Sunday, June 3, 2007

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WSOP already breaking records in 2007

Justin Bonomo, prominent online player, tries his hand at Event 3 of the 2007 WSOP.

By Sarah Polson

After busting out of Event 1, the $5,000 Mixed Hold'em event of the 2007 World Series of Poker, the place to be on Saturday was the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event as nearly 3,000 poker players registered for the event.

The 2,998 players made for a record-setting amount of participants for a non-championship event. So much for rumors that this year's World Series was going to see a drop in attendance now that third-party registrations from poker rooms aren't allowed.

In comparison, last year's $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event drew 2,776 players, and it was the 2006 WSOP $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em event that previously held the record with 2,891 players.

Some of the players that made the transition to Event 3 after being sent to the rail in Friday's Day 1 of the $5,000 Mixed Hold'em event include J.J. Lieu, Roland De Wolfe, Allen Cunningham, Layne Flack, Kathy Liebert and Daniel Negreanu.

However, the playing field for the event actually has a small percentage of pros in comparison to the $5,000 Mixed Hold'em event.

The $1,500 buy-in works as a double-edged sword that way. While more average joes can afford to buy-in, creating the huge playing field, less big-name pros are as interested in the combination of a low buy-in with a large amount of players to outlast.

Some of the players not afraid to take on the large playing field are the online phenoms who manage to conquer large tournaments on their favorite poker sites.

Players such as Isaac Haxton, who placed second in the PokerStar.com Caribbean Poker Adventure earlier this year, Shane "Shaniac" Schleger, Darrell "Gigabet" Dicken, Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo and Sorrel "Imper1um" Mizzi.

They'll all be putting their poker skills to use trying to get a piece of the $4,092,270 prize pool. The event will pay out to 308 players with the first place winner taking home more than $700,000.

Stay tuned to the PokerListings.com Live Tournament Section as we bring you live updates, reports, photos, interviews and more from all the WSOP events.

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