Photo Recap For Day 1a of WPT Legends of Poker

Official chip counts from the end of Day 1a have been posted on the "Chip Counts" page, which can be found by clicking here.

Here’s a photographic look back at Day 1a of the WPT Legends of Poker, with some bonus pics from Thursday’s auditions for "The Raw Deal." (Photos by Brian Lowe and BJ Nemeth)

The Royal Flush Girls welcome players to the second stop of Season IX of the World Poker Tour — the Bicycle Casino.

The day before the tournament begins, the WPT resembles American Idol as our own lineup of judges — Kimberly Lansing, Mike Sexton, and Vince Van Patten — watch players, actors, and others audition for a new segment called "The Raw Deal." They’re looking for someone opinionated and outspoken who won’t pull punches and will call out anyone and everyone, even the most respected pros.

Poker pro Bryan Devonshire auditions for "The Raw Deal."

Tournament grinder Allen Kessler auditions for "The Raw Deal" segment, channeling a Larry David/George Costanza vibe. "What’s the deal with tournament structures?"

The Royal Flush Girls help kick off Day 1a of WPT Legends of Poker.

Last year, two of the WSOP’s November Nine reached the final table of this event, with Steven Begleiter busting in ninth place and Kevin Schaffel finishing second (behind winner Prahlad Friedman). This year, November Niner Soi Nguyen tries to continue the trend, moving into the chip lead early and staying on top of the counts for the first half of the day.

Jason Mercier lost the last hand of Level 3, and it knocked him down to 11 big blinds. But Mercier fought back to survive all six levels on Day 1a, and he will return on Day 2 (Sunday) with 35 big blinds.

Jon Hair designed the trophy that will be awarded to the winner of this tournament. Hair sculpted it in the form of Wild Bill Hickok, an American legend from the Old West and one of the inaugural inductees into the Poker Hall of Fame.

Maria Ho and Dan O’Brien sit side-by-side on Day 1a. Maria started strong and had a big stack most of the day, but had a rough last level to finish with an average stack. Dan was short stacked most of the day, but did double through Maria in the last level to finish the day with about half of an average stack. (Dan’s pocket kings held up against Maria’s A-9.)

The Bicycle Casino converted poker tables into dining tables before the dinner break, as there would be a free buffet-style meal available for the players.

Players lined up for the complimentary meal (with fanciful desserts) provided by the Bicycle Casino during the dinner break.

While most of the players stayed for the free food, a few left the casino to find their own. The two players on the left missed an hour of play as they got lost looking for their restaurant, and Ray Henson (right) and Jonathan Aguiar (far right) teased them about it for several minutes.

Raymond Dolan, who won a million dollars for a second-place finish at WPT L.A. Poker Classic earlier this year, emerged as one of the top two chipleaders during the final level of Day 1a.

Day 1a ended around midnight, with 90 players remaining from a starting field of 186. Day 1b begins tomorrow (Saturday) at 1:00 pm PT. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for complete live coverage, with updates, photos, chip counts, and video interviews with Kimberly Lansing.