Day 1 at the World Poker Challenge

Lasting close to 14 hours, Day 1 of this year's WPT World Poker Challenge was anything but short. A field of 261 coughed up their $7,500 buy-in and packed into the tournament area at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino here in Reno but by the end of this marathon day only 80 were left standing.

This event kicked off with a launch party last night to celebrate the first episode of the World Poker Tour's Season 6 airing on the Game Show Network. The Grand Sierra Resort was extremely generous to make its club, All City Live, available, along with the always-important open bar.

In addition to the core group of media were a smattering of players and WPT higher-ups. Jonathan Little, the winner of the tournament being broadcast on the big screens placed strategically around the club, was also in the house being his usual understated self.

The highlight of the evening, though, had to have been the performance of the main bartender on duty. Between blowing fireballs of 151-proof rum and taking a bit of cash off Gavin Smith and Layne Flack in a Jäger-bomb speed contest, he had the time to set up a massive pyramid of glasses which he almost succeeded in filling up before a member of the raucous crowd knocked it down, spilling the contents all over the bar and the front row.

Day 1.

Although the attendees of last night's party were having a good time, the prospect of the 14-hour Day 1 was certainly looming. The sentiments offered on this subject ranged from indifferent to blatantly negative, with some voicing outright outrage at the agenda. Steve Brecher, a Full Tilt-sponsored professional, made the trip all the way here but decided against registering when he discovered how long he'd have to play to make it through Day 1.

There are plenty of good arguments for packing as much poker as possible into the first day. Foremost is the need to reach the final table by the end of Day 3. We began today with 261 and were able to strip 186 off that number by the time play ceased for the night.

As impressive as that might seem, it still leaves 48 eliminations for tomorrow to reach the goal of 27. On Day 3 we have to arrive at the final six so logistically it makes a lot more sense to err on the side of caution and play long on Day 1.

There's another, less obvious reason for the long hours today though and it has to do with how many people register versus how many actually get paid. With only the players who survive to Day 3 making the money it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to add additional days to allow for a more manageable schedule. This logic applies to professionals and amateurs alike.

This is my day job.

Being a Tuesday, people with day jobs are taking time off work to be here. If it means missing another day only to bust out of the money, most would prefer to pare the field down as far as possible on the first day, thereby reducing the number of players who have to return only to miss cashing by a few spots.

Pros can relate to this as well, since every day spent on the road means more expenses and more time they're not playing in their regular games or spending time with their families.

Everyone seems to understand these reasons but it doesn't appear to stop anyone from complaining about the long hours, media included.

Like every WPT these days, the field may not be massive but it's certainly full of some talented players. As things got under way around noon we were treated to an inordinate concentration of said pros at one end of the room.

Since it's the norm for registration to remain open in these events until the end of the first level the randomness of the draw used to assign seats is somewhat undermined. Everyone who's registered before the announcement of shuffle up and deal is seated randomly and there are a certain number of seats left vacant for the latecomers.

As we saw today though, sometimes the number of latecomers surpasses the number of free seats, meaning new tables need to be created. Now bear in mind, poker players aren't exactly punctual at the best of times and many don't see the need in getting up early to make the first level.

Where's the dead money?

As pro after pro showed up late a need for new tables arose, resulting in a ridiculous number of big names seated side by side. Lee Watkinson, John Phan, Mike Matusow, Allen Kessler, Greg Mueller, Vanessa Rousso and J.C. Tran were all seated at the same patch of felt, as were Jonathan Little, David Levi, Chau Giang, J.C. Alvarado, Tom Franklin, David Pham and Tuan Le.

Although we loved the chance to see these heavyweights square off early in the event, the pros themselves were less than enthused about the situation.

As we've said before, just because a poker tournament has never been won on the first day doesn't mean the early stages aren't important. For a look at all the action we saw in the nine levels today, head over to the Live Updates page which that information calls home. Despite the casino track lighting we did manage to get some decent photos, which can be found on the Photo Page.

By the end of play it was the indomitable Phil Ivey in the lead followed by a plethora of familiar faces. For a full rundown of the chip counts check out the Live Updates Page.

The tournament staff seems to be disregarding the minimum 12-hour break rule used by some casinos and have announced that we'll be back in action at noon tomorrow, actually today, which is less than 10 hours away. So get to bed and rest up for melee to come - we sure will.