For those with an eye on history there is another distraction, with the number of players registered edging closer to setting a new record for a (non-PCA) EPT field.

That figure came in Season 6, in Sanremo, where the ever popular Riviera stop amassed a field of 1,240 in April 2010, the year Liv Boeree rocked the poker world. That record has stood unchallenged ever since. But the tenth EPT Barcelona will put that to the test, as the hundreds of people who lined up over the past three days finally get their chance.

The tournament room filling up

Here are the eight EPT fields that have topped 1,000 players to date:

PCA, Season 7 (Galen Hall) – 1,560
PCA, Season 6 (Harrison Gimbel) – 1,529
PCA, Season 5 (Poorya Nazari) – 1,347
Sanremo, Season 6 (Liv Boeree) – 1,240
Sanremo, Season 5 (Constant Rijkenberg) – 1,178
PCA, Season 4 (Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier) – 1,136
Barcelona, Season 9 (Nikolai Pobal) – 1,082
PCA, Season 8 (John Dibella) – 1,072

As of now (2pm local time) the number of players registered is 1,115, with 597 already at their seats today, added to the 518 who played yesterday.

We may yet closer to that magic figure. A quick word with the registration desk reveals that there are still players who have yet to pick up their tickets. Not only that, registration will remain open until the start of play tomorrow. So anyone in Barcelona still thinking it over, perhaps reading this on their phone while queuing at the shops, you have until tomorrow morning to make up your mind.

Either way one thing is certain. With more than a thousand players confirmed the prize pool will be significant, so too the first prize, in what is already the biggest field for EPT Barcelona.

STOP PRESS: Official figure now 1,185.

Click through to live coverage of the EPT Barcelona Super High Roller and the EPT Barcelona Main Event. Check out all the festival results here. Follow the @PokerStarsBlog Twitter account to keep up-to-date with all the EPT action and check out the EPTLive webcast.

Stephen Bartley is a PokerStars Blog reporter.