Almost Done...

There's something to be said when, an hour into play, we're still finishing our sweeps of the room to see who's here. That something might be, "Poker players never turn up on time"; or it could be "The media room is damn far from the tournament floor". Most likely it means that the sights of the poker world are focused on Monte Carlo for the next few days as everyone and his brother (literally, in Jesper Hougaard's case) turns out for this EPT Grand Final, making it the richest tournament in Europe and one of the richest in the world.

In a way it makes sense that the richest poker tournament in Europe should take place here in Monte Carlo on the shores of the Mediterranean. "Europe is expensive," Greg Raymer explained to a player at his table. "Monte Carlo makes Europe look cheap."