If you've ever thrown a really big party, you know the feeling. You invite everybody, spend a of of time preparing, and then deal with the rush of people through the front door. People are eating, drinking, and rummaging through your drawers. One of your friends has shaved your cat and hidden it either in the pantry or clothes dryer. There comes a point at which you must stop and take notice of where you stand. Is there enough food left? Are you about to run out of tequila? What's that meowing sound coming from the bread box?

That's sort of where we are now. After eight hours of sheer madness (somebody threw a chair on a table at one point, if that tells you anything), things have finally settled into simple, controlled pandemonium that we have come to love so much. Finally, we're able to take stock of the room.

We started the day with 327 people who put up $3,700 to play in Uruguay's biggest poker event. Now playing for a prize pool that has eclipsed $1.1 million, 130 players remain after the dinner break. Only 36 of those players will walk away with money. As we mentioned before the break, Ron Wasiel is our chip leader with 120,000 chips. Among those dearly departed are Maria "maridu" Mayrinck, J.C. Alvarado, and Greg Raymer. All of them exited just before dinner.

It's unclear at this moment exactly how long we'll be in action tonight, but it's looking like we'll be running until a little past 1am, at which point Tournament Director Mike Ward hopes to be down between 54 and 63 players.

After that, it will be to bed, to sleep, and to dream about where that infernal meowing is coming from.