Earlier this summer Daniel Negreanu captured his fourth World Series of Poker bracelet when he took down Event #20 ($2,000 Limit Hold ‘em) and after the first day of play at the World Series of Poker-Europe in London he’s in position to become the first player to capture a bracelet on both sides of the Atlantic.

The first of two Day 1’s in the event drew a total of 191 players. If the second Day 1 has more than 171 players it will set a record for a WSOPE event. But the story after the first day wasn’t the sizable turnout, but the performance of the player known as “Kid Poker”.

Negreanu finished the day with 74,900 in chips and while it puts him only 2,100 ahead of Jason Gray, who sits in second, he’s a full 17,900 ahead of the third biggest stack, David La Ronde. On his way to the chip lead he eliminated both Michel Abecassis and Davood Mehrmand.

The day might have started with 191 players, but after all the carnage through the first 13 hours of play only 42 players remained standing. Some of those who have started their trip to London with a trip to the rail include 2008 WSOP bracelet winners Barry Greenstein and Layne Flack. Nikolay Evdakov, who broke the record for most cashes in a single year this summer with 10, was also sent packing. Phil Ivey, Mike McDonald and London’s own Roland de Wolfe are also looking for something to do until Event #2 (£2,500 H.O.R.S.E.) starts on Monday.

Day 1b will start at 1 p.m. (GMT+1) on Saturday. The remaining players from each day will then be combined on Sunday to play down to the final table of nine players.

Top Ten Chip Stacks from WSOP Europe Event #1 Day 1a

1. Daniel Negreanu 74,900
2. Jason Gray 72,800
3. David La Ronde 57,000
4. Brandon Cantu 54,200
5. Willie Tann 52,500
6. Yevgeniy Timoshenko 50,800
7. Michael Bepper 49,500
8. Tim Pennington 43,300
9. Carl Hostrup 38,700
10. Rumit Somaiya 36,700

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4. WSOPE: Daniel Negreanu Storms Through Day 1b The second of two starting days for the Main Event...
5. WSOP Europe: Shulman Beats Negreanu for Main Event Bracelet Daniel Negreanu barely made the final table of the 2009...