2007 WSOP DAY 1B RECAP + FLIPCHIP PHOTOS

The Buzz

Everyone wondered what the numbers would be on Day 1b. 1545 players were in the field, bringing the total main event numbers to 2,852. Day 1c is expected to have close to 2,000 players but so far the numbers have been either higher than expected or lower than expected depending on who you talk to.

The Backstory

David Singer was involved in a controversial elimination. While he was in a hand with another player, that player’s cell phone rang. He picked up the phone, pressed a button, but did not answer the call. David Singer felt that his hand should have been declared dead according to rules that were announced every day. The TD said that the hand was live. David Singer ended up losing the hand when he missed his flush draw. Singer was visibly upset and asked for a refund and some resolution in the situation.

The TD did an investigation in the matter which included surveillance cameras. According to [link removed].com, it was confirmed that “A) the player in question did not look at his phone, and B) his only action was to silence the phone’s ringer and quickly put it back into his pocket. The tournament staff then took the investigation one step further, and temporarily confiscated the man’s phone to test whether or not it was possible for him to receive a text message, by the way in which he handled his phone. The additional test concluded that the man would have had to press three buttons in order to receive a text message.”

The staff decided to stand by their ruling and Singer’s elimination held up. He’s going to be taking the matter up with the NGC.

Sight of the Day

The sight of the day happens to be the lack of sight for Jason Holbrook. Although he is legally blind, Holbrook played in the largest poker tournament in the world with someone sitting behind him whispering his hole cards, the board, and the betting action.

Quote of the Day

“Ever since I have been here, I have been told that if you touch your phone during a hand then your hand is dead,” David Singer said as his elimination hand was embroiled in controversy.

Hand of the Day

Noah Boeken flopped quad 7s. It was special because it happened to be July 7th or 7-7-07. The flop was 7c-7s-6s and Boeken held 7c-7h.

Celebrity Players

SNL Weekend Update anchor Norm MacDonald was among the stars in the crowd. I must say that the field was thin on Saturday. Aside from Montel Williams, Jamie Gold’s mother, and Norm MacDonald, Sam Simon (producer of The Simpsons) there wasn’t too many people to keep an eye on.

However, Jen Mason from London was playing in the event. She’s a tournament reporter and writer with Blonde Poker. She won her buy-in from a prop bet with Roland de Wolfe. He bet her $10,000 that she could not quit smoking in May. Obviously, she held up her end of the bet. Sadly, she couldn’t advance to Day 2.

Noteworthy Stacks

Montel Williams was one of the first players past the 100K mark. By Midnight, he was the chipleader with 150K. Dag Martin Mikkelsen became the first player past 200K.Top 10 End of Day 1b Chip Counts:
Dag Martin Mikkelsen 236,000
Jeff Banghart 186,200
Albert Strickland 180,700
George Dunst 168,900
Lewis Pilkington 166,000
John Sacha 163,400
Sven Anders Johnsson 161,100
Jason Welch 160,500
Frank Bluemlein 152,400
John Duthie 151,300

Noteworthy Bustouts

Day 1b eliminations included… Noah Boeken, Jen Mason, Max Pescatori, Jeff Shulman, Jesse Jones, Johan Storakers, Michael Woo, Ylon Schwartz, Erik Seidel, Norm Macdonald, David Singer, Allyn Jaffrey Shulman, Isabelle Mercier, Marc Karam, Kathy Liebert, Scott Fischman, Jennifer Harman, Jeff Lisandro, David Bach, Zee Justin, Dan Shak, Paul Sexton, Annie Duke, Simon ‘Aces’ Trumper, Howard Lederer, Scott Clements, Robert Cheung, David Williams, Steve Wong, Jason Holbrook, Sam Farha, Davidson Matthew, Aaron Kanter, Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul, Barny Boatman, Sam Grizzle, Mike Wattel, John Juanda, Brett Richey, Vanessa Selbst, Young Phan, Dan Alspach, and Juha Helppi.