 Day 1D is the last first day in the field, meaning that players that haven't registered by today are left out of the Main Event this year. After a drop off in the numbers from last year on Day 1A and 1B, Day 1C saw a resurgence, with nearly 1,700 entrants. Day 1D has been an even bigger success,...
Day 1D is the last first day in the field, meaning that players that haven't registered by today are left out of the Main Event this year. After a drop off in the numbers from last year on Day 1A and 1B, Day 1C saw a resurgence, with nearly 1,700 entrants. Day 1D has been an even bigger success, drawing right around 2,809 players at the latest count, bringing the total number of entrants for the 2009 Main Event to 6,494. The problem? The flood of players has caused Day 1D to sell out, and hundreds of players were turned away today with the Amazon, Brasilia and Miranda rooms full, and even some tables moved out of the Rio Convention Center to the main casino. The players that did manage to get into the field have created the busiest day yet at the WSOP. Every room is jam packed with tables, ESPN camera crews and spectators. Bertrand "ElkY" Grosspellier was one of the lucky ones to make it into the field on the final day. "I registered earlier so I didn't have any problem," Grosspellier said. "I do think it's a shame that they had to turn away players for the Main Event." Day 1A drew 1,116 players, while Day 1B drew only 873 players. With two days in the books, the 2009 Main Event was on pace to have less than 4,000 entrants. 1,696 players bought in for Day 1C, however, and the huge turnout for Day 1D brings the total number of entries to 6,494. The Main Event drew 6,844 last year and 6,358 players in 2007. "I think it's pretty good, especially considering the downswing in the numbers for American tournaments," Grosspellier said. "There were very few players for Day 1B, so today is pretty good. I do think it's strange that they have such a difference in the number of players each day." The massive Amazon Room is tough to navigate, and the atmosphere around the room is hectic and dramatic, particularly around the ESPN feature tables. Rumor around the WSOP early in the day had it that Patrik Antonius was one of the players that was turned away after Day 1D sold out. His arch-nemesis from the durrrr Challenge, Tom Dwan, did manage to make it into the field, making a rare real-world appearance with a late entrance into the Miranda room. Other big names in the field on Day 1D include Erick Lindgren, Vanessa Rousso, Phil Ivey, Dutch Boyd, Kenny Tran, Michael Mizrachi, Jennifer Harman, Marco Traniello, and Cyndy Violette. Ivey has commanded a lot of attention from the rail and from the ESPN camera crews, and the Full Tilt pro has spent his day away from the feature table and staying out of the limelight as much as possible. The WSOP has stated that a sell out occurs when 2,800 players enter the field in one day. The final numbers have yet to be released at the time of this writing. Other notables in the field Monday include 2008 Main Event champ Peter Eastgate, Humberto Brenes, Kathy Liebert, Shawn Sheikan, Mike Wattel, David Chiu and Huck Seed. Plenty of celebrities were also spotted in the field, including Ray Romano, Marlon Wayans, Shannon Elizabeth and former NBA player John Salley.
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