$10,000 Championship Main Event Day 2 | 2009 Lebanese Poker Championship

Welcome back to Casino du Liban for Day 2 of the largest tournament the Middle East has ever seen. The 207 players who began this Lebanese Poker Championship some 24 hours ago have been nearly cut in half, and the remaining 111 of them will return today to fight their way towards the final table. It should be quite a long day as we'll battle the fantastic structure in our quest to find the final nine before sunrise.

We're without Joe Hachem today, his Championship Event cut short when he found himself on the wrong end of a coinflip for the rest of his chips in the middle of Day 1. We still have a short-stacked Nenad Medic and Raymond Rahme with us though, while notable Chris Karagulleyan will begin this middle day near the top of the pecking order. Everyone's looking up at Nicolas Zakhem though, chip leader for much of Day 1.

We'll be getting going in just about 20 minutes, so grab your pita and your hummus and join us back here for the start of play.