View from the crow’s nest

Up on the sunny Lido Deck few people are aware of the drama unfolding on the lower decks or the identity of the first set of players who had already crashed and burned out of PartyPoker Million V. Tomorrow’s poker players are preparing for their match in a variety of different ways. Some are in the hot tub, eyes closed, relaxed and blanking out everything, others sit in the bubbles chatting away. Others lay on sun loungers reading The Da Vinci Code or dozing.

Day 1, Those who aren’t playing today are making the most of the day off!

Sitting still doesn’t suit many young guys. They’d rather burn off steam than let the waiting get them down. One man practised his golf swing driving hard into the net. Two more played one on one basketball and one scored with a wicked hook shot boded well for the morning. Two pick up teams played volleyball more in friendly spirit than ferocious competition. Nobody wants to go into the real game nursing bruises and scratches – those might be extra tells too far.

Meanwhile others prefer to keep focused on the cards in hand. Last year’s winner Michael Gracz was warming up nicely in a cash game, nursing a large stack and a poker face.