2012 Wsop End Day 1A

July 9,2012 : WORLD SERIES OF POKER DAY 1A COMPLETED (Update)
 
657 survive an entry field of 1066
 
Day 1A of the 43rd World Series of Poker main event is in the record books, with 657 players surviving a stellar entry field of 1066 hopefuls.
 
For some it meant staying in the race for the massive final table prizes on October 28, but for many there was the disappointment of being eliminated and forfeiting buy-ins of $10,000.
 
Among those who will not be returning were 12-time bracelet holder Phil Hellmuth, Matt Glantz, Chris Klodnicki, Kathy Leibert, Allen Bari, Eric Froelich, Greg Mueller, comedian Ray Romano, Frank Kassela, Lee Markholt, Raymond Rahme, 2005 WSOP main event champ Joe Hachem and 1993 Champ Jim Bechtel.
 
Hellmuth announced his elimination on Twitter, tweeting: "I’m out of the Main Event! Feeling tortured: Feeling sick…Maniac winning every pot w K-9 + Q-8 KNEW he would implode, BUT he busts me 1st." Commentators noted that he was referring to European Poker Tour (EPT) Copenhagen champion Michael Tureniec.
 
Among the survivors was last year's champion, Pius Heinz, who admitted to reporters:
 
“My day 1 was extremely rocky, pretty rollercoaster-like. I didn’t win a pot for the first six hours pretty much and was down to 10,000 on the dinner break. I thought, ‘I am just going to bust on day 1, it’s going to suck."
 
However, the young German pro was able to stage a comeback after dinner, ending the day with 40,000 chips.
 
Other respected names still in the running include Eric Baldwin, Faraz Jaka, Filippo Candio, JJ Liu, Mike Sexton and David Williams.
 
They will now take a two-day break before returning next Tuesday at noon to play another five levels.
 
Celebrity survivors included actor Kevin Pollack, hockey star Roberto Luongo and his brother Fabio.
 
Day 1B commences in Las Vegas at noon local time Sunday.
 
The top ten chip counts for Day 1A look like this:
 
William John  266,700
Gerardo Lubas  165,800
Daniel Strelitz  164,125
Dane Lomas  157,600
Cary Katz  154,850
Benjamin Pollak  144,200
Chance Kornuth  141,775
Johnathan Cuevas  141,675
Jared Okun  141,350
Eric Kurtzman  136,900