Excitement was soaring as 166 players bought into the $111k One Drop High Roller, making it the biggest tournament ever with a six-figure buy-in.
While everyone was focused on the high-stakes action Sandeep Pulusani was busy winning his first WSOP bracelet in the $3k No-Limit Hold'em event.
With two more bracelets to be awarded today Miami John Cernuto, Stephen Chidwick and Andrey Zaichenko all have a chance at WSOP gold.
Amateur Brandon Steven Leads Massive $17.8m One Drop
This year's $111k One Drop High Roller event attracted 166 players, setting the record for the biggest field for a six-figure buy-in poker tournament.
Even with the 3% auto-donated to One Drop those players put together a staggering prize pool of $17,891,148, with $4.83 million going to first.
Leading that charge after Day 1 is amateur poker player Brandon Steven from Wichita, Kansas.
Steven owns a chain of car dealerships and has been a regular at WSOP big buy-in events including the $1 million Big One for One Drop last year.
Steven also bubbled the final table of the 2010 WSOP Main Event.
With 108 players left Steven is being chased by some of the absolute best poker players on the planet.
Tobias Reinkemeier and Dan Shak are in second and third, both of whom have had extensive success in super high roller events around the world.
But there's one elite player with whom Steven won't have to contend. Phil Ivey failed to make it through the day, and you can read all about it in our feature coverage of Ivey's Day 1.
This event is scheduled to play down to a final table today and a winner tomorrow. Keep following our coverage for all the action.
The top ten chip counts:
Brandon Steven - 1,398,000 Tobias Reinkemeier - 1,225,000 Dan Shak - 999,000 Jason Mo - 975,000 Chris Lee - 906,000 Ben Lamb - 855,000 Matt Glantz - 854,000 Don Nguyen - 847,000 Bobby Baldwin - 839,000 Farshad Fardad - 833,000Sandeep Pulusani Takes Gold in $3k No-Limit Hold'em
American poker player Sandeep Pulusani came out on top as the day's only bracelet winner, besting Niall Farell heads-up to win almost $600k.
Pulusani had cashed eight times previously at the WSOP but his victory last night was far and away his biggest score.
The 24-year-old music blogger from Huntsville, Alabama beat out a tough final table that included Mark Teltscher, Nam Le and past WSOP bracelet winner Mike Rocco.
Pulusani fought back from a nearly seven to one chip lead when heads-up began, eventually getting his opponent all-in with A-3 holding against A-2.
The final table results:
1. Sandeep Pulusani - $592,684 2. Niall Farrell - $366,815 3. Michael Rocco - $229,500 4. Martin Hanowski - $166,579 5. Zo Karim - $122,974 6. Mark Teltscher - $92,186 7. Nam Le - $70,120 8. Pedro Rios - $54,053 9. Phillippe Vert - $42,230Moorman, Hinkle at $1,500 Ante-Only Final Table
678 players bought in to the WSOP's first ever “Ante-Only” event and now just nine remain.
At the helm is Paul Lieu, who has cashed four times already at the 2013 WSOP, and he's joined by top players Chris Moorman and Blair Hinkle.
Just over $200k is waiting up top, plus a chance at a first bracelet for Moorman and a second for Hinkle.
Along with his brother Grant, Blair Hinkle was part of the first sibling-pair to ever win gold bracelets at the same WSOP.
Blair also gained notoriety for chopping the FTOPS main event for over a million dollars just weeks before the site was shut down on Black Friday. Hinkle still has not recovered the money.
Narrowly missing out on today's final table was Tommy Vedes (10th), David Vamplew (16th), Allen Cunningham (21st) and Adam Levy (22nd).
The final-table chip counts:
Paul Lieu - 579,000 Ben Volpe - 523,000 Daniel Johnson - 479,000 Louis Bonnecaze - 330,000 Horacio Chaves - 314,000 Chris Moorman - 279,000 Adam Stone - 214,000 Blair Hinkle - 182,000 Samuel Panzica - 153,000Schneider Continues Heater in $2,500 6-Max Limit Hold'em
Tom “The Donkey Bomber” Schneider is on fire at the 2013 WSOP, having won two bracelet so far, and after Day 1 of the $2,500 6-Max Limit Hold'em event he's in position for another deep run.
With 119 of the original 343 remaining Schneider is part of a top ten that includes Marco Johnson, Jon Turner, Ray Henson and David “Bakes” Baker.
Paul Mattioda will begin Day 2 as the chip leader.
Also still in the mix with big stacks are Ronnie Bardah, Joe Cada, Hal Lubarsky, Maria Ho, Max Pescatori and Barry Shulman.
The top ten counts after Day 1:
Paul Mattioda - 57,900 Ray Henson - 53,900 Marco Johnson - 46,600 Jon Turner - 43,800 Danny Warchol - 41,600 Jeff Thompson - 38,100 Tom Schneider - 38,000 David "Bakes" Baker - 35,800 Otto Richard - 31,800 Todd Witteles - 31,800Makarov Leads Final 17 in $3k PLO Hi-Low
17 players remain in this year's $3k PLO Hi-Low event, led by Russian PokerStars pro Alexey “LuckyGump” Makarov.
A couple more spots down the leaderboard is “Miami” John Cernuto, winner of three WSOP gold bracelets. And in keeping with the “Year of the Comeback” trend we've seen so far, we have to give the edge in today's event to Cernuto.
Miami John hasn't won a bracelet since 2002.
British young gun Stephen “stevie444” Chidwick is also still in it, sitting seventh when Day 3 begins, and Russian Andrey “Kroko-dill” Zaichenko is right around the middle of the pack.
Bringing up the rear are Ari Engel and Mel Judah, first- and second-last, respectively.
Making runs but falling short of the real money on Day 2 were Joe Hachem, Ray Davis, Gavin Smith and Mike Matusow, among others.
The final 17 chip counts:
Alexey Makarov - 471,000 Ashly Butler - 456,000 Zhen Cai - 414,000 John O'Shea - 364,000 Vladimir Shchmelev - 339,000 John Cernuto - 271,000 Stephen Chidwick - 243,000 Brian Hacker - 239,000 Andrey Zaichenko - 219,000 Allyn Jaffrey Shulman - 172,000 Dylan Linde - 128,000 Tyler Nelson - 117,000 Matthew Lansdon - 116,000 Robert Price - 115,000 Joshua Weiland - 107,000 Mel Judah - 89,000 Ari Engel - 75,000Visit www.pokerlistings.com