REIGNING Asian Poker Tour champion Neil Arce survived more than 10 hours of grueling play to advance to the second stage of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The 25-year-old Arce, arguably the most successful poker player in the Philippines in terms of tournament winnings and finishes, saw action on the fourth day of the preliminary round and chipped up from a starting stack of 30,000 to 50,550.

Arce, whose campaign is supported by The Metro Card Club where he is a founding member, ended the five-level Day 1d with more stack over defending champion Peter Eastgate (44,725), former World Poker Tour champions Michael Mizrachi (49,775), Nam Le (49,725), National Basketball Association (NBA) champion Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar (48,175), Hollywood actor Chuck Norris (40,625) and 2008 winner Erick Lindgren (20,450), among others.

He even outlasted notable entries such as poker greats Daniel Negreanu, Chris Moneymaker (the man credited for the so-called poker boom after becoming the first amateur to win the WSOP main event in 2003), and living legend Doyle Brunson, as well as newly crowned women’s champion Lisa Hamilton and celebrities Torrie Wilson of the WWE fame, former NBA player John Salley, baseball legend Orel Harshishier, rapper Nelly, Sydney Olympic boxing gold medalist Audley Harrison and former heavyweight titlist Winky Wright.

A total of 6,494 players from all over the world registered for the much-anticipated event with a buy-in of $10,000, thus creating a mammoth pot of $61,043,600, of which $8,546,435 will go to the champion along with the highly coveted WSOP bracelet.

Veteran campaigner Troy Weber of West Terre Haute, Indiana,  led all Day 1 survivors with a massive stack of 353,000. He was followed by Tyson Marks with 196,000.

Other players who came out with big stacks include Phil Ivey—known as the Tiger Woods of poker (84,025)—Antonio Estefandiari (75,025) and Fil-Am Hollywood actor Lou Diamond Phillips (66,650).

Arce became the first Philippine-based player to finish “in the money” in the WSOP main event in 2007, coming out 222nd out of 6,500 players and cashing in more that $50,000.

Besides the champion, all the players who will make the final table will go home at least $1.2 million richer. Up to 648th place will be in the money.

The WSOP is an annual multievent poker tournament held in Las Vegas since 1970.

Last year the event attracted more than 58,000 participants with the biggest prize pools compared with any sport. In December 2008 the WSOP was named the seventh most admired sports brand in North America by the Turnkey Team Brand Index, trailing only the National Football League, Major League Baseball, NBA, National Hockey League, Nascar and the Professional Golfers’ Association Tour.

This year’s series, which started on May 28, has a total of 57 events calendared with nearly $200,000 at stake, most of which are Texas Hold’em but also includes other poker variants such as the five-card stud, deuce-to-seven low ball draw, razz, Omaha, Omaha High-Low, five-card draw and seven-card stud.