Some chip counts correct as of 1hr from kickoff:
Anthony Donohoe 16.5k

Thomas Finneran 18k

Regi Corrigan 19.8k

Noel Byrne near starting stack with Donnacha O’Dea to his left.

Alan Kelleher MIA

Mario with Cardplayer Boss Barry Shulman on his left. Sitting on 10k after getting KK against AA very first hand. Great achievement not to go broke!
And some more of the irish with thanks to the lads at AntesUp.com
Pat O’Callaghan 21k
Rob Taylor 18.3k
Nicky Power 19.5k
Donnacha O’Dea 20.5k
Dave Murray 24k
Eoghan O’Dea 27k
Derek Murray 17.5k
Derek Williams 23k
George McKeever 32k

There’s a tonne of Irish here, some tables have a couple already getting the banter going.

Seen in action:

Rob Taylor
George McKeever
Eoghan O’Dea
Dave Murray
Pat O’Callaghan
Derek Murray

A funny incident I saw just before cards went in the air - 2006 Champion Jamie Gold was patiently queuing to get back into the Amazon room to take his seat. He was just ahead of me in the queue and the security guard keeping out the riff raff wouldn’t let him in! He didn’t have his ticket with him and after a couple of minutes negotiation, Gold told the guard to peek in the door at the 30 foot high picture of him to check his identity

Family time is now over and it’s down to the serious business. Myself and Ken are looking forward to tearing up the cash tables over the next 2 weeks but a much more important game is taking place just down the corridor here at the Rio.

Thousands of them….

It’s now Day 1 B and all of our beloved PPP qualifiers start their shot at the biggest bracelet of them all today. Sadly qualifier James Wood isn’t among them, unable to travel due to family illness. We would all like to pass on our best wishes to him and his father. Hope to see you next time James!

The players are in their seats with 20k in chips so slow and steady is the order of the day. Here’s the PPP lineup:

Thomas Finneran - 2007 Irish Open Main Event 7th place finisher

Alan Kelleher

Noel Byrne

Anthony Donohoe - recently grabbed 3rd place finish at WPS Cruise!

Irish and Leinster Rugby legend Reg Corrigan!

Mario Pavlou

This thing on!!!??? *taps microphone*

Finally, i’m in front of a pc AND on the internet - Bally’s Casino aren’t the best with technology it would seem. I feel like poo on a stick due to the constant air conditioning and a dodgy pizza which had me shivering like a cold turkey all night…..ok I’ll stop moaning now!

Quite a bit to catch up on since I got here…..

My sister and her boyfriend were in town for a few days and we were introducing ourselves to vegas via every niteclub we could skip a queue at! Along with my travel buddy Ken, we hit the MGM Grand and 3 amazing clubs at the Palms including the world famous Playboy club!

I met up with our qualifiers for some drinks at the Tilted Kilt on Thursday evening and thankfully everyone had a day off yesterday to get fresh heads!

Here’s Leinster and Ireland Rugby great Reg Corrigan enjoying a beer……ONE BEER….and it was a Bud Light. He asked me to make that very clear.

Day 1B just kicked off, pics of the ppp soldiers on the way!

Team Paddy are all set for ‘The Big Dance’. The WSOP $10,000 Main Event is only 2 weeks away and our beloved online qualifiers are looking to take it by storm. Early estimates put the size of the field at up to 7000, making the first prize of almost $10 million well worth a few days sitting at a table!

Here’s the lineup so far:

Noel Byrne
James Wood
Anthony Donohoe
Thomas Finneran
Alan Kelleher
Mario Pavlou
Reg Corrigan

The action begins with many pints in The Tilted Kilt at on the Rio Casino on the 5th July.

Can’t see the attraction of the place for the life of me…