2010 WSOP Main Event Day 1d - 7,319 Players a

Thursday was Day 1d at the 2010 WSOP Main Event. This was the last of the Day 1s as a final rush of players looked to take their shot at what may prove to be a $9 Million first place prize.

Thursday's festivities were kicked off by the NFL all-time rushing leader Emmitt Smith.  When asked to give the customary opening, he mistakenly said "shuffle up and play" instead of "shuffle up and deal." The poker gods rewarded Smith's flub with an early exit out of the Main Event, busting sometime during level 2.

This Day 1d was filled with big name players as well as some celebrities. Phil Gordon, Pam Brunson, Sabyl Landrum, Alan boston, John Juanda, Jason Alexander, Shannon Elizabeth, Todd Brunson, Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Andy Bloch, Vanessa Selbst, Scott Montgomery, Jennifer Harman, Chris Ferguson, Barry Greenstein, J.J. Liu, Josh Arieh, Archie Karas, Vanessa Rousso, and Steve Billirakis were all in the field.

The oldest man to ever play in the WSOP Main Event, Jack Ury, continues to break his own record for oldest player as he returned on this Day 1d to play at the youthful age of 97.

Ury finished the day with 39,000 and will return Saturday for Day 2b of this event.

As the day progressed, everyone was curious as to the final numbers for this Main Event.  Those numbers were finally revealed.  Day 1d saw a bit of a dip year over year.  2,391 players turned out for Day 1d as opposed to the 2,809 players on Day 1d in 2009.

However, this was enough to push the final count for the Main Event to 7,319.  This was 825 more than the 6,494 player field in 2009, a 12.7% increase.

The prize pool was also announced. 747 players will receive a payday and the winner of the event will take home $8,944,138. This is the 2nd largest Main Event in history.

Also, for anyone interested, Harrah's took $4,391,400 out of the prize pool. This is better than 3rd place prize money. For those that think that Harrah's does not make money off of the WSOP, think again.

By the end of Day 1d play, Steve Billirakis emerged as the chip leader. He racked up 187,150 by the end of day. Archie Karas finished the day with 137,775 and David Benyamine has 133,600 to start Day 2 play.

Vanessa Rousso was the top woman of the day with 111,050 chips.

The Day 1's are now over with and Day 2a kicks off on Friday. There will be two Day 2s and we should see the field trimmed down quite a bit. For more, stay tuned to pokerjunkie.com as we bring your coverage and recaps from the 2010 World Series of Poker.