First bracelet to be given out in 2011 WSOP

Las Vegas - The first gold bracelet of the 2011 World Series of Poker is set to be given out this afternoon in Las Vegas when a Casino Employee Champion is crowned.

The World Series of Poker takes place over two months, and with over 50 different tournaments this year, it is sure to be very intriguing. This year, as it has the past few years, the event starts with the $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em Championship. In which casino employees from around the world have their chance to play for the most coveted crown in poker, the gold bracelet. The tournament began on Tuesday, with 850 participants. The played 13 hours, and by the end of day 1, only 77 players remained. The defending Champion Hoai Pham, who was looking like he could repeat through much of Tuesday, finally busted out late in the evening. The tournament was scheduled to conclude Wednesday, when they began play at 2:30 p.m. They continued to play through the afternoon and evening, and had a final table of 9 by 10 p.m. The final 9 was dwindled down to 4, and at 3 a.m., tournament directors called the event for the evening. They are scheduled to return at 3 p.m. with the final 4 players fighting for the $82,000 grand prize, and the first gold bracelet of the 2011 WSOP. The final 4 are: 1 Sean Drake 1,058,000 Sacramento, CA 2. Jason Baker 727,000 Calgary, Canada 3 Claudio Falcaro 420,000 Salzano, Italy 4 Christopher Perez 347,000 Las Vegas Stay with Digital Journal for updates from Las Vegas throughout the summer.