On the afternoon of October 30, 2007, 221 poker players pour into a makeshift poker room that has been carved from a big barn of a meeting hall, situated near central Dublin. This particular leg of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour, with its €8,000 buy-in, has attracted a smattering of pros from the United States (Erik Seidel blew in and out of Day 1, reportedly on his way to a concert in London), a handful of internet qualifiers from outside the EU, and lots of European tournament pros (though many big names are conspicuously absent, suffering from what some have dubbed 'tournament fatigue').

By the start of Day 2, with the field neatly trimmed to a manageable 123 players, the one who is impossible to keep your eyes off is Norwegian wunderkind and WSOPE winner Annette Obrestad.