2008 WSOP Diary May 30: Eli Elezra Ends Day 1 with the First Lead of the Season

  Athletes in most sports generally agree that the night before a big game it is best to abstain from alcohol or the type of activities with the opposite sex that could result in child support payments. Poker players don't seem to have figured out this aspect of competing yet, and the night before the World Series of Poker can make Mardi Gras look like a Mary Kay party. So seeing as many of the competitors (and the media for that part) are hung over, over tired, with somebody occasionally curled up in the fetal position on the floor of the Amazon room whispering "Can't sleep... clowns will eat me" over and over again, is it any surprise that at the end of Day 1 it is a cool headed former Israeli commando who is in the chip lead?  On the first day of competition for the $10,000 Pot Limit Holdem World Championship (Event 1) we have seen some familiar names eliminated. Bill Edler and Chris Moneymaker could have just saved some time and money by just sleeping in and skipping this event. Jennifer Harman is still hanging around. Whether the advice she got from Daniel Negreanu about defying the laws of nature and "growing balls" has had anything to do with her early success is up for debate. While there is still a lot of poker to be played, Eli Elezra currently owns the top of this hill.  There are over 50,000 chips separating him from the 2nd place Amit Makhija. While that is impressive on its face, the lead is far from safe. While Eli does possess 302,900 chips there are a total of seven players over the 200,000 chip mark. This is not the sort of lead that allows somebody to behave like the table bully and cruise to a victory. We will see what Day 2 brings us.