Get Comfortable

With one hour of play under their belts, the players are settling in. Remarkably, it seems that nobody busted during the first level -- unlike yesterday, when there was an elimination less than twenty minutes into the day.

Old friends long unseen have been getting up from their respective tables to say hi. Casey Kastle, an old-school poker veteran, recently spotted Ira Blumenthal at an adjoining table and bounded out of his seat to shake Blumenthal's hand.

There is a real comraderie that develops between players who constantly see each other on tour that doesn't really come across in the live updates. Many of these guys who battle mercilessly across the felt for supremacy are great friends away from the tables.