by Craig Cunningham

Igor Holdaiy (above) and Bill Rector spent much of the day together on Day 1, and they both made it to the end of the night in good shape. When players finish bagging their chips at the end of the day, they are given a small colored card with their new table and seat assignment. Holdaiy immediately recognized another player from PokerStars, WSOP 2005 Champion Joseph Hachem. "I had my picture made before Day1 started," said Igor. "And I told him I'd see him at the final table. He remembered me when he came to the table with his chips. He asked how I did, then looked at my chips. He told me they were OK." Igor relaxed and slept a good bit since his last day of play, sneaking in a nice massage to get ready for today. His first day was fairly tough." There were a few big stacks who were ver aggressive, so I had to play tight and wait for a hand. I just didn't get many big hands." Igor feels Hachem is playing conservatively, and he thinks it's a good table for him.


Bill Rector from Arkansas started today with $57,325 in chips. "I got up to $70k, but there were a couple of tough players and tough pots for me. I chopped pots with A-K and A-Q, which was disappointing. I had to lay down queens to a re-raise from a guy with pocket kings." This isn't Bill's first time in the World Series, as he played in a couple of other events last year. He plays alot on PokerStars, but he feels that he's become very adept at reading players live. He liked the look of his new table, as he was the chip leader with several stacks in the $20-30k range. "I took it easy the last couple of days, playing some no-limit at the Rio yesterday. I'm up $1,300 the last couple days in the cash game." Igor and Bill will be working hard to make it to Friday, where they'll have a chance to make some serious cash.