15-Second Politics With Mike Matusow & Bill Gazes

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

As the very tall Bill Gazes takes his seat, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow calls out to him from a couple tables away. Gazes then asks, "Are you happy about the election, Mike?" Rather than answering directly, Matusow responds with, "I'm surprised he even got one vote -- the other guy, I mean." (Presumably meaning John McCain.) Gazes smiles and says something along the lines of "We should have let the South secede a long time ago." Matusow finishes with, "It just goes to show you how stupid the American public is." And that was the end of the conversation. A quick 15-second exchange about the election between two players who seem pleased about the results of the election.

Sang Kim Takes an Early Pot From Eli Elezra

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

On a board of 9654 and with about 6,750 in the pot, Eli Elezra bets out 3,000 into Sang Kim. Kim, who finished second at the Borgata Poker Open in September, raises to 8,000. Elezra takes his time and calls the raise. The turn is the 3 and Elezra checks. Sang fires out two gray 5,000 chips. Elezra goes into the tank for several minutes contemplating the early 10,000 chip bet. He decides to pick a better spot and releases his hand.

Anna Wroblewski Gets an Easy Start at a Short-Handed Table

Level 1: 50-100, ante

As the cards went in the air, Anna Wroblewski was just sitting down to her table (Table 52), where only one other player was sitting. The other player asked if they would deal with only two players, or wait for five. The dealer said they'd start normally, so he dealt out nine hands, and Anna raised to take the first pot. Chris Bell arrived to take his seat for the third hand, and another player arrived for the fourth. Players are still filtering into the tournament room, so these short-handed tables are just a temporary situation.

Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day - Will The Thrill Failla

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

Paul Snead On His 21st Place Finish at the WSOP ME

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

Familiar Faces

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

Daniel Negreanu Mike "The Mouth" Matusow Jason Mercier Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke Michael Binger Men "The Master" Nguyen Anna Wroblewski Chris Bell "Miami" John Cernuto Bill Gazes Eli Elezra Allen Kessler Matt Matros Victor Ramdin

Shuffle Up and Deal

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

Cards are in the air on Day 1b of the Foxwoods World Poker Finals! Blinds will start at 50-100.

Day 1b About to Begin

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

Players are taking their seats and action will be underway shortly.

Flopping Set Over Set Allows Jason Potter to Dominate Day 1a

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals, Day 1a Recap By BJ Nemeth Most of the world has had their eyes on the U.S. presidential election, watching admitted poker player Barack Obama win a solid victory last night with record levels of voter turnout. Unfortunately, the turnout was less impressive here at Foxwoods for Day 1a of the WPT World Poker Finals. Last year's field attracted 575 players, but today had just 162. Tomorrow's starting field is expected to be much larger, as a lot of West Coast pros didn't want to travel on election day. It's highly unlikely that this year's field will equal last year's, but 400 is definitely a reachable number. Jason "JP OSU" Potter won the key pot of the day, early in the third level. He was already leading the field with about 80,000 in chips when he flopped top set against another big stack's middle set. The best hand held up, and the other player found himself on the rail as Potter was sitting on a stack of 150,000. He stayed near that level the rest of the day, finishing as the chip leader with more than 180,000. The full list of chip counts will be posted later tonight (once they are released by the casino), but here are the top 10: 1. Jason "JP OSU" Potter - 183,825 2. Vadim Trincher - 163,600 3. Steve Gross - 145,025 4. Jonathan Jaffe - 141,000 5. Kevin "BelowAbove" Saul - 135,350 6. Jonathan Little - 131,400 7. Will "The Thrill" Failla - 124,800 8. Daniel Grubbs - 116,850 9. Bill Parker - 113,100 10. David "The Dragon" Pham - 109,200 Return to WorldPokerTour.com for live coverage of Day 1b tomorrow (Thursday) at 12:00 noon ET, including chip counts, photos, and video interviews with Amanda Leatherman.

Top 10 Chipleaders From Day 1a

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

There were 10 players who finished the day with more than 100,000 in chips: 1. Jason "JP OSU" Potter - 183,825 2. Vadim Trincher - 163,600 3. Steve Gross - 145,025 4. Jonathan Jaffe - 141,000 5. Kevin "BelowAbove" Saul - 135,350 6. Jonathan Little - 131,400 7. Will "The Thrill" Failla - 124,800 8. Daniel Grubbs - 116,850 9. Bill Parker - 113,100 10. David "The Dragon" Pham - 109,200 Jason Potter won most of his chips early in the third level. He was already among the chipleaders when he flopped top set against another big stack's middle set. That took him up to more than 150,000, and he stayed at that level for the rest of the day. Will "The Thrill" Failla (#7 on the leaderboard) will be tonight's guest on Poker Road Radio, along with Eugene Todd Bro. You can find the radio show at PokerRoad.com. The full list of chip counts will be posted later tonight when they are released by the casino, along with a brief recap of today's action.