Texas player tackles his first-ever WSOP

Jack Matthews sits next to Kathy Liebert during his first-ever WSOP event

When Jack Matthews and his wife came to Vegas this week, it was for one purpose: He was going to play in a World Series of Poker event. As it worked out, his first WSOP event ever was also the first event of this year's series.

Initially the Texas native was lined up to register for the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event that starts today at noon. But the line was getting too long, and he was easily tempted away to try another event.

"They announced that the $5,000 event was open and the line was much shorter, so I decided to do that one instead," Matthews said.

Perhaps that was the better choice for Matthews' first WSOP experience anyway. The first event wasn't expected to be a big draw, but as it turns out, several poker pros came out to play, giving Matthews the true poker tournament experience.

"I love it," he said. "I love being here with all the action, all the players and all the hype."

Plus the highlight for him so far was getting to see the people he'd been watching play poker on TV for years. He was even seated next to Kathy Liebert.

"I saw her laughing a couple times, so you must've been laying some of your humor on her," Matthews' wife Gloria said.

In fact, Matthews struck up a conversation with Liebert once in a while during play and said he was having fun playing next to her. He mentioned she was playing conservatively and her stack was a little healthier looking than his at the time.

Considering this was his first major event, Matthews was pretty happy with his play so far. His strategy was to just stay under the radar and last as long as he could.

That strategy was working pretty well for him by the time he was interviewed during the second break, a few hours into the event. He had a little more than the $10,000 in chips that he started with and was lasting much longer than he'd done in previous tournaments.

His other tournament experience includes his home games and a couple trips to Ceasars Las Vegas for invitation-only tournaments.

"I lasted 10 minutes once, 30 minutes the second time," Matthews said. "So I'm doing much better this time."

He attributes his longevity in the tournament to his home game. On a couple Fridays each month, 23 guys get together in his poker room built in the barn to play Texas Hold'em.

They mainly play No-Limit, so it was an adjustment to play in the mixed Limit and No-Limit event at the WSOP, but Matthews said they try to stick as close as possible to the tournament rules and style, giving him invaluable experience.

"The game we play back home is finally starting to pay off too," he said. "The competition level is getting better and better."

However, Matthews has no intention of transitioning into professional poker play someday. He's happy running his electrical contracting business in Texas, which gives him the time and the money to play poker as a hobby.

Unfortunately his hobby didn't pay off for him this time around. Matthews didn't make it past the first day of play, but he will take home the experience of playing with some of the pros he admires.

After play ended Friday night, there were 95 of the original 451 still left in the game. That field is still littered with pros though.

Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth are both out after the first day, leaving only Johnny Chan still in the hunt for a record 11th WSOP bracelet. He too may not last long though as he's pretty low in the chip count.

Kathy Liebert is out after Day 1, along with a few other women, leaving only six remaining in the competition.

Sabyl Cohen is actually third in the chip count, making her the top female, with Isabelle Mercier, Vanessa Rousso, Cyndy Violette and Liz Lieu all still in the hunt as well.

Leading the way when the tournament resumes today at 2 p.m. is Greg Mueller with $130,000 in chips.

Stay tuned to PokerListings.com for the best news, reports, live updates, photos and more from this year's WSOP.

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