Eric was far less concerned about the other guests.
He was never one to fraternize with random strangers and as such simply sat at his table eating. 

"Man this food is pretty amazing. Not even going to guess how much they spent just on this dinner party alone"

After he finished stuffing himself Eric took out his deck to look through it again and make sure all was in order. He had spent a lot of time perfecting his playstyle and wasn't worried about losing earlier. 

Bored with just sitting there he finally decides to get up and look around. Hoping to see someone he recognized aboard the ship. After all a tournament like this would attract a lot of people so there was no telling who he would meet while there.

With that in mind he wanders about the dining room area sampling foods while searching for someone he knew.