ESPN Poker Blog

Posted by Andrew Feldman

6:35 p.m. ET: With the blinds slowly increasing (currently: $250/$500 with a $50 ante), the all-ins have become more prevalent inside the Amazon Room. Many notable players were eliminated during the first level and a half, including Johnny Chan, Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly, Tony Guoga, Barry Greenstein and Gus Hansen. The oldest WSOP participant, Jack Ury, 96, was also eliminated, and he was given a round of applause from his competitors here in the Amazon Room.

Moving upward during the first level was Andy Black, Sorel Mizzi and even Jason Alexander. Alexander topped out at $116,000. Mike Sexton, Greg Mueller, Eric Cajelais and Mel Judah also had strong starts to the day, but with 3½ levels left to go, Tuesday will be a long day for many of these players.

I hate to say it, but there have only been a couple major outbursts from tables. Nothing too significant at all. While the aggression level has picked up, the action is still conservative, with a few exceptions here and there. Maybe I'm just used to the typical pressure of the final days when we know all the players in the field, but the start of the tournament has been rather uneventful. Could it be the new blind structure? It's possible. One thing that has changed today is a new floor-staff habit of repeating the dealer's "all-in" calls. Yes, the TV cameras need to know if a notable is all-in, but there can be other ways to handle the situation instead of a loud repeat.

Small blinds: I ran into Jim Hess, who said he spoke to Jason Alexander this morning. Alexander confessed to Hess that he was extremely nervous being on the feature table. It hasn't showed much so far, but Greg Raymer has taken advantage, winning a couple pots off the TV star. … While I thought the tables were breaking from the Orange section today, it turns out they just needed to break enough tables to get all the players from Brasilia into the Amazon Room. … My new view consists of Sammy Farha, a frustrated Joe Sebok, Juan Carlos Mortensen, Peter Smurfit and "Bizarro Chris Ferguson." It's not really Ferguson, but he looks like him. … Gavin Smith is sitting next to Billy "The Croc." Insert jokes here. … Dealers carried over the players' chips when moving from Brasilia to Amazon. … Players sporting jerseys in the Orange section: 2. … The ESPN.com Dream Team (myself, Wise, Lee) will play during the media event. I have to go pick up our jerseys. … During the break a floor man said that he didn't care why he was coming over to the table. Yelling "Clock on XXX" wasn't what he wanted, just "Floor." Glad that the strict instructions haven't paid off yet at this level. … You can follow everything ESPN Poker on Twitter at @ESPN_Poker.