Late Night Update: Bright Prospects for First Final Table

Harrah's opened the 2008 WSOP with a $10,000 event as part of a "cold open," giving the staff a chance to start with a smaller, more manageable event (352 players). It turns out that there is a beneficial side effect -- $10,000 buy-in events tend to have a higher percentage of top players than the $1,500 no-limit hold'em events that have started the WSOP in recent years with thousands of entrants.

Shortly after 1:30 am PT, there are still 12 players left in Event #1 ($10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em), battling for the nine seats at the first final table of the 2008 WSOP. Andy Bloch leads the field with about 1.2 million in chips, followed by Patrik "Black Lotus" Antonius. Other big names still in the field include young online pro Mike Sowers, Phil "Unabomber" Laak, Nenad Medic, Mike Sexton, Kathy Liebert, and Chris Bell. This definitely has the potential for a very exciting and TV-friendly final table.

Update #1: As of 1:50 am PT, the field is down to 11 players, and everyone that I mentioned above is still alive.

Update #2: As of 2:00 am PT, the field is down to 10 players, and everyone that I mentioned above is still alive. Ryan Young, who won a WSOP bracelet in $1,500 no-limit hold'em last year, was just eliminated in 11th place.

Update #3: As of 4:00 am PT, the field is stuck at 10 players. Andy Bloch is still the chipleader with about 1.7 million in chips, followed by Mike Sexton with about 1.1 million. The final ten seemed to be in high spirits two hours ago, talking, joking, and laughing. As the hour gets later, they become more tired and less talkative. The thick crowd of spectators on the rail two hours ago has also thinned out quite a bit.

Update #4: At approximately 4:50 am PT, John Kabbaj was eliminated in tenth place as the unfortunate TV bubble boy. The ESPN final table is finally set, and Andy Bloch leads the way with about 2.0 million in chips.

The final table is scheduled to start tomorrow (Sunday) at 2:00 pm 3:00 pm PT, and you can follow the PokerNews official live updates as they play down to the final nine tonight as they play for the bracelet tomorrow afternoon by clicking here. You can also click here for chip counts.

Now this is the way to start a WSOP.