After a so-so turnout on Day 1a of the final $1k NLHE tournament of the 2011 World Series of Poker, yesterday’s massive field of over 2,600 entrants came virtually out of nowhere, and not since the initial $1k Stimulus Special tournament back in 2009 has the World Series of Poker seen this kind of attendance numbers for a preliminary tournament.

In all, 4,576 players registered for the tournament over the two Day 1 flights, bringing the total prize-pool to over $4.1 million, with a first-place prize of $648,800. The huge attendance numbers ended up attracting some top poker pros who may have been persuaded to enter as the prize-pool continued to grow.

In all, 655 players survived the two starting days –275 from Day 1a and 380 from Day 1b. Some notable names still alive and kicking include Shane Schleger, Max Lykov, Matt Waxman, Terrence Chan, Greg Raymer, Mark Seif, Praz Bansi, Erica Schoenberg, Humberto Brenes, Mimi Tran, Lauren Kling, Jeff Madsen, Rob Hollink, Andre Akkari, Dwyte Pilgrim, Paul Magriel, Tim West, Ross Boatman, Mark Schmid, Brandon Cantu, Pierre Neauville, Randy Lew, and Matt Stout.

Day 1a chip-leaders:

1. Paul Volpe — 124,500

2. Alexander Salabaschew — 72,400

3. Alon Shahar — 60,000

4. Kevin Williams — 59,800

5. Dara O’kearney — 59,500

6. Christopher Chatman — 58,300

7. Yousri Ali — 54,300

8. Alex Smith — 54,300

9. Tom Lee — 54,100

10. Matthew Livingston — 50,800

Day 1b chip-leaders:

1. Eric Afriat – 100,200

2. Kori Breeding – 84,400

3. Matt Heintschel – 74,900

4. Spencer Cossette – 74,600

5. Marc Norgaard – 63,000

6. Vincent Jacques – 62,850

7. Alberto Musini – 62,600

8. Aaron Overton – 60,100

9. Henry Lu – 59,200

10. Antonio Venneri – 58,000

Results courtesy of wsop.com

Tags: Alex Smith, Attendance Numbers, Bansi, Brandon Cantu, Erica Schoenberg, Greg Raymer, Humberto Brenes, Jeff Madsen, Mark Seif, Musini, Paul Magriel, Paul Volpe, Poker Pros, Rob Hollink, Ross Boatman, Shahar, Shane Schleger, Terrence Chan, Tim West, World Series of Poker

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