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Today is the big day. Satellites and cash games started for the 2010 World Series of Poker. I headed over to the Rio this afternoon about 3 p.m. to pick up my media pass and check out the layout of this year’s WSOP.

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The first difference I noticed was in the parking coming in. They basically turned the entire small lot at the doors into handicapped parking. While that is a nice guesture, you now have to go down the hill to park or use valet.

Next, they moved the store to right beside the entrance. I didn’t get a chance to check it out because they decided to shut the store down at 5 p.m., which is a little odd compared to the crowd we had. I’ll explain that in a bit.

Also, the poker kitchen now has an entrance from the front entrance. I actually like the way that they have set that up. Again, I didn’t get a chance to check out the kitchen because I was actually trying to be a good boy and eat a little healthier.

The Amazon Room is pretty much the same as always. They have all the banners up of past Main Event champions, etc. They are still working on the media tower and the final table area so I didn’t bother taking too many pictures in there.

When they said that the Pavillion Room is massive, they were not kidding. The above pic is of part of half of the room. It is HUGE. Saturday and Sunday will be a zoo at the WSOP with the $1,000 NL.

I ended up playing in one $125 satellite. I wound up finishing 3rd in it. (It is winner takes all, so 3rd and a coke buys me a smile.) Not much in the way of cards and actually if not for A-J outdrawing A-Q, I would not have made 3rd. Oh well, another day.

One thing I noticed is the crowd for this satellite and cash game day was about double or more than last year. Last year, I think there were maybe 5 satellite tables running when I checked it out and maybe 3 or 4 cash games. There were about 12 or more satellites running today with people waiting to play. From what I could make out, there were about 8 or 10 cash games going on. Some of you may think that doesn’t sound like much, and if this was a normal WSOP, you would be right. However, this first day of the WSOP is usually a slow one. If the slow day has this type of crowd, then the busy days will be off the chain.

A few pros were out and about. Allen Kessler, Robert Williamson III, and Max Pescatori were playing satellites. Greg Raymer, Michael Mizrachi, and Jason Mercier were spotted roaming around. Tomorrow afternoon will be a who’s who of the pro poker world and I am looking forward to it.

The Noon event tomorrow is the $500 Casino Employee’s Event, aka the event nobody really gives a damn about other than those playing. The 5 p.m. event is the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, aka The True World Championship. I’ll be bringing you some updates from the Rio and will try and get you a couple good shots of the action going on.

Stay tuned to pokerjunkie.com as we bring you coverage from the 2010 World Series of Poker.