WSOP Event #9

Today is the kind of day that sees fewer participants at the WSOP, but sees a greater kind of competition. Much like the $2,500 short-handed event, Event #9 is an event that is stacked with top pros. Today's event is a $5,000 no-limit hold'em tournament, one of the most expensive tournaments anybody can buy into. There are a a couple $10,000 events and, of course, the $50,000 HORSE event. Today, however, is the first time the buy-in has risen above $3,000.

As such, the field is much smaller (somewhere between 600 and 700), but brings out the tougher players. And as such, Team PokerStars is starting to shine. While the day is only a few hours old, several of Team PokerStars' members and friends are rising to the top of the leader board. Greg Raymer, Vanessa Rousso, Isabelle Mercier, and Humberto Brenes have all started today by either doubling or tripling their stack.

Fewer than 70 people in this tournament will get paid. That sounds like a normal amount, but in the WSOP fields, it is much smaller than is usual for this year. The play over the next few days in this event is going to be tough all around.

Stay tuned for coverage of how Team PokerStars is doing throughout the day.