Today is the day when our reporting team faces its sternest test to date. We may have previously grown eyes in the back of our heads, learned how to be in two places at once, and taken on the physique of Stretch Armstrong to allow us to type updates onto our computers from the various rooms in the Rio, but even the whole roster at Marvel Comics would find it tough to get all the news to you today.

Just to recap, here's what's happening today at the World Series: in the final of the $50,000 HORSE event, we have Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein, and PokerStars sponsored player Matt Glantz. With seven players remaining, both are still in the hunt.

Update: Two seconds after we hit publish on this post, Greenstein exited the HORSE event in sixth place for $355,200 after his Stud-round aces-up fell to Scotty Nguyen's three sevens. Congrats, Barry, on another great run.

Meanwhile, in the final of the $2,000 no limit hold 'em, which is taking place just outside the bleechers of the main arena, PokerStars sponsored player Kirill Gerasimov is one of six still standing.

A chip-flick south of that table are the thirty or so tables accommodating the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha event, featuring Team PokerStars Pros ElkY, Dario Minieri, Daniel Negreanu, Tom McEvoy, Bill Chen, Humberto Brenes, Victor Ramdin, John Duthie, Noah Boeken, Chris Moneymaker, Chad Brown and William Thorson. Then to add more fun to the proceedings, a $1,500 HORSE event just began, attracting Humberto Brenes, Daniel Negreanu, Luca Pagano, Katja Thater and Isabelle Mercier among 759 hopefuls.

Done yet? No. No we're not.

In the Brasilia room, down the corridor from the shenanigans in the Amazon Room, RaiNKhaN is going ever deeper into the money in the $1,500 no limit hold 'em event. He was low on chips early in the tournament but rallied throughout the second half of yesterday to get past the bubble and pick up his first cash of this year's Series.

With 70 players left, from the starting 2,700-odd, he has just less than average chips, but plenty of experience in huge MTTs.

Latest: Kirill Gerasimov's remarkable $2,000 hold 'em tournament is over. He went out in sixth place, for $177,111, approximately $177,111 more than it looked like he could make when he was down to just 12,000 in chips yesterday. His elimination does not mean any respite for the reporters, however, since Gerasimov will now hot-foot it back to the PLO tournament, where he'll pick up the chips he left on the table in order to play the hold 'em final. Who knows where this will end.

The final table of the $2,000 no limit hold’em - a World Series bracelet at stake with the additional reward of $770,540 in prize money to the winner. It’s a chance to strap to your wrist something all poker players dream of winning, the jangly gold mark of a champion and a signpost to your poker playing brothers and sisters that you’re one hell of a player.

You’d think you’d need to devote all of your focus and energy to winning it, right?

Wrong. Forty yards away stands PokerStars sponsored player Kirill Gerasimov in the business end of the $10,000 pot limit Omaha; standing rather than sitting, squinting across the Amazon Room trying to time perfectly that moment he cuts ties with Omaha and makes a run for it to play hold’em. And you thought multi-tabling was strictly an online thing?

Choosing his moment Kirill heads on over, but before he gets half way he notices the chips are still being unbagged. He makes an immediate U-turn and is back at his PLO hand a few seconds later; standing, looking, mucking, before starting back towards the hold’em, a 55 step walk towards a potential bracelet. I know it’s 55 steps by the way – I counted them.

But when he eventually takes his seat in the final (after missing the formal introductions) it’s slow going. The Omaha blinds are 150/300 meaning every two-and-a-half rounds of hold’em are costing him roughly one thousand chips in Omaha. When he left them he had 31K. The question of how long he can last presents only one possible game plan for the Russian - win, but make it fast.

‘Why bother?’ you ask. Why risk it? Surely it’s best to concentrate on the final. Well, they’re all good points, but not to the mind of a poker player, who I suspect with all the good luck Kirills, envy the chance to give it a go.

There’s another factor too, something which came two weeks ago in the $5,000 pot limit Omaha event, the smaller cousin of the tournament today. In that Kirill finished fifth for over $192K. He may feel he’s good to go further.

“How much do you have in the PLO?” asks a friend form the rail. Kirill waves his hand in a ‘more or less’ way and says 31K, grinning like a man who knows he’s pushing his luck. But pushing your luck never looked so much fun.

It’s likely to go on for some time. We’ll keep tabs on how things develop.

As expected the PLO is awash with familiar faces including two of which you could swear you saw playing into the early hours of this morning. That would be Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein and PokerStars sponsored player Kirill Gerasimov.

Team PokerStars Pros are out in force for the Omaha, with ElkY, Dario Minieri, Daniel Negreanu, Tom McEvoy, Bill Chen, Humberto Brenes, Victor Ramdin, John Duthie, Noah Boeken, Chris Moneymaker, Chad Brown and new boy William Thorson all playing today.

Last year this same event attracted 318 players, a figure beaten this year by 16. A feature of the tournament last year will be used again today. Each player starts with 10,000 chips and an additional ‘red chip’ worth a further 10,000 to be ‘cashed in’ at any time before the last level. This effectively makes it a double chance event for a game with a lot of gamble.

Team PokerStars Pro John Duthie had his game plan firmly in mind when he sat down, cashing in his red chip as soon as the game started. “I want as many chips to bully the table with,” he said, taking the proactive stand point. Others hang on keeping it as an insurance policy.

Talking of gamble, there’s already been some at table 3, and few were surprised it was Barry Greenstein in the middle of it.

Hamstrung as he is by a three-hour playing window, before the final of the HORSE begins, Barry was understandably looking for an early double up. A board developed with heavy betting along the way. There was a king, two queens and a jack on deck as Barry turned over his pair of Kings for a full house. His opponent though showed pocket queens for quads – the end of Greenstein’s double-chance multi-table glory quest.

“I figured,” he said, spotting the queens, signing his book and handing it over. Barry’s consolation - a potential $2 million at stake later this afternoon.

But if anything, the first two levels were played amidst a sporting side interest in the European Championship soccer final between Germany and Spain playing on screen along the far wall of the Amazon Room. It had the inadvertent effect of making the Pot Limit Omaha championship hand for hand during injury time with a soundtrack of “Ooooh!” and “Ahhhh.”

Among those craning necks from their seats, perhaps mucking hands they’d ordinarily race to the middle with, were Team PokerStars Pros Humberto Brenes and Noah Boeken, each it should be said, backing different teams. Then there was Jan von Halle, wife of Katja Thater, creator of the PokerStars blog in Germany, and a German...

“I don’t like football,” he said, playing his hands standing up whilst looking over at the screen. “But it’s a big game. Only it doesn’t look too good.” (Germany lost the match).

Another player playing from a standing position is PokerStars sponsored player Kirill Gerasimov. But he has a more nervous disposition. Like Barry Greenstein, Kirill’s PLO spell is restricted to the time he has before a 2pm start in the final of the $2,000 No Limit Hold’em event. Barry tried to double up but was unable to. Kirill, pacing, plays on.

It’s past 2pm now; we expect some interesting developments later today.