Update Day 1B: WSOP 2010 Main Event Winners And Losers

Day 1 of the $10,000 no-limit Texas Hold ‘Em  Main Event is spread out over four days in order to accommodate the huge field of players inevitably drawn to the prestigious event.
The traditionally smaller Day 1a field saw over 300 of the 1,125 entrants eliminated by the end of play, with the survivors coming back on Day 2a when the preliminary rounds are over.
On Day 1b, 1,489 competitors joined the fray with a much higher percentage of pros entering than the previous day. By the end of play, just 1,021 players remained with many big names not managing to make it past the first hurdle. Amongst those to be sent to the rail at the final event of WSOP 2010 were Erick Lindgren, Justin Bonomo, Ivan Demidov, Joe Sebok, Jamie Gold, Bertrand Grospellier, Liv Boeree, Jennifer Tilly and Arnaud Mattern.
Another big name to exit the competition was 21 year-old Annette Obrestad, who had an up and down ride on Day 1b until finally busting out holding an A-J on a J-2-2 board against an opponent holding pocket Q’s. The young Norwegian poker pro had high hopes coming into her first US WSOP competition, but will now go away disappointed having only cashed in at two events for $26,215.
Amongst those progressing through to Day 2b are Dan Harrington, Gavin Griffin, Brandon Cantu, Johnny Lodden, Phil Laak, Dan Kelly, Jon Turner, Gavin Smith, and George Lind.
Each player starts the WSOP Main Event with $30,000 in chips, and Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond was one of the players who managed to excel on Day 1b and rise near the top of the pack. He is currently sitting on a $141,000 stack, with Alexander Kostritsyn and Jason DeWitt close by. James Danielson finished the day as the chip leader with $201,050 in chips.
As Day 1b joins 1a on a break, poker fans are now looking forward to tomorrow’s action, with many big names of the game deciding to make their entrance on Day 1c, including Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Joe Cada, Dennis Phillips, Scotty Nguyen and Chad Brown. It is also likely to produce the biggest field yet, with over 1,200 hopefuls having already registered by the early afternoon.