Make no mistake, poker is no easy job. The massive field and perfect structure has forced a very, very long day. With 15,000 in starting chips, a couple extra levels, and more than 300 runners starting the day, tournament director Thomas Kremser (among the best in the business) made the decision to run a full seven levels for Day 1. That means now, as it comes up on 2am, we still have 90 minutes left to play tonight.

A bit ago, I stood with Isabelle Mercier as she sweated her friend Fabrice Soullier. Even she, young and in shape, knows that 14-hour days at the table can take their toll. She's in for one tomorrow. Soullier has been sitting on a short stack most of the day and under the glare of television cameras that follow his every move. He looks like he can go another round. There are other faces in the room that don't look as sure.

The fatigue is showing. Just before the break, Barny Boatman, once a man with a formidable stack, lost a large chunk of his chips. Even players no longer in the event are still awake and watching the action. Roland de Wolfe, long gone from the event, is making sport of toppling the stacks of his friends who are still in the event. Gobboboy, who we learned had quads force his exit, is back and chatting it up with Barry Greenstein and Carl Olson.

Faces here stretch with painful yawns. Players' only solace rests in the fact that if they survive the next 90 minutes, they will have a full day of rest in the Monte Carlo sea breeze before they have to return for Day 2.

We're now just a couple minutes before the start of Level 7, a 200/400/50 affair, that will start to put some pressure on the short stacks. We've put some selected chip counts on the EPT Monte Carlo Chip Count page.

Let's wish the best to the 192 players headed in Level 7. They'll need all the help they can get just to stay awake.