Okay, I’ll admit that I tried to check out the celebrity tournament but the 300 security guards over there wouldn’t let me. So I resigned myself to watching the best players in the world determine a champion in an event that has only ever been won by a great player. This is one World Series event that a one-hit wonder has never won. And it’s going to be no different this year. Out of the 12 players remaining when I showed up, I only didn’t recognize two… and I have a feeling if I ask around someone who knows more than I will inform me that so and so is actually an amazing player… or at least was in the 70s.

Interestingly, I was able to follow both events at the same time as Phil Hellmuth was on the mike doing color commentary. Listening to him I learned that Matt Damon and Adam Sandler are the most popular celebs in the room (based on crowd applause) with Charles Barkley coming in a close second. I also heard that Daniel Negreanu busted early and that Annie Duke wanted to let him rebuy… except the Nevada Gaming Commission wouldn’t allow it. “They’ll let you play those slot machines,” Barkley joked, “but they won’t let you give another $5,000 to charity.”

Meanwhile, with ten players left in the 2-7 I watched Shawn Sheikhan raise from the button only to get reraised all in by a short-stacked Allan Cunningham. Sheikhan dropped a king, which he later admitted, and made a 10-9. Cunningham stood pat with his jack-high, which wasn’t good enough to keep him alive. Down to the final ten, the players stayed at two tables. Two more players needed to get eliminated before they could consolidate to one table.

I guess it really is a rule that if a wheel card flips over you’re allowed to keep it because I watched Chip Reese get dealt an upturned 5, which he kept. He then raised to $40,000 from the button. Andy Black reraised him to $100,000, and Reese called. Both players stood pat and Reese checked. Black pushed all in, and Reese quickly called. Black showed 8-7-6-3-2… and Reese, who had been the chip leader for much of the afternoon, mucked his cards and left the room. “He must have had a 9-6,” Todd Brunson guessed, but who really knows?

The final table is now set, and I’d be willing to bet a lot of money that Lamar Wilkinson, the one player I don’t recognize, won’t win it. Only the poker greats win 2-7 bracelets at the World Series of Poker.

Just a little while later, Reese raised from early position and was called by the same unknown who was on the button. The flop came down Ah-Jc-3h. Chip bet, and was raised. He called and then check-called the turn and river. Reese’s pocket Queens took the pot against his opponents King-high flush draw.

For the rest of the day, it was hard to get a line on Chip. He didn’t show down many hands. My notes show only one hand where he called a river bet (in Seven Stud) and was shown a better hand.

What I found most notable about Chip’s play was the ease with which he went about his play. There were no drawn-out decisions. He acted quickly and without any display of emotion. As you might expect, he behaved like a seasoned professional.

Contrast this display with demeanor of Tuan Le, who sat at an adjacent table with Eli Elezra, Chad Brown, Cyndy Violette, and others. Tuan, one of the more successful no-limit hold ‘em specialists, is fit, with defined biceps. He wears a scowl most of the time, and in no-limit, he pushes his chips with abandon. There’s no doubt that the intimidating air works for him in most tournaments. People are scared to deal with him without a serious hand.

But today, the scowl-enhanced re-raise in limit hold ‘em seems a little silly, especially when he he’s forced to reveal Ac-5c at showdown. Sure, he managed to get lucky in one hand, hitting a flush on the river. But one can only imagine that Brown, Elezra, and Violette where happy enough to see Tuan giving this kind of action with Ace-rag in Limit Hold ‘em.

Later, Tuan lost his I’ll-fuck-you-up scowl when the game moved to Omaha-Hi/Lo. The poor guy was pretty clearly confused on several decisions and seemed to be passively throwing in chips in the pot without any clear idea of what good could come from his donations. In one massive four-way pot, Tuan was caught in a whipsaw: Brown betting in front of him, Elezra raising behind, and Tuan threw in his chips, looking beleaguered and bewildered. Imagine your high-school bully competing in the Spelling B, and you’ll have a good idea of the expression I’m talking about.

In a hand shortly thereafter, Le played a pot that was capped three-way on the flop then went for two bets on the turn. On the river, when it was between he and Eleza once again, Tuan hemmed and hawed, considering the call. Finally, he folded. It’s hard to believe any reasonable hand could be properly folded at that point, given the size of the pot.

The no-limit specialists won’t last long here. More to come as tables consolidate.

Making its first appearance at the World Series in 1976 in a tournament won by “Doc” Green, stud hi-lo has been a fixture at the WSOP ever since (with the small exception of 1985 and 1986 when it wasn’t played). Amongst the big names who have won bracelets in this event are Doyle Brunson (1976), Chip Reese (1979), Johnny Moss (1981), Mike Sexton (1989), Men “The Master” Nguyen (1995), “Miami” John Cernuto (1996), Phil Ivey (2002), and John Juanda (2003).

As I walked around the room I observed the last name on the list, John Juanda, make a particularly astute play. Heads-up against one other player and showing strong low potential, Juanda checked to his opponent on fourth street, enticing him to stay in. His opponent fell for the trap and stayed all the way to the showdown where Juanda showed him a pot-scooping wheel.

This two-day event will finish up tomorrow night.