DAY: 2 (Officially known as Day 1B).

BIG NEWS: It takes plenty of confidence and oodles of cash just to play in the World Series of Poker main event, but the world's best rounders are making things even spicier by raising the stakes against one another.

Tournament officials say Phil Ivey has reportedly wagered millions of dollars on himself winning a bracelet at the series, and the main event is his last chance. He has cashed three times in the series' 53 events so far, but his highest finish has been ninth.

Daniel Negreanu said he doubled up his limit Texas Hold 'em bracelet win earlier this month with a $200,000 bet against Ivey. Barry Greenstein said he won more in side bets than he did in prize money when he finished first and won nearly $158,000 playing seven-card Razz.

An additional 1,158 players entered the tournament today, bringing the total for the first two days to 2,455 entrants. A tournament official said the lower total was expected Friday because of the July Fourth holiday.

STUD OF THE DAY: Erick Lindgren, who started his first day at the main event and earned the player of the year award for the world series. Lindgren cashed in five earlier events and won his first gold bracelet in a mixed Texas Hold 'em event. He also placed third in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, which many poker professionals believe is the test of an all-around card player. His winnings for the series stood at $1,348,528.

"They used to vote on it back in the day," Lindgren said. "Daniel (Negreanu) and Alan Cunningham also won that award. Anytime you win something those guys won it feels good."

BUSTED OUT: Poker pros Daniel Negreanu, Ted Forrest, Kenny Tran, Andy Black, Scott Fischman

UP NEXT: Saturday, the third starting group will play 10 hours of poker to prepare for the second round.

POKER TALK: A set: Three of a kind. Daniel Negreanu was eliminated early in the day when his set of sixes couldn't beat an amateur player who made three nines. Negreanu said after the loss that while it was unfortunate, there was no way he would have folded his sixes against an amateur player.

HE SAID WHAT?: "Even more fun than winning a bracelet is beating a guy like Phil Ivey. ... It makes the stakes higher and its a way to punish Phil, hopefully." — Erick Lindgren, explaining why he puts extra money at stake against his fellow rounders during the world's biggest poker tournament.