunt, but they are chasing chip leader Aaron Coulthard.

The tournament will conclude Tuesday, when the winner of this event will go down in WSOP history.

Antonius signs with Full Tilt Poker

Holding a news conference at the WSOP is typical. The media members from worldwide publications are there, so why not? Full Tilt Poker decided there was no better time than the start of the WSOP to announce it is adding Patrik Antonius to its roster of Full Tilt Pros.

"I'm very honored to be part of this group," Antonius said. "It's the one site that I really wanted to work with because I really like all of the players they have."

Howard Lederer said Antonius could have gone to any site, given the demand.

"I'm very honored that he chose us," Lederer said.

Antonius made the final table of Event 1 but finished in seventh place. This event will air on ESPN on July 22.

Fantasy update:

After one event, it looks like Lance Bradley from Bluff should be happy he picked Andy Bloch in the second round of the draft. Bloch's second-place finish earned Bradley 94 points, as this was a $10,000 event. Bernard Lee and Gavin Smith also earned points in the first event. Lee, behind Antonius and Vivek Rajkumar, is just ahead of Smith with 48 points. Smith's selection of Chris Bell earned him 46 points. Everyone else? Tied for last with 0.

Small Blinds:

Kathy Liebert received a final-table deal from PokerStars to wear a logo during the televised final table. … Phil Hellmuth busted out of Event 2 by running his pocket queens into quad aces. … Jerry Yang was eliminated early on Day 1B of his first event since his WSOP victory. … 714 players entered Event 3, the pot-limit hold 'em $1,500 tournament. … Where's Wasicka? Paul Wasicka hasn't made his way to the tables yet -- he's missed the first three events. … Diamond status awaits all bracelet winners! The WSOP announced Monday that all players who win a bracelet in one of the 55 events will earn "diamond status." That allows members to get free show tickets and a lot of other perks. OK, so you win a bracelet for a couple hundred thousand, and then they give you show tickets? Wouldn't you be able to buy your own tickets? Either way, a very nice gesture. … Eric "Rizen" Lynch has signed with UltimateBet …