Hellmuth and Chan busted at Mandalay Bay

The opening day of the Mandalay Bay Poker Championship was a tough one for poker legends, as both Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan busted out of the event. The two can now focus on the upcoming World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the hunt for an eleventh golden bracelet.

Phil Hellmuth arrived late to the World Poker Tour (WPT) tournament, as usual, and was eliminated after a couple of hours when an opponent flopped quad deuces.

Johnny Chan was actually knocked out even before Hellmuth had taken his seat. Chan moved all-in pre-flop with pocket jacks, but had to surrender Thomas Wahlroos, who held pocket aces.

Other Day 1 casualties at the Mandalay Bay Poker Championship: Greg Mueller, Layne Flack, Jeff Madsen, Johnny Chan, Jonathan Little, Gavin Smith, Phil Hellmuth, Dan Harrington. Roland De Wolfe, John D'Agostino, Anna Wroblewski, Jeffrey Lisandro, Patrik Antonius, Eli Elezra, John Phan, David Williams, Darrell Dicken and David Pham.

In total, 112 of the 228 entrants will return for Day 2. Shawn Buchanon is the chip leader with $158,075, followed by Tim Herbert with $155,175 and John Juanda with $112,325.

Pros still in contention include David Benyamine, James Van Alstyne, Kathy Liebert, Chantel McNulty, Scott Fischman, Phil Laak, Joanne "J.J." Liu, Antonio Esfandiari, Jamie Gold, Jennifer Tilly, Erica Schoenberg, Barry Greenstein, Billy Baxter, Erik Seidel, Allen Cunningham, Alan Goehring, Michael Mizrachi, David Sklansky and J.C. Tran.

courtesy of Erik Sylven

News Added: 30 May, 2007

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