On table 11, talk is of soccer...

Johannes Strassmann is discussing his plans with Joe Elpayaa to see games at the European Championships in Switzerland and Austria later this year, and then, via a subtle link, talk returns to poker. How exactly? Well, general chit-chat about soccer often includes Brazil – a hot bed of international footballing talent. And if you’re talking about Brazil you’re going to conveniently wind up talking about the new PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour, announced this week, with fixtures in Brazil, Costa Rica and Uruguay. “Finally I have an excuse to visit Brazil!” says one player before attention switches back to the cards.

On the next table is local man Jacek Ladny. He just won a pot with a king and superior kicker to his opponent's king, a haul worth a few thousand. You might remember two years ago Jacek was part of the winning Polish team that took honours at the PokerStars World Cup of Poker in Barcelona in 2006.

A lot of work still to do though as level four gets underway. Blinds now stand at 100/200. The state of play looks something like this...

Christoffer Sonesson – Sweden -- 30 K
Trond Erik Eidsvig – Norway -- 25 K
Dario Minieri – Italy – Team PokerStars Pro -- 24 K
Mark Hirleman – United States – PokerStars qualifier -- 23 K
Johannes Strassmann – Germany -- PokerStars player -- 20 K
Anthony Chatelain – Sweden -- 19 K
Hasse Eskilsson – Sweden -- 18 K
Johan Lund Sweden -- 18 K
Mats Rahmn – Sweden -- 17 K
Katja Thater -- Germany -- 17 K
Ulrika Skönnemark – Sweden -- 16 K
Christian Öman – Sweden -- 15 K
Patric Mårtensson – Sweden -- 13 K
Danny Ryan – United States – PokerStars sponsored player -- 13 K
Andreas Haugen – Sweden -- 12 K
Johan Storåkers -- Sweden -- 11 K
Anders Henriksson – Sweden -- 11 K
Magnus Petersson -- Sweden -- 10 K
Kara Scott – England – PokerStars Sponsored player -- 9 K
Sander Lyloff -- Denmark -- 7 K
Samir Shaktoor – Sweden -- 7 K
Marc Goodwin – England -- 7 K
Christian Grundtvig – Denmark -- 7 K
Julian Thew – England -- 7 K
Lars Bonding – Denmark -- 6 K
Anders Berg – Norway -- 4 K