Photo Caption: WSOP dealer and longtime poker veteran Richard Turnbull performs the traditional "Shuffle Up and Deal" honor at the start of the Casino Employee's Championship, on Sunday.
Day 2: Monday, May 28, 2012
"The Daily Shuffle" will be posted exclusively at WSOP.com just prior to the start of the day's events. Post time will be at about 11 am (Las Vegas time). Players and fans may look to this page as a daily clearinghouse for important news and information about tournaments and other events happening at the Rio. When applicable, "The Daily Shuffle" will also provide a brief overview of the highlights from the previous day.
DREAM ON
Given the size and scope of the WSOP, there's always an unwelcome kink or two -- especially during opening day. On Sunday, about an hour into the first gold bracelet event, loud music unexpectedly blasted out from the speakers inside the tournament room. Normally, music would be a distraction for tournament players. However, the title of the musical misstep could not not have been more appropriate for those in pursuit of their first WSOP gold bracelet. The song? Aerosmith's mega-classic -- "Dream On."
WHAT'S ON DECK -- TODAY'S NEWS
Happy Memorial Day! A special salute goes out to all veterans who have proudly served this nation. All poker players thank you for your service. We also all wish to remember those brave men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice. Please keep them in your thoughts on this day.
Prior to the start of today's noon event, veterans will be recognized in a brief service held inside Brasilia. The national anthem will be played to commemorate the holiday.
Event #2 is a $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em tournament. Action begins at noon. Registration is expected to close at approximately 4:40 pm -- following four levels of play (plus two 20-minute breaks). This means players may enter up until about 4:40 in the afternoon on Monday.*
Event #2 Day One playing action is expected to be concentrated inside the Brasilia Room -- which is one of three large tournament rooms in use at this year's WSOP. The other tournament rooms are the Pavilion (used primarily for cash games, satellites, and Deep-Stack tournaments) and Amazon (used primarily for 5 pm starts and all re-starts). Most noon-start events will begin inside Brasilia. Note that if Brasilia is not large enough to accommodate the entire starting field, tournament play is also assigned to Pavilion -- sections Black and White.
Event #2 is officially listed as a three-day event. Day One will play from noon until about 2 am. There will be a 90-minute dinner break -- expected to take place between 6:40 and 8:10.
Event #2 surviving players will bag up at the end of 11 playing levels and return to play on Tuesday for Day Two. That session will begin at 1 pm.
Event #2 coverage (and all gold bracelet events) can be seen at WSOP.com. Updates include almost-live chip counts as well as written updates supplied from the tournament floor by our friends at PokerNews.com.
The official Structure Sheet for Event #2 can be viewed HERE.
Event #2 could sell out, so players are encouraged to register early not only for this tournament, but all of the most popular events, as well.
Event #1, the $500 buy-in Casino Employee's Championship continues with the play of Day Two on Monday. Starting time is 1 pm, inside Amazon. Dinner break is expected to be about 7:40 pm, and will last one hour.
Tournament Director Jack Effel estimates the duration of Event #1 to be a total of 22 to 23 one-hour levels. Since 11 levels were already completed during Day One, this means an estimated 12 more levels will be needed to complete the tournament. That would put the end time at 3 am (technically, Tuesday morning). If the tournament is not completed by 3 am, play is suspended and resumes the following day.
The first WSOP final table video stream is expected to begin sometime tonight. All final tables of gold bracelet events will be streamed at WSOP.com on a five-minute delay. Action can be seen exclusively at WSOP.com. Coverage begins once the final table of nine players is set -- estimated to be sometime on Monday evening.
As will be the case on many WSOP mornings, a $75 buy-in Turbo Mega-Satellite begins at 9 am.
The first daily Deep Stack No-Limit Hold'em tournaments begins at 2 pm. The entry fee is $235.
The next Deep Stack No-Limit Hold'em tournament begins at 6 pm. The entry fee is $185.
The last Deep Stack No-Limit Hold'em tournament begins at 10 pm. The entry fee is $135.
Two Mega-Satellites will be held on Monday. The first begins at 4 pm and costs $330 to enter. The second begins at 8 pm and costs $550 to enter. These satellites award seats into the WSOP Main Event Championship.
Single-table satellites are being held 24/7 inside the Pavilion. All satellite winners receive $500 buy-in tournament chips.
Rio advises that safety deposit boxes are filling up fast. Players are encouraged to come to the WSOP Main cage soon if they are interested in obtaining a secure box for cash, chips, and valuables.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT -- YESTERDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
Yesterday, the 43rd annual World Series of Poker officially began. The first gold bracelet event (of 61) was the $500 buy-in "Casino Employees Championship," which in recent years has become the traditional schedule opener.
Performing the official "Shuffle Up and Deal" honors alongside WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel was longtime poker dealer Richard Turnbull, from Reno, NV. He is an 85-year-old veteran of World War II -- when he served proudly in the U.S. Navy. Turnbull started dealing poker 37 years ago and has since worked at the Fremont, Las Vegas Hilton, MGM, and Sahara. Effel jokingly introduced the honoree by saying, "Turnbull has dealt more bad beats than Mike Tyson." The WSOP is pleased to see Turnbull back again dealing the tournament again this year.
Event #1, the Casino Employee's Championship began with 732 players. After the first day, only 46 players remain. The end-of-day chip leader is Chip Saechao, from Visalia, CA (with 150,600 in chips).
The Event #1 prize pool totals $329,400. The top 81 finishers will be paid. First prize receives $70,859.
Cash games started booming on Sunday. There are now 82 poker tables dedicated to cash games inside the Pavilion, plus an additional 14 poker tables dedicated to cash games inside the Rio (Main Casino). The most popular game spread is $1-3 No-Limit Hold'em. However, games of virtually all limits will be held in the coming days and weeks ahead.
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* Please note that all listed times are estimates and subject to change