2013 WSOP Main Event Day 1A

Monday July 8,2013 :  DAY 1A OF WORLD SERIES OF POKER MAIN EVENT PULLS IN 943 PLAYERS
 
Former champions among entry lists
 
Former World Series of Poker main event champions Greg Merson, Joe Cada and Pius Heinz were among the 943 first flight players who started the Main Event rolling Saturday, a field slightly smaller than expected or was achieved last year, but the organisers remain confident that the 7,000 player level will be breached by the time all three starting days have been completed.
 
Last year's main event drew 6,598 players, who paid $10,000 for the privilege of playing with the world’s best…and the chance of winning a respected bracelet along with a ton of money.
 
Of the three former champs, only Cada and Merson advanced to Day 2, whilst Heinz was eliminated.
 
Other big names that failed to make it through included Abe Mosseri, T.J. Cloutier, Mike McDonald, Raymond Rahme, celeb player Jason Alexander, Justin Bonomo, David Steicke, Leo Wolpert, Andy Bloch, Chino Rheem, Gavin Smith and Soi Nguyen.
 
On the more fortunate side of the coin, those surviving Day 1A included celeb player Kevin Pollack, Ronnie Bardah, Kristen Bicknell, Dominik Nitsche, Elio Fox, Olivier Busquet, Nick Maimone, Dan O'Brien, Ivan Demidov, Rep Porter, Andy Black, Elisabeth Hille, Mike Matusow, Kenny Tran, Mike Sexton, John Henigan, Brian Rast,  and Dwyte Pilgrim… and Merson was among the better chip counts at the end of the day.
 
The Day1A chip leader was Kansas internet ace, poker pro and coach Evan Panesis on 190,000 chips, closely pursued by Nick Crisp on 184,075.