EPT9 London Day 1B: Mid-day update, plus interview with Teddy Sheringham

We are four levels in to our eight-level day. And that means it is time for a mid-day update.

The first thing everyone wants to know about EPT London, of course, is the field size and this year it seems we’re looking at 647 players. The tournament co-ordinators reckon they’ve taken 411 bundles of £5,250, which we add to the 236 from yesterday.

Before all the deductions, that’s a gross prize-pool of £3.235m, but the official amount will be slightly less. Of course, we will have the precise figures with you as and when we know them, as well as the details of how they break down.

One of the odd things about poker tournaments is that these final numbers are never 100 per cent confirmed until some time after registration is closed. It is complicated by the number of players who win a package online and then ask to switch locations at the last moment, or those who turn up on the very stroke of registration closing and take their seat.

There were numerous big names in that latter category today, including Gus Hansen, one of the defeated Full Tilt Poker Professionals from yesterday’s heads up duel. Another of them, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, was already seated by that point, on the EPT Live table, with Jake Cody and James Akenhead. (No sign of Tom Dwan yet.)

Tobias Reinkemeier made a late arrival. So did Rory “mafews” Mathews. Reinkemeier is a beast online but does even better work in the live environment, pretty much a lock for the final table of any high roller event. Mafews, meanwhile, has live cashes totalling a relatively meagre $244,948, which is less than some of the pots he plays in the cash games online.

In short, mafews plays big and he plays often. Just check the highest level tables to find him. (Although he may be absent tonight: he has an 80,000 stack already here and is on the same table as Daniel Negreanu.)

According to the live updates, our runaway early chip leader is Guy Bachar, who already has about 150,000. About this time yesterday, Marc Andre Ladouceur took an early chip lead and ended up bagging up the most at the end of the day. Can Bachar do the same?

He’ll need to do well. Today’s field is absolutely stacked. We looked at some of the most poorly tables earlier, but there are plenty of other players not even mentioned there.

Ilari Sahamies is here, plus Jens Kyllonen. Paul Volpe, who recently became the top ranked player in the world, is also in town. Sam Trickett is beginning an endless massage; Philipp Gruissem is warming up for the high roller.