Jake Cody's World Series Main Event didn't get off to perfect start. An attempt to change starting days led him into an administrative whirlpool, which ended in a long line at the registration desk at 11am today. Eventually he found his way to his table assignment about 20 minutes late--and 20 minutes after his stack had made the same journey. The mishap cost him a few blinds.

But players in the Main Event this year get a stack of 50,000 chips. The opening blinds are 75-150, so he still had significantly more than 300 bigs. Cody is also the very antithesis of the whining players who often populate the poker tables. Life is perennially good for the Team PokerStars Pro. He has, it is safe to say, regrouped.

Cody came out to Las Vegas close to the start of the Series this time, keen to emulate his performance of 2011, when he won the first open event of that year. His victory in the $25,000 Heads Up event clinched the third leg of his Triple Crown, a matter of 14 months since his EPT Deauville title got things started.

But he didn't go for the long slog this time. He said this morning that he took about two weeks off, rewarding himself with a holiday in the middle of the series and time to celebrate his birthday on July 4. He is therefore refreshed and ready for a tilt at the World Championship.

Cody has Mike Leah and Jordan Westmorland for company today, meaning he will need to be wary of at least two spots. But in a similar fashion to the way we ghosted Aditya Agarwal through five levels yesterday, we'll follow Cody's event closely today.

"Jake's will be a bit more up and down," Leah shouted from the other side of the table, issuing what sounded like part threat and part experience of playing against the roller coaster that is Cody.

At the end of the first level, Cody had 44,000--down slightly from the start, but only the beginning of something that will likely fluctuate wildly as the day progresses.

WSOP photos by PokerPhotoArchive.com.