DON McDERMOTT / PVT Entered in the $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tournament at the World Series of Poker are Chris Ferguson ... Huck Seed ... Andy Bloch ... and Daniel Negreanu. Going into Day Two Thursday, 140 of 148 players remained. Advertisement

LAS VEGAS -- Allen Cunningham, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Patrik Antonious showed up late.

Phil Hellmuth and David Williams departed early.

And six hours into the first day, dealers united in one thought -- change the setups. All of the decks used during the first two levels of play were taken out of action and replaced.

So it went in the $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tournament at the 39th annual World Series of Poker, being held in the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino here.

A total of 148 players entered; going into Day Two Thursday, 140 remained, with 11-time bracelet winner Hellmuth and young standout Williams among the players eliminated.

The chip leaders after the first day were James Mackay ($214,000); Chris Reslock ($210,200); Pat Pezzin ($200,400) and Joe Cassidy ($198.000). Players started with $100,000 in chips.

H. (Hold-em) O. (Omaha hi-lo split), R. (Razz, stud low ball) S. (Seven-card stud) E. (Eight-or-better seven-card stud) are the games.

The tournament will run through Sunday, with the winner receiving $1.989 million out of a prize pool of $7,104,000. The winner will also receive the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy, named in honor of the first $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. winner. Freddy Deeb is the defending champion.

The last 16 players will cash, with the minimum payoff $124,320.

NOTES -- The $10,000 no-limit championship tournament begins July 3, with the over-under entry number at 7,500 ... David Benyamine won the Omaha hi-low split $10,000 buy-in tournament, earning $535,687 ... Jasper Hougaard outlasted 2,446 opponents to win a $1,500 no-limit tournament, pocketing $610,304 ... Dan LeCourse won the Seniors championship, with a payday of $368,832; there were 2,218 entries who generated a prize pool of $2,018,300 ... John Phan won the grueling 2-7 low ball triple draw title, earning $151,911; only 230 players entered the tournament ... David Woo earned $631,550 for winning a $1,500 no-limit tournament that attracted 2,720 playes and had a prize pool of $3,712,800 ... To date, the WSOP total prize pool has exceeded $93,000,000.