This hand went down between two bracelet holders– Marc Vos and Chris Ferguson. Vos was sitting directly to Ferguson’s left. In the hand, it was folded to Ferguson who was on the button. He raised, making it 3k.

I’ll let Marc Vos pick it up from there:

Vos: “I was in the small blind with King-Jack suited. It was folded to Chris Ferguson who had about 70k to start the hand. He raised it to 3,000. I decided I could probably pick it up with a little raise, take him off of Ace-rag or a small pair or something. He thought for a little bit and called. I’m putting him on a very strong hand here. He’s not likely to defend with a weak hand; I’d been playing pretty tight.

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Now, midway through Day 2, some of the storylines are starting to develop. Aaron Bartley sits at a table wit this year’s sensation, Jeff Madsen. Chris Ferguson and Marc Vos are sitting side-by-side. To be sure, there are still plenty of bad players about about; walking through the tables you can’t help but witness some astonishing calls. (I saw one three way all-in that included A-J and A-Q. The action had gone such that the player with A-Q had an opportunity to get away form what had to be a dominated hand, but could not.)

The leader board is filled with a number of unknowns, but it won’t be long now before we start seeing two, three and four top-rate players at each table.

The fun’s just starting. Stay tuned.

In a way, the earlier you exit from the WSOP, the better. If you stick around, you’re bound to encounter some hands that will fill you with enough horror to give you an ulcer. The later you stay in the tournament, the tougher those beats will seem.

Take David Grey for example. He open-raised for 3,200 and was called in two spots, including the big blind. On a flop of 2-6-7, the big blind moved in for 18,000 and Grey called. His opponent turned over 5-6 to Grey’s Aces. The turn and river were 8 and 9, giving the blind a straight.

“How much?” asked Grey. He then turned to the player to his right and said, “Every year at the World Series. Ten years of this now.”

Two tables away, Chris Ferguson raised from late position and was called by the big blind, a young man with an intense air.

The flop came Q-5-4 and the kid bet out and Chirs raised. The kid made a small re-raise and Ferguson pushed. The kid had Q-5, having flopped two-pair. Ferguson had gone all in on pocket Kings. The turn and river came J and 4, giving Ferguson a better two pair.

The kid then began a tilt-fueled rant, telling Ferguson how poorly he played the hand. Ferguson listened patiently but didn’t engage much. He simply stacked the chips.

ESPN is clearly desperate for a story. One of their producers told me yesterday that 85 percent of the “characters” that they had been following – Matusow, Hellmuth, Lindgren, et al – had busted. Today, as I stood by table 181 watching John Juanda, a tape crew captured John’s every move. And he did move occasionally, stretching his back and neck with some light calisthenics. It’s hard to believe that footage will make for interesting viewing.

But this was about all the interesting clips you could have taken from John Juanda’s first level of Day 2. John started the day with about 18k in chips, which put him well below average. And with blinds of 250 and 500, with a 50 ante, John didn’t have a lot of room to dance around. Even if he were deeper, John might not have chosen to play. There were three deep stacks at his table and his opponents seemed unafraid to play big pots frequently.

In the nearly two hours that I watched John play, he was involved in exactly three pots. In the first, he open raised from the small blind. The big blind folded and John showed the table his Ace of diamonds.

In the second, he raised from the button, taking the blinds. In the third he raised from middle position, again taking the blinds and antes.

Juanda was adapting to his situation. With a short stack and active opponents, he needs to wait for a hand.

For Level 2, I’ll follow Allen Cunningham, who has 80k in chips.

I’m hopeful that the ESPN crew captured the railbird who wore a “Hawiian Girls Grow Nice Coconuts” t-shirt.

Yesterday, a friend of mine sent an email that included the following snippet:

“I’m amazed at how many top pros have busted out seeming early in their first day. Do you have a theory here? It can’t be that they are ALL getting crushed on set-under-set… I’m wondering if the pros are playing a little looser, taking a few more chances simply due to the need to accumulate chips to deal with the MASSIVE field.”

I posed the question to Howard Lederer, who busted on his opening day. He gave following reply:

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I busted from the Main Event on Day 1. Of course, I’m not happy about it. But I think I played well over the last six weeks. In the entirety of the WSOP, I got my money in bad only twice. After cashing in the first event, I was hopeful that it would be a really good World Series. But it wasn’t to be. That was my only cash.

Tournament poker is tough. Right now, I feel kind of like someone kicked me in the stomach. I’m going to take a little time off now, about 10 days, but then it’s off to The Bike and then Aruba. It’s what I do.

I’m playing well, and I’m sure I’ll be awarded for my good play soon.

Today started the fourth day of the opening rounds of the Main Event. The days have tended to move very slowly. At most tables, you can watch for long periods of time and witness any number of hands where a few hundred or a couple of thousand chips change hands. Eventually, though, a big hand goes down. One person’s stack is severed; another’s grows.

To get a feel for the Level 1 experience, I spent the first two hours of today’s play sweating Erik Seidel. The play at Erik’s table was, for the most part, unexceptional. While there were no other notable pros sitting with Erik, this was not the easiest table assembled at this year’s WSOP.

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Perry Friedman and John D’Agostino were chatting about poker, when Mike Mike Matusow stumbled by, clearly a little tilty after busing out of the main event.

Matusow: “It was the sickest thing ever.”

D’Agostino: “It wasn’t that sick.”

Matusow then went on to describe a hand where he re-raised a button raise with 7-7 and was called. He then flopped a set and bet out. The button moved in with a flush draw which eventually cracked his set.

Matusow: “I can’t believe he called the re-raise with King-Jack.”

D’Agostino: “They always call. And they always hit.”

Matusow: “They hit every time. I hit like one percent of the time. It’s just so sick.”

You need to pick up hands in this tournament because these guys just keep calling. I’m not all that healthy right now. I’ve got 3,800. But I think I’ve got a good read on the players at my table. I have a good sense if they’re strong or weak when they raise preflop. A couple of re-raise steals would really help. And I’ve got the Rock of Gibraltar to my left. I should be able to steal his blinds pretty regularly.

I’ve got 19 big blinds, so I’m not out of this thing. Back to the tables.

David Singer to Melissa Hayden: “If I had a gun when I saw you yesterday, I might have shot you.”

David then related that he had seen Melissa after busting out of the Main Event. His early exit also cost him a big side bet. So his mood wasn’t especially bright when Melissa told him that he looked like crap and needed a shave.