Through The Lens of Drew - Day 1B Has The Room Buzzing

Drew Amato • Jul 4, 2018

Day 1B of the WSOP Main Event drew a staggering 2,379 players. Here’s the photo recap by Drew Amato.

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Drew Amato has been covering the World Series of Poker since 2014. This year he’s covered the U.S. Poker Open and Super High Roller Bowl for Poker Central. Twice per week, Amato will share his favorite images from the World Series of Poker. Enjoy this recurring piece as, in his own words, Amato describes the biggest moments in the game.

We are back for another starting flight in the 2018 Main Event and it’s already night and day compared to Day 1A. Yesterday’s flight saw 925 players take their shot at the most prestigious title in poker, but the field was contained in 3 sections of the Amazon room. Today, however, the field was spread out throughout Amazon, Brasilia, and Pavilion, making the increase in participation very evident. When registration closed, 2,379 had bought in for $10,000, and here’s a look at my favorite moments from Day 1B.

For most poker players, myself included, Rounders is up there as one of the best movies ever made. It's hard to not think back on the scenes involving Johnny Chan, especially with Matt Damon watching potentially one of the most epic hands in this tournament of all time. It's the 1988 WSOP Main Event and Johnny Chan is heads up with Eric Seidel for the title. The board reads Q:clubs: 8:diamonds: T:hearts: 2:spades:and Johnny Chan checks behind on the turn. Seidel, holding Q:clubs: 7:hearts: moves all in on the 6:diamonds: river, only to get snapped off by Chan's J:clubs: 9:clubs:. The perfect trap. Chan is up to some of his old tricks today as well, as the 10-time WSOP Bracelet winner currently sits with a top 10 stack heading to dinner. — The Master: For most poker players, myself included, Rounders is up there as one of the best movies ever made. It’s hard to not think back on the scenes involving Johnny Chan, especially with Matt Damon watching potentially one of the most epic hands in this tournament of all time. It’s the 1988 WSOP Main Event and Johnny Chan is heads up with Eric Seidel for the title. Johnny chan sets the perfect trap and wins the event, and today he was up to his old tricks. The 10-time WSOP Bracelet winner bagged up a massive 151,100 stack after Day 1B.

Walking thru the Brasilia Room Kelly Minkin was all smiles early here on Day 1B, as the Arizona based attorney has chipped up nicely, sitting on a stack of over 80,000. In 2015 Minkin finished 29th out of the 6,420 entries in the Main Event. She would take home over $211,000 for the run, her second best career score to date. — Walking thru the Brasilia Room Kelly Minkin was all smiles early on Day 1B. The Arizona-based attorney chipped up nicely, sitting on a stack of over 80,000. In 2015, Minkin finished 29th out of the 6,420 entries in the Main Event, taking home over $211,000 for the second-best career score to date. Minkin takes 72,200 to Day 2.

Also spotted in today's field is the 2017 WSOP Player of the Year, Chris Ferguson. Ferguson has been one of the more polarizing figures in poker these past few years, but nothing can take away from his results the past 12 months. Along with a shirt reading "LOVE," Ferguson was wearing his signature Cowboy hat, laced out with a WSOP bracelet. He takes a stack of 110,000 into the dinner break. — Jesus: Also spotted in today’s field is the 2017 WSOP Player of the Year, Chris Ferguson. Ferguson has been one of the more polarizing figures in poker these past few years, but nothing can take away from his results the past 12 months. Along with a shirt reading “LOVE,” Ferguson was wearing his signature Cowboy hat, laced out with a WSOP bracelet. The six-time WSOP bracelet winner bagged up 134,900 when it was all said and done.

No rest for the wicked. Michael Mizrachi, fresh off his third $50k Poker Players Championship title came to the Rio today with no intention of playing the Main Event. Mizrachi managed to make the final table of $365 PLO-Giant event, which was playing down to a winner today. Mizrachi finished 5th in the event and immediately registered the Main Event. Much to his surprise, he drew a seat at an already star-studded feature table including Mariah Ho, Brian Hastings, and Chad Power. — No rest for the wicked. Michael Mizrachi, fresh off his third $50k Poker Players Championship title, came to the Rio today with no intention of playing the Main Event. Mizrachi managed to make the final table of $365 PLO-Giant event, which was playing down to a winner today. Mizrachi finished 5th in the event and immediately registered the Main Event. Much to his surprise, he drew a seat at an already star-studded feature table including Mariah Ho, Brian Hastings, and Chad Power. In true Mizrachi-fashion, the Florida native bagged up 166,200 and is among the big stacks heading into Day 2.

Three’s Company. Not one, not two, but three Galfond’s are in the field today. Just a few days ago Phil Galfond captured his third WSOP bracelet in the 10k PLO event. The bracelet was just icing on the Galfond cake, as his wife, Farah, announced earlier this week that the couple is expecting their first child. Both Phil and Farah are in today’s field, just a few tables away from each other in Brasilia. Farah bagged up 91,800 chips while Phil took 62,000 to Day 2.

Enjoyed this photoblog? You’ll also enjoy “Super High Roller Bowl Highlights”, “Poker’s Annual Gold Rush” and “Doyle’s Final Ride” in the series “Through the Lens of Drew” by clicking the links. Follow Drew Amato on Instagram. The 2018 World Series of Poker streams live on PokerGO now. Don’t miss a minute of the action by subscribing to PokerGO.

Chris Ferguson, Phil Galfond, 2018 WSOP Main Event, Kelly Minkin, Michael Mizrachi, johnny chan, Drew Amato, Farah Galfond