World Series of Poker players

Nearly 1,500 players started the World Series of Poker main event on Tuesday with a flurry of all-in bets as they worked to claim a spot in the event's third day.

While many players simply looked to get through their second sessions without being eliminated, some tried to accumulate large amounts of chips to make a deep run in the no-limit Texas Hold 'em tournament.

Actor Jason Alexander started the day among the chip leaders with nearly 90,000 chips, and said he gained about 20,000 more chips during the first two levels of play, but was back down to about 56,000 by the dinner break.

"I have no illusions about where I'm going to wind up in this thing," Alexander told The Associated Press. "My aggressiveness is counterbalanced by the fact that I just don't want to be stupid. And when you're a C-plus, B-minus player and you've got some chips, you can get stupid."

Alexander said he waThe player with the most tournament wins at the World Series of Poker says he's no longer avoiding aggressive opponents who threaten to knock him out of the main event this year.

"This year I decided, let's play online poker," Phil Hellmuth told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "All those amateurs making all those crazy moves on me that they got away with in the past, this year I'm calling."

The 11-time gold bracelet winner has been known to avoid plays for all his chips in the past, because he believes he can outplay others without giving them a chance to get lucky.

That means that opponents have simply shoved all-in against him to respond to his extra-tight play.

"This year, when I do have a strong hand I win tons of chips because everybody's overplaying their hand against me," said Hellmuth, who won the no-limit Texas Hold 'em main event 20 years ago. "That's been a good strategy for players against me for years, is to just get all their money in, but not this year.

nts to make it to a third day of play, but not without a healthy amount of chips.

Players left on Tuesday were expected to combine with the players left from a session on Wednesday, when about 2,900 players will play eight hours in their second session. The fields will combine on Friday when all players will play simultaneously for the first time.