Maya Antonius(credit: Neil Stoddart)
Some guys get all the luck - just check out this pic PokerStars posted of Mrs. Patrik Antonius, playing in the EPT San Remo event.
It's hard to say the story of day 1b in San Remo was any different to yesterday. Just when you thought a tournament field couldn't get in any bigger, a new crowd arrived equally charged, enthused and ready to disregard the hopes and dreams of another for the sake of their own ruthless advancement.
That's part of the game's attraction - anyone can play. Like Mr and Mrs Patrik Antonius for example, who were drawn on the same table before they headed their separate ways - Patrik to early elimination, Maya to a short but workable closing stack of 7,500.
The family Antonius were part of what was a stellar cast for day 1b, one that starred Team PokerStars Pros Minieri, Pagano, Nelson, Boeken, Thater, Nelson, Khan and Lodden and co-starred the likes of Marcel Luske, Jens Kyllonen, Moritz Kranich and Lex Veldhuis, ready to sit for the eight hours it takes to make it through an EPT day one.
Of the 600 (the absolute maximum) who arrived up at Casino San Remo today and made a total field of 1,178 - 263 did just that. The leaders were a mixed bunch with the top dog on today's pile being Italian Vicenzo Spinelli on roughly 77,000, followed by Austrian Ljubmir Josipovic on around 74,000 and pursued by internet trail blazer Sami "LarsLuzak" Kelopuro in the region of 60,000. They come back tomorrow ahead, but behind yesterday's top dog Dragan Galic on 107,800.
To the defeated though, today was a story of agony and what you'd call forgivable bitterness at having missed out on a prize pool in excess of €5 million.
Missing out on the EPT? Qualify for the next event at PokerStars.