Despite organizers advertising a sold-out field, the final turnout fell a few spots short of the 170-team cap. All told 444 players and $220,000 made it to the felt.

Team PokerListings had high hopes. Given that it was comprised of poker diva Liz Lieu, WSOP bracelet winner Quinn Do and online MTT pro Matt Stout, PL.com was accused on more than one occasion of stacking the team with ringers.

In the end the ringers were unable to deliver, going bust one after another in the first few levels of the day.

Liz Lieu claimed supernatural powers were against her.

"It was the jerseys. They must have been bad luck. All three of us had them and we all got busted!" Liz asserted. Her logic is unassailable.

The bad luck began with Quinn Do, who found himself seated two to the right of Phil Hellmuth. Unfortunately for Do he would have little time to bask in the Poker Brat's ambient glory.

Stout was out next. Cracked aces and a series of lost pots left him short before he shipped the remainder of his stack to Jeff Madsen of Team PokerRoad Radio. The photo above was taken at the time of the all-in.

The arm you see is Joe Sebok's, Madsen's PokerRoad teammate, who was pointing and laughing at the all-in Stout.

Liz Lieu saw her starting stack halved before getting it in good with pocket kings against pocket eights. Her opponent flopped quads.

Despite the disappointing results Team PokerListings enjoyed playing the team format, a sentiment shared by everyone in the Caesars tournament room today.

Jamie Gold was one of five former World Champions to play today, and he had nothing but good things to say about the event.

"It's very rare you have this much fun and this kind of camaraderie in tournaments. It makes me think of when I was a kid playing Little League baseball," Gold commented.

Players responded extremely positively to the team format and we saw today how it adds another layer to the tournament style we're so familiar with.

Gold elaborated, "It's so cool that you can bust out right away and still have a chance to win. It keeps you involved and it gives you something to root for. I'm having a blast."

At a time when disposable income is at a premium the team format is a great way to moderate the risk associated with tournament poker.

Gold agrees, saying, "In this economy [the team format] is very timely. This is the time to share some of the risk. Not everyone can afford to keep playing in big-buy-in tournaments on their own."

At time of posting there are just over 30 players left in this event. When play ceases for the night just 27 will remain. Tomorrow we will play down to a winner.

PokerListings.com will be on the scene beaming live updates and news straight to your computer. Hit up the live tournament section to see how it all shakes out!

 

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