In our featured coverage event, the $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Mix-Max, we spent the day tracking Negreanu's every move and finally got a glimpse of a run building.
A swingy day left him just over the average stack but on to Day 2 with 180 other players.
Elsewhere around the WSOP Josh Pollock snatched his first bracelet from the hands of Noah Schwartz, 4,400 Seniors flooded the Rio and Robert Mizrachi grabbed the chip lead in the $5k Omaha Hi-Lo.
Negreanu Above Average, Anderson Crushing Again
As mentioned we hitched our coverage team to Daniel Negreanu yesterday and got treated to a day-in-the-life of a poker superstar.
After eight swingy levels Negreanu did make it through the Day with a slightly above-average stack at 32,300 and will partake in today's six-max action.
They'll play down to 32 today where they'll then switch over to heads-up play for the rest of the tournament.
Revisit all of Negreanu's action here and follow along starting at 2 pm today for more from the Rio.
Other notables working up a stack were Calvin "cal42688" Anderson, Dominik Nitsche, John Hennigan and Ana Marquez. The top 10 in chips:
1. Big Dog - 122,375 2. Isaac Hagerling - 83,975 3. Calvin Anderson -79,425 4. Dominik Nitsche - 72,900 5. John Hennigan - 71,600 6. Ognjen Sekularac - 69,650 7. Mazin Khoury - 63,575 8. Darryll Fish - 61,000 9. Michael Rocco - 59,975 10. Simon Charette -59,650Pollock Upsets Schwartz for PLO Bracelet
The stage was set in event #22, $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha, for popular grinder Noah Schwartz to win his first bracelet but Josh Pollock had other plans.
The dominant chip leader for two days Schwartz looked primed to cruise to the bracelet entering heads-up with a 3-1 chip lead.
A couple of lucky doubles for Pollock, though, and in just 62 hands he had reversed fortunes entirely.
Schwartz had to settle for $172,931 as the runner-up while Pollock took $279,431 for his first WSOP gold. The final table and payouts:
1. Josh Pollock $279,431 2. Noah Schwartz $172,931 3. James Park $108,196 4. KT Park $78,532 5. Shawn Silber $57,974 6. Eric Shanks $43,460 7. Eddie Blumenthal $33,057 8. David Greene $25,483 9. Brandon Crawford $19,909Bro Grinder Leads Stacked Final 27 in $5k Omaha
While Michael Mizrachi came up short yesterday in his quest for a bracelet in four consecutive years brother Rob did just fine in search of his second.
Mizrachi ended the day on top of a stacked field of heavy hitters heading into the final 27.
In the top 10 alone are Shawn Buchanan, Brian Hastings and George Danzer while Alexander "PostFlopAction" Kostritsyn, Jonathan Duhamel, Eric Crain, Mike Matusow, Jeff Lisandro and Huck Seed lurk just outside.
They'll play down to a winner later today with $277,519 ready to go to the winner. The top 10 in chips:
1. Robert Mizrachi 339,500 2. Francesco Barbaro 278,000 3. Shawn Buchanan 263,500 4. Brian Hastings 259,000 5. Danny Fuhs 249,500 6. George Danzer 242,500 7. Arthur Kargen 186,500 8. Ryan Lenaghan 180,500 9. Viacheslav Zhukov 172,500 10. Christopher George 162,500Charania Circling Bracelet in $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
Another big-field Hold'em event has been whittled to just 17 with Mohsin Charania the highest profile name left in the field.
Holding the chip lead for much of Day 2 the former EPT Grand Final winner finally settled in third overall to head down the home stretch tomorrow.
Joining Charania in the final 17 will be fellow EPT winner Zimnan Ziyard. The top 10 in chips:
1. Salvatore Dicarlo 984,000 2. Paul Spitzberg 957,000 3. Mohsin Charania 940,000 4. Corey Harrison 542,000 5. Daniel Cascado 541,000 6. Robert Brewer 511,000 7. Zimnan Ziyard 461,000 8. Anthony Antico 396,000 9. Arshin Gamini 381,000 10. Ryan Franklin 354,000Varkonyi, Corkins, Strzemp and Cloutier Grind Seniors
Over 4,400 Seniors flooded the halls of the Rio yesterday giving things a Main Event-ish air and buzz.
Among the record-breaking numbers were some familiar names from poker's past.
2002 Main Event winner Robert Varkonyi joined the throngs and managed to make it through to Day 2, as did TJ Cloutier, John Strzemp and Hoyt Corkins.
Around 640 will join them on Day 2 starting at 11 am at the Rio today. The top 10 in chips:
1. Alex Kunichoff 151,400 2. George Wright 129,700 3. James McClendon 82,000 4. Gary Margolis 79,400 5. Larry Wright 74,300 6. Steve Lamb 71,500 7. Young Ji 51,800 8. Hoyt Corkins 48,100 9. Tom Franklin 48,100 10. Robert Cheung 47,740Visit www.pokerlistings.com