Today was Day 1A in the High Roller event, a $2000 + $200 tournament with two Day 1s. It allows for unlimited re-entries through to the beginning of level 13 on Day 2, and today’s first flight saw 81 entries including 16 re-entries. When the 8 levels to be played were all done, there were 39 players remaining – they have all bagged up chips to return on Day 2.

Hossein Afzali grabbed the chip lead during the battles today, but the entire list of qualifiers is chock full of very experienced players, whether their fame comes from the felts at Playground or poker rooms further afield.

You can view a full results list here.

Day 1B will get going tomorrow (Sunday) at 1:00pm.

While such a huge Main Event has drawn much of the focus in the room, right now there is another tournament that should also prove to be fascinating to follow: the $2,000 + $200 High Roller event. Play is now underway in Day 1A of the tournament – the first of two starting flights in the event. Day 1B will start tomorrow at 1:00pm.

Both starting flights will play through 8 levels of 45 minutes each, and players may enter or re-enter an unlimited amount of time before the end of late registration – which won’t arrive before the beginning of level 12 on Day 2 (Monday). So there are plenty of opportunities available to play for a share of the $250,000 guaranteed prize pool – though the actual prize pool is almost certain to surpass that guarantee, and maybe by quite a bit.

Play is now underway in level 2 in Day 1A, and during the first stint of play we managed to get some photos of the early field.