Setting aside the occasional tag team tournament, poker is a game played by individuals.
Yet, paradoxically, it’s also a game that not only needs multiple players, but requires some form of coordination between those players in order to go off at all — e.g., agreement to abide by the rules governing play such as are in place here at the 2017 World Series of Poker Main Event.
Everyone here is playing for him or herself, obviously, but is also necessarily part of a “community,” too (in a way).
Speaking of the rules, this Day 2 of the Main Event is in actuality two Day 2s in one, the surviving communities from Day 1A and 1B being segregated and kept from playing one another, just as tomorrow will find the Day 1C survivors have a second day flight to themselves before all three join together as one big happy family on Day 3.
Day 2A, then, is happening in the Brasilia and Miranda ballrooms, while Day 2B is over in the Amazon.
Here are a few early photos, starting with the community of 576 players who made it through to play Day 2A.
Phil Laak began the day at the main televised table in Brasilia. But unfortunately for him Laak was on the wrong side of a set-over-set situation, and soon after was made to exit during the day’s first level.
Jonathan Little started out in the Miranda sitting behind one of the top chip stacks. He continued to be in accumulation mode during the early going, soon pushing ahead of everyone to the top of the leaderboard.
Also in the Miranda, seven-time WSOP bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Famer Billy Baxter is back in action.
Baxter has a lot of bracelets, but former NFL player Richard Seymour has multiple rings — three of them from winning Super Bowls with the New England Patriots. He continues his quest for more jewelry in the Brasilia.
Mike Matusow has been been especially quiet and reserved so far today in the Brasilia.
Just kidding… “The Mouth” was a constant contributor to the talk at his starting table today, which just got moved over to become the feature.
And as the day’s second level began, last year’s Main Event champion Qui Nguyen was also moved over to the main feature table in the Brasilia. In case anyone forgot his victory, Nguyen has replaced his famous raccoon hat with another one featuring a punny reminder.
Squint and you can see it — “Qui Win.” Alas for Nguyen, just as we were about to share this shot he was eliminated to end his title defense.
Moving over to the Amazon room where the 1,643 players who started Day 2B were seated, Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree continues to hover around the starting stack.
This year’s Spring Championship of Online Poker Main Event (“High”) champion Charlie Carrel is in the field over there as well today.
Calvin Anderson, who won his record eighth SCOOP title in May, is likewise playing in the Amazon today.
A short walk from there and we see eight-time bracelet winner, Poker Hall of Famer, and 1988 Main Event runner-up Erik Seidel.
Kevin Saul was in the Amazon for a while today, with nothing up his sleeves. Alas he soon had no chips either after running into the flopped quads of Eric Rappaport.
The sprawling community of players is already starting to shrink after just a few hours of play. But it’s still a big one, full of individuals competing with one another to remain part of it.
WSOP photos by PokerPhotoArchive.com.
Back to Top