PokerNews spotted Patrik Antonius as he was buying in for the main event. Patrik doesn't play til tomorrow, but we wanted to make sure we got to chat with him since he could be at one of the other venues and we are stationed here at the Empire.
Poker's all about the minnows, playing on an even keel and rubbing shoulders (quite literally!) with the stars. If anyone's a small fish in a big pond here today, then perhaps it's young James Finigan.
An online qualifer and heavily supported by his brother on the rail, James just entered a pot with French legend Bruno Fitoussi, betting 1k on the flop and turn of a board before check-folding to a 5.5k bet on the river.
"James mainly plays online," reports his brother. "He does pretty well; has won a Ladbrokes Poker Cruise and even a share in a horse."
"How many legs does it have?" I asked.
"Probably six, knowing James," he replied. "We saw a picture of it on Pocket Fives and it was an ugly sort."
"Well, as long as it runs fast," I added.
"Yeah, he doesn't have to sleep with it."
At that point, I concluded that the conversation was becoming too surreal and returned to my computer... to Google ugly six-legged horses.
PokerNews ran into Jennifer Harman before the start of her day one of the main event. Jen was runner-up in the HORSE tournament and now that it's had a day to sink in, she says she's OK with second place.
Mike Mizrachi has leapt up to 52,000 early doors, and although I haven't seen him take any big pots, he must have been at least partly responsible for the two empty seats at his table, which were filled by Paul Wasicka and Annie Duke.
Meanwhile, Devilfish gets some cameras pointed at him, and can't resist singing a song about his poker energy drink. "Three different flavours, tastes just right - drink some now and play all night!" And to think he gave up a potential career in advertising to play poker.
Finally, Huseyin Yilmaz has taken a couple of nice pots recently - in one of them he bet off opponent Anthony Ramsden on the river with the board reading: after check-raising the flop and seeing a free card on the turn. He's clearly not afraid to get his chips in the middle, and has gained an extra 10k already in Level Two.
So far, so good for the small but mighty contingent of women in the field. As this is written, 5 of the top 11 chip counts in the tournament are women.
The poker diva insta-called when the last of John Juanda's chips went in with the board reading . Juanda showed for top pair, while Liz showed for trip sevens. The river filled Liz up, and Juanda is out of the Main Event.
Annette 'What imaginative alias shall I use for online?' Obrestad is starting to show signs of frustration, her last raise being re-raising by the amicable, chatty Torres Santiago. Without hesitation, Annette folded (or hurled) her hand in with the discontent of Veruca Salt being told she couldn't go in the factory.
As Annette drops to 12,250, Spain's Santiago bobs his head above water for the first time today with 21k.