Two more players are out, leaving 16 and just two tables. German Peyman Mohammedzadeh has gone in 18th place for €17,400, followed by Spaniard Raul Paez in 17th, picking up the same. Thomas Kremser announces a redraw and everyone springs into action…

A redraw is not the simple ‘pick a card’ process when you add TV cameras to the mix. When you watch on television or follow the action on EPT Live what you see is the end product of a few minutes of frantic re-arranging. It takes about ten minutes and goes something like this…

First you take your chips, stacked in trays which someone hurries over to you, pick a card to determine your new seat and then try to find it.

Meanwhile the dealer is changed, side tables are tidied and new water is brought for players at the feature table – water must look better on TV than a pina colada with an umbrella sticking out of the glass.

As players find their place on stage people in headphones swing into action bringing a wiry contraption to be plugged into each player – so to speak.

First the microphone is threaded up through clothing, out of collars, and clipped somewhere convenient to capture everything the player says at the table. A transmitter box about the size of an iPod can then be put in the players pocket and forgotten about.

Alexander Milanov went through this twice. In seat eight at the feature table before the redraw he had his microphone removed only to then draw the exact same seat, requiring an awkward fumble with t-shirts to re-attached the microphone.

Oh, and talking of iPods you’re not allowed them. Like on planes they interfer with things and can bring everything tumbling down.

Wired up a player can now sit down and can start unpacking chips. But another problem can emerge if you happen to be on the short side. Ricky Frohenbach, not the tallest man on the tour, needed cushions for a slight boost when he played at the final table of the PCA earlier this month.

Once the cameras are lined up a player’s onscreen career begins – that is once their name has been double checked on a clipboard and instructions are given on how to make sure the hole card cameras see the cards on each hand. Then you’re done.

It sounds a mess but it’s a finely tuned process perfected by skilled folk over four seasons of EPTs. Just one more thing to look forward to should you qualifiy for an EPT and make it this far.

So who are the new feature table players?

Table 1 – The feature table

Johannes Strassmann — 464,000
Michael McDonald — 678,000
Danny Ryan — 191,500
Dan Carter — 268,000
Manfred Hammer — 85,000
Marco Liesy — 161,500
Andreas Gulunay — 167,000
Alexandar Milanov — 97,000

Table 2

Claudio Rinaldi — 280,000
Tyler Friederich – PokerStars qualifier – 250,000
Diego Perez – 525,000
Aniol Alcaraz – 144,500
Torsten Haase – 375,000
Christian Harder – 100,500
Thibaut Durand – 216,000
Jioi Kulhanek – 109,000

Just before play restarts Kara Scott has the detail of key moments so far today…

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