Ashley makes day 2!

What I get is neither - instead my PKR TV co-host is in fine form - smiling broadly and gesticulating madly over diet cokes in a cocktail bar at the Palms.

Hames has every reason to be giddy. His form on day one in the 650 runner $5,000 buy-in six handed hold ‘em at the Amazon room in the Rio has been sublime. The previous day had seen 928 runners sit down to play – by the time the day’s business was finished around midnight, Ashley was sitting with 75,000 chips - putting him in the upper middle of the running with 168 players left to start day two.

The result came off the back of some great moves that, for a while, saw him leading the tournament, including a brilliant read that allowed him to skin a loose aggressive player and double an already swollen chip stack in one fell move.

Now, just hours before the start of day two, Hames can’t wait to get back into the Amazon Room and continue to press his advantage. So much so that it’s impossible for him to sit still as he careers between his stool and the bar and verbally races through stories of his favourite hands – including putting down pocket tens in a three way pot that saw Jennifer Tilly lose a major portion of her chips to a cleverly laid trap. “My best laydown of the series”, recounts Hames.

I’ve always known Ashley to get highly emotionally involved in his poker. While some players thrive on metronomic consistency and po-faced reflection, Hames is constantly engaging his opponents at the table. “Money is an emotional thing and I’m playing for big money. Of course I get emotional about it! My favourite players are emotional. I don’t like watching Phil Ivey – I want to watch Mike Matusow and Phil Hellmuth.”

Let’s hope that emotional involvement continues to pay dividends for Ashley Hames as Day Two of one of the WSOPs richest events gets underway...

Update!

Ashley texted earlier to say that he’d been knocked out early on in Day Two. In a fashion that’s proved typical for him in the 2009 WSOP, his all-in move with J-J against A-K got looked up – and his Jacks where cracked by a King on the turn.

We met in the pool bar in the Palms to talk it out over a Corona. Getting looked up by a player that’s clearly happy to take a coin toss with his tournament life by calling with an unmade hand was clearly frustrating for Ash – as was leaving the WSOP empty handed. But this is the life of the tournament player, you’re going to lose a lot more than you win and getting through the tough times is part of the art-form.

The good news is that we’ve got the party at the Palms to look forward to this evening – and I have a feeling that Ash is going to bounce back before long.