Shannon Shorr Leads the Way
Day 1 of Event #19 is in the books, and after eight levels of play, Shannon Shorr is our unofficial chip leader with 47,000 chips.
The field drew 354 runners - 30 less than last year - and attracted a long list of notables including Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu, Joe Sebok, Maria Ho, David Williams and many more. Those names all failed to reach Day 2 however.
There are a handful of players still in contention for the $213,431 first-place prize however. 2009 WSOP Limit Hold'em World Champion Greg Mueller survived the day with 41,700 chips, his good friend and fellow countryman Shawn Buchanan (45,200) also made Day 2, and so too did Michael "Squeakzilla" Winnett (38,000), Isaac Haxton (39,000), and David Benyamine (28,400).
The tournament resumes at 3 p.m. PT tomorrow. Be sure to keep it locked to PokerNews.com for all of your exclusive up-to-the-second updates throughout the entire 2011 World Series of Poker.
For now, good night from the Rio!