There is a familiar face among the throngs of hopeful winners at this year's 2005 World Series of Poker, and the only way to recognize him is by his Penn State baseball hat.

Former Penn State quarterback Zack Mills is one of 1,884 lucky players still alive after the completion of Saturday's first round of the No-Limit Hold 'Em Championship of the series at Harrah's Las Vegas Casino in Las Vegas, Nev.

But the luckiest part of all is how Mills got to Nevada in the first place: an all-expense paid trip, including airfare, hotel bills, and a $10,000 entry-fee waiver.

"He won an online tournament sponsored by Pokerstars.com," Mills' girlfriend, Alexandra Hill, said. "There were 300 or 400 people who entered online. He played for about 12 hours straight, made it to the final table and ended up winning."

With Pokerstars.com footing the bill, Mills already built up a stack of $41,925 in chips from the buy-in start of $10,000 during Day One -- picking off a few of the 5,619 people who entered this year's Main Event along the way.

Mills' Day One play was even good enough to put him ahead of some very esteemed company, including last year's champion Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, who finished Day One with $39,525 in chips, $2,400 behind Mills.

Day Two kicked off at noon yesterday PST, and as play continued into the night, Hill estimated Mills has boosted his stash up to $45,000.

"His goal was to make it to the second day," Hill, a 2004 Penn State graduate, said, speaking for Mills, who is unable to speak to the media while playing. "He was pretty confident Thursday that he could make it to Sunday."

Day One was actually three days -- Thursday, Friday and Saturday -- with the field divided into three groups of nearly 2,000 people each.

Mills, who drew Thursday's group, began play at noon Thursday and was still going strong when play stopped at about 3 a.m. The second and third groupings of the Day One competition proceeded in a similar fashion, with those left over all moving on to Day Two. Day Two play was scheduled to stop when the field whittled down to 500-1,000 players.

Mills was getting a little nervous going into yesterday's round, Hill said.

"He's very hesitant," Hill said. "Now there's definitely a lot more competition. The blinds are going to get up to $25,000 by the end of the night."

The opportunity to play in the Main Event, limiting to many because of its $10,000 price tag, has drawn a lot of celebrity attention in recent years, as poker has become more than just a weekly routine for many Americans.

Films like Rounders, starring Matt Damon, and the broadcast of the World Series of Poker on ESPN have increasingly placed poker into the mainstream.

First prize in this year's Main Event is $7,500,000, with the top 560 players receiving payouts starting at $12,500.

Mills, who Hill said usually only plays online for fun, has already bumped into his fair share of celebrities at this year's tournament.

"He saw Brad Garrett who plays Robert on Everybody Loves Raymond," Hill said. "That's one of our favorite shows. He said he saw Shannon Elizabeth too, although she apparently wasn't doing too well."

Haakon Waerstad of Norway lead all players after Day One with $169,200 in chips, trailed by veteran gambler Sam Farha with $156,600.

The Main Event will continue at Harrah's through Wednesday, until the field is brought down to the final 27 players, when the tournament will take residence in its traditional home -- the Binion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas -- on Thursday.

The final table of nine will begin play on Friday.