The next to last $1.5k NLHE event just kicked off here at the Rio with players spread throughout the Amazon room, Brazilia room, Tropical room, Buzio’s Restaurant, and the Rio poker room. Last year’s version of this event drew a crowd of 3,151 players but because of space issues the tournament clock reads 2,700 and we’ve learned that the event has been deemed “sold out.” Before the event began the halls around the Amazon room were filled with nervous energy and seemed almost impossible to navigate because of the sheer number of people wandering around.

It seems that some players wanted to wait and come in a little bit late to avoid the crowd but as a result have found that registration is closed and they won’t be able to play in today’s event. We’re not sure how many P5 players this will effect but we have learned that Jeremy “chipsteela” Menard and Doug “resilient” Smith got here a bit too late and won’t be part of the fun today. Doug did tell us he registered for the HORSE event that kicks off tomorrow though so we’ll see him then!

Davidi “legrouzin” Kitai will be coming into the final table of the $5k NLHE six-handed event as the short stack with around 300k while the chip leader Richard Lyndaker holds over 2.3 million. The final table will be start at 2 pm today at the ESPN featured table arena.

• June 30, 2008 -- Clements Holding Steady in 10k PLO
• June 28, 2008 -- Eight Isn’t Enough
• July 8, 2008 -- Jeff Hakim Reigns Supreme
• June 30, 2008 -- VanDuyn Not Friendly to Friends