Cards remain firmly 'out' of the air, but the players are pressing against the rail as if at a Take That concert, braced like coiled springs and waiting only for the starter's gun to sound so they can race to their respective tables.
As with the year prior, there's a TV table set aside, and this may be the reason for the delay as the announcer is cordially, but adamantly, and with a subdued anger in his voice, requesting the presence of the players on the feature table, three of which are Roberto Romanello, George McKeever and Joe Grech.
Players are itching at ringside, so if I were the aforementioned, I'd get moving pronto before there's a riot!
When Terry Rogers passed the baton onto Liam Flood, little did he know that the Irish Open would morph into the epic event it is now, but the former bookmaker can rest easy in his grave as the 2010 Irish Open looks set to echo the achievements of recent years.
I spoke to Liam earlier in the week, and although he was proud to have been at the centre of it all, he was quick to commend the tournament sponsors for the professionalism they've brought to the event, not to mention the mountains of added money. "We put on a lot of entertainment now," gleams Liam, "which gives people something else do, sing a song, drink maybe the occasional pint. It's popular because, possibly, and hopefully, it's run very well."
If the current number of 678 is anything to go by, 2010 looks to be yet another "popular" year, and, if we creep over the 708 mark... maybe even a record-breaking one.
The Irish Open is the oldest poker tournament in Europe with an expected 700 players filing into the Burlington Hotel here in Dublin, hoping to follow in the footsteps of last year's winner Christer Johansson.
Last night's super satellite saw over 400 players take part in the €200 rebuy producing over sixty seats as a result.
Players confirmed include former winners Neil Channing and Marty Smyth, EPT winners Sandra Naujoks, Julian Thew and Victoria Coren as well as numerous online qualifiers.
Unlike most big tournaments these days, here there is only one starting day with the tournament scheduled to finish on Easter Monday. Players will be starting with 10,000 chips and a hour clock, but from level 7 onwards this will increase to 75 minutes.
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