Selbst Takes Early Lead at Five Diamond World Poker Classic

The Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic is underway, marking the 10 year anniversary of the first ever World Poker Tour event. Given the history of the tournament, it will likely come as no surprise that the leader at the end of the first day of play, none other than Vanessa Selbst has the lead with 165,800 in chips.

The Five Diamond World Poker Classic, which has been held annually at the Bellagio in Las Vegas since 2002, was the first ever WPT event, and has long been one of the most prestigious tournaments on the WPT calendar.

The list of winners over the course of the last decade reads like a who’s who of poker stardom. The first winner was Gus Hansen, a win that helped the Dane became known to the growing poker fan base. Several other of poker’s biggest stars have also had success at the Five Diamond, including wins by Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari and Joe Hachem.

For this year’s version of the tournament, 365 players registered on Day 1 for $10,000 each. At the end of the day, only 283 remained, with Selbst grabbing the early chip lead. Other players who put themselves in good position at the end of the first day of play included Allen Kessler, Will Failla, Esfandiary, Erik Seidel, Hoyt Corkins, and Matt Giannetti, all of which have 85,000 or more in chips. As usual, Day 1 also saw some of the world’s top players see their tournament runs end early, with players like Mike Matusow, Sorel Mizzi and Joseph Cheong all being eliminated early.

While the final payout structure has yet to be announced, late registration on Day 2 of the tournament appears to have pushed the final number of entries over 400, meaning that the prize pool should approach $4 million.