Five Tournaments In Progress, Two Complete At 2013 WSOP

The World Series of Poker is the most exciting poker on the planet for most poker enthusiasts, and that meant plenty of joy in Las Vegas this past week as the latest version of the tournament series got under way.

As the first weekend hits the midway point, two tournaments are now in the books, while five others are in progress at the Rio in Sin City.

The first "Shuffle up and deal" call took place this past Wednesday when Event #1, the Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em tournament began. Chad Holloway, from Wisconsin, took home the top prize in the $500 buy-in event. Holloway won $84,915 for his first place effort. A total of 898 players entered the tournament.

Trevor Pope won the second event, a $5,000 buy-in, No-Limit Hold'em/Eight Handed tourney. Pope, from Gainesville, Florida, won over a half million dollars in the event, taking the early lead in the Player of the year race.David Vamplew finished second, earning over $340,000.

Event #3 is headed towards home as only nine players remain. Seth Berger currently has the chip lead, with Charles Sylvestre and Ruben Ybarra close behind. Matt Weber is the short stack with just over 4,500 chips.

As the weekend ends, a $1,000 No-Limit event is scheduled to begin on Sunday. A $2,500, three day Eight-Game Mix event is also scheduled to start Sunday afternoon.

The first big money tournament of the WSOP begins on Friday. The $10,000 buy-in, Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em will have a maximum of 512 players. Many of the top professional players in the world are expected to be competing in the heads-up event.

Las Vegas Braces For Visitors As World Series Of Poker Nears