Phil Hellmuth and Phil Ivey both registered late for Day 1a of Event 2 €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry.
Although both players busted later in the day it was a sign that this year’s WSOPE has officially taken flight.
Event 2 was the first open-tournament of the 2013 WSOPE and 261 players made the journey to Enghien-les-Bains for the day’s festivities. Tomorrow is expected to be even bigger.
Beyond Ivey and Hellmuth there were plenty of pros including Ryan Riess, Tuan Le, Barry Shulman, Allyn Jaffrey Shulman, Mike Leah and Max Pescatori bought in.
888poker had a particularly large presence with Max Steinberg, Sam Holden, Jake Balsiger, Jesse Sylvia, Jay Farber and Russell Thomas and plenty of qualifiers in on the action.
Ashton Misses First Chance to Pull Away from Negreanu
Current POY leader Matt Ashton also made an appearance as he attempts to put some distance between himself and Daniel Negreanu here at the 2013 WSOPE.
Negreanu, who is expected to arrive tomorrow, trails Ashton by 50 points in the POY race.
Jay Farber and Tuan Le were two of the most prolific players on Day 1a and spent time amongst the chip leaders.
Both players took a few hits towards the end of the day but finished more than 30,000 chips.
The overall chip lead went to Niels Herrgodts, who amassed 55,000 chips.
Day 1a of the Event 2 wasn’t the only tournament running, however, as earlier in the day Jackie Glazier won her first WSOP bracelet in the Ladies Event.
Meanwhile Day 1b of Event 2 begins tomorrow at noon local time. Be sure to follow our WSOPE live updates for all the action from the tournament floor. Day 2 recap video below:
Visit www.pokerlistings.com