Mike Matusow Chip Leader After Day 1 of 2008 Wynn Classic

Poker pro Mike Matusow made the final table of the Wynn Classic last year and is the chip leader after Day 1 this year. (Bodog Beat Image)

The 2008 Wynn Classic has drawn out a field full of big name poker pros, but they will have big shoes to fill to live up to the final table from last year.

That table was one of the more star-studded events of the year, featuring Ted Lawson, Mike Matusow, Scott Fischman, Michael Mizrachi, Johnny Chan and Chau Giang.

At the beginning of Day 1 yesterday, it looked like this feat could be duplicated, but at the end of the day, the only member of that memorable final table still in the tournament was chip leader Matusow.

However, there is no shortage of poker pros willing to take the place of those players at the final table of this year's Wynn Classic. Spotted out in the field yesterday were Team Bodog poker player Justin Bonomo, David "The Dragon" Pham, Erick Lindgren, John "The Razor" Phan, Gavin Griffin, Ted Lawson and 2007 WSOP final tablist Lee Watkinson.

There were also an astounding number of well-known online poker players in attendance like Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Blair "blur5f6" Hinkle (coming off two deep runs in back to back WPT events), Jonathan "fieryjustice" Little (sans sponsorship), Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy, Andrew "Good2CU" Robl (made a run at the WPT LA Poker Classic) and Kevin "BeLoWAbOvE" Saul.

As we said, tons of talent out in the 183-person field ready to live up to the high expectations set by the previous event. After Day 1, there were still 92 players left and plenty of them recognizable. Play is already underway at the Wynn and the payouts have been announced. The top-18 players will at least get their buy-in back with first place receiving $692,286.

Play will continue until there are 27 players remaining, then they will break for the day and come back for Day 3. Stay tuned to the Beat for more updates from the Wynn Classic.