Cards in the air today at the World Series of Poker Main Event

By Case Keefer (contact)

Monday, July 5, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

A dejected poker player slowly walks through the hallways of the Rio with a frown, mumbling to himself about his latest bad beat.

This is a scene that has become all too common for the last couple of weeks at the World Series of Poker. By the time the World Series enters its fifth week, the initial excitement of competing in poker’s biggest series wears off for many players. The grind of playing for 14 hours each day all summer can have that effect.

This will change at noon today when the 41st annual World Series of Poker Main Event starts. It injects new life into the World Series and hope into the tournament’s thousands of entrants.

“When the tournament director takes the microphone at 12 Monday and says ‘ladies and gentlemen, this is the Main Event Day 1A,’ the hair on the back of my neck stands up and I get that tingle,” World Series of Poker spokesman Nolan Dalla said. “I think everyone in the room, everyone who loves poker gets that sort of high.”

To accommodate the largest field possible, the Main Event is spread out over four starting days. So while Monday will serve as the official first day of the tournament, players will make their debuts in the event through Thursday at the Rio.

It’s expected that 6,000 to 7,000 players will pay the $10,000 buy-in to enter the tournament. All of them will be dreaming of leaving with the gold bracelet and millions of dollars in prize money for winning.

“This is where history is made,” said Australian poker pro Joe Hachem. “It’s the world championship of poker. How can I not be excited?”

Hachem is one of the few who have felt the rush of winning the world’s biggest and most prestigious tournament. Hachem outlasted 5,619 players at the 2005 Main Event and won $7.5 million.

Although the tournament will last two weeks before a final table of nine players emerges, Hachem said the first day was among the most important. He said anyone who couldn’t prove they had patience and discipline on the first day wouldn’t last long in the event.

“You come up against a lot of people who it is their first or second time here and they are just excited to play,” Hachem said. “They aren’t quite sure what they’re doing, so you try not to get too frisky with them.”

For the third straight year, the final nine will wait to play down to a champion until November so the ESPN broadcasts can catch up to the action. Joe Cada, of course, beat out 6,494 players last year to win $8.5 million and become poker’s world champion.

With so many competitors, it’s futile to predict who will come out of the 2010 Main Event on top. But it will be a dream come true for whoever it is.

“I work for the World Series, but I’m also a fan of the game and I love watching people’s lives change,” Dalla said. “People’s lives change from this event. It’s really cool.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer for live updates from the Main Event.