Places Paid - Table - 225 Places 1st Final Table $5,000,000 2nd Final Table $3,500,000 3rd Final Table $2,500,000 4th Final Table $1,500,000 5th Final Table $1,100,000 6th Final Table $800,000 7th Final Table $675,000 8th Final Table $575,000 9th Final Table $470,400 10th -12th 2nd Table $373,000 13th -15th 2nd Table $275,000 16th -18th 2nd Table $175,000 19th - 27th 3rd Table $120,000 28th - 36th 4th Table $80,000 37th - 45th 5th Table $60,000 46th - 54th 6th Table $45,000 55th - 63rd 7th Table $35,000 64th - 72nd 8th Table $30,000 73rd - 81st 9th Table $25,000 82nd - 90th 10th Table $20,000 91st - 99th 11th Table $20,000 100th - 108th 12th Table $20,000 109th - 117th 13th Table $15,000 118th - 126th 14th Table $15,000 127th - 135th 15th Table $15,000 136th - 144th 16th Table $15,000 145th - 153rd 17th Table $15,000 154th - 162nd 18th Table $15,000 163rd - 171st 19th Table $15,000 172nd - 180th 20th Table $15,000 181st - 189th 21st Table $10,000 190th - 198th 22nd Table $10,000 199th - 207th 23rd Table $10,000 208th - 216th 24th Table $10,000 217th - 225th 25th Table $10,000

The main event of the 2004 World Series of Poker has surpassed even the most optimistic of projections. Months ago, the "1200" figure was flaunted, as though the prospect of one-thousand two-hundred poker players vying for poker's world championship was brazen forecast. Most predictions were raised when poker players literally blew the doors off the Horseshoe Casino at the start of the 35th annual World Series of Poker. Preliminary gold bracelet events that attracted only a few hundred players a few years earlier suddenly drew 600, 700, 800, or more entries. It was an alarming sign � the first wave of an oncoming hurricane of bodies and bankrolls that would finally hit the Horseshoe at 1:00 pm on Saturday, May 22nd � the official first day of the championship event.

Days before the main event was scheduled to begin, projections were raised upwards to "1800" then "1900." Then, tournament executives and organizers began preparing for a near mythical number -- two thousand poker players. It was the equivalent of preparing a seaside bungalow for a fierce storm about to come.

The hurricane finally crashed into the Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas when a staggering 2,576 poker players � male and female, old and young, amateur and pro, from counties scattered all over the globe � flooded into the World Series of Poker at the start of the tournament. The number of entries was so overwhelming that "Day One" had to be broken down into two divisions � a two-day flight to whittle the number down to a more manageable 1,100 (or so) poker players. Imagine, here we are two full days into the main event, and there are still nearly 300 more players than started the World Series of Poker last year.

The World Series of Poker has become so big and so enormously successful that it's nearly to the point where it's no longer either controllable or predictable. Like a wild tiger bursting out of its cage, the tournament has become gaming's equivalent of holding soccer's world championship in an arena where seating is severely limited. Sure -- it might be possible to sell millions of tickets, but there are only so many people that can fit into one space to witness a sporting event. In a sense, the World Series of Poker has become a victim of its own monumental success � held in a nostalgic but hopelessly outdated facility that simply can't accommodate the popular demand for poker, from either the players' or the spectators' point of view.

But, the Horseshoe tries. Does it ever.

Parsing over the 120 tables scattered across two floors of the Horseshoe, an acre of felt stretching from the valet parking entrance at First and Ogden all the way out the front glass doors facing Fremont Street, the famous names and familiar faces are quickly lost in a vast sea of unrecognized, largely unknown competitors. Every poker player who comes to the World Series has a unique story to tell and it would be impossible to justice to all the human drama that is played out across the green felt tables here at the World Series. Sadly, all but a very few of these players will bust out and leave as they came � with high hopes and unfulfilled dreams of fortune and glory. Their stories will never be told, nor heard.

But there are a few exceptions. After Day One, here are a few of the more interesting highlights at this year's World Series of Poker:

• The current chip leader is Mike Laing from Las Vegas � with 129,425. Also known as "The Clown Prince of Poker," Laing is literally playing on his last leg. He enjoyed a stellar run in poker tournaments during the mid-90s, but has fallen on hard times in recent years. Laing has come close to hitting "railbird status," a pejorative tag that essentially means missing of action. No one doubts Laing's natural card talent. The question is � can he survive another day with what seems to be such a reckless style of play? All eyes are on Laing as we enter Day Two.
• One of the most interesting stories from the first round was the "Lady from Spain," named Maria � who sat downstairs at table 48. Maria spoke no English. She had never played poker before. But, she decided to enter the World Series of Poker. Incredibly, she had the chip lead at her table after eight hours of play. However, she finally played one hand too many and busted out about midnight on Day One.
• Celebrities flocked to this year's World Series � including actors James Woods, Toby Maquire, and Norm McDonald. Although all three made it past the dinner break, none survived the first day.
• Table 57 was the "action" table of the tournament. One hand featured four players going "all in." Paul Kraus was the beneficiary of all the loose play. He comes into Day Two second in chips to Laing � with 127,275.
• Defending world poker champion Chris Moneymaker went out a few hours into the tournament. After the defeat, Moneymaker got up from his seat, walked out of the poker room, and entered a hotel elevator. "See you next year," he said as the doors closed and an ESPN television crew captured Moneymaker's final annotation as the reigning champ.
• Last year's runner up, Sammy Farha was at ESPN's "feature table." Six hours into the tournament, he was eliminated. He was disappointed, but not angry. Fahra said that he could not play "(his) game" because he never acquired any chips. "They'll call you down with anything," Farha remarked.
• Former world champions who are still alive past the first day include: "Amarillo Slim" Preston (1972), Doyle Brunson (1976-77), Tom McEvoy (1983), Johnny Chan (1987-88), Phil Hellmuth (1989), Dan Harrington (1995), Scotty Nguyen (1998), Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (2000), and Robert Varkonyi (2002).
• More females played in this year's main event than ever before. It's estimated that nearly 100 women entered the main event. This figure represents more poker players � both male and female -- than entered the main event of all the previous championship events, until 1979.
• Sal Iacono, a.k.a. "Cousin Sal" from ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Show, entered the World Series of Poker as a television stunt. No one, least of all Cousin Sal expected he'd be sitting here with chips entering Day Two. With ABC's camera's rolling, Cousin Sal � decked out in a crazy shirt and giant oversized blue glasses, managed to run his starting 10,000 in chips up to 35,650. If Cousin Sal survives, it will be interesting to see how the spectacle changes from a gag to a serious competition with huge personal and financial undertones. Question: If Cousin Sal wins, does he get to keep the $5 million?
• Speaking of $5 million, that's the payout for first prize. The figure is twice as much as was awarded to last year's winner (a paltry $2.5 million). The table may not be large enough to accommodate all the bundles of 100s. This year, second place gets $3.5 million. Third place takes 2.5 million. Fourth place gets $1.5 million. Fifth place gets $1.1 million. To put this into proper context � the winner will automatically become the all-time leading money winner in WSOP history. The fifth place finisher will take home more prize money than Stu Ungar received, when he won his third world poker championship back in 1997. In all, 225 places will be paid $10,000 or more.
• The prize pool for this event alone is a staggering $24,214,400 � a figure that no one could possibly have imagined, even recently. This brings up even more important questions about how to manage and accommodate the thousands of poker players who will certainly flock to Las Vegas to play in future World Series of Poker events.

Odds are, the final table of this year's World Series of Poker will be filled with many new faces. No chip leader after Day One has ever proceeded to win the championship. The greatest performance ever in Day One was John Bonetti, who in 1993 finished the day with over $500,000 in chips (a record unlikely ever to be broken). That said, here are the chip leaders going into Day Two:

MIKE LAING 129,525
PAUL KRAUS 127,275
CHUCK AGNEW 107,175
TEDDY TUIL 105,075
DAVIN ANDERSON 103,600
TIMOTHY WHITE 102,325

All other players have less than 100,000 in chips. There are 1,108 players remaining in the tournament. Day Two of the 2004 World Series of Poker championship event begins at 12 noon.

Nolan Dalla Media Director � World Series of Poker

2004 World Series of Poker