The hopes and dreams of cashing in on the $1 million first place prize for the poker league crew vanished at the end of day one of the main event.  The scene at the Bay 101 is a great experience, and definitely the most fan-friendly stop on the World Poker Tour that we have seen.

Continue to the next page to read a play-by-play live blog by league organizer Pete Bushey from San Jose, CA.

Brook's day came to an end in the 8th level with about 100 players left.  His chip stack got as high as 28k but after the 2nd break he said the "wheels came off."  He said the table he drew was one of the toughest table he has ever sat at.   Tim Phan, Steve Sung, defending champion Ted Forrest, Mimi Tran, and Lee Markholt. 

Brook complained about generally being very card dead, noting the biggest pocket pair he saw in 8 hours of play was pocket queens.  He also mentioned he regretted one failed bluff attempt where he gave up 5k and noted that hand changed the momentum of his tournament.  

Ted Forrest ended up with over 118,000 chips at the end of day 1. 

League organizer Brook Lyter sitting with defending champ Ted Forrest - 11:00am
After having a great day yesterday in cash games and satellites Brook chopped a single-table satellite with another player to get in cheap to the Main Event.  He is sitting with last year's winner Ted Forrest.  There is a mass of autograph seekers and press as this is easily the most fan-friendly stop on the WPT tour. 

There is a $5,000 cash bounty on Ted Forrest's head...

Brandon Cantu won $10,000 as the chip leader from Day 1 as only 5 Shooting Stars survived out of the 25 who started.  45-50 players finished the day yesterday and will join the players that finish today to combine the field on Wednesday. 

 Good luck Brook!

Nam Le busts Tanner Nelsen at end of Level 8 - 8:25pm

Tanner is pretty upset as he has just busted out.

Down to his last 11k after he says he chased too many hands, he called a small raise by Nam with T9 of spades in the 250/500 level (50 ante).  He flopped top pair and a gutshot when T76 flopped and called a after Nam bet.  A 4 on the turn seemed harmless and Tanner got his money in but found himself up against Queens.  A blank on the river ended Tanner's day as he finished in 71st place out of the 146 players that started the day.

He says he had a great time and will enjoy the rest of his vacation as a lot of his family have come out to cheer him on. 

Good job Tanner.

Stars Collide - 7:15pm
One Shooting Star eliminated another as Men "The Master" Nguyen eliminated JJ Liu and collected the $5,000 bounty.  He made her sign the shirt that he won with her picture on it!

I checked on Tanner toward the end of Level 7 and he was scooping up a pot after no one called him when he raised to 2400 with the blinds at 200/400 and a 50 ante.  He showed Jacks and looks to be sitting at around 40,000.  Nam Le is still alive at his table as are 12 other Shooting Stars.  83 players remaining with 3 levels to go.

Dinner Break 5:15pm
All players are now on a 1-hour dinner break.  Tanner has built his stack up to 38,750 while the chip average is right around 30,000.  He flopped a set when he had Jacks and has hit some other flops slowly accumulating chips by winning multiple small pots.  He told me Nam Le took a decent sized pot off him when he missed with AK. 96 players remain of the 146 that started.

Moving On Up - 4:15 pm
I just went to check on Tanner and was pleasantly surprised to see Tanner's stack has increased to about 31,500!  He pulled me aside and told me he had won about 4 or 5 decent pots.  As I was watching he called a bet on the river from Nam Le and chopped a pot with a King high straight.

End of Level 4 - 3:15pm 
Tanner is now sitting at 13,875 heading into Level 5 with blinds of 100/200 and a 25 ante.  He lost a little when he flopped top pair with KJ on a KTT board.  He laid it down after being raised by a player who showed QT.  He also lost some while flopping two pair against Nam Le but Nam had flopped a set of three's. 

146 players started the day and 122 players currently remain.  They will play a total of 10 levels today and take a 1-hour dinner break at 5:15.  On Wednesday,the players who make it through today will join the players who survive Day 1B tomorrow.

End of Level 3 - Staying Even - 2pm
I went to check on Tanner with about 15 minutes left in Level 3 and he was sitting a 14,300.  As I watched he raised to 650 from UTG + 1 after the UTG limped in.  Nam Le (pictured at right) called from the big blind and UTG called.  The flop came K92, Nam checked and UTG bet 1200.  Tanner folded as did Nam. 

Two hands later a player in the cutoff tried to raise Tanner's big blind but only put in a 500 chip without stating raise (it even happens in big tourneys!).  The small blind called and Tanner checked to see a flop of AQ3 with 2 spades. SB checked and Tanner bet 450, the cutoff called and SB folded.  A 7 on the turn and Tanner bet 450 again but got raised to 1000.  He thought about it and called.  Another Ace on the river made 3 spades and Tanner checked and so did the other player.  Cutoff showed AJ while Tanner had AQ to take down a nice 3500 pot as he tried to trap the player on the river.  He now sits at 15,075.

First Break - 1pm
Tanner swings by my table to give me a quick chip count as players are now on a 10-minute break.  He is sitting at around 15,000 in chips as he has not been getting a lot of cards.  He told me he has won pots with pocket 9's and 10's and also hit a king-high flush.  Nam Le looks to be around 5,000 in chips.  Blinds are going up to 75-150 now.  As Tanner heads back to the table he tells me to tell everyone "hi" back home.

 Tanner Moves Tables - Noon
Tanner's table was the first table to break and he has now been moved to Nam Le's table.  Nam won this event back in 2006 and he is fairly short-stacked so he will have a big target on his head for the $5,000 bounty.  I was not able to get a count on his chips as media are only allowed in for short intervals due to the large crowd of spectators and autograph seekers.  Jerry Yang (pictured left) and David Williams have been eliminated and both were signing autographs at our media table! 

Tanner Nelsen takes his seat with Todd Brunson and David "The Dragon" Pham
11:40 am PST - As the $10,000 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star event gets underway Tanner finds himself at a table with TWO $5,000 bounty Shooting Stars.  Before the tournament started they broke a table and he ended up getting an extra star at his table.  As I was leaving to put in this update he was mixed up in a hand with Brunson and Tanner had to fold after being check-raised by Todd on the turn.  He was sitting at around 19,000 in chips halfway through the first level (remember you start with 20,000 in WPT events).  

Scott Krein busts in 54th place to eventual winner of tournament - 8:45 pm

Scott Krein (Old Broadway, Fargo) was the last of the FPN players standing as he got close to cashing, finishing in 54th place out of 282 players.  He was the king of short-stacked play as he survived for nearly 3 hours at or below 10,000 chips. 

The blinds were at 1000/2000 with a 300 ante and all tables were now playing 9-handed for the remainder of the tournament.  He pushed all-in for 5100 more from the small blind after it folded around to him and the big blind called.  Scott was in decent shape to win the 17k pot with his K8 vs J7 but a JTT flop put the big blind ahead.  An Ace of clubs gave Scott 16 outs going to the river needing a club, queen or king but his luck finally ran out. 

Scott doubles up - 5:30 pm

Down to Jodi and Scott - 4:30pm
We are at the chip-up break with only two remaining league players left and less than 100 total let in the tournament.  Jodi has 2750 and Scott has 3600.

Jodi Hamilton (Jersey's) is now sitting with Clonie Gowen and he has been up and down all day.  He just doubled up with AK vs 88 when the board came AAK8x to get him up to 4k. 

A few hands later his AK caught up to AJ after a flop of JTx but a Q saved his day and he was up to 8k.  He then knocked out a short stack after spiking a K with KQ vs 66's to go back over 10k for the first time in a while. 

A few hands before the break Jodi raised with AT and got a short-stack pushed over the top for another 4400.  Jodi tanked but finally made the call and he was ahead vs KQ.  A JT7 flop kept Jodi in the lead but a K on the turn and 9 on the river stole a 20-25k pot from Jodi. 

Dwayne is coolered with KK's vs AA's - 3:30pm
 After building his stack to almost 45k Dwayne has been eliminated.

He raised preflop to 5k and was reraised to 10k by semi-pro Jimmy Ngoc Tran.  He called to see a ten-high flop.  Tran fired a bet, Dwayne re-raised all-in and Tran called and Dwayne was drawing to the last 2 kings in the deck after Tran showed aces but missed.  The hand was worth about 90k and made Tran the chip leader of the tournament.  What a tough hand for Dwayne and he is pretty bummed about the beat.

Manny is eliminated during Level 6 - 3pm

Manny Hernandez (Down Under Pub) is the latest victim as he had to push in with 66's and ran into JJ's.  He had just over 10 big blinds with about 4500 left during the 200/400 level.  He could not spike a 6 and that ended Manny's day.

Manny was up early on in the tournament only to go card dead for the rest of the afternoon.  I think he was the only player who i did not get to watch actively play a hand as he was not involved in very many pot because of his cards.

Brent Kragness knocked out - 2:15pm

Brent Kragness (Dempsey's) has just been eliminated. 

He raised preflop to 1200 with AQ and was re-raised to 5000 from a player who Brent says has been pushing and stealing all day.  Brent went all-in over the top for not much more and was called by KK's.  He picked up more outs when he flopped a Queen but could not catch up. 

He's shown here with JJ and Noah on break.  

Amy Ness and Larry Culhane are eliminated - 2pm
Amy Ness (Paul Bunyan Bowl, pictured left) has just joined the rail when she pushed all-in with A8 on a checked flop of AKJ and was trapped by a player with AJ.  She was under 5k and blinds were at 150/300 with a 50 ante in Level 5.  She had just trapped a player and doubled up when she got a player to put her all-in on the river holding pocket queens in the big blind.  She had lost a big pot earlier when she had 2 pair with A5 get run down on the river by AJ. 

Larry Culhane (Hidden Valley Golf, pictured right) was also eliminated in this level when he pushed short-stacked with A9 and was eliminated by AQ.  I had just witnessed him losing a pretty nice put when he raised preflop with Kings and had 1 caller from the button.  An ace on the board brought checks from both players and a blank on the turn brought a bet from Larry.  The bet was enough to put the other player all-in and he made the call with KJ of spades.  A spade on the river stole the pot from Larry and left him with less than 5k.

Dwayne Hanson (Silver Dollar, Bismarck) is making a big move and has built his stack to over 30,000!  Chad Brown has been moved to his table and is sitting immediately to his left.

Cindy and Brook bust - 1:15pm 
Cindy Sandgren has just busted after flopping top pair with A9 and getting reraised by a player with pocket Queens.  She was short-stacked with only about 4k after taking that beat before the break.  Layne Flack had just moved to her table and she got involved in a couple of hands with him before she was eliminated. 

Brook has also busted. Short-stacked, he pushed with A6 and was called by 76.  He was in good shape with an Ace on the flop, but runner-runner 7's finished his day and he's off to play cash games.

1st Break - 12:30 pm
Approximate chip counts for the nine remaining players are as follows:
Amy Ness - 6k
Larry Culhane - 9k
Manny Hernandez - 6k
Scott Krein - 10k
Brent Kragness - 10k
Dwayne Hanson - 13k
Jody Hamilton - 6k
Cindy Sandgren - 6k
Brook Lyter - 2k

Cindy took a huge hit right before the break as she limped for 200 from the cutoff with QJ.  The button raised to 800 and one of the blinds called as did Cindy.  The flop came QT6 with 2 diamonds and the blind checked.  Cindy bet 2k into the 2700 pot, the button called and the blind folded.  A 3 came on the turn and Cindy fired 4k and the button called.  A meaningless 2 fell on the river and Cindy put the other player all-in for his last 5300.  He tanked for about 2 minutes before reluctantly calling with Kings and scooping the 26k pot. 

Brook has had rough luck losing a lot with about 6 AK hands and getting sucked out on by 2's against his top 2 pair.

Brandon Roe Crippled Then Out - Noon
Brandon Roe (Albert Lea) has just been eliminated.  He was down to his last single 25 chip (pictured at right) after he flopped top pair and a king-high flush draw with KT on Ten high flop.  Him and another player got their chips in and he found himself in a coin-flip up against AT with no flush draw.  Unfortunately no flush or king came and he was eliminated a few hands later with A5 against K9. 

Brandon said he had pocket tens cracked a couple times and that is how he lost half his stack.  He got pocket Kings to hold up for a nice pot right before the crippling hand came.

In other action Cindy Sandgren (Long Prairie Legion) is the chip leader at her table with around 20,000 as she has been quite active every time I walk by her table. 

I did see her get a full house with AQ on an AAQxx board.  Men has busted on Scott's table and they have announced a new first place prize of $150,000 with the extra 32 alternates that are playing.

Here We Go! - Sun, 10:45 am
Our nine players and league owner Brook Lyter have taken their seats in the $2,000 Bay 101 tournament.  They have decided to allow alternates above the 250 players that they can seat so they will be filling seats as players bust out.  Scott Krein (Old Broadway) found himself sitting right next to Men "The Master" Nguyen (pictured at left) and also has Kristy Gazes across from him.  Brent drew a table with Noah Schwartz and JJ Liu who will be a Shooting Start bounty tomorrow and she was runner-up in the Bay 101 Main Event last year.  All players start with 10,000 chips and levels are 40 minutes long.  Good Luck!

Settling In - Sat Mar, 8th 10pm
We toured around San Fran with Brent for the day enjoying the beautiful weather.  We rode the signature San Francisco cable cars and Brent was hanging a little too far off the side and took out the mirror on a moving SUV!  He was OK and we headed off to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch.  We caught the train down to San Jose and settled into our hotel across from the Bay 101 card room.  A lot of the players have been over to check out the room so far and getting a good night's rest for the 10:30am start tomorrow morning.

Hello California! - Sat, Mar 8th, Noon
by Pete Bushey

Brook and I flew in Friday night to San Francisco and the first thing I thought was "Where's all the snow?!".  I woke up Friday morning in Fargo to -18 and this morning i wake up to 60 in sunny downtown San Francisco, what a change! 

The ten qualifiers have started to arrive in California and making their way towards San Jose where most will play in the $2,000 event beginning on Sunday at 12:30 CST.  Tanner Nelson (Champs, Dickinson, ND) will be playing in the $10,000 event on Monday. 

Brook headed off with his family to see some relatives between San Fran and San Jose while me and my wife Gina caught up with Brent Kragness (Dempseys, Fargo) in downtown San Fran and went to check out the hottest club in town, Ruby Skye (picture above right).  The club was absolutely packed, as some of the most popular dj's on the scene (Gabriel & Dresden, if you are at all interested in dj's) were making a special appearance in town.  It was awesome!  We started to tire out from the long day, so we left around 3am and caught an early breakfast before crashing at our hotel downtown. 

Today we plan on checking out some of the San Francisco scenery before we head to San Jose later to meet the rest of the players and get ready for the tournament tomorrow.  Later...