2011 WSOP Day 1A: Main Event Winners And Losers

Day 1 of the $10k WSOP Main Event has four starting days in order to accommodate the massive field of competitors drawn to the prestigious tournament.
Yesterday’s Day 1a kicked-off with a total of 897 players, down nearly 20% on last year’s figure. This day also usually accounts for 17% of the eventual tally thus indicating that around 5,276 should enter the 2011 Main Event.
On Day 1a, 897 players joined the action but by the end of play, just 556 competitors remained with many big names falling at the first hurdle.
Amongst those pros given their marching orders at the final event of WSOP 2011 was Doyle Brunson. The veteran WSOP legend initially decided not to enter the tournament, but was persuaded to come out of retirement by his good friend Dewey Tomko. 
“My friend Dewey Tompko (sic) said he was entering me in the ME. If I don’t play, they will ante me off… Do I feel good? No. Do I want to play? No. Am I playing my best? No. Am I gonna try my best? Damn right,” explained Brunson.
However,6 hours after play began Brunson was all-in pre-flop holding pocket fives to Steve Costello’s A-Q and was eliminated when an ace and queen fell on the flop.
Also joining Doyle Brunson on the rail were Jerry Yang, Greg Raymer, Vanessa Selbst, Isaac Haxton, Josh Arieh, John Hennigan, Randy Lew, Chip Jett, Tom, Schneider, Matt Affleck, Faraz Jaka, T.J. Cloutier, Antoine Saout and Evelyn Ng.
On the other side of the coin, those players advancing through to Day 2b included Johnny Chan, Annette Obrestad, Johnny Lodden, John Cernuto, Lex Veldhuis, Maria Ho and Fatima Moreira de Melo. Also still in with a shot are the 2010 Main Event finalists Filippo Candio and Soi Nguyen.
Day 1b of the Main Event is scheduled to get underway today at 12 p.m. Las Vegas time, so don’t forget to check back here at OnlinePoker.net for your regular daily updates.