World Series of Poker Day 1B

Happy Birthday USA!

They kicked off Day 1B at the WSOP by playing the National Anthem to recognize the country's celebration of Independence Day, then Doyle Brunson issued the order to "Shuffle Up and Deal!" Doyle won't be repeating that performance on future days as he was eliminated during level three when his flopped set was beat by a turned straight.

In addition to Doyle, other former Main Event champions who played today are Amarillo Slim Preston, (1972) Jim Bechtel, (1993) Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson, (2000) Carlos Mortensen, (2001) Chris Moneymaker, (2003) and Greg Raymer (2004). Moneymaker hit the rail before the dinner break after running Queens into Aces, then running Tens into Aces. The rest will return for day 2A on Tuesday.

Jack Ury was back today to beat his own record for the oldest player to participate in the Main Event. He's 96 years young and proves that poker is the great equalizer. He survived the day and will return on day 2A to continue play.

The turnout was a bit light, as expected, due to the holiday as many players passed on poker in order to attend the traditional backyard barbeques and fireworks displays. 873 players participated today and added to the Day 1A attendance of 1,116, brings the player count to 1,989 for the first two starting days. In contrast, they already have more than that number registered to play on day 1D, the last of four starting days.

Two-time WSOP bracelet winner David 'the Dragon' Pham was relegated to the rail after dinner when his pocket Aces got cracked in a horrible fashion. He was all in against AK and a player at the table announced he had mucked a King. Nevertheless, a King hit the flop, then the case King hit the turn to crack those Aces and send the Dragon packing.

Other notables playing today were 8-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel, three-time WSOP bracelet winners Barry Greenstein and Mike 'the Mouth' Matusow, (who spent most of the day at the ESPN feature table) and two-time WSOP bracelet winners Thor Hansen, Hoyt Corkins, and Burt Boutin. They will all return for day 2A.

Poker Pages blogger and WSOP bracelet holder Jason Young had an up and down day, but finished on the upswing. He bagged 40,000 chips at the end of the day and will enjoy two days off before returning to play on Tuesday.

Other notables who will be back for day 2A: Bill Edler, Todd and Pam Brunson, Mike Caro, John Myung, Shaun Deeb, Alexander Kravchenko, and Joe Sebok.

The third of four starting days, Day 1C, begins Sunday at noon Las Vegas time.

For full Day 1B coverage click here.

For full Day 1A coverage click here.

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