Everything in this fine universe is made up of a couple of neat things: matter and energy. Inside the poker room here at Atlantis, we've been witness to the two great universal components in pure poker form. While no physicist has likely ever spent any serious academic time outlining the energy and matter in a poker room, there is no doubt some experimentation could be done. From a completely non-acamdemic and non-scientific perspective, it is evident that the room is full of energy. And we just learned that it is energy that matters.

Just after noon today, Day 1, Flight A of the 2006 PokerStars Carbbean Adventure kicked off. Before the cards went in the air, PokerStars Card Room Manager Lee Jones gave the crowd an idea of how big this tournament has become in the past three years. For some idea of how big, check out the PokerStars Blog Listening Post below.

Lee Jones, on the numbers-- mp3

With millions of dollars now on the line, only one thing remained to do. The dealers readied their hands and waited for the call. The words came from the mouth of Greg Raymer.

Greg Raymer, with a message to players-- mp3

And then, as it always does, the poker room fell to near silence. Ten thousand in chips sat in front of the players and dreams of a double-up rested on their brains. Here are a few shots from around the room.