Chip Leader J.P. Kelly (a.k.a. "John-Paul Kelly") End of Day One Standings         Last Name First Name City Country Chip Count Table Seat Kelly J.P. (aka, John Paul) Aylesbury UK 98,825 9 5 Kellett Richard Chorley UK 67,225 8 3 Fabien Dunlop London UK 63,375 1 4 Hansen Stefan London UK 48,175 1 2 Stucke David Henderson, NV USA 45,875 5 7 Frazer Ian London UK 43,625 2 2 Levi Nicholas NA NA 39,575 7 1 Allen Richard London UK 38,375 1 8 Girst Carsten London UK 37,650 6 7 Saull-Hunt T. Bexhill UK 36,725 10 6 Ferguson Chris "Jesus" Pacific Palisades, CA USA 36,550 6 8 Seden Andrew London UK 32,625 5 6 Golser Markus NA Austria 31,075 5 2 Tomlin James Northampton UK 31,075 4 5 Blake Tim Wansford UK 30,750 2 1 Chai Swee Fah NA Canada 30,150 9 3 Green Martin Brighton UK 30,050 10 2 Perrin Thais NA NA 29,400 2 5 Kirkwood Constance Stirling UK 29,150 7 8 Suarez Neil London UK 29,050 6 6 De Meulder Matthias Burcht Belgium 28,975 7 3 Drexel Thor London UK 27,750 6 4 Hayes Andrew London UK 27,575 2 4 Roux Anthony London UK 26,975 2 6 Lim Robert London UK 26,625 8 2 Bathmanathan Ganesh London UK 25,375 7 9 Ryprianou Andy London UK 24,025 3 5 Rahme Ray NA South Africa 24,000 8 7 Andersson Mikael Osby NA 23,775 6 1 Ngai Samuel Edmonton, Alberta Canada 23,425 5 9 Paticchio Giovanni London UK 23,200 8 1 Asghae Azzy London UK 22,050 5 1 Vinson Ben London UK 21,400 9 1 Ristola Markus Helsinki Finland 20,950 3 6 Matusiak Adam London UK 19,875 6 3 Paez Raul Barcelona Spain 19,800 2 9 Grech Joseph London UK 19,600 10 1 Rossoliski Dariusz Glasgow Scotland 19,275 8 9 McHugh Rory London UK 19,200 3 8 Alshamah Adnan Damascus Syria 18,800 5 3 Holbrook Nick London UK 18,175 1 6 Johnson Andrew Birmingham UK 17,775 10 8 Martin William London UK 17,775 1 9 Stockings David London UK 17,725 2 8 Adeniya Martins London UK 17,575 9 9 Protopepes Nicodemos Nicosia Cyprus 17,300 7 7 Rowan L. David South Lake Tahoe, CA USA 17,175 3 3 Heath Eli Banbury, Oxford UK 17,150 8 4 Shakerchi Talal London UK 16,225 5 8 Docherty David Coatbridge Scotland 16,000 9 7 Freeman Alan Puerto Iguazu Argentina 15,950 1 7 Martin Alex Hertford UK 14,850 9 4 Mogensen Julian Hoffmann Copenhagen Denmark 14,850 5 5 Juanda John Las Vegas, NV USA 14,800 1 3 Safieddine Francois Denver, CO USA 14,800 2 7 Chuzeville Cedric St. Quentin, Fallauier France 14,250 2 3 Ma Vivien NA UK 14,100 4 2 Reusser Stephane Grenoble France 13,175 3 2 Ujarlak Bahman London UK 13,150 10 7 Huynh Toni Turku Finland 13,025 4 8 Englund Said Stockholm Sweden 13,025 1 5 Parkinson Padraig Dublin Ireland 13,000 9 8 Mellby Alexander Bjuv Sweden 12,850 7 2 Arakelov Aleksey Moscow Russia 11,925 10 4 Shelley Scott London UK 11,500 6 2 Nutt Daniel Byfleet UK 11,450 7 6 Moore Mike Caterham UK 11,375 4 1 Taylor Kerry Hayes UK 11,375 6 5 Wood James Bolton UK 11,375 3 7 Hearn C. Essex UK 11,200 4 4 Mackie Duncan Dagerham UK 11,175 10 3 Price Robert Bude, Cornwall UK 10,675 7 4 Brammer Paul Southampton UK 10,075 4 6 De Wolfe Roland London UK 10,000 1 1 Maker Bharminder London UK 9,800 8 5 Keljik Edward London UK 9,325 4 9 Bradbury Steven Mirfield UK 9,325 8 6 Sidang Shen Orsett UK 8,075 4 7 Molyneux Tim Las Vegas, NV USA 7,825 9 2 Lenane Dellan Kettering UK 7,500 3 9 Gratte Goran Kungalv Sweden 7,400 7 5 Lawless Derek Sawbridgeworth UK 6,550 6 9 Silow Oskar Goteborg Sweden 5,750 10 5 Burke James London UK 5,550 9 6 Barrow Lascelle London UK 5,400 3 1 Buttifant John Romford UK 5,300 5 4 Elgie Chris Sorkey NA 5,000 3 4 Serafimol Sergei NA NA 4,800 8 8 Sansom Peter Newcastle UK 3,100 4 3

WSOPE Event 1 (End of Day One) Tournament Notes: Players Remaining -- 89

. With 608 entries, this is the largest poker tournament ever held in London. The record turnout for the first WSOPE tournament of this year's series eclipses last year's mark set in Event 1 (2008), when there were 410 entries. Previously, the largest poker tournament ever held in London had been the European Poker Tour (EPT) finale, held in October 2008 which produced 596 entries.

. World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) includes the final four gold bracelet events of the 2009 calendar year. WSOP gold bracelet events 1-57 were played in Las Vegas, NV between 26 May and 15 July. WSOP gold bracelet events 58-61 (a.k.a. "WSOPE") are played in London, UK between 18 September and 1 October.

. All WSOPE results are included in official WSOP records -- including all-time wins, cashes, final table appearances, and so forth.

. This marks the third consecutive year of WSOPE, presented by BetFair. In 2007, three gold bracelet events were played. In 2008, four gold bracelet events were played. Hence, this is the eighth WSOPE gold bracelet event overall.

. All four tournaments this year take place at Casino at the Empire, located in Leicester Square, in Central London. Leicester Square is best known as the theatre district of the city. Casino at the Empire is part of London Clubs International, which is owned by Harrah's Entertainment.

. The turnout for Event 1 was so large that two starting days were necessary to accompany all the participants. Starting days were divided into two flights. Day 1-A (played on Friday) attracted 295 entries. Day 1-B (played on Saturday) attracted 314 entries. All survivors from both days will combine and compete on Day Two, which takes place on Sunday, 20 September. The final table will take place on Monday, 21 September 21.

. Casino at the Empire regularly has less than ten tables, but has been expanded to host WSOPE. The current configuration holds 35 poker tables. Some casino gaming tables have been removed for the 16-day duration of WSOPE in order to make needed room for the large turnout of poker players and spectators.

. The tournament began ten-handed. As players were eliminated, tables were played nine-handed for most of the day.

. This is the first WSOP gold bracelet event played in 64 days. The last event, the $10,000 buy-in world championship, took place through July 15th, when play was suspended at nine players. The "November Nine" (Event 57) returns to Las Vegas on 7-10 November to determine then 2009 world poker champion.

. The first day of WSOPE began with a short pre-tournament ceremony. Tournament Director Jack Effel, who has overseen floor operations for all WSOP events since 2006, was joined by WSOP President and Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack who addressed the players and extended a warm welcome to so many who have traveled to London for this international event.

. Players started this tournament with 3,000 in tournament chips. Starting blinds were 25-25. Day One played into Level 9. Each level was one hour in length.

. The buy-in amount for Event 1 was £1,000 English pounds, which is equivalent to about $1,650 (USD) at the current exchange rate.

. BetFair Poker has been the official tournament sponsor of WSOP Europe since its inception. Prior to the start of this year's tournament series, Betfair held its "Million Dollar Freeroll." Amateur online players competed and qualified to play in the finals at the Empire Casino held on 17 September. The million-dollar winner was 23-year-old Anestis Metsas, from Greece.

. Several former WSOP gold bracelet winners competed in this event. This list included:

Annette Obrestad
Phil Ivey
Jennifer Harman
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
Allen Cunningham
Phil Hellmuth
Brandon Cantu
Sherkahn Farnood
Erik Seidel
Layne Flack
Barry Greenstein
Vitaly Lunkin
Roland De Wolfe
Jeff Madsen
Huck Seed
Chris Bjorin
Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott
Jesper Hougaard
Howard Lederer
Robert Mizrachi

. Other notable poker players who played in this event included:

Padraig Parkinson
Fabrice Soulier
Tom Dwan
Tony Cousineau
Barny Boatman
Joe Beevers
Jean-Robert Bellande
Raymond Rahme
Mori Eskandani
John Duthie
Nikolay Evdakov
Andy Bloch
Neil Channing
Melissa Hayden
Surinder Sunar
Simon Trumper

. Four of the seven former WSOPE gold bracelet winners competed on Day One. They were Annette Obrestad, John Juanda, Sharkahn Farnood, and Jesper Hougaard. Obrestad and Juanda were the former WSOPE Main Event champions. Only Juanda survived from this group of former winners.

. Two players from the November Nine (2009 WSOP Main Event final table) participated in this event. They were Phil Ivey and James Akenhead. Both were eliminated on the first day.

. Play began at 12:15 pm and ended at about 12:15 am. The time remaining in Level 9 is 14:39.

. The End of Day One chip leader is J.P. Kelly (a.k.a. "John-Paul Kelly") from Aylesbury, UK. Kelly won a gold bracelet earlier this year in Las Vegas in the $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold'em event. He has a commanding lead over his closest rival. Should Kelly win this event, he would become the first British WSOPE champion. Oddly enough, all previous seven gold bracelet events played in the UK have been won by non-English players.

. The average stack size is about 18,800 in chips.

. The gold bracelet winner will receive £136,803. The top 63 finishers collect prize money. The minimum payout is £2,006.

. When play resumes on Day Two, survivors from both Days 1-A and 1-B will combine. Play continues with blinds at 300-600 and a 75 ante. Tournament play resumes at 2 pm. Play will continue until the final table of nine players has been determined.

By: Nolan Dalla

2009 World Series of Poker-Europe