In God's Country: WSOPC Tahoe Day 1

In one of the most beautiful stops on the poker calendar, WSOPC Tahoe kicked off inside the friendly confines of the Harvey's Lake Tahoe Hotel and Casino today.

Day 1 of three began just after 12 p.m. PST with 132 WSOPC dreamers and the quick announcement they were all playing for a $181,379 first-place prize. In all, 18 will make the money here at the lake, with those at the bottom end taking home $7,042 for their efforts.

Considering the comparatively small buy-ins, much of the World Series of Poker Circuit has run this year without the game's elite. But all that changed in Tahoe today.

Among the 123 starters, no fewer than three former World Champions came up for a sniff of this fresh mountain air: Johnny Chan, Jerry Yang and defending WSOPC Tahoe champ Chris Ferguson all made the trip. Plus, a whole whack of the best in the game decided to join them here as well.

Chan's time in Tahoe was rather short, though, as he got short and shipped it with a flush draw in the early part of the day, running smack into a flopped set. Johnny turned his flush, but the board paired to send him packing.

Jesus couldn't help Jerry Yang today.

Yang was banged soon after when he shipped his short stack with queens only to find an all-too-willing caller who had flopped two pair.

Jesus' fate was much different, however. He played his usually tight style, and after making kings and queens to drag a big pot, found himself in prime position ($51,800 in chips) for a deep run in defense of his Tahoe crown when the day was through.

Two other players who joined the Team Full Tilt pro at last year's WSOPC Tahoe final table also continued to run good here today.

Mark Bonsack had a tough table draw, with 2008 WSOP bracelet winner Matt Keikoan, EPT Copenhagen winner Tim Vance and the aforementioned Yang all sharing his piece of felt.

Bonsack's no lucksack.

But Bonsack got the best of that group for most of the day, getting it up close to $40k at one point. He slipped a bit before the day was through, but his close-to-$30k stack should give him enough ammunition to fight the Day 2 battle.

Meanwhile, last year's ninth-place finisher, Travis Erdman, worked his way up to $70k and is within earshot of the leaders.

Apparently the Tahoe run-good vibe extends beyond just last year's final tablists though. Young Chris Dombrowski, the 13th-place finisher at the WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic last season, likes it up here as well.

Having already made a final table in the WSOPC prelims a couple of days ago, it was no surprise he grabbed the chip lead as the day came to a close and will head into tomorrow's Day 2 on top as the only player over $100k.

Loving the lake.

It won't be a cakewalk though, as tough pros like Scott Clements, Allen Kessler, Michael Binger, Robert Cheung and Kathy Liebert all have chips as well.

A total of 55 players made the cut today and they'll all get back at it sometime around 12 p.m. PST to play down to a final table of nine.

If we can tear ourselves away from the beauty of Lake Tahoe for a few hours, PL.com will be joining them and, as always, you're welcome to come along for the ride.