Yes, the main event has begun and I have been dealing and dealing. I had gotten scheduled to deal all four days of Day 1. Huh?
This is how it works: There is not enough room, poker tables or dealers to accommodate the over 6000 expected entrants to the tournament, so Day 1 is spread over four days: 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d. Then, after about half of the entrants get knocked out on their Day 1, 1a and 1b are combined to play Day 2a and 1c and 1d are combined for Day 2b. At the end of those two day 2's, they are combined to play a Day 3, then a day four, five and six until they reach the Final Table of Nine players. Due to television, at the request of ESPN, the Final Table is postponed until November when the "November Nine" get together and play down to the winner. The Final Table will be broadcast on ESPN in "near real time" to preserve the suspense of who wins until the last possible moment.
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Day 1a was interesting for me as I pushed into table 107 showcasing actor Jason Alexander (George Costanza of Seinfeld fame) in Seat 7 and rapper Nelly in Seat 8. During a break in the action, both were interviewed by ESPN, but I think the camera shot over my shoulder and kept me out of the picture. Jason proved that with a little luck and some good poker discipline you can do well at the Main event as he nearly tripled his $30,000 stack by the end of the day. This put him in a great position starting his Day 2a sixth in chips of the 1476 that survived 1a and 1b. When Day 2a starts, ESPN will be filming Jason along with former WSOP Champion Greg Raymer at the featured table. I may have to go watch that one to see if the incredibly skilled Raymer is able to pry chips loose from the tight fisted Jason Alexander's large stack.
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Day 1c was notable for me because I dealt to Jeffery Lisandro (pictured above). Jeffery is special because he has won three WSOP Bracelet events this year. He won at 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo World Championship and the Razz (7 Card lowball). With the size and skill of the fields today, this is truly an historic and amazing feat. Although all of his wins were in Stud games, do not discount his skills in No Limit Hold'em. Jeffery is among the chip leaders at the end of Day 1c and I hope ESPN follows this Aussie throughout the tournament.
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Day 1d was amazing. A tribute to procrastination while day 1b only had 873 runners, 1d was sold out. There is only 280 tables set up for WSOP, but they built tables and put them in the hallway (near Buzio's Seafood Restaurant) and converted the Rio's casino Poker Room for WSOP use. In the end we spread 301 tables and were able to seat 2809 players.* Rumor had it that because they cut off at 2809, people outside registration were offering up to $15,000 for a $10,000 seat in the Main Event. That may be an exaggeration, but at my table, Carlos Fernandez, 14 year veteran of the WSOP, told me that he was offered $12,000 cash just before they opened the doors. Obviously, he turned down the offer. Carlos is an interesting character, big strong, bald headed and imposing but nothing but a pure gentleman at the tables. He will always be courteous and considerate as he relieves you of the chips in your stack.
*I know 301 times 9 is 2709 but the official web site is reporting
2809 entries which is really interesting because they refused to
allow alternates this year for any of the 57 tournaments, so I
do not know how they seated the other 100 players.
The sold out house and the extra tables caused a rare shortage of dealers. Usually, about 20% more dealers than tables are scheduled. This way, every five tables, each dealer will be able to take a break. Typically, a dealer would "Push" the end of a five table row, get "pushed" over one table every half hour and take a break at the end of the row. That way, you work for two and a half hours, get a half hour break, then start again. On Day 1d, we stayed at the same table with no push for the first two hours, then we rotated without any breaks and dealt again. We did this all day until the 6 PM dealers came in to relieve us at 6:30. Our only bathroom breaks were during the scheduled player breaks when a few of us at a time could run out to the restroom and cut in line in front of 50 or 60 players waiting. The players were really nice about it as they could see what was going on. After I was relieved, I clocked out and headed to the Employee Dining Room to get something to eat. When I came back I found my friend Barry still at the tables. He volunteered to deal overtime and wound up dealing through the entire swing shift!
6494 players have entered the 2009 WSOP Main Event, just a few short of last year's total. First place will win $8.5 million and any player making it to the final table (the November Nine) will be paid over one million dollars. The top 10% of entries (actually only 648 places) will make the money and a player who is eliminated just inside the money bubble will more than double the $10,000 entry fee.
