We spotted a table full of players standing up and sorting through the wreckage of a three way all-in confrontation. One opponent had his laid out in front of him, while another had tabled . Blankenship's appeared to have him bad shape, but when the dealer spread a final board of across the felt, his set of nines was good for a triple-up.
Blankenship eliminated one opponent on the hand and crippled another, while boosting his stack to nearly 8,500 chips. Like many of his fellow seniors, Blankenship was a bit taken aback with the idea of being reported on, saying simply "Shoot, this is my first day here" when asked for his thoughts on the hand.
As we scoured the huge field, which extends into both the Pavilion and Amazon Room, we noticed 3rd-place finisher of the 2008 WSOP Dennis Phillips walking down the hall. We asked him where he was sitting, but were informed he had already busted!
"Aces versus tens...what was I thinking? I had the Aces!" Phillips explained.
Other than Phillips, we've recognized T.J Cloutier, Lon McEachern, Thor Hansen, Tom Schneider and Charles "Woody" Moore. We've been told Susie Isaacs is also with us today, but we have not yet spotted her as we continue to search our way through this vast field of players.
The Pavilion room is packed with players for the senior event and for those who thought this event was going to be off to a slow start are wrong. Kenny "Badhat" Piel has already sent two players to the rail. In his first hand he had the nut flush against trip jacks and in his second hand he had trip sevens against trip fours.
Piel resides in Tunica, Mississippi and has played in the Seniors event for six consecutive years. He has cashed two times in this event and is looking for his third one. Right now he sits on top of the leader board with 8,500 in chips.
While the seniors tournament may strike some observers as one of the more casual events at the WSOP, a quick walk around the Pavilion Room would indicate otherwise. The players are serious about playing their best here on poker's grand stage, and we caught up with one who is doing just that.
Jim Batson was seen crippling an opponent at his table with the mother of all poker hands, . We heard Batson's opponent slam the table in defeat and, cursing as she saw her bested by aces full of tens on a board reading board.
The woman had flopped a pair of aces herself and made Broadway on the turn, only to see her chances of building a big chip stack early sunk when Batson made his boat on the river. He now sits with approximately 5,650 while his opponent was dropped to just under 600 in the tournament's first level.
Today marks day one of our annual Seniors Championship here at the WSOP, which means that we’re more than half way through the 2011 WSOP events already! The Seniors Championship is reserved for players age 50 and over, and we can already see fountains of wisdom and experience filing into the Pavilion for their chance to claim WSOP glory. We do not know the exact number of entrants just yet, but the announcer has just informed us that they expect this year’s Seniors Event to be the largest in history.
Last year it was 78-year-old Harold Angle who claimed the $487,994 first-place prize and WSOP gold bracelet that goes with it. This proves that age is not a factor in one's ability to play great poker, which is just part of the reason that makes poker so great.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as we play through our first 10 levels on our way to crowning a new champion!
laid out in front of him, while another had tabled 
. Blankenship's 
appeared to have him bad shape, but when the dealer spread a final board of 
across the felt, his set of nines was good for a triple-up.
. We heard Batson's opponent slam the table in defeat and, cursing as she saw her 
bested by aces full of tens on a board reading 
board.
