WSOP 2011 Day 1 Main Event Report
Day 1A of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event is now in the books. The following article will give a report of the action in Day 1A of the Main Event. You will find some raw numbers, notable players that made it through to day 2, notable exits from the 2011 Main Event, and the top story lines from Day 1A of the World Series of Poker. For some other poker news check out poker tattoo.
2011 Day 1A Entries – 897 (compared to 1125 in the 2010 World Series Day 1A – our 2010 Main Event Report for full 2010 numbers)
Total Players Through to Day 2 – 560
Top Chip Counts After Day 1A (30,000 starting stack)
Fred Berger 209,500
Shane Sigsbee 182,600
Kyle Burnside 159,050
Cedric Annen 155,400
Michael Bena 150,350
Lynne Mitchnick 145,675
Juan Perez 143,425
David Diaz 139,150
Christopher Macfarland 135,350
Notable Players to Make it Through to Day 2 of the World Series of Poker
Johnny Chan
Filippo Candio (2010 Main Event Final Table)
Soi Nguyen (2010 Main Event Final Table)
Annette Obrestad
Jason Alexander (from Seinfeld)
Lex Veldhuis
Dutch Boyd
Eli Elezra
Sam Farha (runner up to Chris Moneymaker in 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event)
Dan Fleyshman (owner of failed VictoryPoker.com)
Matt Glantz (star of the 2011 World Series)
Barry Shulman (owner of CardPlayer magazine)
Vince Van Patten (World Poker Tour announcer)
Notable Bustouts from Day1A of the 2011 Main Event
Doyle Brunson (poker icon and former Main Event champ)
Jerry Yang (former Main Event Champ)
Greg Raymer (former Main Event Champ)
Vanessa Selbst (busted by Jason Alexander)
Isaac Haxton
Randy Lew
John “World” Hennigan
Chip Jett
Tom Scneider
Top Story of Day 1A WSOP Main Event – Jason Alexander advances from stacked featured table
The buzz at the 2011 World Series Main Event was all about the featured table. The table featured a mix of poker professionals and a famous “George”. This stacked featured table included the following players.
Jason Alexander (from Seinfeld fame)
Barry Shulman (owner of CardPlayer Magazine)
Vanessa Selbst (pro poker player)
Matt Glantz (superstar of the 2011 World Series)
With these poker pros at the table, it figured to be a short day for Jason Alexander. This proved not to be the case as Alexander more than doubled his 30,000 chip starting stack to 63,150. One of the hands that led to Alexander building a large stack was when he busted Vanessa Selbst with the following hand.
(Courtesy of PokerNews.com) We came upon this one on the flop. A small pot had developed involving three players — the small blind, Vanessa Selbst sitting UTG+1, and Jason Alexander in middle position.
The flop came {7-Spades}{3-Hearts}{2-Clubs}, and the player in the small blind checked. Selbst fired 1,300, then Alexander raised to 2,900. The third player stepped aside, and Selbst waited about a half-minute before declaring she was all in. A count of her chips showed the push was for 18,625 total.
Alexander paused a few seconds, then quietly said “I call.” He turned over {2-Diamonds}{2-Spades} for a set of deuces, at the sight of which Selbst said “I’m dead.” She turned over her {7-Hearts}{6-Hearts}. Two cards later — the {9-Spades} and the {Q-Spades} — Selbst was out.
Alexander was enjoying a massage during that hand which has now completed. He certainly appears relaxed. And sitting behind a stack of about 105,000 at this point can only add to his comfort level. (end report from PokerNews.com)
If this hand history is correct, this is a terrible play from a pretty accomplished poker pro in Vanessa Selbst. From all accounts Jason Alexander plays pretty straightforward. A straightforward player like Alexander almost never has worse than Selbst’s pair of sevens with no kicker. He is also almost never folding a set or two pair here, and I don’t think he folds an over pair very often either. Good for Jason Alexander and good for poker though. I certainly hope he makes a deep run.
Blowup of the Day in Day 1A of the WSOP Main Event
The blowup of the day easily belongs to Scott Montgomery. If you haven’t heard of Scott Montgomery, check out his alleged Bellagio bathroom incident. It has been debated on whether or not this really happened, but I digress.
Let’s move on to the report of his blowup in the 2011 Main Event of the World Series of Poker. Scott Montgomery had more than 100,000 in tournament chips during day 1 of the WSOP. He didn’t even make it to day 2. This is a blowup of epic proportions, as he had more than triple the starting stack. The Main Event has a really slow structure on Day 1, meaning his chip stack was massive when compared to the blinds. Apparently Montgomery dusted off his stack while holding 8-7 on a board reading 8-6-2-J-J. According to the reports he fired his last 56,000 into the pot after the river. Ouch. At least he won’t have anything if he is to get robbed again the bathroom.