EPT Barcelona Open Main Event Day 1a | 2008 PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona Open

Hola... aaaaaand that's where my Spanish ends. As someone who can barely speak my own lingo, it's a relief to find that English is almost as common here as the native language. Still, that didn't stop me from getting lost this morning, but after stumbling my way through the roads of Barcelona, I finally located the coastline, and eventually my destination, the Gran Casino de Barcelona.

With our base secured here in the press room, I can't help but feel as though I'm trapped in an elevator as an array of tedious, repetitive tunes (known as Muzak - in England, at least) trickle out of the loud-speaker and pollute my ears. But that's not the worst of it as there's a grand piano lurking on the stage and I deeply fear that the Devilfish is going to tickle the ivories and belt out a few numbers. That surely would be the first bad beat of the day.