by Craig Cunningham

Daniel Snowden's starting table was cast with some ultra aggressive players. He was in the 1s with Eric Molina (2s), Steve Thornton (3s) Gabe Thaler (4s), Chris Bonita (6s), Beth Shak (7s), David Ritter (8s), and William Swan (9s). Molina finished 31st in last year's Main Event, and his battles with Jamie Gold made for some great ESPN coverage. Thaler has six WSOP cashes in his career, and Beth Shak was runner-up in the $3k NLH event this year. Daniel was the last man standing and had 78k as midnight approached.

Daniel is a dentist from Arkansas City, Kansas. He's happily married with three daughters and a son who is also a dentist. "I've been playing poker for thirty years," he said. "My sister lives in Las Vegas, so I come out here two or three times a year. I play at the Bellagio or the Mirage most of the time."

Daniel's top cash is a 3rd place this year in a $1k NLH event at the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge in Tulsa. "I played in a $1k bracelet event last year at the World Series, but this is my first Main Event."

It was almost a quick exit for Daniel. He held A-J on a A-J-3-4-8 board. The aggressive chipleader moved all-in on the river. "That was a tough decision. I had to think about it for a couple of minutes. Did he have a set? I finally decided that he wouldn't shove with a set, so I called." The 8s had A-Q, and Daniel had survival and the chiplead at the table. With two levels remaining, he's in great shape to get through Day 1A in healthy fashion.