Seat 1: Fredrik Hostrup, 42, Denmark - 288,000
Frederik "Dynamisk." Hostrup has been an online pro since 2001 and has quickly become known as one of the best multi-table tournament players in the world. As chairman of the Danish Poker Federation, he is a high-profile figure on the Danish poker scene and he is also a member of Pokerteam.dk. Norwegian pro Sverre Sundbo said of Frederik: "He’s a really nice guy, but a crazy, crazy, crazy poker player."

Seat 2: Peter Willers Jepsen, 24, Denmark - 498,000
Peter took up playing poker after serving in Iraq and being sent home injured. Desperate to rekindle "the rush" of army life, he discovered online poker and in a relatively short time had worked his way up from low 0.5/1 NL Hold’em to high stakes play, both cash and tournaments. In 2006, Peter won $165.000 at the Caribbean Poker Classic in St. Kitts. Like Frederik Hostrup, he is a member of Pokerteam.dk.

Seat 3 Marius Torbergsen, 23, Norway - 434,000
Marius, a Poker Stars online qualifier from Tromsø, in the north of Norway, has been playing poker for the last three years, mainly online and in NL cash games. He played in the WSOP last year and cashed in a side event. Although still studying, Marius says poker is his main source of income. The young Norwegian used to play basketball for Tromso.

Seat 4 Andrew O'Flaherty, 45, UK - 168,000
Andrew has been playing poker 20 years and competing in big tournaments for the last eight. The married father-of-three hails from Dublin but now lives in Leeds. His biggest win so far was $125,000 in a $1,000 buy-in event at the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas. Andrew is not only successful on the felt though; for a hobby, he races greyhounds and has had two St. Leger winners.

Seat 5 Farid Meraghni, 22, France - 971,000
Like his friend Noah Boeken, Farid was a keen player of Magic: The Gathering winning a professional tour event aged just 17. When he saw all his fellow competitors switching to poker, he made the move himself and quickly became an expert online cash game player. Although he qualified with PokerStars for last year’s WSOP, he hasn’t played many live tourneys: he finds them way too slow – and he hates having to stack his chips.

Seat 6: Katja Thater Germany, 40, Germany - 105,000
Katja famously took up poker after standing in for her partner Jan while he went to the bathroom during a high-stakes game. Immediately hooked and enjoying success in her home city of Hamburg, she turned pro in 2000. She came 2nd in the Poker Nations Cup in Cardiff, bubbled five times in a row at the WSOP Tunica event in 2005 and cashed twice at last year’s WSOP. Her many TV appearances have quickly made her the best-known female poker player in Germany. She joined Team PokerStars last year.

Seat 7: Patric Martensson, 20, Sweden - 305,000
Patric is something of an EPT phenomenon. He has made three final tables in the last 18 months, and cashed four times. His biggest EPT win was 4th place in Barcelona in 2005. Thanks to his friends giving out spoof biographic details, Patric is now widely known as Sweden’s Monopoly Champion which he claims isn’t true. Before the EPT Polish Open, he was 18th in the EPT Tournament Leader Board but his exceptional performance in Warsaw will push up him way up the table.

Seat 8: John Conroy, 43, UK - 73,000
John, a PokerStars cash qualifier, is – like his fellow final table opponent Andrew - another Dubliner who lives in Leeds. He started playing poker 20 years ago; his first forays were draw and stud cash games in Dublin card rooms. He then stopped playing until the poker internet boom kicked off two years ago. He made the final table of the Monte Carlo Millions consolation event but for no prize money. His biggest win to date was last month at the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour in Walsall for £10,800. He runs the Bad Beat hedge fund which invests in high-roller poker players.