Official Chip counts below

Day 1A has ended and the official chip counts have come in with amazing speed. Many thanks to Thomas Kremser and his staff for getting us the official numbers so quickly.

Jen Mason from BlondePoker.com, not only finds herself finishing the day, but finishing as THE chip leader. Jen, a fellow journalist, is here after winning a long points competition that earned her a seat. Having played some fun games against her in the past, I can say I'm quite proud to be a colleague of someone who performed so well today.

Also, since it has been a subject of such interest tonight, I should point out that Isabelle Mercier, who spent several hours today with barely any chips, has not only survived the day, but built her stack to more than 30,000.


Finally, we can't forget Atlanta, Georgia's Jeff Williams who finished the day in third place. Not bad for a Poli-Sci major, eh? Oh, and I'm not going to say who (cough, Lee Jones) but someone pointed out a startling resemblance between the young Williams and a latter day poker wunderkind, Bobby Baldwin.
There are lots of stories out there, and as this tournament progresses, we hope to tell many of them. My co-clogger Mad Harper ran this story down earlier tonight

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by Mad Harper

Canadian Kelly "asuna_11" Lange's journey from White Rock, British Columbia, to the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel and Resort is a classic tale of love, thwarted romance, poker addiction and a nasty attack of tendonitis. It all happened six months ago when the 30-year-old drill worker from White Rock, near Vancouver, underwent surgery and had to convalesce at home. With nothing to do but plenty of time to do it in, Kelly's brother suggested he take up poker. Kelly signed up with PokerStars and within a few weeks had earned enough FPP points to enter a satellite for the Grand Final. A few tournament successes later - and he was booked on a flight to the French Riviera.

The thwarted romance part of the story is that when he qualified, Kelly had also just got engaged. He and deli manageress Brigette, 30, spent weeks trying to manage it so they could have their wedding here in Monte Carlo. What could possibly be more romantic? But Monegasque red tape finally got the better of them and they now plan to marry as soon as they get home - as long as Kelly cashes out. He's currently sitting on 24,000 in chips so it's looking promising.

The only downside to this romantic tale is that today is Brigette's 30th birthday- but instead of a glamorous celebratory dinner, she is sitting it out in the couple's hotel room - waiting for Kelly's return from Table 13!

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Day 1A Official Chip Counts

MASON,JENNIFER 62500
ANTON, IONEL 58050
WILLIAMS, JEFF 52925
BRISCOE,LEE 49100
WAHLROOS, THOMAS 46275
ANDERSEN,MADS 45875
LODDEN,JOHNNY 42150
HALLIDAY,TERENCE 37450
LUSKE, MARCEL 36475
LOMAS, DANE 35925
KARAM, MARC 34425
MERCIER, ISABELLE 32825
DAVEY, MATTHEW 32300
GERASIMOV, KIRILL 31125
VASWANI,RAM 31000
YOUNG, SIMON 30050
HAAKENSON, ERIK 29875
MEIJBERG,ABEL 27875
GIBSON,NICK 27425
SEJOBERG, GUSTEN 27200
JACKSON,PAUL 26875
ROPER, PAUL 24100
GOULD,PETER 24000
BILODEAU, ALAIN 23225
WITTENDORFF, KIM DARLING 23150
GLOIER, MATTHEW 22475
LANGE, KELLY 22325
TORBEY, SAMI 22250
STEVIC,ALEXANDER 22175
SHTRAX, RICHARD 22125
SHIPLEY, JOHN 21900
MAZZA, BRUCE STANTON 21625
LASZCZ, XAVIER 21325
PAGANO, LUCA 21325
SWARTLING.PETER 21150
KRAVCHENKO, ALEX 20725
VESTBO, SVEN 20600
FAGERLI,FRODE 20350
WEST,RICHARD 19150
RAPP,STEFAN 18600
ZATZEK, DEREK 18450
WENDT,MARTIN 18025
NYSTAD, ROBERT 17875
DUNWOODIE, THOMAS 17850
PEDERSEN, REHNE 17525
DAVIDSEN,PETER 17200
BJORIN,CHRIS 15700
ALCANSAK,AYAN 13450
PALMIERI, MICHEL 13000
STRANDLI, ALEKSANDER 12200
THOMAS, JASON 11050
GIRDWOOD, IAIN 9875
TESTUD, PAUL 9425
GRUNDTVIG, CHRISTIAN 9300
GOODWIN,MARK 8925
CHESSA,TONY 8625
HASLAM, PETER 8575
MARTINSSON, TOMAS 6800
BUENO, PATRICK 5900
VANELLI,OLIVIER 5250
ESKILSSON,HANS 4975
KERRIGAN,TYRONE 4350
HROUDA-RASMUSSEN, CLAUS 3275
ABECASSIS, MICHEL 2400
GALINIE, LAURENT 2325