Bubble bursting, final table dreaming… welcome to Day Two

We’ve moved to the Amazon Room for the start of Day Two and the Final Table is quite literally in sight, especially after the bubble burst within the first hour.

No poker tournament is complete with a little sweat, a few tears and the crushing reality for at least one unlucky player. In this case, 349 returned but only 324 will be paid – but all five remaining Paradise players will be picking up a cheque at the end of play.

Englishman Tom Garland was most at risk at the shuffle up and deal but a double through on the first hand, holding AK vs A9, and further win with his 7s cracking 10s, suggests Lady Luck is on his side today.

He started the day sitting on just 10,000 chips - less than half the average stack - and with nearly half of those set to be eroded on the first orbit alone, he was glad to find big slick in the very first deal.

In a more comfortable spot were Swedish online pro “Dusty_Rat,” who was overnight 'unmasked' as Johan Jakobsson, Spanish poker star Luis “Repicas” Rufas (both pictured), Hungarian Zsolt Cserhati and confident online qualifier Didier Erb.

Johan was feeling fully refreshed after getting a good night sleep and two square meals ahead of Day Two, and was confident it would leave him a more dangerous player.

“I hadn’t had a proper night sleep or eaten a decent meal for three days before today, and it affected my game yesterday,” he explained.

“I misread a few hands, especially towards the end of the day, and I must have counted my final chips three or four times before I got it right!

“I’m expecting to be a lot sharper today so I’m confident I can go a long way in this tournament.”

Didier was also in good spirits and insisted his nerves were at a minimum thanks to previous experience.

“This isn’t my first big competition so I’m not nervous – well maybe a little bit!” he smiled.

“I’m pleased it’s a table re-draw today though because I had some huge stacks on my table last night, with most of us having around three times the average or more. I'm looking forward to it.”