WSOP: Big Names Start In Main Event 1A

The first event of the 2007 WSOP was packed with several big names in the poker circuit, including that of Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Barry Greenstein, David Grey, Jeff Madsen, Michael Mizrachi, Mike Sexton and Huck Seed Amarillo Slim. Celebrities also made their appearance, including Spiderman star Tobey McGuire and Everybody Love Raymond's Brad Garret.

When asked why he decided to participate in the first event, David Grey mused, "It's 118 degrees out there. Someone's got to play the first day, and if I lose, I can go home!"

Brad Garret has his own quips concerning the heat, "It's so hot out there it feels like you're three inches from the sun. Every time I go outside I sweat as much as Paris Hilton in a spelling bee." Garret opted to start the Main Event on day one in an effort to beat his record of lasting seven hours in a WSOP Main Event.

The first man to leave his table, exactly four minutes into the event, was poker amateur Matt Jansen. Holding pocket Aces, Jansen went for it all, calling an all-in bet against an unknown player, who flopped a pocket flush. The first man eliminated, Jansen waded through the sea of reporters, eagerly awaiting his congenial comments: "I'm not upset. It's no big deal, just another tournament."

The first big name knocked out of the tournament was Ram Vaswani, who has gained wide-spread popularity in Europe. Vaswani won his first WSOP bracelet just days before, taking first place in Event #53.