Day 1 of Event #26, the $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship, Has Been Put Out to Pasture
Every year at the World Series of Poker thousands of young guns flock to the poker Mecca to test their mettle against five-bets, flop floats, and flush draws, but the Seniors Championship offers a reprieve from the hyper-aggression that has come to dominate the game. For players of a certain generation, those who can still remember when the third raise always meant aces in the hole, the Seniors event is a tried and true tradition, and the last bastion of A-B-C poker in a world turned on its head by the online style.
Today, a total of 4,407 seniors took their seats bright and early, besting the Seniors Championship record set just last year, and nearly topping the unprecedented number of entrants to play on a single day established by this year's historic "Millionaire Maker" event. With seniors spread throughout the Rio's multiple venues, including the Pavilion, the Brasilia Room, and the Amazon Room, the atmosphere here today has rivaled that of the Main Event, as the crowded halls and throngs of interested onlookers suggest that a major event is being contested.
A number of notable names from the professional ranks were spotted early on in Day 1, with Johnny Chan, Chad Brown, Susie Isaacs, Men Nguyen, and defending champion Allyn Jaffrey Shulman all trying their best to run up a chip stack and make a deep run. Unfortunately for this pack of pros, Day 1 was the end of the line, but plenty of top-flight players managed to bag and tag after eleven full hours of play.
Young Ji (51,800), "Captain" Tom Franklin (48,100) Hoyt Corkins (48,100), Robert Varkonyi (39,900), John Strzemp (32,700), and T.J. Cloutier (29,400) are some of the more notable names still alive after Day 1, and with former Main Event winners and bracelet holders still in the hunt, tomorrow's Day 2 promises to be action packed.
The chip leader after 11 full levels of play appears to be Alex Kunichoff, who built an enormous stack of 151,400 by the time he bagged and tagged, and while there may be somebody with more chips in the field, we certainly didn't spot any. He will be trailed by George Wright, who holds 129,700 entering Day 2, and as far as we can tell nobody else has even topped 100,000 milestone.
Day 2 of the Seniors Championship will resume at 11am PST, so check back with PokerNews throughout the day to follow your favorite golden oldies, as they play their way into the money, and maybe even the final table.