Just under 3,500 players threw down the $10k buy-in for the third Day 1 to bring this year's total entrants to 6,352 - slightly down from last year's 6,598.
Of those 3,500 pro Mark Kroon emerged with the Day 1c and overall chip lead at 246,900 - a long way from the $8.3m first-place prize but off to the start every poker player hopes for.
Mizrachi, Cheong in Top 10, Ivey and Hellmuth Build
Also geting off to a great start were former November Niners Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi and Joe Cheong.
Mizrachi built a big stack quickly, as he's known to do, ending the day at 176,100 for top three on Day 1c. Cheong did likewise and bagged 143,375 for a top 10 stack.
Also dangerously acquiring chips was Phil Ivey, who quietly packed away 119,600 to end the night with 4x his starting stack. The top 10 in chips from Day 1c:
1. Mark Kroon 246,300 2. Imari Love 214,300 3. Michael Mizrachi 176,100 4. Frederik Jensen 169,975 5. Kevin Doszak 155,075 6. Josh Pollock 154,025 7. Ercan Olgun 147,550 8. Joseph Cheong 143,375 9. Ryan Hughes 139,900 10. Darryl Ronconi 136,125List of Notables Long and Impressive
With Day 1c drawing the bulk of the action the amount of high-profile pros dotting the field was astounding.
Among the many notables to build a stack were:
Isaac Haxton 134,250 Max Heinzelmann 131,950 Haralabos Voulgaris 121,275 Freddy Deeb 120,525 Randy "nanonoko" Lew 120,500 Marvin Rettenmaier 117,825 Mike "SirWatts" Watson 116,800 Calvin Anderson 116,000 Vanessa Selbst 110,000 Griffin Benger 103,000 Phil Hellmuth 92,850 Ben Sulsky 88,000 Jean-Robert Bellande 83,000Negreanu and Pique Limp Into Day 2, Hansen and Dwan Blind Away
Among the notables not quite as fortunate were Daniel Negreanu, who squeaked his way into Day 1c with half his starting stack at 15,600, and Spanish footballer Gerard Piqué, who needed a late to double to advance with 17,600.
Two high profile pros who did the same but without even playing a hand were Gus Hansen and Tom Dwan, who registered but never took a seat as they were busy with a rumored $3,000-a-point Open-Face Chinese game.
Their stacks were blinded off over the day but held at around 18,000 to enter Day 2.
Check our WSOP Main Event Live Updates for all of the action on Day 2a/2b today and tag yourself in our massive Gigapan photos of the field right here!
Visit www.pokerlistings.com