We’re close to a just about honorable 100kmp on the autobahn out of Dortmund. The sun still refuses to shine and the wind chill seems to pierce our metal bus, but this is the way – the road to day 2 of the EPT Dortmund and 149 players are strapped in for the ride.

Past the mining pits, the TV tower and Westfalen Park it could be the ordinary commute to work millions face each morning. But at this stage of a tournament a poker players’ lifestyle isn’t far off – a day of hard slog awaits – for the successful at least. This poker lark may be considered a high-flying cocktails and burger lifestyle by some but things are only just starting. The obstacles are many – some will be overcome, others will make you feel stupid.

Nevertheless, pulling up to the Casino I decided to capitalize on on a newly discovered fondness for Germany by embarking on a part heroic, part insane venture outdoors in the cold, ignoring the advice of mothers everywhere to wear a hat. The countryside around the Casino Hohensyburg is among the best the EPT has to offer that doesn’t involve a beach. The views are something as well. Even as my eyes welled up from the breeze I could see the countryside racing for miles, towards the borders, between a mixture of chimneys, roads and railways hallmarking the industry this region is famous for.

Back on the casino grounds a few dirt paths run lead into dense woods and towards old looking buildings and presumably endless adventure. But I could feel the cold air closing off the fiddly bits in my lungs and the wind punishing me on each step, I headed back inside where I knew there was a waitress service and that someone somewhere would either turn the heating on or provide me with first aid. The paths tomorrow perhaps.

So right now we’re settled in for business. The newspapers today may write of politicians talking, of teams winning and business men quoting numbers I won’t fully understand. But today the center of the world is Hohensyburg and I know some other important numbers – 149, 40 and $933+k – starters today, paid tomorrow, winner’s cheque on Saturday.

If you missed the action yesterday get the round up of day 1b from Kara Scott…

How do things look at the start of level nine?

Chabot Cyrille — France — 111100
Claudio Rinaldi — Switzerland — 71300
Tyler Friederich — USA — PokerStars qualifier — 70900
Russell Carson — Canada — PokerStars qualifier — 70400
Jioí Kulhánek — Czech Republic — PokerStars qualifier — 66300
Michael Kwiek — 62800
Peyman Mohammadzadeh — Germany — 60900
Daniel Negreanu — Canada — Team PokerStars Pro — 59900
Ville Mattila — Finland — 57300
Andreas Sarling — Finland — 56500
Nicolas Levi — France — 56100
Markus Golser — Austria — 54600
Annette Obrestad — Norway — 50200
Mario Kühl — Germany — 49800
Christopher Rossiter — UK — PokerStars qualifier — 49200
Stefan Wrenger — Germany — 48600
Mats Erik Iremark — Sweden — 47700
Marcel Cesarz — Germany — PokerStars qualifier — 47600
Diego Perez Marco — Spain — 47400
Manfred Bass — Germany — 46900
Daniel Zink — Germany — 45400
Andreas Manganelli — Italy — 44600
Edwin Tournier — Netherlands — PokerStars qualifier — 43000
Jose Luis Valero — Spain — 42800
Henrik Brockmann — Germany — 42400
Christoffer Sonesson — Sweden — PokerStars qualifier — 41800
Gianvalerio Bindi — Italy — PokerStars qualifier — 41700
Dan Walley — UK — 41400
Mazhar Nawab — UK — PokerStars qualifier — 40800
Riccardo Mazzitelli — Italy — 40700
Maik Brandau — Germany — 40400
Jonas Soerensen — Denmark — PokerStars qualifier — 40300
Björn Enberg — Sweden — PokerStars qualifier — 40200
Carter Gill — USA — 39400
Marek Kolk — Estonia — 38900
Brandon Schaefer — USA — 37500
Benjamin Kang — Germany — PokerStars sponsored player — 37300
Reijo Anttila — Finland — PokerStars qualifier — 36700
Bernhard Damnik — Germany — PokerStars qualifier — 36500
Phillip Marmorstein — Germany — 35500
Marciano Elie — France — PokerStars qualifier — 35200
Richard Fohrenbach — USA — 34000
Thor Hansen — Norway — 34000
Daniel Carter — UK — 33900
Marcel Baran — Germany — 33800
Simone Gallitti — Italy — PokerStars qualifier — 33800
Thibaut Durand — France — 33500
Daniel Ruiter — Netherlands — 33400
Tobias Reinkemeier — Germany — 31400
Marc Dötsch — Germany — 31100
Thomas Bihl — Germany — 30100
Marcus Tandler — Germany — PokerStars sponsored player — 29100
Sevinc Neumann — Germany — 28800
Vikke Toumaala — 28800
Pouya Pouya Majd — Germany — 28700
Sjoerd Bos — Netherlands — 28600
Carsten Joh — Germany — 28400
Torsten Haase — Germany — 28300
Marius Pospiech — Germany — 28300
Alexandar Milanov — Russia — 28200
Korosh Mollaie — Germany — 28200
Marcel Luske — Netherlands — PokerStars sponsored player — 27600
Giorgio Salemi — Italy — 27500
Michael McDonald — Canada — 27200
André Santos — Portugal — 26900
Paul Testud — France — 25800
Ulrich Trautenberg — Germany — 25700
Jiri Vacek — Czech Republic — 25600
Pascal Perrault — France — 25300
Daruisz Paszkiewicz — Poland — PokerStars qualifier — 25100
Eugen Frey — Germany — 25000
Andreas Gülünay — Germany — 24900
Mazlum Acar — Turkey — 24625
Daniel Bolton — Ireland — PokerStars qualifier — 24600
Frank Werder — Germany — 24600
Jordane Beraldin — France — 24000
Daniel Ryan — USA — 23900
Steve Jelinek — UK — PokerStars qualifier — 23800
Redmond Lee — UK — 23400
Jan Heitmann — Germany — PokerStars sponsored player — 23300
Stefan Rotach — Switzerland — 23200
Ralf Werner — Germany — 22900
Jameson Painter — USA — PokerStars qualifier — 22600
Szikrai Istvàn — Hungary — 22300
Sigi Stockinger — Germany — 22200
Christian Harder — USA — PokerStars qualifier — 21900
Jacques Zaicik — France — 21600
Aniol Alcaraz — Spain — 21000
Manfred Hammer — Germany — 20800
Mats Rahmn — Sweden — 20400
Nikolas Behling — Germany — 19900
Rolf Weißhaupt — Germany — PokerStars qualifier — 19900
Kees Alblas — Netherlands — 1950
Jens Vörtmann — Germany — 19500
Katja Thater — Germany — Team PokerStars Pro — 19000
Marco Liesy — Germany — 18900
Alexander Clauss — Germany — Freeroll — 18500
Nazim Kicik — Netherlands — 18400
Hugo Marialva Felix — Portugal — 18400
Anders Henriksson — Sweden — 18300
Martin Hruby — Czech Republic — 18100
Thomas Petersen — Sweden — PokerStars qualifier — 17500
Aram Sargsyan — Armenia — 17500
Yngne Anderberg — Sweden — 17300
Sebastian Freudenberg — Germany — PokerStars qualifier — 17200
Patrick Bueno — France — 17100
Stefano Busino — Italy — 17000
Scott McLeod — USA — PokerStars qualifier — 16900
Ramzi Jelassi — Sweden — 16500
Malte Strothmann — Germany — PokerStars qualifier — 16500
Daniele Mazzia — Italy — 16400
Vito Branciforte — Italy — 16200
Dario De Angelis — Canada — PokerStars qualifier — 16100
Vincent Courtois — France — 15400
Matthias Guetermann — Germany — PokerStars qualifier — 14500
Jarkko Paasisalo — Finland — PokerStars qualifier — 14200
Leroy Soesman — Netherlands — 14200
Christopher Hancock — USA — PokerStars qualifier — 14000
Rolf Slotboom — Netherlands — 13600
Hardy Behling — Germany — 13300
Ahmed Koc — Germany — 13300
Jose Maria Puertas Nieto — Spain — 13100
Sasa Biorac — Germany — 12300
Sebastian Till — Germany — 12300
Sandro Simon — Germany — 12200
Thomas Ermer — Germany — PokerStars qualifier — 12000
Kenneth Ljungars — Finland — 11800
Cort Kibler-Melby — Germany — 11100
Ronald Falk — USA — PokerStars qualifier — 10500
Mika Turpeinen — Finland — PokerStars qualifier — 10400
Noah Boeken — Netherlands — Team PokerStars Pro — 10000
Andreas Zwickel — Germany — 9900
Michael Klimt — Germany — 9800
Vincent Gosselink — Netherlands — 9700
Raul Paez — Spain — 9700
Roy von der Locht — Germany — 9700
Tilmann Ebeling — Germany — 9500
Dominik Kulicki — Netherlands — PokerStars qualifier — 9400
Vladimir Poleshchuk — Russia — 9100
Guillaume de la Gorce — France — 8900
Georgios Gatselos — Greece — 8100
Tomas Brolin — Sweden — 7800
Lukasz Wasek — Poland — 7800
Kasper Nielsen — Denmark — PokerStars qualifier — 7400
Eric Larcheveque — France — 7000
Benjamin Zamani — USA — 6600
Johannes Strassmann — Germany — 6100
Tommy Dender — Denmark — 5850
Dustin Mele — USA — PokerStars Passport winner — 4300

Frenchman Chabot Cyrille leads everyone at the start but at the back, but not forgotten, is PokerStars passport winner Dustin Mele, here with his girlfriend Tracey who will no doubt lead the cheerleading for her man in the tail end Charlie position. His task is most monumental but with that comes the potential to be most historic. He has his work cut out but we’ll be with him all the way.

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