In honor of the luckiest day of the year, three special cocktails have been created to be served to those in Vegas today.
Wolfgang Puck (who coincidentally is getting married today in Italy) and his restaurant group have created a signature cocktail called the Strawberry Hardway, named for the Blackjack hand. It is a blend […]

If you’re out and about in Vegas today and it seems like every other woman is in a wedding dress, your eyes are not deceiving you. Due to today - July 7, 2007, or 7-7-07 - being such a numerically lucky day, couples are flocking to Vegas altars in droves, hoping to have their nuptials […]

If you see former Las Vegas Logue editor Jen Leo out and about today, buy her a drink. She and her fiance are scheduled to tie the knot today in Vegas…unless they got waylaid by a good run at the tables. LOL
Just kidding. Last update, as of this posting, is the wedding party is getting […]

Concerts:

• Jim Belushi & the Sacred Hearts at The Orleans - Tickets: $60.50, $71.50 and $93.50
• Sammi Cheng at MGM Grand Garden Arena - Tickets: $48, $88, $128 and $168
• Cherry Poppin’ Daddies at Silverton Hotel - Tickets: $20
• Hemlock at House of Blues - Tickets: $15
• Loverboy at the South Point Hotel & Casino - Tickets: $35, $45 and […]
  
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Poker from behind the WSOP Curtain only available from Dr Pauly of Tao of Poker. Complete 2007 WSOP stats at the Poker Prof’s World Series of Poker 2007 Information Page.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com
Welcome to the 2007 WSOP

The 2007 WSOP main event finally kicked off at the Amazon Ballroom at the Rio casino. It was the day that everyone in poker was waiting for. Who would become the next WSOP champion? By the end of Day 1a, 445 players (give a take a few) would advance to Day 2.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com
A view of the crowd from the No Limit lounge

The Buzz

Everyone wanted to know the official numbers. The most commonly asked question was, “How many players?” 1,287 players were in the field which was a lot less than last year’s Day 1a. Due to the affects of the UIGEA, everyone in the poker industry wondered how many people would play in the 2007 Main Event. Internet websites predicted that only 26% of their total internet qualifiers would actually show up. If all four flights of Day 1 get roughly the same numbers, Harrah’s is going to struggle to get 5,000 players.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com
Vinnie Vinh playing in event #30

The Backstory

Vinnie Vinh was supposed to be playing on Day 1a. He never showed up and many of his friends suggested that he was in the hospital. They tried to get TD Jack Effel to give him a refund. Vinh’s stack was blinded off during the first level when Effel made a decision to take his stack out of play. Vinh will be offered a refund or he can play another day if his health improves. Vinh has not been seen since he ended Day 1 of Event #30 as one of the chipleaders. Vinh skipped both Day 2’s that he made. He cashed in both… as a dead stack. Rumors have circulated that Vinh had been abusing drugs while other friends insist that he was having health problems.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com
Prop bet loser Jeff Madsen

Sight of the Day

Jeff Madsen had to play Day 1a in a Jester’s costume. Madsen (who won two bracelets in 2006) lost a three-way prop bet with Joe Sebok and Gavin Smith. They were in a contest where to determine who did the best in preliminary events. The loser was forced to wear a Jester suit. Last year, Joe Sebok and Gavin Smith had a prop bet where the loser had to dress up in a costume of choice by the winner.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com
Brad Garrett

Quote of the Day

“Shuffle up and deal!” was said by comedian George Wallace. It was odd to have a comedian to utter the most famous saying instead of a former WSOP champion or any of the bracelet winners.

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Liz Lieu

Hand of the Day

Dennis Frederick made the first Royal Flush of the main event holding Qd-Jd. Harrah’s gave him a free forty-minute massage for his high hand. When one of the tournament directors announced that they were giving out a prize for the first royal flush, many players in the room groaned and booed. They were hoping to get a cash prize.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com
Ray Ramano

Celebrity Players

The WSOP main event always attracts plenty the celebrity crowd. Janet Jones (wife of NHL great Wayne Gretzky) was in Day 1a along with actors Ray Romano and Brad Garret, NHL hockey player Max Talbot, Tobey “Spiderman” Maguire, Kirk Acevedo (actor from Band of Brothers), Guy Laliberte (Cirque de Soliel founder), and Jim Feist (sports handicapper). Even WPT announcers Vince Van Patten and Mike Sexton were also playing.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com
Andy Black

Noteworthy Stacks

Andy Black was one of the first players past the 100K mark. Timten Olivier was one of the first players past the 200K mark along with John Dutchak.

Noteworthy Bustouts

Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim, Chris Reslock, Nick Frangos, Mike Sexton, Ram Vaswani, Will Durkee, Steve “MrSmokey1″ Billirakis, Doug Lee, Josh Arieh, Marco Traniello, Eli Elezra, Shaniac, Dewey Tomko, John
D’Agostino, Greg FBT Mueller, Mel Judah, Guy Laliberte, Gabe Thaler, Arnold Spee, Johnny Chan, Gene Todd, Thomas Wahlroos, Alex Jacob, MaxTalbot, Allen Kessler, Terrence Chan, Liz Lieu, Mark Vos, Tony Ma, The Grinder, David Grey, Victor Ramdin, Vince Van Patten, Blair Rodman,Richard Brodie, Mickey Appleman, Jerri Thomas, Perry Friedman, Sephen Paul-Ambrose, Devilfish, Svetlana Gromenkova, Joe Awada, Andy Black, and Ray Romano.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com
Bobbie Baldwin

Poker from behind the WSOP Curtain only available from Dr Pauly of Tao of Poker. Complete 2007 WSOP stats at the Poker Prof’s World Series of Poker 2007 Information Page.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com
Ante Up For Africa Charity Poker Tournament Creators Don Cheadle and Annie Duke

Actor Don Cheadle called Poker Pro Annie Duke with a proposition that they sponsor a charity poker tournament to raise money for the people suffering the human trajedy in the African nation of Darfur. The always big-hearted Annie agreed and the event was on. Scheduled to coincide wth the 2007 WSOP insured big names. Thursday they played the $5000 buyin event when 167 players showed up to support the plea for help.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com
Actor Ben Affleck

An all-star roster of poker’s elite combined with entertainment stars to create a half million dollar prize pool. The gathering began play at 4:00 pm and by 10:00 pm they had a surprise winner, Darfur! Don Shak and Brandon Moran were heads-up when Don announced he would donate all of his winnings to the people of Darfur. Brandon immediately agreed to do the same and the event ended with co-winners. The combined total from the two amounted to $386,738 and the added amounts from other finishers brought the total to $500,000.

LasVegasVegas.com is proud to have been a part of the efforts to make this worthy cause such a success. Flipchip photos follow after the jump…

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Basketball Great Charles Barkley

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Poker Professional Phil Hellmuth

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Actress Cheryl Hines

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Beth Shak encourages husband Don Shak

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Don Cheadle

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Annie Duke

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Beth and Don Shak celebrate his finish in the charity event

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Annie Duke congratulates co-winner Brandon Moran

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New York New York Casino on the Las Vegas Strip

In an apparent act of despair a Las Vegas local man is charged with firing 16 shots from an 9mm handgun into the casino crowd from the top of an escalator at the New York New York Casino striking 4 patrons and creating panic on the floor below. Although non of the injuries were life threating the victims, two more were injured when the crowd dived for cover, were transported to a local hospital where all were treated and have been released.

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View from the top of the New York New York Escalator

Stephen Zegrean was tackled by two off duty Metro police officers on the walkway over the Las Vegas Strip outside of the New York New York. Las Vegas Metro Police and paramedics quickly arrived at the shooting scene. He has been charged him with a variety of crimes. Neighbors of Zegrean said he had recently been divorced and had just lost his home. Some believe this was an apparent ’suicide by police’ attempt by the 51 year old man.

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Casino floor below escalator

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New York New York Las Vegas