We are now a week into the 2011 World Series of Poker. With 10 events already in the books the action has been fast and furious at the Rio Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.  Between the $500 Casino Employee Championship and the $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Championship there has been a little bit of everything for those making the trip out to the tournament poker mecca that is the Rio.  Even cash game players have been treated to some big games including one $1,000/$2,000/$4,000 game rumored to be spread in the high-stakes section of the Rio.  With nearly all the big names in poker on hand the first ten events have seen some big name winners along with the random amateur as well.

On Tuesday, May 31st, the World Series of Poker kicked off with two staple events.  First, the $500 Casino Employees Championship is a great reward to those who work hard dealing and running these games throughout the year. While the smallest event of the series was underway, one of the biggest was soon to follow as the $25,000 heads-up Championship began.  The event featured some of the best players in the world including Patrik Antonius, Rich “Nutsinho” Lyndaker, and Tom “Durrrr” Dwan.  With just 128 entrants the tournament field was exactly half of what is was last year; however, because the buy-in was upped from $10k to $25k the prize pool was actually slightly larger.  With more than $3,000,000 in the pot and over $850,000 on the line for the winner it was a race to the finish over 5 days of heads-up action.  Some of the bigger names making the top-16 and the money included Lyndaker and Dwan as well as Olivier “LivB” Busquet and Matt “ADZ124″ Marafioti.  The final four included some huge names in poker including FullTilt Pro Gus Hansen who was not deterred by their current legal battles but was eventually busted in 3rd place for $283,966.  Heads-up play game down to Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Jake Cody.  The two high-stakes professionals were set to battle out for more than a $325,000 difference between first and second.  The tournament eventually went Cody’s way, earning him a huge payday and his first World Series of Poker bracelet.   However, this was not the first bracelet of the series, and two days earlier Sean Drake won the casino employees event for $82,292 when he defeated Canadian Jason Baker during heads-up play.

Over the next few days some smaller events got underway including the $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo Split Event #3 as well as the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Event #5.  Sandwiched in between those two smaller buy-in tournaments was a $5,000 NL Event as well as the inaugural WSOP Rematches.  These rematches relived past heads-up battles of the WSOP Main Event and were supposed to include matches between Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth, Chris Moneymaker and Sam Farha, and another match between Seidel and Chan.  However, after a lengthy match that saw Chan fall to Hellmuth, Chan decided to back out of the third match.   Meanwhile Francesco Barbaro and PokerStars professional Eugene Katchalov were busy taking down the Omaha Hi/Lo and Seven Card Stud events for $262,283 and $122,909 respectively. This was the first WSOP bracelet for the heralded Katchalov who is widely considered one of the best tournament players in the world.  The high-stakes live and online pro had already cemented his reputation with wins in the $15k Doyle Brunson Main Event and $100,000 PCA High Roller Championship.  He has more than $6,000,000 in live cashes over the past handful of years and has done quite well online to boot.

The $5,000 Event kicked off on June 2nd and wrapped up a few days later on the 5th. The mid-stakes event attracted 865 players for a nice $4,065,500 prize pool.   The most recognizable face making a deep run was Mario Ho, a top-10 female tournament player of all time.  The young tournament professional was looking to more than double her career earning as she eyed the  $874,116 first-place prize during heads-up play against Allen Bari.  Unfortunately for Ho and the majority of fans in attendance at the final table, luck was not on her side as she fell to Bari and had to settle for a $540,020 cash. For Bari the massive score marked just one of many for a poker player who also won the $5k Borgata Poker Open back in 2008.

The first $10k Championship, Pot-Limit Hold’em Event #6, kicked off on June 3rd and drew nearly 250 players. With just under $2,400,000 in the prize pool there was plenty up for grabs at a final table full of big name professionals.  Eric Cloutier, Sam Stein, and Stephen Chidwick were all vying for the $573,456 winners share which eventually went to Amir Lehavot.  Lehavot, a tournament player from Florida, earned the biggest score of his career and continued a banner 2011 season that has already seen him hit a big $421,680 score in the LA Poker Classic Main Event back in February.

A few more small-stakes events followed thereafter with the $1,000 Event #8 NL Hold’em and the $1,500 Event #9 2-7 Lowball and Event #10 NL Six Handed taking place on the 4th and 6th.  While these smaller buy-in tournaments may not attract as much media attention there big fields do make for some huge prize pools.  Event #8 will potentially be the largest attended event outside of the Main Event as 4,178 players signed up.  With over $3,760,000 in the prize pool someone was going to turn $1,000 into $611,185 before things were all said and done.  Jon “PearlJammer” Turner, an online professional who is no stranger to winning $1k events, made it all the way to the final table before busting in 3rd place for $274,005.  Eventual winner Sean Getzwiller took home his first WSOP bracelet when he defeated Englishman Sadan Turker for the title.  The $611,185 score was easily the biggest of his career and his first substantial score in more than three years.

One of the more interesting games to be put into tournament form, 2-7 No-Limit Lowball, is an exciting form of poker which forces players to use reads and aggression to their advantage.  Combining both of these seemed to work well for Matthew Perrins who won the tournament against fellow countryman Chris Bjorin.  The two outlasted a final table full of Americans including Jason Mercier, Thomas Fuller, and Bernard Lee.  Event #10 was a bit kinder to the American contingent as the final three players including champion Geffrey Klein all hailed from the US.  Klein, a Texas native, earned his first WSOP bracelet as well as his first win since taking down a 2008 Borgata Open event for $150,712. The $544,388 was more than all of his previous recorded scores combined and will be one of the biggest cashes of this year’s World Series outside of the $10k events.

So to recap:

Event #1: Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em, $500 Buy-in
Sean Drake $82,292
Event #2: Heads Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship, $25,000 Buy-in
Jake Cody $851,192
Event #3: Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, $1,500 Buy-in
Francesco Barbaro $262,283
Event #4: No-Limit Hold’em, $5,000 Buy-in
Allen Bari $874,116
Event #5: Seven Card Stud, $1,500 Buy-in
Eugene Katchalov $122,909
Event #6: Limit Hold’em, $1,500 Buy-in
Harrison Wilder $205,065
Event #7: Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship, $10,000 Buy-in
Amir Lehavot $573,456
Event #8: No-Limit Hold’em, $1,000 Buy-in
Sean Getzwiller $611,185
Event #9: 2-7 Draw Lowball (No-Limit), $1,500 Buy-in
Matthew Perrins $102,105
Event #10: No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed, $1,500 Buy-in
Geffrey Klein $544,388

So far just one week in to the 2011 WSOP there have been some surprise winners, a few big name professionals, and everything in between. With just 10 events in the books there are still more than 40 tournaments that have not kicked off.  Be sure to check back here throughout the next month for updates on all the major events, big prize pools, and famous players who make deep runs in the 2011 World Series of Poker.