Veldhuis, Young talk WSOP $5k Shootout

According to Lex Veldhuis, today's $5,000 No Limit Hold'em shootout might as well be a different sport. The game is so different from a standard NLHE tournament that the Dutch pro says, "comparing it to a No Limit Hold'em tournament is like comparing Texas Hold'em to Omaha." The key difference, Veldhuis says, is the table draw.

In a shootout format, players compete in a series of single-table tournaments, with the winner of each table advancing to the next round. The WSOP's $5k event features three rounds in total, with the starting field slated to be distilled to a five-handed final table by Day 3. 

Since players don't move tables as in a normal tournament, avoiding the big name pros and SNG icons while registering can be key. "Your table matters more in a tournament like this," Veldhuis told to leading online site. "It's so much more important." Beyond table draw, which is uncontrollable, the pros point to the importance of adaptability as a key to success.

"I noticed in this tournament a lot of people were going wild preflop, so I'm sitting back and waiting for hands," said 2007 WSOP bracelet winner Ryan Young. "At the same time, people have been noticing that I'm playing tight so I've been able to get away with a couple of big bluffs."

Veldhuis, meanwhile, took the opposite tack on his Day 1 table. "You have to adjust for going from full-ring to shorthanded play," he said. "I try to pick on people who switch gears too late. "I try to double my stack early by putting pressure on people who are playing too tight. If I get to four-handed play I usually have the chip lead.

"I've made plenty of blow-ups with eight or nine people left too," he said. "But it's all about pressure." Young told that he found the shootout format easier than a normal freezeout-format tournament. "I like it," he said. "You've got to know how to play from ten players down to heads-up. For every player that you lose it's a different game. "It's also good because you're at the same table the whole time, so you can adapt to the players' different strategies."

In Day 1 action, Veldhuis emerged victorious at a table that included Philippe Rouas and Jerrod Ankenman. He'll return to action on Monday for Round 2 guaranteed $16,740 in prize money. Also advancing to the second round were Phil Ivey, Davidi Kitai, Danny Wong and Joe Serock.

A total of 280 players bought-in to the Shootout event, including poker icons Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Harman and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. Hellmuth was eliminated after a sometimes testy heads-up battle with Andrea Bonelli, while Ferguson, J.C. Tran, Isaac Baron and Jonathan Little also numbered among the eliminated.