A tricky-treaty kind of day lays ahead for the second flight of players making their way to EPT glory. For some it will be a night of horror! (my emphasis) one of disaster and mayhem. For the rest the promise of sweet reward - a seat in day two and maybe a toffee apple. You never know. They will then return tomorrow for day 2, joining the survivors of yesterday, when the blur between the real world and the spirit world will have faded for another year.

The Royal Dublin Society is in the Ballsbridge district of Dublin, an area yet to embrace this Halloween spirit. It’s early though and office workers on a stolen lunch break seem uninterested in witches and demons. The grey skies remain but there’s no sign of broomsticks, ghouls, nothing of Harry Potter.

It was here in Ireland where Halloween is thought to have first been celebrated emerging from the Pagan festival of Samhain (stay with me) before it was exported across the sea one way and across the ocean the other. In the pursuit of coffee this morning I half expected to see the traditional Halloween meal of Colcannon available in the local food outlets, a Halloween dish said to be eaten for lunch, often with coins wrapped inside. The tradition seems to have died out, possibly due to the risk of choking on the coins.

That all done and dusted attention reverts back to the poker with many players preparing for a visit by their own personal demons at some point today - if things don’t go according to their plan. A growing number of players, each with their €8,000 seat secured, are milling around the tournament area in anticipation of the start, which should be approaching in the not too distant future. But it wouldn’t be a poker tournament without a slight delay.