Ker-ching! Big names aplenty were dispersed throughout the comfy confines of London's Leicester Square-based Empire casino as an action-packed day of poker beckoned, and by the end of it, the first bracelet of the WSOP had been handed out, along with a host of large cash prizes.

The WSOPE had resumed at the Empire with the schedule promising a great day's poker. As well as the start of Event 2, the £2,500 H.O.R.S.E. tournament, complete with weighty $10,000 stacks and a beefy 90-minute clock, the Empire was also hosting the final table of the inaugural event of the WSOPE season, the £1,500 NLHE tournament.

Several big names were included in the mix: summer bracelet winner Jesper Hougaard was looking to furnish his arm with a second piece of WSOP jewelry but was likely to face an uphill struggle to do so, the Dane coming into the final short-stacked and living on a prayer.

Irish Open winner Neil Channing had also made the final nine, and he was hoping to add a bracelet to his many other achievements in poker. We interviewed Neil on his hopes and aspirations yesterday, and you can read that interview here.

Although he was better placed than Hougaard, Channing's stack was still below average, and he would need to negotiate his way past APT winner and rising star Yevgeniy Timoshenko if he was to find the path to victory.

Those two and the other players at the final, though, would all face a struggle to best Daniel Negreanu's young protégé Adam Junglen, who had clearly learned a few tricks off the wily Canadian pro on his way to amassing a sizable chip lead going into the final.

A fiery day's poker was in prospect, and the action didn't fail to disappoint. There was the potential of several eliminations early on, with both Hougaard and Fuad Serhan quickly getting into action with their short stacks, but although both players found themselves all-in in the opening stages, they both survived their respective confrontations to double through and increase their chances.

Channing fell just short.

First to fall was Daniel Nutt. Daniel had benefitted from vociferous support throughout his passage to the final, but his enthusiastic railbirds were to be disappointed, seeing their hero fall at the hands of young Russian Timoshenko, who raced his K-Q with pocket nines successfully. Daniel picked up £13,222 for his performance.

A disappointed Ian Woodley was to fall next. Holding A-Q and relatively short-stacked on the button, there was only one move and he made it, shoving his stack over the line.

Hougaard was to prove his executioner though, making the call with pocket sixes which held in fine style, improving to a full house and sending Woodley spiraling out in eighth for £17,835.

Linda Lee, the fiancée of Avery Cardoza, the publishing magnate, showed that women can match their male counterparts with a strong performance, but she couldn't negotiate her way past seventh place, getting her money in ahead against Fuad Serhan but losing out nonetheless. She picked up £22,448 for her efforts.

Perhaps the surprise of the final table was the demise of Adam Junglen, who had been such a dominant chip leader previously. He lost several flips to leave himself short, however, and felt obliged to make a move with A-5 against John Dwyer's pocket fives. An ace looked to have sealed a double-up for the young player before a cruel one-out five spiked, shredding for now any aspirations he had of braceleted glory.

Bracelet No. 1.

Junglen will have to settle for his cheque for £28,598, but it seems likely we will see the young player back competing for titles sooner rather than later, given the aptitude he showed throughout this event.

Irishman John Dwyer was to perish next, picking up £36,285 for his fifth place, which was brought about when he ran his pocket fives into Timoshenko's Kings. Channing was keen on a bracelet but he too was derailed in spectacular fashion, his pocket eights bested by the fortunate Hougaard's A-6. £44,588 was Channing's prize for his efforts in finishing fourth.

Three-handed action see-sawed furiously before Hougaard knocked out Timoshenko in a straight race, with £55,300 in remuneration his consolation for narrowly missing out on the bracelet.

The heads-up was to prove short-lived as Fuad Serhan and Jesper Hougaard went to war pre-flop, with Serhan holding the advantage with A♣ K♣ to Hougaard's A♦ J♦. It was the Dane's day though and as the dealer dealt out a decisive all-diamond flop to end Serhan's tournament, we had a winner.

Serhan picked up £89,175 for his valiant second place, but the rampaging Dane Jesper Hougaard had made history by being the first player to win both a WSOP and WSOPE bracelet, winning WSOP gold on both sides of the Atlantic.

Busted surprisingly early.

He also had a chunky cheque for £144,218 in his back pocket and we offer the big Dane our congratulations for his almost miraculous comeback from table short stack to eventual winner. You can read PokerListings.com's interview with the man himself by clicking here.

Champagne glasses clinking in the background at the celebrations following Hougaard's victory formed the backdrop to the £2,500 H.O.R.S.E. tournament that played out Day 1 today.

There was an alluring 90-minute clock for those who stumped up the cash to play and $10,000 chips on offer with which to make an assault on the bracelet that was up for grabs.

Oddly, there was only a small field attending - just 110 players took the plunge to participate. Despite its small size however, the field was immensely strong, as a host of European, American and other pros jumped at the opportunity to pick up a bracelet.

There will be few fields with such a density of top-class pros, and the fight for this bracelet should be a battle royale.

With such deep stacks and a long clock, it was inevitable that casualties would be thin on the ground, and indeed the first few levels only saw a handful of knockouts. As the blinds rose to a more threatening level, however, the rate of attrition began to increase.

With the number of poker stars peppering the field, it was almost inevitable we would see some stellar names gracing the upper echelons of the leaderboard, and there are none bigger than Phil Ivey. It was he and the Poker Brat, Phil Hellmuth, who led the way at the end of the day, and when they resume tomorrow, they will be the men to stop.

Play will resume tomorrow at the Empire at 2 p.m. sharp local time, so join PokerListings.com then as we continue to trace the path to the final table in our own unique style.