The key in keeping a true poker aficionado happy in today’s modern game is to offer them a pallet of events that can keep them satisfied until they bust out of one tournament and then head to the next one.

Thursday’s Day 1 of the $2,500 Omaha/Seven-card Stud 8-or-better(Event 25) did just that as another split game came to the World Series of Poker. After eight levels of play, a seemingly pale Chad Brown fought through the pain of sickness and came back from a dismal start to finish among the chip leaders going into Day 2.

Rumored to be suffering from food poisoning, Brown made his entrance into the tournament a bit late and not looking so good. By the end of level 2 his chip stack had dwindled down to below 3,000. Looking uncomfortable at times, Brown slowly played through the pain and began to put on a comeback through the rest of the night to finish strong on a day where 376 split gamers showed up ready to make their mark on their own WSOP.

Attracting lovers of the split game, one player who arrived thirty minutes before everyone else was Justin Young. An early bust in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em (Event 24) brought Young across the hallway to the Brasilia room ready for action. 1-11 so far in the Series, Young was hoping his Seven-card Stud game would compliment his weaker Omaha play and put him ahead of a field stacked with other pros.

“My Stud game is much better than my Omaha game. I’ve grown up playing Stud and Stud Hi-Lo, but there are a lot of very good split game players here tonight so I’m just going to throw my hat into the ring and see what happens”, said Young.

While young pros like Young were trying to make back the money they spent in a tournament they busted in, an older gentleman sat patiently waiting for his shot at playing a split game he’s been playing recreationally for years. Under the lights of one table sat Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss.

“They play this format sometimes at Commerce Casino”, said Buss. “I’d say both games I’m equally experienced in, but I’m not good enough to aspire to make a final table or anything, I just play for fun.”

With the cards in the air at 5 pm and the slow style of Omaha and Stud poker taking its time, the first player wasn’t eliminated until almost four hours in. As forecasted with this type of game there were many floor calls and arguing amongst the players over chopped pots, mis-deals, and actions out of turn. The great relief came from what was on the TVs that were scattered throughout the room - Game 4 of the Lakers against the Orlando Magic in the NBA finals.

The entire Brasilia room, filled with some of poker’s greatest - including Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, Chris Ferguson, Erick Lindgren and recent 2009 WSOP sensation Brock Parker, erupted with cheer after Derek Fisher made a game-tying three pointer.

“I got the Magic tonight”, said Jeff Lisandro, who recently took home his 2nd WSOP bracelet a few days ago in Seven-card Stud. “I got them outright to win”.

While the Orlando Magic lost the game for Lisandro, his entry into the event proved to be his bet bet of the night. Seizing the chip lead after level two, Lisandro began to lose the chips he so dearly gathered, but made a late run halfway through level 5 to bring his stack back up to par. With a board of 5 K 5 T, Lisandro check-called fourth and fifth streets against Joe Serock and his board of 8 7 9 J. Both checking sixth and seventh street, Lisandro showed his 4 4 T in the hole and it was apparently enough for Serock to muck the rest of his cards and give Lisandro a huge pot to bring his stack back to a strong one.

As the night dragged between the highs and lows of Event 25, many names kept their composure of a rough start to continue on to Day 2 including - Gavin Smith, Jason Mercier, Mel Judah, Lisandro, and Thomas Bihl - but one of the names people were waiting for fireworks from was Parker.

Parker has been the hottest thing since sliced bread around here the last few days and entered today’s event fresh off his bracelet win last night and four days since his other big victory over Daniel Negreanu. But tonight, the WSOP Gods put out the fire of Parker’s hot streak who just bled chips all night as he couldn’t quite catch a hand in his favor and soon busted a few hours before play ended.

The WSOP Gods did however watch out for Brown who will cruise into Day 2 with a lot of chips as he sits near the top of the leaderboard along with Dustin Sitar, Jon Turner, and Mark Scott who lead the field going into Day 2

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