The Calm Before The Storm
We all know the start of Day 2 sees players bust out at a rate of knots but what about the 20 minutes or so before the start of a Day 2, is that positively serene in contrast?
Clock watch: 17 minutes until the start of Day 2
Daniel Negreanu is in a side room doing an interview with a member of the press whilst downstairs in the tournament room the number of dealers far outweigh the number of players. The 63 dealers in the Main Event are already seated, but only seven players are in their seats. Early arrivals include Aliaksandr Posled and Henrique Pinho.
Clock watch: 15 minutes until the start of Day 2
The pace picks up, Benny Spindler is the first EPT champion to arrive. Outside of the tournament room there are seven cash games on the go, late finishers and early risers alike. Elvis is in the building as he's called to a 100-200 (Czech Koruna) game.
Also outside in the foyer players huddle around an electronic board showing the Day 2 seat draw, their name spotted they wander off to find it. A players walks past me deep in conversation, "I have super little chips, I really can't miss anything. Hopefully I'm still in when you arrive."
Clock watch: 10 minutes until the start of Day 2
Tournament director Teresa Nousiainen takes to the microphone to give the players their 10 minute warning. The number of players now exceeds the number of dealers but table 29 is still empty. Chip leader Amir Lehavot arrives, he weaves his way to his seat and with eight minutes 40 seconds on the clock and takes a seat at table 29. He opens his bag but the dealer stops him as he needs to wait for another player to arrive before he can stack his chips.
Another player arrives at Lehavot's table and he can start stacking his chips, he won't finish stacking them until just five minutes and 36 seconds are left on the clock. Dermot Blain arrives, "I'm doing good today," he tells me. "I got some sleep, in Barcelona I was on two hours a night." The dealer then asks for ID and Blain hands him his passport. "I love this event," Blain continues. "It's great having so many tournaments in the same city at once. It's a great city too, this and Barcelona are my favourite stops.
Clock watch: Three minutes until the start of Day 2
At this point the players are streaming into the room so I head to the exit, Daniel Negreanu, interview over, is one of those who walks in.