LAS VEGAS — The marathon grind toward the richest pot in poker is under way.

Play opened in the 39th World Series of Poker main event today, with nearly 1,300 players hoping to make it through a 10-hour day of no-limit Texas Hold 'em against high-profile players and unknowns who could come out of nowhere to win millions of dollars and the game's ultimate crown.

"Finally, we are here," said 59-year-old Serge Grenier of Montreal, who won his entry into the tournament through online poker site PokerStars.net.

"It's the dream of every real poker player to come here and play."

The day kicked off in classic Sin City style, with Las Vegas icon Wayne Newton delivering the famous order — "Shuffle up and deal!" — as he was flocked by 10 showgirls wearing tight-fitting turquoise and white bodysuits with red bow ties and bowler hats. The UNLV marching band rushed to the middle of the tournament floor at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino and played Elvis Presley's "Viva Las Vegas."

The clinking of chips at hundreds of tables immediately filled the room, drowning out crowd murmurs — in several different languages — as the players got down to business. The field is so large that first round play is spread over four days.

Each seat in the tournament cost $10,000, and players were issued 20,000 in chips — which had no monetary value but indicated where people stood compared to one another. About 10 percent of those who entered will win money by the time the tournament gets down to nine final players July 14.

The tournament's first-day total of 1,297 entries was just 10 players more than its opening day last year of 1,287. Last year, the number grew to 6,358 players, with the top prize of $8.25 million going to California psychologist Jerry Yang. Tournament officials were hoping for a boost this year based on poker's popularity — especially online in other countries — and on the series moving its final table to November, giving an extra four months of hype to the final nine players.

Barry Clancy of Fort Worth, Texas, became the first player eliminated from the main event Thursday when his pair of aces — the best starting hand in Texas Hold 'em — were beaten by Rocco Lazazzaro and his jacks when a third jack came on the river, the final card of the hand.

"Total luck, bro, total luck," said Lazazzaro, 50, of Las Vegas. "No master pokermanship here, right?"

Clancy, 54, left the tournament without speaking to reporters.

Famous faces playing on Day 1 included comedian Ray Romano, actors Jason Alexander and Mekhi Phifer and famed poker pros Scotty Nguyen, Barry Greenstein, Joe Hachem and Dan Harrington.

"This is the only tournament annually that I get really nervous and uptight about," said Susie Isaacs, 61, of Las Vegas, who won back to back ladies championships at the world series in 1996 and 1997. "It takes me a couple hours to get calmed down."

A few players broke the tension by showing up in costume — one player wore a full wizard's outfit complete with a white, Merlin-esque beard. Another wore red contact lenses, making him look like a horror film henchman.

Nguyen started his day with a grin on ESPN's feature table, where a few nights earlier he won his fifth gold bracelet and nearly $2 million in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. tournament, a championship many professionals regard as the most elite of the 55 total events at the World Series of Poker.

"All right, baby," Nguyen said as he raised a pot, attracting two callers to the flop, the first three community cards dealt on the table.

Nguyen bet 500 more chips with a nine, 10 and a king on the board, and the other two players folded, giving the 1998 main event champ more reason to be jolly as the dealer pushed the small pot his way.

Nguyen declared after winning the rotating-game H.O.R.S.E. event that he was gunning for something of a poker triple crown this year, hoping for victories in the main event and the series' player of the year award.

He also said that he expected a poker professional to win the main event, a tough task in a tournament that not only requires plenty of luck, but has a field in which those who use poker to make a living are outnumbered by unknowns.

This year, professionals have won about seven of every 10 events leading up to the main event.

The no-limit structure of the main event means players can risk all their chips at any time in hopes of gaining more chips to survive longer and position themselves toward later rounds, when minimum bets become more expensive and force players to risk chips in less-than-ideal situations.

Chau Giang, 53, a native of Vietnam who now primarily plays poker and lives in Las Vegas, stood up and became animated when his ace-jack made two pairs on the flop, winning him a 35,000 chip pot and eliminating another player.

"That's a big pot for so early. I'm feeling really good."

Associated Press Writer Laura E. Davis contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

World Series of Poker: www.wsop.com