Huck Seed has entered the arena, and completed a tough table that also includes Scott Fischman, Tony Cousineau and German veteran Henry Nowakowski. Nowakowski is a face that some might recall from the Late Night Poker Days. He doesn't play too much these days, but he's certainly a character who can liven up any table. Could be someone to keep an eye on.
Just at the top of the balcony, we've spotted "Gentleman" Ben Roberts, Justin "BoostedJ" Smith and WSOPE Champion of 2008 John Juanda. All three are still waiting to get into the tournament and are on the alternates list.
Tom Dwan is certainly not a fan of the current status quo, in that he does not yet have a bracelet though he is rumoured to have several substantial bets in this regard. Breaking the duck in London is going to be hard now though as he's lost over half his stack.
Dwan had fired 1,225 on the turn of a 
board before Joe Serock raised it up to 3,100, Ted Lawson folded quickly and Dwan thought momentarily before making the call leaving himself just 3,200 left with the pot swelling to around 10,000.
The 
looked to be a blank and Dwan checked, Serock dwelled for a moment before moving his remaining few thousand chips into the middle and Dwan did the customary recheck-my-cards-aww-they-have n't-turned-into-quads before folding. Dwan is left with just 3,200 while Serock has 14,000.
One of the early candidates for Table of Death is the "middle under-stair" table as we're beginning to call it, the center table in a group of three that are tucked into a cramped corner under the main stairwell. In any event, check out the middle four seats over there at middle under-stair:
Seat 2: Tony Cousineau
Seat 3: Andrew Teng
Seat 4: Praz Bansi
Seat 5: Phil Laak
Also of note: Mike Matusow has just joined a table with Annette Obrestad, two seats to her right. Roberto Romanello and Jeff Lisandro are seated next to each other at the adjacent table.
With a pot of about 3,000 in the middle, the board read 
. The first player checked to Ludovic Lacay and he checked behind. The river completed the board with the 
and the first player checked again. Lacay thought for a bit and then fired 3,100 and was all in. HIs opponent then sat in the tank for several minutes, but eventually gave it up and Lacay moved back to just over 6,000 chips.
Our tournament is split amongst about six different areas of tables, something which will take a little getting used to for those of us whose last event was the WSOP in Vegas. In the farthest reaches of the Casino sits the poker room, disconnected from the rest of the casino floor. A trek over to that side of the building netted us a glimpse of Phil Ivey though, so it was a worthwhile venture. Mr. Poker is sitting on the direct left of Martin Kabrhel, the crafty Czech pro.
Likely WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kassela is also camped out in the poker room, as is Britain's favorite young stud Chris Moorman; Praz Bansi was also seen loitering around in between the tables looking a bit lost.
As far as the alternates go, there's still quite a line at the registration desk. We spotted John Juanda, Justin Smith, Kyle Bowker, Neil Channing, David "Devilfish" Ulliott, and Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick among those still waiting for their seat assignments.
Fresh off his recent third place finish in last week's inaugural London WPT, seasoned veteran and President of the European Poker Players Hall of Fame, Bruce 'Elvis' Senior, has now taken his seat up here on the top floor. Expect plenty of updates on Atkinson today; he's always on my mind.
Well, that was quick. On just the second hand, we lost Hendon Mobber Barny Boatman. He three-bet from the blind with 
, before getting it all in on a 
flop. His opponent had a cheeky , and Boatman failed to improve. Still, plenty of sights to see around these parts.
There's a cracking view up here on the balcony: we have Liv Boeree. She's currently sharing a table with John Cernuto, whilst one table down is bracelet winner and Brighton Belle James Dempsey. Also in the vicinity are Scott Fischman, Dan Shak, Barny Boatman, Scott Montgomery, William Martin and the legend that is Tony Cousineau.
Tom Dwan is often known for trying to build-up a big stack as quickly as he can, early on here there isn't going to be much chance of him playing too many big pots as there are only two other players on his table right now - Joe Beevers and Ted Lawson, while three other players have not yet turned up to the table in the Shadow room.
Can we expect the Team Full Tilt Pro to be raising every single hand for the moment?
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