The 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure kicked off Monday in Nassau with 660 players taking to the felt to chase down the first major title of the new year. After eight 75-minute levels only 188 players are left with Brazilian Felipe Ramos leading the way with 360,100 chips.

The Russian takeover of the poker world seems to be continuing in 2009 with Sergey Rybachenko sitting in second place with 250,100. The top 10 includes six American players with Charles Furey (233,100) and David Baker (219,600) occupying spots three and four respectively.

Grant Hinkle, who won a World Series of Poker bracelet last summer, is in seventh place with 205,900 chips. He’s just ahead of two-time World Poker Tour title holder Jonathan Little who has 201,900. The top Team PokerStars Pro is German pro Marcin Horecki who sits in 10th with 167,300.

The first day of play wasn’t a day in paradise for every Team PokerStars pro though. Daniel Negreanu, Luca Pagano, Chad Brown, Steve Paul-Ambrose, Joe Hachem, Alex Kravchenko and reigning champion Gavin Griffin were all eliminated from the tournament.

One player made his highly anticipated live tournament debut on Monday. Eighteen-year-old Australian James “AndyMcLeod” Obst survived the day with 102,400 chips. Obst had been tearing up the online poker scene until his underage status was learned by online poker operators. He had his account shutdown until his 18th birthday in August when he began playing online again.

The second flight of Day 1 begins Tuesday at Noon ET at Atlantis Resort and Casino. The players will play the same eight levels as Day 1a players played before combining on Wednesday into one day of players.

PCA Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts

1.     Felipe Ramos - 360,100
2.     Rybachenvo Sergey - 250,100
3.     Charles Furey - 233,100
4.     David Michell Baker - 219,600
5.     Ralf Westphal - 210,900
6.     Edward Sabat - 209,000
7.     Grant Hinkle - 205,900
8.     Jonathan Little - 201,900
9.     Keven Stammen - 167,900
10.  Marcin Horecki - 167,300 

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