Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth Survive Day 1A of 2009 WSOPE

Two big names and the faces behind Gambling911.com premier sponsors Doyles Room and UltimateBet.com, respectively, Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth have survived Day 1A of the 2009 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE). Doyle Brunson and Brandon Cantu both had big stacks heading into Day 2.

The leader board was full of players who were not very well known. 

Brian Powell 194,600

Jason Mercier 189,725

Sami Kelopuro 168,925

Viktor Blom 163,175

Jonathan Aguiar 160,100

Martin Hansen 152,775

Christian Harder 134,125

Tommy Pavlicek 119,825

Richard Grace 116,850

John Kabbaj 104,500

Mercier is among the more familiar faces in this bunch.  The Fort Lauderdale-based poker pro has won over $3 million in live tournaments through his career.  Mercier has cashed out, four times at the WSOP in one year.  He is only 21 years old.

The 2009 World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold'em world champion, John Kabbaj, resides in London, England.  He has won over $2 million in live poker tournaments to date.

Las Vegas poker player Jonathan Aguiar has won over $500,000 in live tournaments to date.

Christian Harder, a student from Annapolis, Maryland, has won over $1 million career live poker tournaments.

Ace King, Gambling911.com