9.10pm: Day 1B is in the books
The players are slowly filing out of the tournament room and into the Edinburgh night. Roughly 150 of them made it through to Day 2 and they'll join the 55 survivors from Day 1A from noon tomorrow.

It looks like David Vamplew, who finished fourth here last year in his home town, has the Day 1 chip lead as he finished on 146,200. A full wrap of the days play is on the way. -- NW

8.50pm: Last four hands
The clock has been stopped and each table will play four more hands before play ends for the night.

8:35pm: No icing on the cake for Philip
Birthday boy Dale Philip couldn't stage a miraculous last level comeback, although he gave it a good go

Busto. Spun 3K stack to 13K then shoved T5s into the blinds from the button at BB800/100ante. Bit light. Couldn't beat A9o. #UKIPTEdinburgh

— Dale Philip (@Daleroxxu) January 17, 2014

8:35pm: Chip counts
As the day winds down here's a look at some of the stacks...

Eldon Orr - 135,000
Manig Loeser - 51,000
Dominik Nitsche - 27,000
Liv Boeree - 74,000
Julian Thew - 38,000
Ludovic Geilich - 78,000
Dermot Blain - 46,000
David Vamplew - 32,000
Keith Hawkins - 16,000
Tom Hall - 66,500
Emmett Mullin - 49,000
Richard Evans - 21,000
Dale Philip - 6,000 (got one double up with A-Q against A-J)
Kevin Killeen - 28,000
Sean Prendiville - 27,000
Ollie Schaffman - 33,000
Fraser Macintyre - 50,000
Louis Salter - 25,000
Tim Slater - 37,000
Simon Deadman - 12,600
Kevin Allen - 13,400

8:30pm: Grafton starting to get the Crab sweats
Earlier today Sam Grafton offered his friend Dave Shallow a bet.

Gave CrabMaki 200/1 on him finishing Day 1 chip-leader. Kinda worried how eager he was to hand over £5. He currently has 12k

— Sam Grafton (@SquidPoker) January 17, 2014

With the wager agreed to Shallow set about building his stack and although he's not close to the current chip leader at the moment, he is just one double up away from being a contender as he's got 62,000. -- NW

8:25pm: Outdraw fules expletive filled rant
James Metcalf was not happy, not happy att all. He'd just seen a pot of some 55,000 slip from his grasp on a sick turn and river.

It was a three-way pre-flop all-in affair, Metcalf had pocket kings and the best of it. Shortest of all with around 10,000 was Dominic Davidson who had [Ad][10d] whilst Dominic Mahoney was at risk with jacks, he had more than Davidson meaning there was a 22,000 chip side pot between Mahoney and Metcalf.

The [qd][4h][9s][10s][10h] board was a particularly brutal way to get outdrawn and Metcalf let out a few f-bombs in frustration. He's still got chips though. -- NW

8:20pm: Doke doubles
UKIPT Season 3 Online Qualifier of the Year Dara O'Kearney was all-in and at risk for 19,2000 with [Ad][Qs. He was up against Richard Pearson's pocket sevens and on this occasion the overcards prevailed as the board came [Jh][Qc][5s][2c][6h]. "Oh to run like Doke," said Pearson as O'Kearney took the pot. Pearson is down to 22,000. -- NW

8:15pm: Orr wants more
The current chip leader is Eldon Orr he's got 135,000 and got his latest boost in a hand against Steve O'Dwyer. There had clearly been betting on more than one street as O'Dwyer bet 12,000 into a pot of 21,000 on the river of a [2c][9d][4h][Qs][10h] board. Orr tank called and O'Dwyer simply mucked his hand, he's down to 9,000. -- NW

8:10pm: Coren Canned
It was a very unlucky end for Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren after she lost with jacks versus jacks.

Martin Currie was the man who did the damage and he told the PokerStars Blog that Coren four-bet shoved with black jacks. He looked up her up with red jacks and four hearts rolled out on the board. If she could've only connected in the same way, is what she'll be thinking tonight. -- MC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 400-800, 100 ante

7:55pm: No Day 2 for...
Iani Tulica, Luke Greaves, Huseyin Houssein, Dale Moon, Gajanthan Kamalanathan, Charles Chattha, Richard Lawlor, Mark James, Ben Jones, Philip Gould, Gavin McGuire, Damon Lum, Stewart Kirby, David Maudlin, Christopher Barron, Kevin Thomson, Hasmukh Khodiyara, Lucas Reeves, Rihards Krūziņš, Paul Dunne, Marcin Milde, Weland Holroyd, Phillip Huxley, Peter Jaksland, Joe Hindry, Paul Munro, Rory Brown, Jelle van Riesen, Andrew Mackenzie, Marko Laine, Mark Wagstaff, John Durkin, Paul Kelleher, Duncan Mclellan, Martin Mcgeough, Richard Kellett, Mark Suddes, Simon Fuller, Chris Hendry, Akshay Reddy, Johnny Barr, Enrico Frattaroli, Christofer Ryås, Patrick Uzan, Benjamín García Rivera and Oskar Prehm. -- MC

7:50pm: Erm, it's my birthday
I'm sure it's in the rules somewhere that if it's your birthday then you win flips. Not in Team PokerStars Online's Dale Philip's case though.

Lost huge flip AK < QQ all in pre. Down to 3K at BB600. Crippled. #UKIPTEdinburgh

— Dale Philip (@Daleroxxu) January 17, 2014

7:45pm: Stacey sent packing
It's been quite a UKIPT Season for Daniel Stacey so far. He qualified to UKIPT London for £100 and then finished 11th for £8,480. That performance, meant he won the Full Tilt last longer, meaning he won a package to UKIPT Isle of Man. He then proceeded to finish sixth there, banking £21,250.

But, things haven't gone his way in Edinburgh as he's just been eliminated. He moved all-in for 7,300 with [9d][9c] over the top of Ben Glanton's 1,500 open. Next to act Dave Wearing isolated by raising all-in with [Ah][Ks], Glanton tanked and then folded, claiming ace-king.

The board came [3s][Jh][4s][5h][2d] and Stacey drowned on the river. -- NW

7:35pm: Stacked
Table 2 is stacked in more ways than one. In terms of chips, the first two bust outs happened at that table and it's probably been playing the deepest ever since. It now contains the two biggest stacks in the room. David Gallagher is the chip leader with around 91,000, it's very likely his boost came from Daniel Charlton who's dropped from 75,000 to 55,000.

As for the second biggest stack, well that's still Mickey Petersen, the table he was at just broke and he's been moved to the two seat at Gallagher's table (he's in seat nine). Also at that table is Vicky Coren, "not enough," were her words to the Blog during the break. She had 11,000 then and has since dropped to around 5,000. -- NW

7.25pm: Black end for Andy
The tournament room is a lot quieter after the elimination of Andy Black, and it was a bit of a cooler that ousted him too.

Michael Kane was down to less than 9,000 when he moved all in. Steve O'Dwyer made the call, and then called again when Black shoved behind him.

Kane: [7h][7c]
O'Dwyer: [ad][as]
Black: [qs][qh]

The board ran [2h][8c][2s][7d][kc] to make Kane a set for the triple up.

"I actually made money in the hand!" said O'Dwyer who moved up slightly to 47,000. -- MC

7:10pm: Top 10 stacks
During the break the PokerStars Blog did a lap of the room to unearth the biggest stacks in the field with two levels to play. Leading the way is none other than Mickey Petersen. The Dane, who is a member of Team PokerStars Online, has 81,300 (135.5 big blinds) and leads from Sindre Haugen who has 74,300.

Liv Boeree is also going well, the Team PokerStars Pro has 68,200 and is currently in sixth place.

Mickey Petersen, 81,300
Sindre Haugen, 74,300
Daniel Charlton - 74,000
Ludovic Geilich - 74,000
Eldon Orr - 69,575
Liv Boeree - 68,200
Graham Carter - 68,000
James Bott - 67,000
Waheed Ashraf - 67,000
David Lloyd - 65,600

7:05pm: Birthday boy Philips talks to the Blog
The tournament has kicked back into life with level 7. The Blog caught up with PokerStars Team Online's Dale Philip in the break. It's his birthday and he's playing a UKIPT in his hometown - the man needed to have his say about that and his recent trip to the PCA.

"It's my hometown and birthday so everything should be going my way today but unfortunately I'm a little under starting stack. I'm still waiting for the birthday/hometown run-good and hopefully it's going to come!"

"I was at the PCA for meetings and media training for PokerStars. I wasn't expecting to play anything but I jumped in a $1k PLO tourney and came second! I played in it while I had time off one evening and it was nice to make some money."

"Overall I had a great time and got to meet up with all the pros I normally only get to chat to online; I got some sunshine in and messed around in the water park and came back with a nice little score to get 2014 off to a great start!" -- MC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 300-600, ante 75

6:50pm: Piper busts just before the break
Just before the break Michael Piper, who finished fourth at EPT6 San Remo, busted.

Meh gg couldnt find a fold on the river in a big pot, happy with my play tho

— Michael Piper (@wazzbert) January 17, 2014

The players are now on a 15 minute break, when they return they'll play two more levels. -- NW

6:45pm: Turner tickles the table
All the players at table 16, including Kevan Turner, were laughing and joking. The aforementioned Turner was the one who'd caused the chuckling to break out as from under-the-gun he'd moved all his big chips over the line in a one fluid motion. They totalled perhaps on 4,200, he'd left his green chips behind the line. So he was all-in, only he wasn't. "In my head I'm all-in," he said as one by one his opponents folded.

It reached Stewart Kirby in the big blind, he tanked then moved all-in for around 9,000, Turner put on a little show before calling.

Turner: [Jh][Jc]
Kirby: [Ac][Jd]

The board ran [qd][2h][5c][3d][8c] to double Turner up and reduced Kirby to just 3,800. -- NW

6.38pm: Piper can't beat sixes
Michael Piper was the aggressor in the hand but didn't connect with the board enough to beat Daniel Charlton's pocket sixes.

Piper opened to 850 from the hijack and was called by Vicky Coren (cut-off), Charlton (button) and the big blind.

Piper continued for 950 on the [2h][3c][3s] flop and was only called by Charlton. Both players went on to check the [jc][7s] turn and river and Piper mucked upon seeing his opponent's hand. He dropped to 22,000. -- MC

6:35pm: The numbers are in
Tournament director Toby Stone just confirmed to the PokerStars Blog that the total number of entrants in the tournament is 427.

That means 316 players took to the felt today, of those 316 just 225 remain. We've yet to receive the official prize pool information but will upload it when we do. -- NW

6:25pm: Heffs in the house
Late registration closed at the start of level five and one player who only just made it was UKIPT3 leader board runner-up Neil Raine.

New ukipt lateness record broken one day and 4 hours late only had 7 mins till end of late reg #UKIPTEdinburgh #madeit

— Heffs976 (@neilraine) January 17, 2014

6:15pm: Exits
It's often said people don't start opening up until the antes kick in, we've now had two full levels in which antes have been in play and the pass of exits has ticked upwards during the last 120 minutes. The following all lost their chips during that period: David Knight, Hannes Rask, Giorgos Gkionis, Fernando dos Santos Nogueira, Rok Rotar, Kevin Iacofano, Mark Mckluskey, Mark Spellman, Donald Rae, Niall Murray, William Mcclure, Antonis Poulengeris, Mikal Håland, Yucel Eminoglu, Gareth Teatum, Christopher Johnston, Duncan Taylor, Shaun Hegarty, Leonard Readle, Simon Appleby, Edwin McNaughton, Raphael Wieczorek, Christopher Ferguson and James Thomson. -- NW

6pm: Melin wishes she was a hero
Full Tilt Poker tour ambassador Sin Melin is angry, angry with herself for not folding to a river bet.

The action was three-way to the river of a [2d][Ad][8d][6c][9s] board and there was a 7,000 bet, and a call, in front of her. She tanked for a minute before making the call.

"Nuts," said one opponent before opening [kd][9d].

"Yeah, I had a flush as well, couldn't make a hero fold."

"How big was your flush?" asked Andy Black.

"Nine," was Melin's response. She dropped to 9,500.

[Editors note: Melin's still a hero to us] -- MC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 200-400, 50 ante

5:45pm: Action follows Petersen to Boeree
Team PokerStars Online's Mickey Petersen was drawn at a very difficult table first up, containing Vicky Coren and Fraser Macintyre to name but two. The table was broken and the stars were dispersed around the room.

When Petersen landed at a new table, it was no better, as he found himself along side Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree and tour ambassador Martins Adeniya.

Boeree seems to be bossing the table and her stack is showing the benefits. It's touching 50,000 after three small pots won on the bounce. The first one was a simple raise and take of the blinds and antes, the next two she had to wait until her flop c-bets were good to oust her opponents.

The table has promise while it's together as Petersen has around 37,000 and Adeniya a touch over thirty. -- MC

5:40pm: Chip counts
Another orbit of the room and another batch of chip counts...

Martins Adeniya - 35,300
Sin Melin - 26,000
Dominik Nitsche - 15,400
Dave Shallow - 5,700
Sean Prendiville - 23,600
Richie Lawlor - 19,700
Deborah Worley-Roberts - 16,500
Daniel Stacey - 6,400
Sunny Chattha - 35,500
Liv Boeree - 51,600
Dara O'Kearney - 20,600
Tom Hall - 46,600
David Vamplew - 13,900
Keith Hawkins - 8,000
Simon Deadman - 17,500
Julian Thew - 36,500
Duncan McLellan - 12,000
Vicky Coren - 25,000

Emmett Mullin - 38,000
Tim Slater - 35,000
Chaz Chattha - 10,300
Kevin Allen - 5,025
Sam Grafton - 27,000
Dermot Blain - 26,650
Phillip Huxley - 9,600
Steve O'Dwyer - 29,450
Dale Philip - 21,300
Ollie Schaffmann - 28,000
Dave Woods - 15,500
Michael Piper - 21,200
Mickey Petersen - 37,500
Fraser Macintyre - 43,000
Josh Logan - 58,000
Deborah Worley-Roberts -
Andy Black - 15,000
Daragh Davey - 7,600
Richard Evans - 19,700

5:15pm: Kings work for Kerr
Paul Kerr survived a lot of pre flop action and made it to the river to win a decent pot with pocket kings.

He opened to 725 from second position and was called in one spot before Michael Piper three-bet to 2,100. Daniel Charlton was on the button and put in a four-bet to 4,200.

Both Kerr and Piper called to a [2s][5d][Qs] flop where all three checked. That was the invite Kerr needed to lead for 6,000 on the [7c] turn. Piper moved out of the way to let Charlton call.

The board completed with the [4h] and Kerr wasted little time in betting 7,000. Charlton didn't seem confident ad he flicked in the call. Kerr opened [kh][kd] and took the pot as Chartlon flashed pocket jacks before mucking. -- MC

4:55pm: Pulled pots
Some post-flop aggression proved profitable for a couple of players just now as it saw them take down a pot apiece.

In the first Daniel Stacey led out for 1,350 from the big blind on a [2c][5h][Jh] flop, Jen Yue Chiang flat called, only for Andrew Hall to make it 5,200 to go. Stacey thought long and hard before folding, Chiang just folded hard.

On another table I picked up a hand involving Tom Hall and David Vamplew. The former had bet 800 on a [8s][Qs][9d] flop and been flat called, Vamplew then raised to 2,300. Hall asked the EPT winner for a count of his remaining chips (7,000) before folding, as did the other player. Pot to Potter Vamplew. -- NW

4:50pm: Dominik Nitsche: Professional flag hunter
Dominik Nitsche likes to chase Hendon Mob country flags. He's second only to Casey Kastle for most flags accrued. The German starlet has been attending the PCA for five years and finally managed to get a Bahamian flag last week in a $1,100 Turbo tournament. The thing is he chopped the bubble for $970 so the flag cost him -$130 to win. The blog caught up with Nitsche about his flag hunting at the PCA and how's he's feeling now he's here in Edinburgh.

"$130? I wish I'd just lost $130! All in all it must've cost me.... I don't want to even think about it, fives years of buy ins add up! It was worth it in the end, and to do it win a min cash - everyone does it that way!"

"I'm not ready for this tournament as I'm really tired. I decided to stay an extra day (in the Bahamas) to go to the beach and the pool because I was playing tournaments (unsuccessfully) everyday before then. "

"I kind of regret my decision as I got in yesterday at 5pm and fell asleep, which was not a good idea, as I woke up at 10pm and went back to bed again at 6am. I'm extremely tired and I'm on my second drink of the day with a lot of caffeine in there. Hopefully I can wake up and start beating these guys up. Right now I'm down to 15k, which is not a good start, but we'll see what happens." -- MC

4.30pm: Four more to go
The remaining players are now back in their seats and the fifth level of the day is underway. A reminder of the plan for the tournament:

Key UKIPT Edinburgh facts

- 20,000 starting stack
- Blinds starting at 25/50 for 400 big blinds
- One hour levels, we'll play eight today with no dinner break meaning play will end around 8.45pm
- Late registration is open until the start of level five - roughly 4.30pm.
- The Assembly Rooms is a cashless venue, you can only buy-in through your PokerStars account at the venue.
- Two starting days, then Days 2, 3 and 4 will be a combined field to a UKIPT champion (cue winner's photo, trophy swinging around, celebrations in the bar).

However, Steve Watts, Richard Berridge, Renaldo Büschi, Teddy Brogan, James Walsh, Georg Beiske, Vincent Meli, Kevin WIlliams, Richard Teatum, Fintan Gavin, Asif Warris, Thomas Grundy, Alastair Kerr, Bernie McGinlay, Jamie Rhind, John Stokes, John Broad, James Scott, Kuljinder Singh, Martin Currie and Paul Simmons are not in their seats as they're all out. -- NW

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Edinburgh: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Rene Velli.

So much fun was had in the Assembly Rooms yesterday, that it was decided to do the same thing all over again. A bunch of players were gathered together in a room, given 20,000 chips and a time limit of eight hours to go after each other. Their reward for survival was a place in Day 2 of the UKIPT Edinburgh, where they will meet with fellow survivors from Day 1A.

All players were created equal but some ended more equal than others. Former UKIPT/EPT London champion and finalist here last year, David Vamplew ended the most equal of players today as he bagged up a remarkable 146,200. All the more so because at the last break he had just 14,000!

At the end of play he told the blog, "I started winning hands and then someone re-jammed ace-eight when I had pocket queens. I won a few small pots after that to get to 40 big blinds and that allowed me to open up and play a lot more hands. People were sitting back and I put my foot down. I won a pretty big pot on the last hand as well when a guy bluffed off his stack and I had second pair, called, and got him!"

Day 1B attracted a total 311 players (147 survived), which, added to the 116 players from Day 1A brought the total up to 427. That means the remaining 202 players will be fighting it out for a share of the £500,000 prize pool. The last 63 players will be guaranteed £2,060 and winner will take home £93,900.

Team PokerStars Pro had a mixed day at the office. It was a good day for Liv Boeree as she finished with 115,100. She arrived midway through level two and her stack was never in any danger throughout the day. She told the blog, "I could've had 150,000 but I lost a 40,000-chip pot with two-pair against a flush draw, in the last."

Mickey Petersen was chip leader for a while today but the Team Online member dropped back to finish with a still very healthy 69,500.

The same cannot be said for Vicky Coren's day. She drew the most difficult table in the room to start, survived it, only to get really unlucky late in the day at her second table. She was expecting a chopped pot with Martin Currie after both tabled jacks. You just know it's not your day when you get four-flushed though.

One day you hope/expect to be your day is your birthday. Dale Philip was certainly hoping that but his birthday luck was out. The el classico of flips is ace-king versus queens and he lost one of those. It left him crippled and he wasn't able to recover.

Full Tilt Poker Tour Ambassadors Dermot Blain (44,500) and Martins Adeniya (42,000) made it through and will be joined by Sam Grafton (32,400), Steve O'Dwyer (9,600), Emmett Mullin (82,000), Tom Hall (55,700), Ludovic Geilich (96,500), Eldon Orr (114,600), Bayazit Zorlu (98,700), Dominik Nitsche (34,900), Dave Shallow (62,900), Tim Finne (35,800), Julian Thew (42,300) and Graham Carter (120,500).

The remaining days have been made a lot easier for those left in by the fact the following fell today: Tour Ambassador Sin Melin plus, Chaz Chattha, Andy Black, Kevin Iacofano, Michael Piper, Rory Brown, John Kalmar and Chris Ferguson.

Play will resume at midday tomorrow where the tournament will make the money. To catch up today's action, read the Day 2 chip counts and seat draw, please click the below links:

Levels 1-4.
Levels 5-8.
Day 2 chips
Day 2 seat draw

Until then, it's good night from Edinburgh.

4.20pm: End of the level
That's the end of the fourth level of the day, you'll find level 13 updates in a new post shortly. -- NW

4.10pm: Painful exit for Campbell
Down to just 21,000 Paul Campbell committed his chips with [Ac][7s] and was up against Jason Beazley's [Qd][10h].

A [4c][8c][3d][6s][10c] board saw Beazley spike the river to send Campbell to the rail. -- NW

4.10pm: Raised tables and raised stakes?
There are three tables up on a raised stage here at the Assembly Rooms, the tournament room is usually a theatre. They're no different from any other table in the room, they're not feature tables or anything like that but there do seem to be a number of well known players seated around those three tables.

As well as the table containing David Vamplew, Dominik Nitsche et al (see below), the following players are also up on the stage performing: Neil Raine (99,000), Liv Boeree (135,000), Andrew Teng (101,000), James Williams (106,000), David Lappin (65,000), Nick Newport (95,000) and Ben Jenkins (77,000). -- NW

4:05pm: New table, same problems for Vamplew
Overnight chip leader David Vamplew hasn't had the best of days. If he was hoping a table change would help, he was wrong.

For starters, here's how he and the other big names at the table stacked up when he first arrived:

David Vamplew - 90,000
Dermot Blain - 110,000
Dominik Nitsche - 99,000
Jonathan Lundy - 95,000
Dean Lyall - 22,000

Nitsche is one of Vamplew's best friends in poker, and it was he who caused him more pain as the two tangled in hand.

Nitsche opened to 4,500 and Vamplew called in position en route to a [9h][5c][Jh] flop. Nitsche continued for 7,000 and called after Vamplew raised to 1,700.

No more chips ventured into the middle as they checked the [8c][Jc] turn and river down. Vamplew opened [ah][4h] for a missed flush draw, losing out to Nitsche's [Qc][Ts] for a straight.

Vamplew dropped down to 53,000 as Nitsche rose to 130,000. -- MC

3:55pm: Chip leader
Arron Fletcher has a stack of 255,000 in front of him and that makes him the man to catch. -- NW

3:40pm: Szczotka sets up a double up
Jakub Szczotka just got a much needed double up at the expense of Russell Wood. The Pole raised to 4,000 from under-the-gun, Leon Louis flat called from middle position and Wood did likewise from the big blind.

On the [6c][10s][5c] flop Wood led for 6,000 and both players called. The [4h] fell on the turn, Wood bet 12,000, Szczotka moved all-in for 30,000, Louis passed but Wood called the extra.

Wood: [Jd][Jc]
Szczotka: [10h][10c]

The Pole had flopped a set and Wood was drawing to just two jacks, the river wasn't one of the two outs he needed. -- NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 1,000/2,000, 300 ante

3:30pm: Parton looking for a new hero
They say you should never meet your heroes, even if they are poker ones. It seems that Sam Grafton may well have been Andrew Parton's poker hero. We say "have" because Grafton just sucked out on Parton to bust him.

The action folded to Parton in the small blind and he raised to 4,800. Grafton peeled from the big blind to see a [jh][8c][5d] flop where he faced a 6,000 c-bet. He responded by raising to 12,300 and calling Parton's shove.

Parton: [ac][as]
Grafton: [jd][qc]

Parton was in great shape to double up but the board ran out [9h][ts] to make Grafton an unlikely straight. "Unlucky, bud. Really unlucky," said Grafton with an out-stretched hand. He moved up to 105,000. -- MC

3:25pm: Have a craic at qualifying for Dublin
Max SIlver, Joeri Zandvliet, Richard Evans, you? The next UKIPT event takes place in Dublin between February 27th and March 3rd and you could be the next UKIPT Dublin champion, qualifiers are running now...

#UKIPT Dublin sats are here! Qualify for as little as €1.10; 4 seats up for grabs tonight. Head to Events>More>UKIPT on @PokerStars for more

— UKI Poker Tour (@UKIPT) January 18, 2014

3:15pm: Bust outs
Just 114 players remain as the following players have all been eliminated recently: Chris Wood, William Elliot, Ross Elliott, Andrew Moore, Dara O'Kearney, Brian Tannerhill, David Nicol, Ross Hamilton, Michael Lewis, Keith Douglas, Robert Swikker, Michael Bourke, Andrew Abernethy, Andreas Høgh, Lewis Barber, Richard Evans, Sean Prendiville, Dominic O'Brien, Kay Wookey, Stephen O'Dwyer, Mikko Väisänen, Stephen Burke, George Phiniotis, David Lloyd, Antony Hallam, Milan Stanislav, Julian Thew and Barry Blackwood. -- NW

3:10pm: Vamplew woes not as bad as O'Dwyer's
David Vamplew lost a couple of small pots on the bounce to drop to less than 125,000, but that's a whole lot better than O'Dwyer's zero.

O'Dwyer lost a big flip to Michael Kane, with pocket queens versus ace-king. O'Dwyer will most likely seen in the High Roller tournament later.

Kane used those chips to barrel Vamplew off a hand. The action was four-way to a [2d][Kd][4h] flop and only Vamplew called Kane's 5,000 bet. The former EPT champion called another 10,000 on the [6s] turn but admitted defeat when faced with a 25,000 bet on the [ac] river. Kane moved up to 123,000.

The next hand Vamplew opened to 3,200 before tank-folding to Andrew Hulme's 35,000 shove. -- MC

2:55pm: Big pot for Boeree
My thanks to Richard for telling the Blog the action up until the river in the following hand...

It was Blacklock himself who got the action started, raising to 3,200 from under-the-gun, he picked up calls from Milan Šašek (hijack), Neil Raine (cut-off) and Liv Boeree (big blind).

On the [Jc][9c][9d] flop Blacklock checked, Šašek bet 4,800 and Boeree was the only caller. The [4s] fell on the turn Šašek bet 11,800 and Boeree again check-called. The [7d] completed the board again Boeree checked, Šašek fired a third barrel, this time 22,200, Boeree responded by moving all-in for roughly 70,500.

With action back on Šašek the Czech PokerStars Qualifier went deep into the tank, checking and re-checking his hand before eventually electing to fold. He's down to 144,000 whilst Boeree climbs to roughly 152,000. -- NW

2:45pm: Chattha takes quiet line
Sunny Chattha moved up to around 70,000 after he almost flopped a royal flush. He decided on the cautious/trappy line when the board paired though.

His 3,200 raise from second position was called by Nicolas Cardyn (button) and Viktor Leonov (small blind). The flop came [9d][qd][ad] and all three players checked to the [qs] turn where Cardyn bet 5,400 when the action was checked to him.

Only Chattha called to the [4d] river where both players checked. A sheepish looking Chattha opened [kd][td] and scooped the pot as Cardyn mucked. The Frenchman dropped to 62,000. -- MC

2:25pm: Chip leaders
As level 11 gets underway these players are the chip leaders from the 144 players who remain:

Ondrej Drozd - 231,200
Andrew Niven - 176,000
Leon Louis - 168,000
David Vamplew - 165,000
Patrick Weifels - 160,000
Vytenis Salickas - 158,000
Adam Picken - 155,000
Thomas Hall - 145,500
Francisco Minguez - 140,000
Thomas Ward - 140,000
Daniel Charlton - 138,500
Alan Brown - 133,500
Ludovic Geilich - 131,000
James Williams - 125,000

2:20pm: Whatever the stakes, O'Dwyer is your man
Before UKIPT Edinburgh, Steve O'Dwyer was last seen at the PCA playing the $100,000 buy in Super High Roller Event, the $10,000 Main Event and the $25,000 High Roller Event.

The PokerStars Blog caught up with him in the break to see how he's adjusting to playing a smaller buy in event and how he's coping with being a short stack on Day 2.

"I love the game. No matter what the stakes, I try my hardest. It's different playing much lower stakes with a different type of field but I enjoy everything no matter where I am. I just enjoy everything."

"I started with 9,600 and I've got 53k now! I'm running pretty good though; I got lucky with ace-king against kings. I'm happy!"

2:10pm: Exits
These players failed to make the first break of the day as: Gary Bertram, Wai Kiat Lee, Erik Mertens, Robert Balaz, Paul Febers, Lloyd Muir, Steven Heron, Jiri Adamek, Gergő Kovács, Milorad Dobrijevic, James Bott, Lorenc Boci, Emrah Yildiz, Ellie Biessek, Mohamed Dawood Anuar, Benjamin Picken, Erdim Koz, Garry Smith, Stephen Docherty, Oliver Schaffmann, David Phelan, Gareth Derbyshire, Ross Loggie, Sven Wendt and Daniiar Bakchiev are all out. -- NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 800-1,600, 200 ante

2:02pm: Break it up in there
The remaining players are having their first 20-minute break of the day.

2pm: Ferguson felled
"At least they're suited," said a very short stacked Andrew Ferguson as he stood up. He was all-in with [7h][2h] for a few thousand and up against Michael Kane's [Qs][9c].

The [js][kh][7d] flop was a decent one for Ferguson, but Kane took the lead on the [Qc] turn and the [Ac] river kept him in front. -- NW

1:50pm: Derrick Downed
Chris Derrick had three deep runs in the UKIPT in 2013, with one final table, but 2014 hasn't gotten off to the same start.

He open shoved for 12,600 from the cut-off before Nathan Davies moved all in from the small blind and Anthony Galloway called all in for 21,400 from the big blind.

Derrick: [ad][4d]
Davies: [ac][9s]
Galloway: [3d][3c]

The board ran [js][4s][3h][8c][jh] to make Galloway a set for a near triple up. Derrick wished everyone luck before he departed and Davies dropped to 30,500. -- MC

1:40pm: Selected chip counts
Mickey Petersen - 73,000
Tom Hall - 116,000
Leon Louis - 110,000
Ludovic Geilich - 76,000
David Docherty - 39,000
Richard Evans - 60,000
Sean Prendiville - 20,000
Sam Grafton - 70,000
Julian Thew - 22,000
Daniel Charlton - 123,000
Thomas Ward - 150,000
Emmett Mullin - 85,000
Tim Slater - 45,000
Andrew Ferguson - 24,000

Andrew Hulme - 27,000
David Vamplew - 144,000
Steve O'Dwyer 32,000
Kevin Allen - 37,000
Andrew Teng - 34,000
Nicholas Newport - 47,000
David Lappin - 26,000
Ben Jenkins - 60,000
Dermot Blain - 54,000
Dean Lyall - 80,000
Dominik Nitsche - 55,000
Jon Lundy - 105,000
Liv Boeree - 124,000
Neil Raine - 41,000
Dara O'Kearney - 34,000

1:25pm: Adeniya defeated despite being dominant
Martins Adeniya has been eliminated despite getting his chips in good.

The pot opened with a raise from Daniel Charlton before the Full Tilt Poker tour ambassador shoved from the small blind. Ross Hamilton was in the big blind with [kh][qs] and shoved as well. Charlton called with ace-king and soon saw Adeniya had the same hand.

The dealer fanned a [5d][9h][qd][9s][6s] board so send Adeniya packing. Hamilton rocketed up to 95,000 with his lucky break. -- MC

1:10pm: Exits
A few exits to tell you about...

First Mickey Petersen eliminated Sung Hee Yun. The latter was all-in pre-flop for around 7,000 with [10c][7c] and in bad shape against Petersen's [Kc][6c] which even had her suit covered. That would prove crucial as the [2c][5d][3c][2s][5c] board gave them both a flush.

Elsewhere, Kevin Killeen was all-in for 17,000 with [6s][6c] against Michael Kane's [Qc][Qd]. The dominating pair held up on the [3d][2c][10c][2h][As] board.

Also out are: Christopher Thomson, Andrew Hawksby, Ryan Hutchison, Jordan Wong, Rupert Elder, David Chau, Marc Foggin, Fraser Macintyre, Jon Warmerdam, Alexander Tong and John Thain. -- NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 600-1,200, 200 ante

1pm: Would Thew believe it?
Julian Thew has dropped just below 10,000 after he was unlucky against Viktor Leonov after a pre flop all in showdown.

Frederico Silva opened to 2,000 from early position and was flat called by Leonov in mid position before Thew raised to 4,200 from the big blind. Silva folded but Leonov shoved for 29,200. Call.

Thew: [qh][qc]
Leonov: [ah][qd]

The board ran [kc][7d][th][jh][3h] to make Leonov a straight.

Thew hardly reacted as he paid out his opponent and assessed the damage to his stack. -- MC

12:45pm: Twitter update
So much goes on at the start of a Day 2 that it's impossible to catch it all. Thankfully twitter is on to hand to help.

The blog noticed that Steve O'Dwyer was up to 20,000, double his start of day 9,600. It seems he got a boost from eliminating Ian LeBruce.

@UKIPT @PokerStarsBlog awkward when you bust before you say cards are in the air...! (Shoved A8 into @steveodwyer's AA!) gl gl all!

— Ian LeBruce (@LeBruce) January 18, 2014

Dara O'Kearney won a big flip late last night and has won another one early today. The Dan he refers to is Dan Wilson.

67k. Still flipping well. Aqs>tt to knock out Dan. Gg #UKIPTedinburgh

— Dara O'Kearney (@daraokearney) January 18, 2014

And Jon Lundy, who got off to a good start today, is not liking his table draw.

Stupid table! Lyall, nitsche (probs spelt wrong), Blaine! All have pos on me #ukiptedinburgh @PokerVIP

— Jonathan Lundy (@JonPokerVIP) January 18, 2014

12:40pm: Woods chopped down
Poker journalist Dave Woods has been eliminated by Day 1A chip leader Leon Louis in a flip.

Lois opened to 2,000 from early position and called after Woods shoved for 21,000 from mid position. Call.

Louis: [as][ks]
Woods: [3c][3s]

The board ran a Louis friendly [kc][8c][7d][6d][kc].

"You've got to win your flips," said Woods, who busted in his first all in of the tournament. Louis moved up to145,000.-- MC

12.35pm: Exits
As per usual a lot of players have exited in the opening 30 minutes of Day 2. Louis Salter, Keith Hawkins, Daniel Wilson, Katja Svendsen, David Gallagher, Saman Ziarati, David Shallow, Magnus Martin, Donald Koh, Stuart Giulian, James Metcalf, Ian Le Bruce, Danny McHugh, David Price, Paul Delaney and Dan Rankin are all out. -- NW

12.25pm: Lundy loving life
At the start of play Jon Lundy had a very healthy almost double average stack of 83,300, he's now in the six-figure club after eliminating Steven Turner. With a complete board of [5d][Js][Jh][3d][2s] and over 20,000 in the pot, Lundy set Turner in for his final 18,000.

The PokerStars Qualifier mulled over the decision for a while before dropping his stack over the line, Lundy rolled over [Ah][Jd], Turner nodded to indicate it was good and flashed pocket nines before exiting the stage.

He's not the only early casualty on Day 2 as Ewan Le Marquand, Nicholas Lynn and Andrew Good are all out. -- NW

12:15pm: Sneaky Sunny doubles up
Sunny Chattha got the start he was after by sneakily playing pocket jacks.

David Gallagher opened to 2,500 from early position and was flat called by Chattha in the small blind before Ryan Hutchison squeezed to 8,000 from the big blind. Gallagher called the raise but Chattha surprised them both by moving all in for 47,400.

Hutchison took his time and moved in as well, which was enough to oust Gallagher.

Chattha: [jd][jc]
Hutchison: [ad][kc]

The board ran [qd][js][7s][3d][Qc] to make Chattha a full house. Hutchison dropped below 20,000. -- MC

12:05pm: Table 13: Unlucky for most
Steve O'Dwyer and Ian LeBruce were two of the shortest stacks coming back today with less than ten thousand. Being drawn at the following table would have hardly filled them with fresh optimism:

Seat 1. Pat Murray - 29,400
Seat 2. Andrew Hulme - 23,900
Seat 3. Andrew Ferguson - 32,700
Seat 4. Kevin Killeen - 10,000
Seat 5. Michael Kane - 39,000
Seat 6. David Vamplew - 146,200
Seat 7. Stephen O'Dwyer - 9,600
Seat 8. Andrew Hall - 31,700
Seat 9. Ian LeBruce - 3,800

Good luck one and all! -- MC

12.01pm: Cards in the air
Action is underway bang on time. -- NW

12pm: Day 2, the day of doom
If Day 1 was a gentle introduction to this tournament Day 2 is anything but. Of the 427 players who came to Edinburgh 202 remain, that means 47% of the field are still in. By the end of the day roughly 45 players will remain meaning almost 80% of the remaining field will be culled today.

For the majority of those their efforts will be in vain as they'll leave empty handed, but with 63 players getting paid, for some their loss of chips will come with financial recompense.

One player who'll be expecting to still be around for Day 3 is David Vamplew. The EPT7 London winner is top of the all-time Scotland tournament winnings list and is also top of the UKIPT4 Edinburgh field. His stack of 146,200 means he's the only player left who has a stack bigger than what the average stack will be when the money bubble bursts (135.500).

Other players hoping to turn big stacks into big cash include: Leon Louis (122,700), Thomas Ward (119,000) and Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree (115,000). Whilst Mickey Petersen (69,500) also flies the Red Spade and Ludovic Geilich (96,500), Emmett Mullin (82,000) and Richard Evans (19,200) are chasing a second UKIPT title.

Play is about to start, strap yourself in for eight more levels of action, you can see the seat draw right here. We expect the money bubble to burst late in level 14 or during level 15.

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Edinburgh: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Rene Velli.

9:10pm: Play ends for the day
No more players busted through the last four hands. A full wrap of the day's play will be up on the blog shortly.

9:03: Last four hands
The last four hands will be played at each table and then play is over for the night.

9:02pm: Boeree busts Raine
Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree and Neil Raine were the two smallest stacks at their table and they went to war in a pre flop all in showdown.

Boere opened ace-jack and flopped a jack to eliminate Raine and his pocket eights. -- MC

9pm: Huge cooler, huge pot
Patrick Weifels must've felt untouchable a while ago, as he was clear chip leader. Then he lost a pot and gave up the chip lead at his table to Jonathan Lundy. Then the two of them clashed in the biggest pot of the tournament. It left Weifels holding his head in his hands and Lundy as massive end of day chip leader.

Lundy raised from under the gun and was called by Weifels in the next seat before Nicolas Cardyn squeezed from the button. Lundy responded by four-betting and then Weifels moved his big stack all in!

Cardyn folded but Lundy said good luck and called.

Lundy: [as][kh]
Weifels: [ac][kd]

The two players smiled at each other, expecting a chop. Then the dealer flew through the board and delivered [ac][js][8s][6s][9s].

She dealt at such speed that it took a few seconds for it to sink in that Lundy had made a flush. In less than a level, Weifels had gone from clear chip leader to out. He looked distraught and understandably so. Lundy hand a mound of chips to count but he could have more than 750,000 chips. -- MC

8:50pm: Williams wakes up with a monster
The tournament is stuck on 40 players remaining after another double up. James Williams was the beneficiary in a cold hand that cost Andrew Teng.

The action folded around to Teng in the small blind and he raise-called Williams' 88,500 shove from the big blind.

Teng: [8s][8d]
Williams: [kh][kd]

The board ran [9c][2c][js][3h][as].

Williams said he saw a king and was ready to go, before he saw the other one too! Teng dropped to 110,000. -- MC

8:40pm: Weifels can lose
Patrick Weifels is human after all and is able to lose chips. The chip leader doubled up Vytenis Salickas to drop back to 320,000 chips - still a very big stack.

Salickas opened to 10,000 and then moved all in for 88,500 after Weifels three-bet to 24,000 from the button. Call.

Weifels: [Qh][Qd]
Salickas: [6h][6d]

The board ran [js][7h][9c][2d][kd]. -- MC

8:20pm: Big slick no good for Leonov; fours no good for Spence
Viktor Leonov found big slick but ran into aces to bust.

Chip leader Patrick Weifels opened from under the gun and called after shoved from the button.

Leonov: [as][ks]
Weifels: [ac][ad]

The board ran [jd][6d][2s][td][kd] to see Weifels hand hold up. He's up to an impressive 440,000.

Moments later, Aaron Spence made his move with pocket fours, but was called by an opponent holding pocket eights. The board ran [ah][qh][6h][7d][ad] to send him home. -- MC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 2,500/5,000, 500 ante

8.05pm: Chip counts
Below are the chip counts of some of the players left in...

Tom Hall - 125,000
Sam Grafton - 75,000
Daniel Charlton - 315,000
Tim Finne - 132,000
Nicos Nicolaou - 325,000
Arron Fletcher - 210,000
Patrick Weifels - 375,000
Thomas Ward - 70,000

Nicolas Cardyn - 145,000
Mickey Petersen - 110,000
David Lappin - 105,000
Andrew Niven - 295,000
Caicai Huang - 203,000
Liv Boeree - 70,000
Andrew Teng - 195,000
James Williams - 68,000
Neil Raine 138,000

8pm: Charlton snookers Louis
Day 1A chip leader Leon Louis has just been knocked out, but he got it in good against Daniel Charlton.

The latter opened to 8,500 from the cut-off, Louis three-bet to 21,000 on the button, Charlton set Louis in for what looked like somewhere over 100,000 but less than 130,000 and Louis made the call.

Charlton: [As][Jc]
Louis: [Ad][Qs]

The [Js][5c][7h][4c][10h] board meant Charlton hit his kicker to kick Louis out of the tournament and climb to 315,000. -- NW

7:55pm: Newport falls down in 54th
It was a battle of the flush draws between Nicolas Newport and Ronni Borg although, the chips did all go in pre flop.

Newport moved all in for his last 36,000 from early position and Borg followed him in for not much more, from the cut-off.

Newport: [ac][kc]
Borg: [as][ts]

The board ran [js][9c][3s][Jc][2s] to make Borg a flush. -- MC

7.45pm: Packed full of talent
"What a line-up we've got here," said Sam Grafton as Mickey Petersen wandered over to take his seat a couple to the right of Grafton.

And the Londoner is right, Petersen now occupies the five seat, Tim Finne is in seat six, Grafton in seat seven, Daniel Charlton is in seat eight and Leon Louis is in seat one!. -- NW

7.35pm: More exits
Short stacks who clung on to make the money are now trying to double up to make more money. Not all of them are being successful in their endeavor though...

Russell Wood moved all-in for 18,000 from early position with [As][Kc] and David Lapping looked him up from the big blind with [Kd][10d]. The [4h][8c][Jh][9s][7s] board giving Lappin a straight - he's up to 82,000.

And Dean Lyall was almost all-in in the big blind so he put in his final 2,000 with [Ks][Jd] which was still less than Chris Gordon's open with [Ad][Qh]. The latter's hand held on the [3h][6d][10c][Qs][Qd] board to send Lyall out.

54 remain. -- NW

7.30pm: First three in the money, but out
We expected a lot of all ins after the bubble burst and the players didn't disappoint.

Adam Picken went in 63rd after he three-bet shoved from the big blind with [ac][kd]. Andrew Teng had raised from the button with [td][9d], called, and hit on the [3s][2d][4d][Ts][2s] board.

Next to go was Gerard Hickey. He flopped two-pair with ace-eight but, unfortunately for him, David Stonehouse had pocket aces for top set and took all his chips.

Whilst this hand was playing out, Matthew Ireland was busy getting eliminated in 61st place a few tables down. -- MC

7.15pm: Carl Falconer bubbles UKIPT Edinburgh
The players are in the money here in Edinburgh as Carl Falconer has bubbled this event in semi-brutal fashion.

He moved all-in from the button for 14,000 with [Ad][6c] and Ashiq Abdullah made the call from the big blind with [3h][2h]. The [8d][Jh][4s] flop was safe enough for Falconer but the [5h] turn gave Abdullah maximum outs going to the river. And the river was the [3s] giving him the winning hand.

The two players shook hands and Falconer left the table. -- NW

7.10pm: Hand for hand play resumes
Here are the top six stacks with play still on the bubble:

Patrick Weifels - 360,000
Ondrej Drozd - 310,000
Nicos Nicolaou - 280,000
Andrew Niven - 261,000
Frederico Silva - 255,000
Dean Hutchison - 245,000

Blinds up: 2,000/4,000, 500 ante

6:50pm: Break time
It's going to be a long 15 minutes for the short stacks, the players are now on break. -- NW

6:45pm: Heaney gets a double up
Ciaran Heaney is the latest player to double up on the bubble...

Pre-flop he opened to 6,000 in early position and Jason Beazley called from the button. The [Kd][7d][8c] flop was checked through and the [Js] landed on the turn, Heaney bet 18,500 and Beazley made the call. The [5h] completed the board, Heaney checked, Beazley set him all-in for 81,700 and Heaney called.

There then followed a few minutes where hands at the other tables had to be completed before the cards could be exposed, when the time came Beazley showed [Jc][7c] for two-pair but Heaney had pocket jacks for the turned set. -- NW

6:30pm: Picken and Galloway survive
There have already been two all-in and calls on the bubble. Here's what happened...

First Adam Picken moved all-in for 8,800 with pocket kings and picked up a call from Milan Šašek, who held [Ac][Qs]. The [2h][6c][2d] board kept him in front. "Deuce on the turn," whispered Thomas Ward behind me and indeed the [2c] fell on the turn meaning another on the river would counterfeit Picken's pair. But the river was the [9h] meaning hie survived.

On another table Thomas Galloway three-bet shoved for 36,400 with [Kc][Qs], Patrick Weifels was the original raiser and he called the extra with [5d][3d]. The [2c][Jc][4h][Qc][5h] board ruled in Galloway's favour and the bubble continues. -- NW

6:15pm: Nitsche, Blain and Vamplew all bust
Three big names, three exits just before the bubble.

Dominik Nitsche was the first to go, according to his tablemates Nitshce called a raise with A-10 after Caicai Huang opened with A-4. She bet all three streets of a A-K-4-A-J board and Nitsche called all-in on the river.

As for Vamplew he shoved around 55,000 with pocket sevens but ran into the aces of Chris Gordon. And Blain had previously doubled up Vamplew to leave himself with just over a big blind. That went in with [8s][3s] against Ho Yin Lee's [Kh][Qd]. The [Js][7s][4h][2d][9c] board just about missing Blain to cause his demise.

Their exits mean we're now on the bubble. -- NW

6:10pm: Bamber and others depart
Andrew Niven saw his stack hit 180,000 after he eliminated John Bamber.

Bamber was short and shoved with [ah][qh] but was unfortunate to run into Niven's [ks][kc]. The board ran [ac][kd][8c][7s][6c].

Also out are: Dominik Nitsche, Dominic Davidson, Benjamin Bauer, Waheed Ashraf and Bayazit Zorlu. -- MC

6:05pm: Carter got
Graham Carter is the latest player to bust, he shoved for around 30,000 from the small blind with [qc][8c] and ran into Nicos Nicolaou's [As][Jc] in the big blind. The [10h][4d][9d][Kc][3d] keeping Nicolaou in front. -- NW

5:55pm: Exits
We're down to 73 players here in Edinburgh, Manig Loeser, Brent Burnett and Robert Schulz the latest to fall. -- NW

Blinds up: 1,5000/3,000, 400 ante

5:45pm: Boeree and Lappin fold; Vamplew shoves
Some snippets from the stage...

After Milan Šašek raised to 4,800, Liv Boeree three-bet to 13,000 on the button and Šašek made the call. They checked all the way to the river on a [2s][8s][Jd][8c][4d] board at which juncture Šašek bet 14,400. Boeree gave him a good stare down but eventually folded.

One table along Dominik Nitsche opened to 5,000 but folded when David Vamplew moved all-in for roughly 40,000. And on table one David Lappin opened to 5,500 from the small blind and Ronni Borg made the call. On the [8s][Jd][Jh] flop Lappin c-bet 6,100 and Borg called. On the [9s] turn Lappin checked, Borg bet 8,100 and Lappin folded. -- NW

5:35pm: Allen and Turnball Depart
Kevin Allen admitted he'd been shoving all day, so wasn't too disappointed when he was eliminated.

He three-bet all in for around 45,000 after Dean Hutchison opened. Call.

Hutchison: [kc][ks]
Allen: [7h][7s]

The board ran [5d][4d][qd][3c][9s]. Hutchison moved up to 190,000.

Seconds later, Andrew Turnbull departed. His ace-ten faired badly against Tom Hall's ace-king. Hall's stack moved up to 250,000. -- MC

5:20pm: Grafton gets a double; Finne doesn't win
I joined the action to see Sam Grafton (big blind) all-in for 41,500 with [9h][9d] and Daniel Charlton (under-the-gun) having raise/called with [5d][5c]. The [Ac][6c][6s][Jc][10d] board kept Grafton in front and he doubled. He and Charlton are clearly friends and he gave him a bit of a ribbing for his call. "I suppose I could've fours," said Grafton, before adding. "What kind of strategy is, "I'll give you a spin."

It was all good natured though, Grafton now up to 85,000, Charlton down to 135,000.

On the table behind them Tim Finne and Yiannis Liperis were involved in a hand. I don't know exactly when the money went in but Finne was sending 24,500 the way of Liperis. The board was [jd][6c][10h][Kc][2s], Liperis had [Ac][Qc], Finne [Ac][Kh]. Given that Liperis has 100,000 and Finne 65,000 it clearly wasn't an all-in pre-flop hand. -- NW

5:10pm: Bubble Psychology
With the tournament around 15 spots from the money, it's likely that certain players will try to make moves to accrue chips, leveraging on the financial psychology of the situation.

Dominik Nitsche tried such a move but Ho Yin Lee picked him off.

They were heads up to the river where a [kc][4c][7h][ks][4h] board rested. Lee bet 11,000 from the button and faced a raise to 35,000 from the big blind from Nitsche. Lee called with [jd][4d] beating Nitsche and his [8h][7d].

Lee's stack rose to 160,000, whereas Nitsche's dropped to 95,000.

Neil Raine may have been trying the same thing on Liv Boeree. He wasn't looked up though. They were heads up to the turn of a [ks][5s][kh][7h] board and Raine bet 20,000. Call. On the [8h] river Raine shoved for around 80,000 and Boeree quickly folded, preserving her 125,000-stack. -- MC

4:55pm: Chip leaders
During the break tournament staff did a comprehensive chip count of everyone left in. We'll be flowing that in to our chip count page shortly.

But as a taster I can tell you that Patrick Weifels (272,000), Arron Fletcher (247,000) and Paul Kerr (240,000) are the top three. And that Andrew Hulme, Ludovic Geilich and Majid Iqbal have all gone out in level 13. -- NW

4:50pm: Blain not disappearing anywhere soon
Full Tilt Poker Tour Ambassador Dermot Blain has been making steady progress here on Day 2. He does find himself at a tricky table though with the bubble fast approaching. He had a word with the Blog during the second break of the day.

"My day's going pretty good. I came back with 44k, lost a flip early with king-queen against tens, so wasn't looking good then. I went on a heater though and went from 20k to 120k. I've got 100k now after getting caught making a small bluff, but it's all good."

"The two players either side of me (David Vamplew and Dominik Nitsche) are two of the best players left in the tournament, so I won't be getting too out of line. I have a stack that will serve me well, I'll have to reassess if I drop down to around 60,000. I'm not playing to go crazy on the bubble; I'll just play hands with value. " -- MC

4:40pm: Bubble approaching, just 85 remain
As level 13 gets underway it will prove to be unlucky for a number of players. That's because 85 remain and just 63 will get paid. The bubble shouldn't burst in this level but in level 14 or 15.

For the following players though their tournament is already over: Richard Blacklock, Sunny Chattha, Andrew Parton, Andrew Hedley, Mark Hawks, Andrew Laurie, Emmett Mullin, Tim Slater, Padraig McDonagh, Josef Šnejberg, David Docherty, Marius Øvretveit, Paul Corrigan, Andrew Hall, Jonathan Lynas, Richard Pearson, Paul Campbell, Colin Gillon, Rohil Chavda, David Wilkes, Dave Wearing, Kaida Zhao, Craig Sayers, David McGlone and Sam Laurence. -- NW

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Edinburgh: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Rene Velli.

The second day of a UKIPT is always the one that shapes the tournament as around 80% of the players who navigate their way through Day 1 fail to make Day 3. By the end of play a stack that would've been good for the Day 1 chip lead is about 50% of the average Day 3 stack. So it's not surprising that often the end of Day 2 chip leader wasn't even 'on the radar' at the start of day.

And so it proved today as Jon Lundy had a Super Saturday to lead the remaining field of 36 with a stack of 771,000. The 26-year-old Geordie is known within the poker community as one of the true grinders and puts many a full-time players volume to shame. "I relocated to Edinburgh in August to take a job in the poker industry, but still manage to put in 100,000 hands a month playing 16 tables of cash at the same time."

Today he showed that he wasn't too shabby when just playing one table, Lundy had come into the day with 83,300 and was in 16th chip position. However, he didn't get off to the best start as he was drawn on the same table as Dermot Blain, Dean Lyall and soon had Dominik Nitsche for company. "It was impossible, it was a super tough table, " he told the PokerStars Blog. "Fortunately I moved tables as I was the next big blind, that was a lucky break."

Halfway through the day he was still struggling though as he was in 60th place of the 85 remaining players. "I managed to chip up on the bubble to 180,000," said Lundy but his second lucky break wouldn't come until 15 minutes from the end of play. In a five-bet all-in pre-flop pot Lundy clashed with Patrick Weifels, who was the second biggest stack at his table. They both had ace-king but crucially Lundy had the ace of spades, four spades on board saw him win a monster pot and send Weifels to the rail.

He wasn't the only one to perform the chip trick of exponentially growing your stack on Day 2 but he has a big chip lead from Ondrej Drozd (425,000), Ben Glanton (375,000), Michael Kane (363,000) and David Stonehouse (365,000) who round out the top five.

Players of the caliber of: Timothy Finne (205,000), Sam Grafton (163,000), Tom Hall (113,000), James Williams (109,000), Nicolas Cardyn (95,000) and Andrew Teng (93,000) might not have big stacks but they are all still in the mix.

As for Team PokerStars, both Mickey Petersen and Liv Boeree were in action today and they'll both be in action tomorrow.

For Boeree, who came in fifth in chips, you suspected her competitiveness would mean she'd be downbeat with a day that saw her start with 115,000 and end with 150,000. But after a buoyant last level in which she busted Neil Raine she was in high spirits. "I'm really happy, I was card dead the entire day and missed a bunch of flush draws," she told the Blog. "I'm super happy I was hanging in there and now I have a playable stack."

As we saw last year when Nicolau Villa-Lobos went from worst to first at the final table whilst you're still in, you've still got a shot.

As for Petersen, his day seemed to progress more smoothly, even if he never reached the heights of Boeree, he was, until the end at least also spared the lows. Nonetheless, he'll be coming back for his third UKIPT Day 3 in a row tomorrow. He finished 32nd in Isle of Man and 36th in Nottingham. Having already equaled his performance in Nottingham he'll be hoping his 99,000 will carry him further tomorrow. That stack equates to around 15 big blinds, the perfect stack for an 'online' player surely?

One of the headlines on any Day 2 of the UKIPT is the bubble. We reached that stage late in level 14 - the sixth level of the day - Adam Picken, Thomas Galloway and Ciaran Heaney all doubled up on the bubble before Carl Falconer became the 64th place finisher. His 3.5 big blind shove with [Ad][6s] was called by Ashiq Abdullah with [3h][2h]. A three on the river sent Falconer home empty handed.

They say there's a curse of the chip leader in poker tournaments, in that the player who leads after Day 1 never goes on to win the tournament. It struck again in Edinburgh, Day 1B chip leader David Vamplew endured a torrid time of it today and was out before the money kicked in. Whilst Day 1A top dog Leon Louis fared a little better before getting knocked in 51st place, good for £2,230.

Part of the problem for Vamplew today was that he found himself on two tough tables, however some of his toughest opponents that he faced today suffered the same fate as he did: Steve O'Dywer, Dominik Nitsche and Dermot Blain were a trio of top players to be left potless. Whilst elsewhere Ben Jenkins, Dara O'Kearney, Richard Evans, Emmett Mullin, Keith Hawkins, Dave Shallow, Martins Adeniya and Julian Thew also busted before the money.

Whilst Neil Raine (37th, £2,570), Caicai Huang (42nd, £2,230), David Lappin (44th, £2,230), Tom Ward (45th, £2,230), Nicholas Newport (54th, £2,230) and Dean Lyall (55th, £2,230) all cashed but crashed out before the end of the day.

That's all from us on Day 2, to catch up on all of today's action, or to see the overnight chips counts, the payouts so far and tomorrow's seat draw click on the links below:

Levels 9-12
Levels 13-16
Chip counts
Payouts
Seat Draw

All photos are copyright of Rene Velli

4:30pm: Break Time
The remaining players are on a short break. Level 21 updates will appear in a new post.

4:28pm: Mickey Petersen eliminated in 17th place (£5,000)
Team PokerStars Online's Mickey Petersen was very unlucky to be crippled and then busted the very next hand.

He and Jacobus Visser had similar sized stacks and committed them all pre flop.

Petersen: [ac][qh]
Visser: [ad][qd]

The board ran [9d][9s][jd][5c][4d] to make a flush for the Dutchman.

"It's okay," said Petersen when apologies were offered from Visser.

Petersen was left with less than two big blinds and busted the very next hand

The tournament will redraw onto two tables of eight now. -- MC

4:15pm: Andrew Niven eliminated in 18th place (£4,510)
Andrew Niven couldn't connect with ace-jack and departed at the hands of Eldon Orr

Orr opened to 26,000 and called when Niven three-bet all in for 98,000.

Niven: [ah][jh]
Orr: [5h][5c]

The board ran [tc][kd][3d][6d][7d].

Orr's stack hit 585,000 after the win. -- MC

4:10pm: A tournament within a tournament
There's a total of 8,540,000 chips in play in this tournament. And most of those are on table 2! At the start of level 19 there was 4,455,000 on that table which accounted for 52% of the chips in play.

Due to some eliminations Eldon Orr has since been moved to table three, but it's almost as if table 2 is playing a different tournament to the other tables. On table two there's lots of flops being seen whereas on table's 1 and 3 there's a lot of pre-flop shoving. -- NW

4pm: Tim Finne eliminated in 19th place (£4,510)
It'd been an up and down level for Tim Finne and it ultimately ended with a down. He shoved for 188,000 with A-7 over the top of Ben Glanton's raise and Ciaran Heaney then isolated all-in with A-Q and Glanton folded.

There was no help in the community cards and Finne was out in 19th. -- NW

3:53pm: Sindre Haugen eliminated in 20th place (£4,510)
The Norwegians on the rail were a sorry sight on the rail after their man, Sindre Haugen, was eliminated.

Nicos Nicolaou opened to 25,000 from the cut-off before Haugen moved all in from the small blind. Nicolaou (surprisingly) took aroud ten seconds to call with a big hand.

Nicolaou: [qs][qh]
Haugen: [Kh][th]

The board ran [4h][5d][3s][qd][2s].

Nicolaou going well on 470,000. -- MC

3:35pm: Tomasz Raniszewski wins one from Tim Finne
I don't know how the chips went in but when I joined the table Tim Finne - with [Ac][Qc] - and Tomasz Raniszewski - with [Ah][10d] - had cards on their backs. There was a full board of [Ks][10s][As][3s][6d] on the felt and Finne was in the process of passing 160,000 to Raniszewski.

After that hand Finne is down to 240,000 and Raniszewski is up to 335,000. -- NW

Blinds up: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante

3:20pm: Borg busts
Ronni Borg's tournament has come to an end and yet again he tangled with Yiannis Liperis.

The Dane moved all-in for 60,000 with [Qc][4c] and Liperis isolated all-in with pocket nines. The board came [7s][5d][10c][8s][9s] to eliminate Borg. -- NW

3:10pm: Ill timed move costs Jianhui
Nie Jianhui made a move with eight high but it cost him his tournament life.

Mickey Petersen opened to 20,000 from under the gun and was flat called in one spot before Jianhui moved all in for around 120,000. Petersen shoved and managed to isolate Jianhui.

Jianhui: [8d][5s]
Petersen: [ad][ks]

The board ran [6c][8h][ac][2h][qd].

The Team PokerStars Online member moved on up to 330,000 or so. -- MC

2:55pm: Another couple of double ups
The short stacks are winning the crucial hands during this level...

First Tomasz Raniszewski moved all-in for 124,000 from under-the-gun with [Ad][Ah], Nie Jianhui isolated all-in from the button with [Kc][Qc] and everyone else folded. The [2h][10h][3s][Qh][4c] board kept the Pole in front and he's up to 270,000 whilst Jianhui drops to 120,000.

And on table one Roni Borg jammed from the small blind for 65,000 effective with [Ac][3s] only to run into the [As][Jh] of Yiannis Liperis. The latter's hand improved on the [Qc][Qd][Kc][Js][2h] to double up to 140,000, whilst Borg drops to 80,000. -- NW

2:45pm: Two double ups at table one
It's the double up phase in Edinburgh and the epicentre is table one.

Ho Yin Lee got the party started when he shoved over the top of a Sindre Haugen raise. The all in was for 80,000 and Haugen made the call.

Lee: [ac][2h]
Haugen: [qc][th]

The board ran [td][4s][js][ah][7c]. Haugen dropped to 250,000.

A short while after, Liv Boeree doubled up Yiannis Liperis. She raised and called when he three-bet all in for 108,000.

Boeree: [ah][qc]
Liperis: [kh][js]

The board ran [9h][6s][ts][qh][8h] to make Liperis a straight. Boeree dropped to 185,000. -- MC

2:35pm: Start of level 19 chip counts by table

Table 1:
1. Nicos Nicolaou - 220,000
2. Ashiq Abdullah - 205,000
3. Ciaran Heaney - 458,000
4. Sindre Haugen - 360,000
5. Ho Yin Lee - 98,000
6. Liv Boeree - 272,000
7. Roni Borg - 150,000
8. Yiannis Liperis - 130,000

Table 2:
1. Dean Hutchison - 285,000
3. Daniel Charlton - 960,000
4.Michael Kane - 700,000
6. Eldon Orr - 650,000
5. Chris Gordon - 790,000
7. Jason Beazley - 520,000
8. Jon Lundy - 550,000

Table 3:
1. Ben Glanton - 300,000
2. Tim Finne - 540,000
3. Nie Jianhui - 310,000
4. Jacobus Visser - 240,000
5. Mickey Petersen - 185,000
7. Tomasz Raniszewski - 290,000
8. Andrew Niven - 155,000

2:25pm: Start of level 19 chip counts
The chip leader with a massive 96 big blinds is Daniel Charlton, he's followed by Chris Gordan and Michael Kane, what's more remarkable is that they are sat in a row on table two. Gordan has the best seat in the house (seat five) he's to the direct left of Kane, who's to the left of Charlton.

Daniel Charlton, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 960,000
Chris Gordon, United Kingdom, 790,000
Michael Kane, United Kingdom, 700,000
Eldon Orr, United Kingdom, 650,000
Jonathan Lundy, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 550,000
Timothy Finne, Canada, PokerStars Player, 540,000
Jason Beazley, United Kingdom, 520,000
Ciaran Heaney, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier, 458,000
Sindre Haugen, Norway, PokerStars Qualifier, 360,000
Nie Jianhui, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 310,000
Ben Glanton, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 300,000

Tomasz Raniszewski, Poland, PokerStars Qualifier, 290,000
Dean Hutchison, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 285,000
Liv Boeree, United Kingdom, Team PokerStars Pro, 272,000
Jacobus Visser, Netherlands, PokerStars Qualifier, 240,000
Nicos Nicolaou, Cyprus, 220,000
Ashiq Abdullah, United Kingdom, 205,000
Mickey Petersen, Denmark, PokerStars Team Online, 185,000
Andrew Niven, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 155,000
Ronni Borg, Denmark, PokerStars Qualifier, 150,000
Yiannis Liperis, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 130,000
Ho Yin Lee, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 98,000

Blinds up: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante

2:05pm: Break time
After a frantic two first levels of the day, the players are in need of a 20-minute break. -- MC

2pm: Gordon dents Lundy
Chris Gordon took a chunky pot from Jon Lundy as the level ticked down into the break. It was Gordon who got the action started, raising to 17,000 from early position, Jon Lundy called on the button and Daniel Charlton - who has almost a million in chips and is chip leader - did likewise from the big blind.

On the [6d][7s][10s] flop Gordon bet 26,000 and Lundy was the only caller. The turn was the [Jc], Gordon bet 43,000 and again Lundy called. The [9d] completed the board, Gordon took his time and then bet 111,000 and Lundy didn't take too long in calling. Gordon showed [Qs][8s] and Lundy said, "I should've shoved the turn," suggesting he had a lower straight.

After that hand Gordon is up to 650,000 whilst Lundy slips to 550,000. There is a ridiculous amount of chips on table two, I think roughly half the chips in play are on table two. -- NW

1:55pm: Kerr and Drozd depart
It didn't take long for two more to depart after the redraw and both came from table two.

Jon Lundy took care Paul Kerr after a pocket tens versus ace-king encounter. Lundy had ace-king and rivered an ace to see his stack edge within 20,000 of a million.

Less than an orbit later, Ondrej Drozd's stack had disappeared. The chips between himself and Chris Gordon went in on the turn of a [6c][qc][2d][4c] board.

Drozd opened [qd][ts] but was already drawing dead to Gordon's [5c][3c] for a flush. Gordon moved up to 600,000. -- MC

Ondrej Drozd - 23rd place

1.40pm:Final three tables
Here's the line-up for the final three tables, they'll be a break in roughly 20 minutes during which we'll get 100% accurate chip counts:

Table 1:
1. Nicos Nicolaou
2. Ashiq Abdullah
3. Ciaran Heaney
4. Sindre Haugen
5. Ho Yin Lee
6. Liv Boeree
7. Roni Borg
8. Yiannis Liperis

Table 2:
1. Dean Hutchison
2. Ondrej Drozd
3. Daniel Charlton
4.Michael Kane
5. Chris Gordon
6. Paul Kerr
7. Jason Beazley
8. Jon Lundy

Table 3:
1. Ben Glanton
2. Tim Finne
3. Nie Jianhui
4. Jacobus Visser
5. Mickey Petersen
6. Eldon Orr
7. Tomasz Raniszewski
8. Andrew Niven

1.30pm: Sam Grafton eliminated in 25th place (£3,540)
After Dean Hutchison opened to 18,000 from the button Sam Grafton three-bet to 36,000 from the big blind. Back on Hutchinson he moved all-in and Grafton called all-in for 186,000 total.

Grafton: [10d][10h]
Hutchinson: [Ah][Js]

The [4s][8c][2c][8s][As] board meant Hutchinson spiked the river to send Grafton out in 25th. There will now be a short break whilst there's a redraw of the final 24 players. -- NW

1:20pm: Orr wins monster pot
It's been quiet some level for Eldon Orr after he cracked Ondrej Drozd's pocket aces to double up once more.

The players took to a [qc][9c][jh] flop before the chips went flying. It was a near perfect flop for Orr as he tabled [ks][ts] for a flopped straight. The [4d][7s] turn and river failed to come to Drozd's rescue. He dropped to 170,000 whereas Orr rose to 720,000. -- MC

1:10pm: Cardyn finds defeat hard to swallow
Nicolas Cardyn was disappointed with himself after he was eliminated over the course of two hands.

He lost all but 40,000 of his chips to Eldon Orr when called an 86,000 shove on the river of a [ks][qd][8c][7s][6s] board. Orr opened [as][ts] for the nut flush and Cardyn was forced to unveil his [kc][qd] for two pair.

The next hand, he shoved all in from the cut-off with [qc][th] and ran into Ondrej Drozd's pocket queens in the big blind. The board ran [ah][5c][6d][4d][7s]. --MC

Blinds up: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante

1pm: Huge hand for Boeree as she more than doubles up
Liv Boeree is now up to 390,000 after winning a huge multiway pot...

She opened to 13,000 from under-the-gun from a stack of 185,000, Ashiq Abdullah (utg+1), Sindre Haugen (small blind) and Jon Lundy (big blind) all called. The flop came [9s][6c][5s], Haugen checked, Lundy bet 18,000 and both Boeree and Haugen called.

The [Qs] fell on the turn, it again checked to Lundy, he bet 28,000, Boeree smooth called again, only for Haugen to move all-in for around 375,000 total. Lundy eyed up Haugen's stack before folding and Boeree snap called all-in for 125,000 total.

Boeree: [As][8s]
Haugen: [Ks][7s]

Boeree had the nut flush, Haugen the second nuts and Lundy said he'd folded 9-6. The dealer burned and turned the irrelevant river which was the [9h]. Lundy would've eliminated both players had he stuck around.

After than hand Haugen slips to 275,000. -- NW

12:45pm: Fletcher and Silva fall
Start of day chip leader Jon Lundy is up to 840,000 after eliminating Arron Fletcher. The Geordie opened from early position with A-6, Fletcher shoved for 100,000 exactly with J-9 suited and Lundy called. The board ran 10-10-Q-A-10 and Lundy now has 840,000.

Shortly afterwards Frederico Silva three-bet shoved for 120,000 from the small blind with [Kh][Js] and Daniel Charlton, who had raised from the button, called with pocket twos. The [8c][6h][5d][5s][3h] board kept Charlton in front and he's up to 460,000. -- NW

12:50pm: Flips cost Sasek and Teng
They say you have to win flips to win tournaments. Milan Sasek and Andrew Teng tried that but it didn't work out well for them.

Sasek didn't even have a sweat post flop as Michael Kane flopped him dead with [ad][jc]. Sasek had pocket fives and the board ran [ac][Js][Jd][Qs][4s] to make Kane a full house. He moved up to 520,000.

Soon after, Andrew Teng told the Blog that he put his last 110,000 in with king-queen but failed to hit versus an opponent's pocket tens.

Thirty players remain in the Main Event! --MC

12:33pm: Jacobus Visser doubles through Ben Glanton
Jacobus Visser was all-in pre-flop for 106,000 with [Kh][Kc] and up against Ben Glanton's [Ad][Qd]. The [3h][6s][3h][7c][5d] board kept Visser in front and he doubled to 225,000, whilst Glanton is down to 265,000. -- NW

12:27pm: Bad timing sees off Williams and McKay
The last thing you want to see as a player when you shove your short stack from late position is the big blind snap calling.

James Williams shoved with king-ten from the button only for Ronni Borg to wake up with pocket queens in the big blind.

A minute later, Stephen McKay shoved from the cut-off with [as][js] and was called in a flash by Nie Jianhui who looked down at [ah][ac] in the big blind. He called and survived the [2s][3d][Jc][8s][th]. -- MC

12:15pm: Hall and Davies both bust
Two early exits to tell you about...

In the first Tom Hall shoved for roughly 110,000 from the button with [Qs][Jd] and Sindre Haugen looked him up from the big blind with [As][10d]. The Norwegian held on a [4h][3s][8c][5h][8s] board and yet another deep run by the 10th place finisher at this year's PCA came to an end.

On an adjacent table Daniel Charlton raised to 13,000 with [3c][3h] and called when Nathan Davies shoved for 64,000 with [10c][10s]. The shortstack was ahead to the river of a [4c][6h][8s][2c][3d] board when Charlton spiked a set.

Both players collect £2,570. -- NW

12:01pm: Shuffle up and deal!
Cards are in the air for Day 3 of UKIPT Edinburgh.

11:50pm: Lundy leads the way
Welcome back to the Assembly Rooms for Day 3 of UKIPT4 Edinburgh. Yesterday was all about making the money and today is all about making the final table of eight players. The remaining 36 players negotiated the bubble just fine, how far will they make it today?

An odds on favourite to make the final table is runaway chip leader, Jon Lundy. The Geordie won a huge pot at the death last night to bag up a near three-times average, 771,000. He eliminated long-time chip leader Patrick Weifels when he four-flushed the unlucky German, both held ace-king.

The red spade of PokerStars still has two players flying the flag, both are short though. Boeree comes back with 150,000 after a late surge from a micro-stack and Mickey Petersen has slightly less with 99,000. Both had to navigate tricky periods of play yesterday and are optimistic about having an easier time of it at the tables today.

Other notables include Andrew Teng (93,000), Chris Gordon (364,000), Daniel Charlton (267,000), James Williams (109,000), Nicolas Cardyn (95,000), Sam Grafton (163,000), Tom Hall (113,000) and Tim Finne (205,000).

Cards will be in the air very shortly.

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Edinburgh: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Rene Velli.

8.50pm: Overnight chip counts
Here are the overnight chip counts, Jason Beazley has a narrow lead from Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree. The final table starts at noon local time tomorrow and it should be a cracker.

Jason Beazley, United Kingdom, 2,300,000
Jacobus Visser , Netherlands, PokerStars Qualifier, 265,000
Ciaran Heaney, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier, 363,000
Tomasz Raniszewski , Poland, PokerStars Qualifier, 490,000
Dean Hutchinson, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 1,290,000
Liv Boeree, United Kingdom, Team PokerStars Pro, 2,229,000
Michael Kane, United Kingdom, 505,000
Eldon Orr, Northern Ireland, 1,136,000

8.45pm: Jon Lundy eliminated in ninth place (£8,830)
With all the short stacks shoving it was somewhat surprising that it's start of day chip leader Jon Lundy that has gone out in ninth.

He open shoved for around 450,000 with [As][Ks] and Jason Beazley called with [Jh][Jd]. The [10d][9d][7h][4s][7c] board meant Lundy was out in ninth, that Beazley is probably overnight chip leader at also that he won the Skrill last longer which is worth a further £1,100.

A wrap of the days play is on the way as are overnight chip counts. -- NW

8.35pm: Lots of all-ins, no calls
There have been at least four all-in shoves since the unofficial final table commenced. Jacobus Visser (twice), Tomasz Raniszewski and Ciaran Heaney those who've picked up chips by moving all-in. You can see all the chip counts of the final nine right here.

8.20pm: Final table re-draw
Here's the re-draw of the final nine players, players will keep these seats for the official final table.

Seat 1: Jason Beazley
Seat 2: Jacobus Visser
Seat 3: Ciaran Heaney
Seat 4: Tomasz Raniszewski
Seat 5: Dean Hutchinson
Seat 6: Liv Boeree
Seat 7: Jon Lundy
Seat 8: Michael Kane
Seat 9: Eldon Orr

With around 1,900,000 Liv Boeree has the chip lead but Jason Beazley (1,600,000) is not far behind. -- NW

8.10pm: Dean Hutchinson doubles through Jacobus Visser
I don't know how the money went in but Dean Hutchinson was all-in pre-flop for around 700,000 with [Ks][Kc] and found a willing opponent in Jacobus Visser, who held [Ac][Qh]. Yet again two black kings faded the overcard as the board ran [7c][4d][3d][8s][Qd] to double Hutchinson to around 1,400,000 and drop Visser to roughly 250,000.

The final nine players are now redrawing to the unofficial final table, when we lose one more player the final table will be set. -- NW

8.05pm: Ben Glanton eliminated in 10th place (£7,320)
After Ben Glanton opened from the cut-off, Jason Beazley three-bet from the small blind, Glanton then moved all-in for roughly 400,000 and Beazley snap called.

"I'm in trouble," said Glanton as he showed [Ah][Kh] and he was as Beazley had [Ks][Kc]. The [Jc][10c][4c][4d][Jd] board kept Beazley in front and sent Glanton to the rail. "See you all in Dublin I hope," he said as he left the table.

Meanwhile there was a hand brewing on the other table...-- NW

Blinds up: 15,000/30,000, ante 4,000

8pm: Liv Boeree takes the chip lead
What a level it has been for Liv Boeree, she started it as the shortest stack with just 170,000 and has ended it as chip leader with over 1,600,000.

As reported below she doubled up twice to reach around 800,000 but since then she's been on an absolute tear. "We're getting bullied by a girl here boys," said Michael Kane tongue firmly in cheek. But they are.

The biggest pot that she won was a blind on blind battle against Dean Hutchinson, on the turn of a [3c][2h][5d][6h] board Boeree bet 70,000 and Hutchinson check-called. The [10s] completed the board, Hutchinson checked, Boeree bet 200,000 and again Hutchinson called, but he mucked when Boeree showed [5c][4s] for the turned straight.

She's won a bunch of small pots that haven't gone to showdown too and has overtaken Eldon Orr who has around 1,450,000. -- NW

7:45pm: Ho Yin Lee Eliminated in 11th place (£7,320)
Ho Yin Lee couldn't keep surviving the amount of all ins he was putting himself through.

His final move came after Jacobus Visser raised to 51,000 and was called in two spots. He shoved for 327,000 from the big blind and was heads up after Visser shoved to isolate.

Visser: [kc][ks]
Lee: [as][3s]

The board ran [2d][kd][jd][8h][2c].

Visser moved up to more than 1.1 million -- MC

7:32pm: Lucky Liv doubles again
Liv Boeree was giddy with delight after hitting a lucky river to double up.

She open shoved for 354,000 from under the gun and was looked up by Ciaran Heaney in the big bind.

Boeree: [kh][qc]
Heaney: [qs][qh]

The board ran [8s][js][8c][ah][kd].

Boeree called for a ten on the river but jumped in delight as a king was good enough. Heany dropped to 650,000. -- MC

7.20pm: Liv Boeree doubles through Jacobus Visser
From early position Liv Boeree moved all-in for 164,000, it folded to Jacobus Visser in the big blind and he dwelled before making the call.

Boeree: [Kd][10h]
Visser: [Qh][9d]

The [Kh][10d][9h] flop had something for everyone, but the [5c] turn and [3h] kept Boeree in front and she doubled to around 350,000 which is the most she's had in the last couple of hours but is still less than half the average stack, -- NW

7.15pm: Tomasz Raniszewski doubles through Jason Beazley
From under-the-gun Jason Beazley raised to 50,000 and then called when Tomasz Raniszewski moved all-in from the big blind for 233,000.

Raniszewski: [10c][10h]
Beazley: [Ks][Qh]

The [3c][9d][8d][7d][6s] board kept the Polish player in front and he doubled to around 500,000 whilst Beazley slipped to 830,000. -- NW

7.05pm: Daniel Charlton eliminated in 12th place (£6,350)
A total cooler has seen Daniel Charlton depart in 12th place...

From under-the-gun Dean Hutchinson raised to 50,000, Charlton moved all-in for 440,000 from the button and Hutchinson made the call.

Charlton: [Js][Jh]
Hutchinson: [As][Ad]

The board ran [3s][5c][6d][3d][3h] and Charlton wished the players good luck before leaving the table. -- NW

7pm: The state of play for the remaining 12 players

Four more players need to bust before play ends for the night. The average stack at the moment is 712,000 (30bb).

Table 1:
1. Tomasz Raniszewski - 295,000
3. Jason Beazley - 1,135,000
4. Michael Kane - 332,000
5. Jon Lundy -631,000
6. Eldon Orr - 1,250,000
7. Ben Glanton - 1,050,000

Table 2:
3. Ho Yin Lee - 450,000
4. Daniel Charlton - 485,000
5. Jacobus Visser - 640,000
6. Ciaran Heaney - 1,000,000
7, Dean Hutchison - 990,000
8. Liv Boeree - 170,000

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 12,000-24,000, 3,000 ante

6.45pm: Break time
The players are on a 15-minute break.

6.44pm: Chris Gordon Eliminated in 13th place
Chris Gordon busted and made a dash for the airport to try and make his flight, which was due to leave in an hour.

He and Eldon Orr took to a [2c][qc][6s] flop before the chips went flying in.

Orr: [qh][6h] for top two pair.
Gordon: [ac][3c] for nut flush.

The board ran out [7d][th] to send the pot Orr's way. -- MC

6:35pm: Lee lives again!
It's doesn't seem to matter if Ho Yin Lee gets it in good or bad, when he's all-in he's going to win.

His latest escapade was a tale of two hands. On the first he raised to 40,000 from the cut-off from a stack of 325,000 and Ciran Heaney defended from the big blind. On the [Qc][5c][Qh] flop Lee c-bet 40,000, Heaney made it 80,000, Lee raised to 140,000 and then folded when Heaney set him all-in.

That left him with only 138,000 and it went in a couple of hands later when he found [Qh][10d], he found a willing caller in Dean Hutchison who held [Ah][7h]. The board ran [9c][Jd][4d][Ac][8h] and Lee rivered a straight, whilst Hutchinson slips to 745,000. -- NW

6:25pm: Nicos Nicolaou eliminated in 14th place (£5,580)
Nicos Nicolaou waited until he had blinded all the way down to 55,000 before he made his move, which was to be his last.

Chris Gordon opened to 40,000 before Nicolaou made his move. Jon Lundy was in the big blind and successfully isolated by raising to 120,000.

Nicolaou: [tc][8d]
Lundy: [ks][kd]

The board ran [8s][9h][ac][kh][6d] to settle the matter on the turn.

Lundy's stack grew to more than 700,000. -- MC

6:15pm: Raniszewski riding his luck
Tomasz Raniszewski has more than 300,000 now but he could have easily been out.

He found himself all in against Liv Boeree with a dominated ace but the board double paired for a chop.

Two hands later he moved all in for 146,000 and was called by Daniel Charlton.

Raniszewski: [3h][3c]
Charlton: [kc][jc]

The board ran a Pole-friendly [3d][2c][5s][6h][js]. Chartlon was left with 760,000. -- MC

6:05pm: Ho Yin Lee doubles again
It been a case of double up, lose some chips, double up, lose some chips for Ho Yin Lee the last couple of levels and he's just doubled up again.

After a raise to 40,000 from Tomasz Raniszewski, Lee shoved for 143,000 and when it got back to Raniszewski he made the call.

Lee: [Ks][Kh]
Rainszewski: [10d][10h]

It was a battle of the big pairs and the kings won as the board ran [2h][5c][7c][6d][7s]. Lee up to 300,000, Raniszewski down to 140,000. -- NW

Blinds up: 10,000/20,000, ante 3,000

5:55pm: Ashiq Abdullah eliminated in 15th place (£5,000)
Down to just 111,000 Ashiq Abdullah moved all-in from middle position with [10c][7c] and after a long tank Ciaran Heaney called from the big blind with [Kc][8d]. It proved a good one as the board came [6c][5d][As][Qh][5h] to send Abdullah to the rail. -- NW

5:40pm: Yiannis Liperis eliminated in 16th place (£5,000)
First to go from the final two tables was Yiannis Liperis and he was the victim of one of those bloody blind on blind battles.

From the small blind Ben Glanton made it 40,000 to play, Liperis shoved for roughly 200,000 and Glanton made the call.

Glanton: [Ah][Qc]
Liperis: [Ac][7h]

The [4c][Jh][Ks][6s][4h] board kept Glanton in front and he's now up to 860,000. -- NW

5:35pm: Larsen and Silver take the side event headlines

Rasmus Larsen and Max Silver have gotten in to steal the headlines before the Main Event has a chance to crown a champion and claim the most glory.

The £2,000 buy in High Roller Event attracted 26 unique players with eight re-entries, helping to create a £68,000 prize pool. Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody bubbled the event in seventh before his good buddy Jamie Sykes lost heads up to Larsen. Here are the full results:

1st. Rasmus Larsen, Denmark - £22,430
2nd. James Sykes, United Kingdom - £15,500
3rd. Kenny Broad, United Kingdom - £9,900
4th. Aleksandras Voisnis, Lithuania - £7,580
5th. Stephen Teatum, United Kingdom - £5,930
6th. Leonard Readle, United Kingdom - £4,620

Somebody try and stop Max Silver, we dare you!

His amazing run of form shows no sign of slowing down after he took down the Edinburgh cup for £10,280.

The £300 buy in event attracted 127 unique players with 25 re-entries, helping to create a £46,600 prize pool. Here's how the final table finished:

1st. Max Silver - £10,280
2nd. Richard Pearson - £6,970
3rd. Ellie Biessek - £4,640
4th. David Maudlin - £3,800
5th. Alain Bauer - £3,050
6th. Michael Bull - £2,360
7th. Padraig McDonagh - £1,750
8th. John Thain - £1,290

5:30pm: It's a shoving game
Get your chips in first and you'll win the pot. That seems to be the name of the game right now.

Chris Gordon elected to lay down a big hand in a pot Jason Beazley and preserve the 600,000 he had behind.

The Londoner opened to 36,000 and was called in position by Beazley en route to a [tc][kc][jd] flop. Gordon checked over to Beazley who bet 59,000 and was treated to a check-raise to 156,000. Beazley's had an answer and it was to shove.

Gordon tanked for a couple of minutes before he opened folded [kh][th] for two-pair. "Good fold," said Beazley. -- MC

5:20pm: The shoving stakes
Whilst Ho Yin Lee was doubling up on table two, a couple of players were trying to do just that on table one.

Both Jon Lundy (380,000) and Yiannis Liperis (195,000) open shoved but neither got any action.

Still 16 left, you can see the current chip counts by clicking here. -- NW

5.15pm: Ho Yin Lee doubles up
We'd gone 25 minutes or so without an all-in and call - probably the longest without today - and then Ho Yin Lee got looked up by Ciaran Heaney.

Lee shoved for 102,000 - less than six big blinds - with [10c][8s] and Heaney called from the big blind with [Ah][2c]. The [6c][4c][7d] flop wasn't the worst for Lee as it gave him a double belly buster straight draw. It duly hit on the [9s] turn and it was a good job it did as the river was the [Ad].

He's up to 220,000 whilst Heaney is down to 630,000. -- NW

5pm: Play slows
All that stacking of chips into racks and moving tables must've tired the players out as the action has been slow so far this level.

One player bucking the trend was Ashiq Abdullah, who has been showing off his two handed shoving technique. He doesn't really have enough chips to justify the two-handed technique but he has fine form.

The shoves have enabled him to go from 148,000 up to 190,000. No a lot of extra chips but they all help. -- MC

4.45pm: Final two-table re-draw and chip counts
When the field got down to 16 there was a complete re-draw of those remaining, here's how they line-up and stack up

Table 1:

1. Chris Gordon - 670,000
2. Nicos Nicolaou - 440,000
3. Jason Beazley - 730,000
4. Michael Kane - 680,000
5. Jon Lundy - 440,000
6. Eldon Orr - 590,000
7. Ben Glanton - 620,000
8. Yiannis Liperis - 180,000

Table 2:

1. Ashiq Abdullah - 148,000
2. Tomasz Raniszewski - 520,000
3. Ho Yin Lee - 185,000
4. Daniel Charlton - 926,000
5. Jacobus Visser - 647,000
6. Ciaran Heaney - 750,000
7, Dean Hutchison - 445,000
8. Liv Boeree - 322,000

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Edinburgh: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Rene Velli.

UKIPT Edinburgh started with nearly 50 tables across both day ones, and by Sunday evening, just one table remains. Eight players are still in with a chance of being the fourth ever champion north of the border, seven spots away from a trophy and £93,900. Who will follow in the footsteps of Nick Abou-Risk, Fintan Gavin and Nicolau Villa-Lobos?

The mathematical favourite heading into tomorrow is Jason Beazley, who bagged up 2,300,000 for the chip lead. He secured his place at the top of the leader board by bursting the final table bubble. Jon Lundy moved all in with ace-king and Beazley found jacks behind him, made the call, and survived a ten-high board. Yet again, the beginning of day chip leader failed to make it to the end of the day. Will the same fate await Beazley tomorrow?

One player who will try and seal that fate is a certain Liv Boeree. The Team PokerStars Pro had a difficult 2013 before finding renewed confidence in 2014 after her 50th place finish at the recent PCA Main Event. She'll enter the final table second in chips by just 71,000 and looks in a dangerous mood.

She was short for a day and a half but showed gritty determination and patience until fortunes turned her way. One standard, and one lucky, double up saw her get back to average, and from there she took off and bossed proceedings until the day's end.

Here's how the final table will line up:

Seat 1. Jason Beazley, United Kingdom - 2,300,000
Seat 2. Jacobus Visser , Netherlands, PokerStars Qualifier - 265,000
Seat 3. Ciaran Heaney, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier - 363,000
Seat 4. Tomasz Raniszewski , Poland, PokerStars Qualifier - 490,000
Seat 5. Dean Hutchinson, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player - 1,290,000
Seat 6. Liv Boeree, United Kingdom, Team PokerStars Pro - 2,229,000
Seat 7. Michael Kane, United Kingdom - 505,000
Seat 8. Eldon Orr, Northern Ireland - 1,136,000

Mickey Petersen was the other representative from Team PokerStars today and he too dug his heels in and played a patient game. It took a very unlucky turn of events to ruin his day. He and Jacobus Visser both held ace-queen and played out an all in pot worth more than the average at the time. Visser's holding was both diamonds though and found three friends on the board to flush away the Dane's hopes.

Ace-queen was also good for Ciaran Heaney to bust the dangerous Tim Finne, who had made his move with ace-seven. Chris Gordon, Sam Grafton, James Williams and Tom Hall are other players that the finalists will be very glad busted before they could show off their recognised skills tomorrow.

The show resumes at midday on Monday and although Beazley and Boeree start as favourites, they won't have it all their own way. The chip lead changed hands multiple times today and may well do so tomorrow. The UKIPT Edinburgh trophy could still find a home in Holland, Poland, Northern Ireland, Rep. of Ireland or could even up here in Scotland as Michael Kane carries the host nation's hope. We think it's a final table that could blow the bloody doors off!

For now, click on the links below to catch up on all the day's action and to see who's won what, so far.

Levels 17-20.
Levels 21-24.
Prize pool and payouts.

All photos are copyright of Rene Velli. He's had a beard since he was eight so be careful of stealing his photos

6.25pm: Liv Boeree eliminated in 2nd place (£59,180); Dean Hutchison crowned UKIPT Edinburgh champion (£93,900)
The dream of a second major PokerStars title is over for Liv Boeree after all her chips ended up in the lap of Dean Hutchison.

A limped pot brought about a [4d][5s][6c] flop where Boeree bet 125,000 when the action was checked to her. Hutchison responded by check-raising to 325,000 and calling when Boeree shoved for around 1,400,000.

Boeree: [5c][3c] for a pair, open-ended straight draw and backdoor flush draw.
Hutchison: [6s][5d] for top two pair.

The [kc] turn saw the blood return to Boeree's face as she picked up a flush draw. It soon ran back out into her body though when the [8d] fell on the river.

Hutchison's fans erupted as he consoled the visibly distraught Boeree. --MC

6:15pm: Hutchison gets there on the river to dent Boeree
Liv Boeree's stack dropped to its shallowest point all day after she turned two pair, only for Dean Hutchison to river a better two pair.

The Team PokerStars Pro raised to 250,000 and was called by Hutchison en route to a [4h][9h][Js] flop. Both players checked to the [th] turn where Boeree's 300,000 bet was called.

On the [ac] river Boeree check-called a 550,000 bet with [jd][9d] only to be shown [as][tc] for a better two pair. That left Boeree with 1,750,000, or 17.5 big blinds. -- MC

6.10pm: Back and forth they go
One for you, one for me, one for you, one for me. It's nip and tuck right now with neither player able to get any momentum. If anything Dean Hutchison has stretched his chip lead to roughly 4,950,000 against 3,700,000.

The only pot that's gone to showdown in the last half-dozen hands was chopped, Boeree had raised pre-flop and bet the turn of a [As][5h][8h][5s][Kc] board and she then fired out a bet of 500,000 on the river which Hutchison called. The latter showed [Kd][6s] whilst Boeree had [Ks][2h]. Chop it up. -- NW

6pm: Hutchison back in front
Every time Liv Boeree gets ahead Dean Hutchison pegs her back. Most of the hands he's won have been without showdown too.

In one hand he faced a 200,000 button raise that he three-bet up to 550,000. Boeree called but folded to a 300,000 c-bet on the [kd][3s][7s] flop.

Another hand that went to Hutchison saw him limp the button and bet 150,000 on a [qh][6d][5c] flop, after Boeree had checked her option. She called that bet before both players checked the [8s][2h] turn and river.

Boeree flashed an ace but lost out to Hutchison's [jh][8c] for a pair of eights. With that Hutchison took over the chip lead once more with roughly 4,600,000 to 4,000,000. --MC

5:40pm: Everybody loves a chopped pot
Big pot, but no chip swing as it ended in a chop.

Again Hutchison made it 250,000 to go from the small blind and Liv Boeree called from the big blind. On the [7c][3d][5d] flop Hutchison bet 225,000 and Boeree made the call. The [As] hit the turn, Boeree checked again, Hutchison bet 425,000 and again Boeree called.

The [6c] fell on the river, Boeree checked once more, Hutchison reached deep and pushed out a bet of 1,200,000, Boeree snap called and showed [4d][4s] for the rivered straight, Hutchison had [10c][4c] for the same hand. "Would you have slowed down on the river?" asked Boeree. "Depends, I might bomb it if it's a diamond," replied Hutchison. -- NW

5:25pm: Momentum with Boeree
On one of the first hands back from the break Liv Boeree won a 1,750,000 chip pot to extend her slender lead to something more meaningful.

Pre-flop Dean Hutchison made it 250,000 to go and Boeree called from the big blind. On the [10s][4s][8s] flop Hutchison fired out a continuation bet of 250,000 and Boeree smooth called. The [9s] put four spades on board but it didn't slow Hutchison down, he bet 375,000 and again Boeree flat called.

The [5d] completed the board, Boeree completed a hat-trick of checks, but Hutchison didn't empty the clip, instead he checked behind and showed [Ah][Jd], Boeree had [As][2d] for the nut flush and took the pot. -- NW

Blinds up: 50,000/100,000, ante 10,000

5:05pm: Almost even at the break
As the level came to an end it's still anyone's to win as the stacks are very even.

Liv Boeree had stretched ahead again after a few small pots, but one of the last hands of the level saw Dean Hutchison get the better end of two value hands.

He raised to 160,000 and Boeree called to see a [7h][5c][4d] flop appear. Both players checked to the [8s] turn where Boeree led for 250,000. Call. On the [2d] river Boeree check-called a 550,000 bet.

Hutchison opened [6d][ts] for a straight beating Boeree's two pair with [7s][8h].

"Well played Dean, got there again!" shouted one of his friends on the rail.

Chips at the break:

Boeree: 4,300,000
Hutchison: 4,240,000
--MC

4:45pm: Boeree bluffs her way back into the lead
It's now 2-1 to Liv Boeree in terms of betting big, winning and showing bluffs.

After Dean Hutchison limped the small blind, Liv Boeree raised to 250,000, only for Hutchison to re-raise to 425,000. After some contemplation Boeree made the call. Both players checked the [2d][9d][Ks] flop and the [Jh] turn, before the [7h] fell on the river. First to act Boeree led out for 425,000, Hutchison folded and Boeree showed [Ac][4s] for the bluff.

Two hands later Hutchison made it 160,000 from the button and Boeree called. On the [6h][8h][2s] flop Hutchison continuation bet 150,000, Boeree raised to 400,000 and Hutchison smooth called, On the [5d] turn Boeree bet 450,000 Hutchison folded and Boeree showed [7d][3d] as she took the pot.

After that hand she's up to 5,000,000, whilst Hutchison is down to 3,300,000. -- NW

4:35pm: Hutchison bluffs his way into the lead
Confidence is a big thing in poker. You can achieve it by great play or a bit of luck and ride its wave.

Dean Hutchison got lucky not to be eliminated and he just took the chip lead after an audacious bluff.

Liv Boeree raised to 175,000 and called after Hutchison three-bet to 375,000. The flop fell [4c][qd][3h] and Hutchison led for 300,000. Boeree raised up to 800,000 and her eyes opened wide when Hutchison made the call.

The turn came as the [jh] and both players slowed to a check. Boeree's check behind on the turn was the invitation Hutchison needed to come out firing for a million on the [3d] river.

Boeree mucked and was shown [ks][6c] by Hutchison for a complete bluff!

Chips:

Hutchison - 4,740,000
Boeree - 3,800,000
-- MC

4:25pm: Dean Hutchison doubles through Liv Boeree
This card was one tournament away from being over, but as is so often the case the river changed everything.

Pre-flop Liv Boeree opened to 175,000 with [Kh][Kc], Dean Hutchison moved all-in for 1,715,000 with [Ah][4d] and Boeree snap called.

The [5d][7d][2h] flop kept Boeree in front but gave Hutchison further outs, "three-ball," shouted Hutchison's rail. The [Jd] turn gave Hutchison even more outs, "diamond-ball," said Hutchison's rail. He had a 31% chance of winning the pot on the river and the [3c] meant he did just that, much to the railbirds delight. He's now up to 3,450,000 whilst Boeree is down to around 5,000,000. -- NW

Blinds up: 40,000/80,000, ante 10,000

4:20pm: Hutchison below two million
Liv Boeree has fully shrugged off four-bet folding to Dean Hutchison by getting the better of him in two pots to reduce him to 1,800,000.

Hutchison raised his button to 130,000 and went on to bet 100,000 and 185,000 on the flop and turn. Boeree stuck with him all the way before both players checked the river when the board rested as [qd][ac][8c][2s][6c].

Hutchison opened [qs][kd] but Boeree had the better of it with [as][4h].

The next hand Boeree was the aggressor. She raised her button to 125,000 and bet 150,000 and 325,000 on the flop and turn of a [8h][5d][9h][qh] board. Hutchison gave up on the turn. -- MC

4.10pm: Boeree gets some back
It didn't take Liv Boeree too long to get her chips back, she called Dean Hutchison's three-bet pre-flop and the two players took a [kh][jh][9d] flop. Hutchison continuation bet 325,000 but folded when Boeree put in a raise. -- NW

4.05pm: Hutchison five-bet shoves
Another big pot but this time it went to Dean Hutchison...

Liv Boeree opened to 125,000 from the button, Hutchison three-bet to 250,000, Boeree four-bet to 575,000 only for Hutchison to move all-in for 2,400,000. Boeree folded pretty quickly to the all-in. Pot to Hutchison. -- NW

3:55pm: Boeree wins three-bet pot
After losing three small pots in a row, Liv Boeree came back and won a bigger one to extend her lead again.

The Team PokerStars Pro opened to 125,000 off the button and called after Dean Hutchison three-bet to 300,000. The flop came [6h][7h][5d] and Hutchison continued for 260,000.

Boeree stared at the board and back at her opponent before she raised to 650,000. Hutchison didn't have to goods and folded to drop to 2,400,000. -- MC

3:40pm: Calm before the storm?
The early exchanges in heads-up play have been cagey, no big pots as yet so its as you were. -- NW

3:30pm: Heads up counts
The players are on a short break before the heads up battle commenced. Here's how the two players stack up:

Liv Boeree - 5,320,000
Dean Hutchison - 3,045,000
-- MC

3:15pm: Jason Beazley eliminated in 3rd place (£42,430)
The heads-up battle for the UKIPT Edinburgh title will be played out between poker superstar Liv Boeree and Scotland's Dean Hutchison.

Jason Beazley had mostly stayed out of the way so far today but when you pick up a big hand in the big blind, you have to go to war. It didn't work out as planned and he busted in third place.

Boeree raised to 175,000 from the small blind and was faced with a Beazley three-bet to 360,000 from the big blind. Boeree announced a raise and she had hardly pushed forward a four-bet when Beazley announced he was all in. Call.

Beazley: [ts][th]
Boeree: [ah][kh]

The board ran [8h][6h][ad][4c][ac] to make Boeree trips. -- MC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante

3pm: Chip counts
There's just six big blinds separating first and worst here in Edinburgh

Seat 1. Jason Beazley, United Kingdom - 2,600,000
Seat 5. Dean Hutchison, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player - 2,900,000
Seat 6. Liv Boeree, United Kingdom, Team PokerStars Pro - 2,750,000

2:50pm: Dean Hutchison takes the chip lead
The stacks are very even now and just a few hands after doubling up to stay alive Dean Hutchison is now the chip leader.

In the hand that gave him that distinction he three-bet to 250,000 from the small blind over the top of Jason Beazley's button raise of 100,000. Although Liv Boeree looked interested she folded. Beazley then four-bet to 450,000 and Hutchison smooth called. On the [5c][4s][Ah] flop Beazley continuation bet 250,000 and Hutchison made the call.

Both players checked the [8h] turn and the [Ac] completed the board. First to act Hutchison led for 475,000 and Beazley tank-folded. -- NW

2:35pm: Dean Hutchison doubles through Jason Beazley
A huge double up for Dean Hutchison now and this one came courtesy of a cooler that was simply arctic.

From the small blind Jason Beazley opened to 100,000 and Hutchison called from the big blind. The dealer spread a [10c][7d][9d] flop, Beazley made it 100,000 to go and Hutchinson smooth called.

The [10d] hit the turn, Beazley slowed down, checking the action over to Hutchison. He bet 155,000, Beazley check-raised all-in and Hutchison called in a flash, he was all-in for 820,000 total.

Beazley: [7c][7s]
Hutchison: [10h][9c]

Both players had a full house and Beazley was drawing to one out, it didn't arrive on the [2s] river though and Hutchison's rail started a chant of, "Deano, Deano,". Their man now has 2,050,000 whilst Beazley is down to 3,300,000. -- NW

2:35pm: Beazley takes one from Boeree
The chip lead has changed hands again and the hot potato is currently possessed by Jason Beazley as he just won a chunky pot against Liv Boeree.

The Team PokerStars Pro opened to 150,000 from the small blind, and Beazley defended from the big blind. On the [9c][4c][Jh] flop Boeree bet 150,000 and Beazley made the call.

The [As] fell on the turn Boeree continued for 225,000 and again Beazley stuck around. On the [4s] river Boeree dwelled and then cut out a bet of 400,000, Beazley called instantly, "king high," said Boeree, Beazley showed [10c][10s] to claim the pot. He's now up to 4,300,000, whilst Boeree is down to 3,200,000. -- NW

2:25pm: Boeree turns the screw on Hutchison
Dean Hutchison's stack dipped back below a million after he was forced to concede defeat against Liv Boeree in a hand.

The Team PokerStars Pro limped her button and Hutchison checked his option to see a [6s][tc][9h] flop appear. Boeree bet 85,000 and Hutchison check-called, as he did when faced with a bet of 185,000 bet on the [kd] turn.

The river fell as the [ac] and Boeree piled in with a 425,000 bet. Hutchison didn't look happy and check-folded.

The Scotsman still had the cut of a frustrated man when he was on the button next when he raised to 675,000. Both opponents thought about calling but the bet got through.

Most other pots have been cagily played and rarely got past a flop, with three players left, are they all thinking more about the top prize and title?-- MC

2:10pm: Eldon Orr eliminated in fourth place (£33,700)
Liv Boeree didn't lose the chip lead for long as she's just made this tournament three handed and she did it by winning a classic race.

She opened to 100,000 on the button with [8h][8c] and called after Eldon Orr moved all-in for roughly 1,250,000 from the small blind with [Ah][Ks]. The [10s][7h][3d][2s][6h] board stayed suitably low for the Team PokerStars Pro and she now has over 4,000,000. Orr wished the table good luck before exiting the stage, his fourth place finish means this is his biggest ever live cash.

2:05pm: Boeree loses the chip lead
For the first time since she eliminated Ciaran Heaney in eighth place Liv Boeree has lost the chip lead. She lost a couple of small pots, one to Dean Hutchison and another to Eldon Orr. As a a result she's down to around 2,850,000 whilst Jason Beazley is up to 2,950,000. -- NW

2pm: Play resumes
Here are those counts:

Seat 1. Jason Beazley, United Kingdom - 2,710,000
Seat 5. Dean Hutchison, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player - 1,270,000
Seat 6. Liv Boeree, United Kingdom, Team PokerStars Pro - 3,455,000
Seat 8. Eldon Orr, Northern Ireland - 930,000

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante

1:40pm: Beazley utilises position in a three-way pot
The final hasn't seen too many three-way pots, especially since play has been four-handed. That changed in the last hand before the end of the level.

Eldon Orr opened from under the gun and was called by Jason Beazley on the button and Liv Boeree in the big blind.

The flop fanned [2s][tc][3s] and Orr continued for 125,000. Only Beazley called to [4h] turn where he called a 240,000 bet. Orr slowed to a check on the [4c] river and tank-folded when faced with a 450,000 bet.

The players headed off on a 20-minute break. Official counts will be attained during that period and posted when play resumes. -- MC

1:30pm: Chip counts
It's still Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree out in front, with Jason Beazley in second. There's then a gap to joint 'short stacks' Eldon Orr and Dean Hutchison, although both have more than 30 big blinds.

Seat 1. Jason Beazley, United Kingdom - 2,300,000
Seat 5. Dean Hutchison, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player - 1,325,000
Seat 6. Liv Boeree, United Kingdom, Team PokerStars Pro - 3,400,000
Seat 8. Eldon Orr, Northern Ireland - 1,400,000

1:20pm: A couple of bumps in Boeree's road
Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree has lost a couple of pots that went to showdown...

In the first she limped from the small blind and Eldon Orr checked his option. They both checked the [10h][10d][3c] flop and the [2d] fell on fourth street. Boeree fired out a bet of 50,000, Orr raised to 155,000 and Boeree smooth called. The [4s] completed the board, Boeree checked and Orr bet 250,000. After getting a count Boeree said: "Maybe you've got there with ace-five," before making the call, Orr showed [Qh][10c] and it was good.

An orbit later Boeree raised to 80,000 on the button and Jason Beazley defended from the big blind. The [Ah][5h][Ks] flop was checked through and the [5s] hit the turn. Boeree fired out a bet of 75,000 and Beazley called. There was no betting on the [9s] river though, "I have a nine," said Beazley, showing [Qh][9h], Boeree nodded and mucked her hand. -- NW

1:10pm: Tomasz Raniszewski eliminated in 5th place (£26,430)
Tomasz Raniszewski was very short stacked and managed to double up, but it was a short-lived reprieve.

The action folded to him in the cut-off and he moved all in for 198,000 with [kc][3c]. Eldon Orr called from the big blind with [td][8d] before the board ran [2d][6h][ks][9c][8s].

A few hands later the action folded to Raniszewski on the button and he moved all-in again. Dean Huchison re-raised from the small blind and successfully isolated.

Raniszewski: [3d][3s]
Huchison: [as][qc]

The board ran [th][qh][8s][6d][7s] to pair the Scot's queen.

"Let the games begin!" shouted Huchison, to the delight of his rail. -- MC

Blinds up: 20,000/40,000, ante 5,000

12:50pm: Jacobus Visser eliminated in 6th place (£20,710)
It's a hat-trick of knockouts for Liv Boeree in under 25 minutes as she just sent Jacobus Visser to the rail in sixth place.

He shoved under-the-gun for 151,000 with [9s][6s] and Boeree made the call with [Ah][7s] from the button. The board ran [Jc][2d][Ac][Qh][Kd] and just like that we are five handed.

Since that elimination Boeree has won two small pots and now has roughly 4,000,000 of the 8,540,000 chips in play. "Relentless," said Fraser Macintyre who's watching from the rail. -- NW

12:30pm: Michael Kane eliminated in 7th place (£15,570)
Liv Boeree has passed the three million chip mark after she eliminated Michael Kane in 7th place.

The action folded around to Dean Hutchison on the button and he raised to 60,000. Boeree was in the small blind and flatted before Michael Kane moved all-in for around 500,000 from the big blind. Hutchison folded but Boeree checked Kane's stack size and called.

Kane: [qs][js]
Boeree: [as][qc]

The board ran [8c][td][4s][3d][7c].

Kane was asking for a nine but it never came. The Team PokerStars Pro set the trap perfectly pre-flop and gained all the rewards. -- MC

12:15pm: Ciaran Heaney eliminated in eighth place (£11,060)
It didn't take long for the first exit of the final table, just five minutes in fact.

From under-the-gun Liv Boeree opened to 60,000, Jason Beazley flat called from the hijack only for Ciaran Heaney to move all-in from the button for 261,000. The action was back on Boeree. She got a count and then called, whilst Beazley folded.

Boeree: [Qh][Qc]
Heaney: [Ah][10s]

The [4s][Qs][8c] flop all but ended the hand, the [5s] turn gave Heaney flush outs but he missed them on the [4d] river. He collects £11,060 for finishing eighth, whilst Boeree now has the chip lead. -- NW

12:10pm: Cards in the air
Play is underway, there's 32 minutes and 16 seconds left in level 24. A reminder of what they're playing for.

1st. £93,900
2nd. £59,180
3rd. £42,430
4th. £33,700
5th. £26,430
6th. £20,710
7th. £15,570
8th. £11,060

12:05pm: Delayed start
With all the fanfare surrounding the final eight players, the start has been delayed. There will be 32 minutes left to play of 24 when cards are in the air.

11:30am: Beazley & Boeree head final table
It's final table day here at Assembly Rooms where the fourth ever UKIPT Edinburgh champion will be crowned.

The two players at the top of the chip counts are leading the headlines; Jason Beazley because he's in pole position and Liv Boeree because she's Liv Boeree. The Team PokerStars Pro is just 71,000 behind Beazley and came storming back into contention in the latter stages of yesterday.

Beazley also has momentum after he eliminated the dangerous Jon Ludy to snatch away the lead from Boeree, and burst the final table bubble. These two players have around half the chips in play and are the ones to catch.

If poker, and UKIPT Edinburgh specifically, has taught us anything it's do not rule out the other players. No one gave Nicolau Villa-Lobos much of a chance last year as he entered the final table languishing in last place but he proved everyone wrong and mounted a stunning comeback to claim his maiden live title.

Here are the eight contenders:

Seat 1. Jason Beazley, United Kingdom - 2,300,000
Seat 2. Jacobus Visser , Netherlands, PokerStars Qualifier - 265,000
Seat 3. Ciaran Heaney, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier - 363,000
Seat 4. Tomasz Raniszewski , Poland, PokerStars Qualifier - 490,000
Seat 5. Dean Hutchison, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player - 1,290,000
Seat 6. Liv Boeree, United Kingdom, Team PokerStars Pro - 2,229,000
Seat 7. Michael Kane, United Kingdom - 505,000
Seat 8. Eldon Orr, Northern Ireland - 1,136,000

Play, as ever, is due to start at midday, so join us back here for all the action and talking points from what promises to be an exciting day.

When Max Silver demolished the UKIPT Dublin final table in just four hours it was a record that we didn't think we'd see broken. But today Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boere was just one card away from doing just that and winning her second major title. As it is it the river card kept Dean Hutchison alive. And two hours later, after a back and forth heads-up battle, he continued Scotland's amazing record in Season 4 of the UKIPT by becoming the fourth Scot to claim a UKIPT4 Main Event title.

Between them Boeree (five) and Hutchison (one) had eliminated every player at the final table and going into heads-up play Boeree had a 5,320,000 to 3,045,000 chip lead. It was all one way traffic to begin with as Boeree stretched out to a 6,500,000 to 1,700,000 advantage. Then came the turning point.

Hutchison three-bet all-in for 1,715,000 with [Ah][4d] and Boeree snapped him off with pocket kings. The [5d][7d][2h] flop gave Hutchison a gutshot straight draw, the [Jd] turn a flush draw and the [3c] a straight and the pot.

The chip lead changed hands on multiple occasions over the next 90 minutes before Boeree flopped top two pair only for Hutchison to turn a pair and river a better two-pair. That left Boeree with fewer than 20 big blinds and just 10 minutes later she committed them with [5c][3c] on a [4d][5s][6c] flop. A good hand for sure, just not as good as Hutchison's [6s][5d]. She got no help on the [Kc] turn or [8d] river and Hutchison's rail erupted in delight.

"If the kings hand held against A-4 it's obviously a different story." Boeree told PokerStars Blog. "At the start of heads-up I felt like I had him pegged and was confident that I was going to win. But, he adapted really well and became a lot more aggressive, which not only made him harder to play against but made it higher variance."

Today Boeree was on the wrong side of that variance, but she will be back for the next UKIPT in Dublin and is clearly hungry for more after a great start to 2014. "My top priority is winning another major title, the goal is still the Triple Crown. But a UKIPT title would've been great."

As for Hutchison, a cash game pro who freely admits he doesn't play a lot of tournaments, his previous biggest live cash wasn't even down to him and came when he was 5,700 miles away. The Scotsman is friends with, amongst others, Ludovic Geilich and had a percentage of him when he won UKIPT4 Marbella in June. Hutchison was in Las Vegas playing the WSOP at the time so wasn't there to watch his friend win. However, Geilich was on the rail today and confirmed that he had a percentage of Hutchison in this tournament.

"I decided to play at the last minute," said Hutchison. "It was a hard final table, my friend (Michael Kane) was on the final table and it was really good having a rail and their support, it'll be a great memory. At the start of heads-up my confidence was really low and she ground me down. Fortunately I got lucky with A-4 against kings, that got my confidence up."

The start of the final table saw three players eliminated in the opening 25 minutes all at the hands of Boeree. The players hadn't even got comfy by the time Ciaran Heaney departed in eighth, his [Ah][Ts] started and stayed behind Boeree's pocket queens. A few hands later and Michael Kane was feeling the same pain. His 17 big blind shove with [Qs][Js] picked off by Boeree, who had flatted Dean Hutchison's raise with [As][Qc].

And 15 minutes later the start of final table short stack, Jacobus Visser, shoved five big blinds with [9s][6s] and lost out to Boeree's [Ah][7s]. Boeree now had almost half the chips in play, whilst everyone else had picked up an extra £15,000 whilst twiddling their thumbs.

So suddenly it was a party of five, however just 20 minutes later five became four. Tomasz Raniszewski losing a flip with pocket threes against Hutchison's [As][Qc] when a queen flopped.

Four handed play lasted an eternity - well in comparison - but after 40 minutes Boeree decided she quite fancied knocking another player out. She opened with pocket eights and called Eldon Orr's 25 big blind shove. The Northern Irishman had [Ah][Ks] but the pair held up to win the classic race.

During three-handed play each player took it in turn to have the chip lead and after Dean Hutchison doubled through Jason Beazley there was just six big blinds separating the three players. It would soon go heads-up though as Boeree won another race, this time she had the [Ah][Kh] but she outflopped Beazley's pocket tens and rivered another ace for good measure. Beazley, who started the final table as chip leader, collected £42,430 for his third place finish.

Sadly, for Boeree the fairytale ending to go with the dream start didn't materialise."It was almost the perfect final table," she said.

UKIPT4 Edinburgh Final Table result:
1st. Dean Hutchison, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player - £93,900
2nd. Liv Boeree, United Kingdom, Team PokerStars Pro - £59,180
3rd. Jason Beazley United Kingdom - £42,430
4th. Eldon Orr, United Kingdom - £33,700
5th. Tomasz Raniszewski, Poland, PokerStars Qualifier - £26,430
6th. Jacobus Visser, Netherlands, PokerStars Qualifier - £20,710
7th. Michael Kane, United Kingdom - £15,570
8th. Ciaran Heaney, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier - £11,060

That's it from UKIPT Edinburgh, the PokerStars Blog will be back with EPT Deauville coverage from Sunday. To read all of today's coverage click here and to see all 63 in the money finishers click here.

All photos are copyright of Rene Velli

We are poker. It's not only our business, it's a passion too. But those of us who work at PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker are in a bit of a netherworld. We provide the most online poker games of any company on the planet (by far), but we can't play in those games for real money. We offer what we and many other believe are the best run live poker tournaments in the world, but the main events of most of those tournaments are usually off limits to us.

But this past October, we did an experiment: Rational Group (PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker) employees were allowed to play in the UKIPT main event on the Isle of Man - we wanted to see how it felt to us and how the community responded. I wrote about that in an earlier blog post.

So it was pretty exciting for us when our colleague Chris Jonat ended up at the final table of the main event, ultimately finishing 4th for £34K. In fact, we had the final table live webcast up on the TV's at the Isle of Man office, and when Chris busted out, there was a spontaneous standing ovation all over the office.

After the UKIPT event was over on IoM, the banners were down from the Villa Marina, and the last player was seen safely home, we asked ourselves how it went. As with anything you do, we felt there were ways we could improve. But to the question of Rational Group employees playing in the main event, the answer was an almost unanimous "Yes!"

First, and most importantly, the players loved it. They saw the elegant patches on our sleeves and said "So you work for PokerStars? What department?" Our people said, "So you play on PokerStars? What do you like? What do you not like?" And we were off to the races - people with a common interest (poker played on PokerStars) finally sitting down at a poker table together and sharing thoughts, ideas, and stories.

We were a little worried how people would respond when one of our employees hit a two-outer or whatever. And as you might expect, PokerStars and Full Tilt employees gave and took their share of bad beats. The penultimate PokerStars employee to depart the main event was Chris "What a shirt!" Straghalis, who busted 19th to a three-outer. Everybody said, "Bad beats. In a poker game. Whouda thunk?"

Furthermore, we were delighted by the response inside PokerStars and Full Tilt. More than 30 people from the Rational Group put up their own money to play in the UKIPT event, and the buzz in the offices was palpable. All during the week of the event, the context of virtually every water cooler discussion was what was happening down at the Villa Marina. Who's playing, who has chips, and when are you going down to see the show?

With this first success under our belt, we're going to expand this trial to the UKIPT stop in Dublin (not coincidentally, also home to a Rational Group office). So you will see PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker employees playing in the UKIPT main and side events at Dublin. Based on our experience in the Isle of Man last year, we think you'll love it. Our employees will be sporting patches (or some other clear form of identification) and will be happy to answer almost any question you can throw at them about working for the Rational Group.

But with that said, don't expect us to be pushovers at the table. We spend most of our time running online poker games and live poker tournaments. But when we sit down at the table, we're there to play.

See you at the felt; bring your A-game.

Lee Jones the Head of Poker Communications at PokerStars; he first joined the company in 2003. He has been involved in the professional poker world since the mid 1980's.

4:21pm: Half time break
That's half the levels done for today and it's time for a 20-minute break. All the cool kids are now following the updates in a new post which can be found here.

4:18pm: Boeree bails on the turn
Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree has dropped down to 12,000 chips after hanging around in a hand until the turn before folding.

There was a 525 raise from under the gun that Boeree called before Paul Campbell squeezed to 1,525 from the big blind. Both players called to the [3c][tc][7h] flop where Campbell continued for 2,200.

Boeree was the only caller but she check-folded to a 4,500 bet on the [9d] turn. -- MC

4:05pm: Double up for McGrath
At table 22 there was a board of [3s][4s][3d][5c] on the felt and there was lots of action going on. There was a bet of 1,000 in front of Manuel Catorce, a wager of 3,500 in front of John Steen Jørgensen and a red triangle and all-in bet of 8,825 in front of John McGrath.

Back on Catorce he folded, but asked the dealer to keep his cards separate from the muck, Jørgensen called though and showed [7d][6d] for the flopped straight, it was no good though as McGrath had [4d][3c] for a flopped full-house. The meaningless [7s] completed the board and Jørgensen passed the necessary chips to McGrath. -- NW

3:50pm: Lightman directing the table
Sarne Lightman, Full Tilt Poker's Head of Marketing, is enjoying a profitable day and moved up to 26,000 after winning a pot without showdown.

Aleksandras Voisnis raised to 450 from under the gun and was called by Colm Hanlon in mid position and Lightman in the big blind.

The flop fell [3d][qh][9s] and it was Hanlon who bet 500 when the action was checked to him. Lightman was the only caller before he led for 1,200 and 1,800 on the [7h][7c] turn and river. Hanlon called the first bet but open-folded [9h][8h] to the second bet.

Lightman moved up to 26,000. -- MC

3:35pm: Chip counts and exits
A few more chip counts of the names and notables in the field today: Nick Abou Risk (22,000), Eldon Orr (24,300), Ian Bruce (19,300), Jamie Dale (14,000), Jason Barton (14,300), Joe Grech (26,000), Liv Boeree (21,400), Richard Evans (18,200), Sam Holden (19,000), Martins Adeniya (20,100) and Ludovic Geilich (22,000).

Meanwhile, Alessio Sabatini, Anthony O'Driscoll, Ian Drake and Andrew Croasdale are all out. -- NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 100-200, 25

3:22pm: Poker > gym
Who needs to blow off stress at the gym when you can do just as well at the poker table?

Rick Dacey has a lot of anger to diffuse and his high VPIP is helping those issues. The problem is, when you throw a lot of punches you are susceptible to the counter attack.

The PokerStars Staff writer opened to 350 from under the gun and was called by Charles Lees before Paulus van Der Heu squeezed to 2,150 off the button. Dacey gave a stare and folded but Lees called.

Both players checked the [2s][3s][9d] flop before Lees checked-called on the 7c turn. Both players checked the [5d] river and Lees' [tc][th] bettered Van Der Heu's [4s][4c]. -- MC

3.15pm: Debs destroying again
Last season Deborah Worley-Roberts finished fifth in the UKIPT3 Dublin Main Event, on Day 3 of that event she knocked so many people out that she picked up the nickname 'Debs the Destroyer.' Well she's at it again as she's already up to 43,000 after winning a big pot against Joe Divito at the end of level 2. "Neil Raine opened to 250, which he'd been doing a lot. I three-bet to 600 and got three callers, I've got [5d][2d] by the way," she told me.

"The flop was [3h][Kd][8d], so happy days. I bet and got two calls. The turn was the [10d] I bet again, 2,000 this time, he (Divito) raised to 5,000 and I called intending to get it all-in on any river that wasn't a diamond. An off-suit jack was the river card, I checked, he went all-in for 7,200 and I called, he showed [K][J]. I gave him a kiss before he left though," so every loser wins then! -- NW

3:05pm: Dinner break included due to big turnout
This leg of the UKIPT has become too damn popular and had caused a slight amendment to today's schedule of play.

Because the powers that be want to get as many players in as possible today, the dealer resources are at breaking point. All hands are on deck so there is no time to fit necessary (and legal) breaks for the hard working bunch.

The solution is to extend the break at the end of level 6 to 45 minutes from the original 20. Play will therefore conclude around 9:30pm. -- MC

2:55pm: Cody a ghost thanks to Kasper
Sadly the Jake Cody versus Lee Jones battle is no more as the Team PokerStars Pro has busted out of the tournament, with Danish PokerStars Qualifier Kasper Linneman doing the dirty deed.

The Team PokerStars Pro was kind enough to tell me how he came to exit: "I've got about 12,500 to start the hand and opened to 350 from middle position, he three-bet to 900 on the button and I decided to four-bet to 2,400 and he called, I've got ace-jack off by the way," Cody explained.

"The flop was A-8-5, with two spades, I bet 2,400 and he called. The turn was the [4s], we both checked and the river was another four. I checked, he set me in and although I felt I was beat there was a lot in the pot so I called. He had ace-king."

Cody went on to say that he'd dropped to 12,500 making two pair with Q-10 but running into pocket queens and he also said he'll be back for the high roller unless he gets a call to say his heavily pregnant girlfriend has gone into labour. -- NW

2:45pm: Clarke not king in five-way pot
Gary Clarke had dropped to 8,600 after he initiated a five-way pot that didn't end well for him.

His under-the-gun open to 400 picked up four callers, including David Lappin, en route to a [5c][3h][7h] flop. Clarke continued for 1,400 and was quickly raised up to 2,800 by a player two seats along. Lappin was on the button and he tank-folded (bottom two pair he later said). Clarke called to the [tc] turn where he check-called 4,000.

Both players checked the river and Clarke's eight-seven was no match for pocket kings. Lappin was happy he folded his hand, as he would've been counterfeited on the river. -- MC

2:28pm: Lee Jones talks popping his cherry with Jake Cody
The blog caught up with PokerStars' Head of Poker Communications in the break about playing his first ever PokerStars tournament along side Jake Cody.

"I'm having a great time. This is literally the first PokerStars tournament I've ever played, so I'm really enjoying it.

"Playing against Jake (Cody) is funny. The first hand he sat down I got pocket kings on the button. I raised, he called and the flop came queen-seven-seven. It turns out he flopped quads! I actually raised the turn and he called before we went check-check on the river, so I got away from it relatively cheap.

"But I'm thinking, 'Oh great, I'm up against Jake Cody and here we go, I'm going to bust on the first hand.' Then four hands later, I made a straight flush and get paid on the river! It's been a lot of poker for a short period of time and had been a lot of fun." -- MC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 75-150

2:02pm: A video interlude
Level two has just ended and the players are now on a 20 minute break. During that break why not watch this video which is an introduction to Day 1B.

2pm: Chip counts
At the first break here are the counts of some of the notables in the field. With 51,000 Andrew Dywer appears to be the current chip leader.

Andrew Dwyer - 51,000
Dale Philip - 18,000
Simon Hemsworth - 18,800
Duncan McLellan - 15,700
Michael Josem - 25,000
David Lappin - 29,700
Gary Clarke - 18,400
Dermot Blain - 15,600
Jake Cody - 19,800

Nick Wealthall - 21,000
Jason Beazley - 20,600
Mick McCloskey - 26,000
Owen Robinson - 15,825
Trish Mallin - 23,000
Max Silver - 23,000
Mickey Petersen - 12,300
Sin Melin - 29,000
Lee jones - 20,300 -- NW

1:55pm: Dacey gets the job done
PokerStars staff writer Rick Dacey is edging back towards his starting stack (19k) after winning a four-way pot.

His 450 bet on a [2s][2c][3h] flop was enough to shrinking the pot to heads-up and then his 550 bet on the [6s] river (after the [jc] was checked) was enough to get Charles Leece to relinquish his hand.

Those with no chance of getting back to starting stack are Darren Millar, Nigel Millar, Rowan van Embden, Barry McGovern, Ilan Sarusi, Emlyn Long and Joe Divito, who all busted in level 2. -- MC

1:40pm: Misclick leads to interesting pot
I joined the action on the turn of a [Ac][9s][7s][Qh] board, there was 1,700 in the pot and Paul Leckey bet 1,200. His opponent, Barry McGovern, put out two gold 1k chips, it wasn't clear what his intentions were but the bet was more than half a legal raise so it was ruled as a min-raise and McGovern had to make it 2,400.

"Did you mean to call?" asked Leckey, there was no answer from McGovern. After a bit of a think Leckey made it 4,200 to play and McGovern smooth called. The [5h] completed the board, Leckey fired out a bet of 3,000 and McGovern made the call. Leckey showed [7h][7d] for the flopped set and McGovern mucked his hand. "I thought it might be set over set," said Leckey as he took the pot. In the post-hand analysis McGovern claimed he had ace-queen, although he didn't say if his turn raise was accidental or not. -- NW

1:30pm: Out
Two more exits to tell you about now as Michael Garcia and Martin Wilcox are both out. Garcia lost his chips with pocket kings against pocket threes, Igor Wilk flopped a set and got his stack.

Whilst Wilcox had dropped to 5,000 after bluffing a missed flush draw into the trips of an opponent. He then got his final chips in on an a jack high flop with Ace-Jack, only to run into the pocket queens of David Lyons. -- NW

1:20pm: The Silver lining is still being in
Max Silver has dropped to 17,300 after losing a four-bet pot where he was the pre flop aggressor.

The UKIPT Isle of Man High Roller champion opened to 225 from early position and was called by Chris Derrick (who recently joined the table) before Diogo Moura squeezed to 700 from the button.

Silver wasted little time in bumping the action up to 2,250 and Moura called after Derrick mucked. Moura took over from there as Silver checked to him on the flop and turn on a [qs][4d][ad][7c] board. He bet 2,400 and 5,200 on each street, the second bet got Silver to fold. -- MC

1:05pm: The life of an alternate
There are plenty of alternates waiting to get into the UKIPT Dublin Main Event.

On the alternate list for #UKIPTDublin. Hopefully it won't be too long of a wait...

— Conor McElhinney (@conormcelh) February 28, 2014

So far the staff have managed to seat 18 of them, those who are still patiently waiting have taken refuge in the upper level of the Round Room and have a great vantage point to view the action going on below them.

It could be a long wait for Sean Prendiville though, 'the goat' is railing Dermot Blain right now and is alternate number 58. -- NW

Blinds up: 50/100

1pm: More tasty tables
As players continue to take their seats more interesting table line-ups continue to emerge. Sharing Table 32 are David Lappin, Gary Clarke and Ian Bruce. As mentioned below, PokerStars' PR Man Michael Josem is in the field. The Australian is wearing a natty checked suit, it'll have to compete with Mick McCloskey and his 'hat of many badges' for the most 'bling' item at the table though. Whilst UKIPT2 Galway runner-up Trish Mallin is also at that table.

UKIPT Host Nick Wealthall, who's already getting a massage (tough life), has Louis Salter for company, UKIPT4 Isle of Man sixth place finisher Daniel Stacey and Dean Clay can get acquainted as can Neil Raine, Deborah Worley-Roberts and Richard Evans. Lastly UKIPT3 Marbella winner Ludo Geilich is to the direct left of Richie Lawlor, given Geilich's reputation it could be a long day for Lawlor. -- NW

12:50pm: PokerStars' PR man
PokerStars' Head of PR Michael Josem is one of the many Rational Group employees playing today. The man from down under had Tweeted his early progress:

20775 after the first hand - hopefully this is not the highpoint of the day #UKIPTDublin

— Michael Josem (@michaeljosem) February 28, 2014

12:40pm: Loud start for Lee Jones
There was no time for Lee Jones to get into the swing of a UKIPT as he's been running into monster hands or getting them himself.

The first hand Jake Cody play saw him call a Jones raise whilst holding pocket sevens. Jones had raised with pocket kings and the flop came [q][7][7] to make the Team PokerStars Pro quads! Two streets later and Cody was the owner of 3,000 Jones scented chips.

Not long after Jones was getting paid on the river of a board that the [6d][7d] on the flop and the [td] on the river. Once called he opened [8d][9d] for a straight flush. That got him back to starting stack. -- MC

12:30pm: Chilly exit for Algirdas Karalis
"Seat open Table 17," could be audibly heard around the Round Room here at Mansion House in Dublin. There were 43 minutes on the clock when the cry went up which meant that someone's UKIPT Dublin main event had lasted just 17 minutes, that's €45.29 euros a minute.

Full Tilt Poker Ambassador Dermot Blain had a front row seat for the hand and told me what happened. "It was pretty chilly," he stated. "Seat one (Jim McLean) opened, seat seven (Algirdas Karalis) three-bet, Mclean four-bet to something like 2,000 and Karalis called. The flop was [A][Q][2] and Karalis check-called a bet of 2,000. The turn was another deuce and I think Karalis mis-clicked, he meant to bet 3,600 but he bet 8,000. McLean then shoved and he thought for ages before calling. McLean had pocket aces, for aces full and Karalis had pocket queens for queens full."

There was no one outer on the river and McLean is the early chip leader, whilst a lucky alternate now has a seat. -- NW

12:25pm: Oh my God, it's Jake Cody
There are so many notables in the field today that the table draw is going to throw up some great spectacles.

Team PokerStars Online's Mickey Petersen has Max Silver to his direct left with Richard Milne Snr and Nick Slade to contend with as well.

Petersen and Silver were talking about the staff members playing and pointed at Lee Jones on an adjacent table and joked he was the value.

A few seconds later, Jake Cody arrived to take a vacant seat at Jones' table prompting PokerStars' Head of Poker communications to yell, "Oh my God! Can I cash in?" -- MC

12:10pm: Name dropping
Amongst the 400 bums on seats are a number of notables. Already spotted/heard are: Richard Evans, Max Silver, David Lappin, Duncan McLellan, Ian Bruce, Peter Barrable. Deborah Worley-Roberts, Jamie Dale, Tom Kitt, Owen Robinson, Nick Abou Risk, Eldon Orr, Jason Barton, Nick Wealthall, Simon Hemsworth, Jason Beazley and Sam Holden. -- NW

12:02pm: Shuffle up and deal
Cards are in the air!

11:40am: Packed house expected for Day 1B
Welcome back to the PokerStars.com UKIPT Dublin for Day 1B. Yesterday's flight attracted 226 runners but today's field size will dwarf that. The 380 available seats have already sold out but the tournament staff will sit any alternates registered before the beginning of level five, once a seat is available.

Noel McMahon ended Day 1A as chip leader (104 remain) with 104,600. We expect today's end of day chip leader to be in front heading into Day 2.

The Rational Group will be represented on many fronts today with Team PokerStars Pro and Online, Full Tilt Poker Ambassadors and company employees all in the mix. The likes of Liv Boeree, Jake Cody, Mickey Petsersen, Dale Philip, Sin Melin, Dermot Blain and Martins Adeniya will fill the blog with tales of their prowess.

It's an exciting day for many of the company employees who are getting their chance to play a UKIPT event for the first time. PokerStars Staff Writer Rick Dacey is one of the giddy entrants; we just hope that doesn't turn into the rage he's famous for.

As ever, tournament director Toby Stone will have the cards in the air at midday.

Key UKIPT Dublin facts
- 20,000 starting stack
- Blinds starting at 25/50 for 400 big blinds
- One hour levels, we'll play eight today with no dinner break meaning play will end around 8.45pm
- Late registration is open until the start of level five - roughly 4.30pm (pre-registered alternates will still be seated after).
- Two starting days, then Days 2, 3 and 4 will be a combined field to a UKIPT champion.
- Buy-in is €700 + €70 and there's a €350,000 guarantee on the tournament.

9:35pm: Silver leads heading to Day 2
Play has ended for Day 1A. Max Silver finished clear of the pack with a monstrous 311,700. A full wrap of the day's play will be up on the blog shortly. -- MC

9:15pm: Last five hands
The tournament clock had been paused and each table will play five more hands before play concludes for the night. -- MC

9:10pm: Silver biggest amongst the big
There are currently seven stacks who sit above the 104,600 that Noel McMahon finished with on Day 1A. A familiar face in is a league all on his own though.

Max Silver has 220,000 chips after he forced Thomas Dunwoodie off his hand in a big pot.

Silver was in the small blind and bet 19,200 on the turn of a [5c][9c][jc][7d] board. Dunwoodie took a long time to make a difficult fold.

The other big stacks are:

Robert Schulz - 130,000
Alain Bauer - 125,000
Deborah Worley-Roberts - 115,000
Marc Kennedy - 112,000
Ilmari Sukanen - 110, 000
Edward Gascoigne - 110,000
-- MC

8:45pm: Happy go lucky Barrable
Peter Barrable is happy, and lucky, guy after cracking an opponent's aces to double up.

Svein Eidseter opened from under the gun and was called in the next seat before Barrable squeezed all in for 17,000 from one more seat along. Eidseter was the only caller and the cards were flipped up.

Eidseter: [ah][ad]
Barrable: [3h][3d]

Barrable was getting ready to leave before a cry of ooohs and ahhhhs made him sit down again. He had flopped a set on a [7s][4h][3c][7h][8c] board. -- MC

8:40pm: Dunwoodie's fine wine
"Three more wines and I'm raising," said Thomas Dunwoodie as he contemplated a river raise from Javed Ullah. There was a complete board of [7h][5d][4s][6s][6d] on the felt and Dunwoodie had bet 9,000, only for Ullah to raise to 19,000. The Geordie had peeled two 5k chips off his stack, he was leaning forward staring at the board (the table is one of those that is not well lit) and was trying to work out what to do. "You raise the minimum and I'm definitely calling," said Dunwoodie.

Eventually he said the three more wines line again and made the call, Ullah showed [4c][4d] for a full-house but Dunwoodie had [5c][5s] for a bigger full-house. Pot to Dunwoodie who now has 105,000, whist Ullah is down to 90,000. -- NW

8:30pm: Level 7 unlucky for some
The rate of eliminations continued to be steady. The Main Event said goodbye to Joe Grech, Joao Silva, Chihao Tsang, John O'Boyle, Michael Broschek, Seamus Doherty, Patrick McCloskey, John Trayner, Sean Donalsdson, James Waldron, Denis Croke, Jacob Stafford, Jaxi Kiernan, Gregory Cooke, Kevin Whelan, Robert Murphy, Adam Forsyth, Timothy Reisner, Neil Mackay, Timothy O'Sullivan, Nobert Berent, Viktor Celikovsky, Jarlath Kilgallon, Simon Hemsworth, Cahal Heapes, Marc Hunter and Kristina Cullen. -- MC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 400-800, 100

8:20pm: How go Team Pro?
Team PokerStars Pro, Team PokerStars Online and Full Tilt Poker Ambassadors have all been well represented on Day 1B of UKIPT4 Dublin. Whilst Mickey Petersen and Jake Cody fell early on, the rest have stuck around.

Leading the way from this select bunch, as things stand, is Martins Adeniya, he's got 54,000. Fellow Full Tilt Poker Ambassador Sin Melin has 37,000 whilst Dermot Blain has 25,500. Team PokerStars Online's Dale Philip has 16,600 whilst a search for Liv Boeree was unsuccessful and indeed a look at the exits slips reveals that she's out. -- NW

8:11pm: Silver going for gold; chip leader with almost 140,000
"I think I'm winning," said a grinning Max Silver to, amongst others, two-time UKIPT champion Joeri Zandvliet who was railing him. And indeed Silver is as he's up to 139,000 after eliminating David Lappin.

Zandvliet recounted the action to me and told me that pre-flop there was a raise under-the-gun, Silver three-bet with pocket jacks, Lappin then four-bet, the original raiser folded and Silver tanked before calling. On the [Jh][9h][4h] flop Lappin bet roughly 13,000, from a stack of 35,000, into a pot of 17,000, Silver moved all-in and Lappin called with [Ah][K]. The board bricked out and as a result Lappin was sent to the rail. A for Silver he's already well ahead of the 104,600 that Noel McMahon finished on at the end of Day 1A- NW

8:10pm: Time off in Lu
Roger Lu is another Rational Group employee enjoying his day out of the office. His stack rose over the 50k-mark after he eliminated Jamie Dale.

Lu opened to 1,275 from under the gun and was called by Sin Melin a couple of seats along before Dale moved all in for 7,100 from the cut-off. Lu took his time before calling and that was enough to oust Melin.

Lu: [as][ac]
Dale: [6s][6c]

The board ran [kh][kd][qc][3s][7d]. Dale was on his way before the river was dealt. -- MC

8pm: All out Stevie
Stevie "allinstevie" Devlin hasn't played a live poker tournament for around a year after the birth of his first child. Obviously he had other priorities but even Devlin couldn't resist this trip across the Irish border.

Unfortunately for him though, he busted a short while ago.

"Two outed to bust. Some things never change!" he commented. -- MC

7:45pm: Recent exits
A number of big name players have falled by the wayside recently, they include: David O'Connor, Jude Ainsworth, James Walsh, Richard Milne Snr, Nick Abou Risk, Richard Evans, Thomas Kitt and Caicai Huang. -- NW

7:40pm: The numbers are in
The tournament staff have been busy crunching the numbers and I can tell you that a total of 456 players entered the fray today. This means that the total number of runners for UKIPT4 Dublin is 682!

The €350,000 guarantee has been well and truly craicked! We'll bring you details on the prize pool when we receive that information. -- NW

7:37pm: A view from the other side, with Rick Dacey
It's been really great to see how much fun the Rational Group employees are having in this tournament. It offers the blog an almost unique opportunity to get their perspective of the event. In the dinner break we caught up with PokerStars Staff Writer Rick Dacey, who knows all about this tour.

"It's pretty amazing to be given the opportunity to come and play one of these events as I've covered 50/60 UKIPTs, EPTs and LAPTs. It's obviously very easy watching from the sidelines whereas in the heat of the moment you can make great decisions and very poor ones as well. It's really interesting and I'm really enjoying it.

"I felt like I was playing pretty well to start with and got up to 30k. Then I had one hand where I knew exactly what I was doing up until the point where I did something entirely different and got married to jacks and lost about 25k in one hand. From there I went from 4k to 48k in about five hands!

"It's been good fun and I think my declaration that I'd be the value in this tournament seems to be holding true."

7:26pm: Back from the break
Level seven is now underway, during an earlier break Nick Wealthall caught up with the Irish Player of the Year Dermot Blain to talk about poker in Ireland.

Blinds up: 300/600, ante 75

6:45pm: Dinner break
The remaining players are now on a 45 minute dinner break. Let the rush for food commence. -- NW

6:40pm: Lawlor busts just before the break

Poker is a cruel game, just ask Richie Lawlor who's gone from hero to zero in short order.

Had 40k 3 hands later I'm busto. Didn't play my best today. Good luck to everyone in #UKIPTDublin

— Richie Lawlor (@LawlorRichie) February 28, 2014

6:35pm: Exits
We've lost over a 100 players today the latest exits include: Andrew Carlin, Justin Boyle, Jim O'Neill, Jamie Walden, Cosimo Sabatini, Filip Pettersen, James Williams, Sabot Jurgen, Luke Cerklewicz, James Clarke, Eoin Starr, Colum Horan, Mark Baxter, Daniel Perkusic, Gerard Lenihan, Paul Brown, Robert Campbell, Garret Quinless, Dean Clay, Mady Cherit, Michal Plichta, Robert Machin, Berivan Dag, Morten Eriksen, Keith Rolfe...

Robert Godmon, Rob Yong, John Law, Velasco Olalla, Neil Ryder, Neil Raine, Rudy Raveyts, Tom Gallagher, Brendan McNulty, Sven Ellrich, Anthony Faisca, Matthew Eiler-Gadsden, Andrew King, Frank Romanello, Nick Slade, Jose Pereira, Patrice Brandt, Paul McCaffrey, Ben Glanton, Joao Magalhaes, Krzysztof Stuchlik, Val Colleran, Ciaran Burke, Carlos Diaz, Vinny Gavin, Ronan Gilligan, Tamas Fuhl and Rupom Pal. -- NW

6:25pm: Blain doing a Dacey!
Dermot Blain has taken inspiration from Rick Dacey and taken an orbit to get his tournament back on track. --MC

Weeeee 5k to 36k In under an orbit 😎!! #UKIPTDublin

— Dermot Blain (@dermotblain) February 28, 2014

6:17pm: Bluffing for her Sins?
Sin Melin has dropped back to 35,000 after she failed to force Craig Grant off his hand.

The Full Tilt Poker Ambassador fired 1,200 on the flop and 2,075 on the turn before both players checked the river. The final board read [jc][ad][6h][2d][as] and Grant opened [ah][4h] for trips.

Melin looked a little down but at least she has more chips than Elena Stover. Her former neighbour busted recently. -- MC

6:05pm: Chip counts
Here's another round-up of how some of the name's and notables are getting on in UKIPT4 Dublin: Dale Philip (14,000), David Lappin (44,500), Duncan McLellan (48,500), Mick McCloskey (38,000), Dermot Blain (4,900), Gary Clarke (11,300), Nick Wealthall (33,000), Owen Robinson (32,500), Jason Beazley (24,000), Andrew Dwyer (53,000), Lee Jones (47,000), Eldon Orr (27,000), Ian Bruce (18,000), Jamie Dale (13,000)...

Jason Barton (27,000), Joe Grech (24,000), Nick Abou Risk (14,500), Peter Barrable (23,000), Richard Evans (10,000), Ludovich Geilich (34,000), Martins Adeniya (44,500), Sam Holden (42,000), Sarne Lightman (34,000), Simon Hemsworth (15,000), Liv Boeree (15,300), Tom Hall (6,000), Emmett Mullin (19,000), David O'Connor (18,000) Jack Salter (42,000) and Daniel Stacey (65,000). -- NW

5:55pm: Chip leaders
There are lots of big stacks beginning to emerge here on Day 1B. One of those is Max Silver, the UKIPT1 Dublin champion has 80,000 and told me: "I'm running good and I coolered someone with aces against eights on a 9-9-8-A-4 board."

Deboarh Worley-Roberts is another in possession of a big stack, "I had 87,000 but I've only got 75,000 now after losing a flip," she said whilst pulling a sad face. Full Tilt Poker Tour Ambassador Sin Melin has 66,000 but they all trail Ilmari Sukanen, the Finn has 84,000. -- NW

5:50pm: Who dunnit?
There has been a little bit of controversy over on table 6 after marked cards were found for a third time, meaning a third deck change.

Floor man Olivier warned the players over their conduct and that penalties will be handed out if any of them are caught doing.

Veteran player Joe Grech asked his table mates, "Come on, who is it? In 20 years of playing, I've never seen this!" -- MC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 200-400, 50

5:30pm: Adeniya and Dacey Rocking
Martins Adeniya and Rick Dacey are cruising with stacks of 55,000 and 48,000 respectively.

Adeniya is doing his usual thing by bashing up his table left, right and centre.

Dacey on the other hand had to rely on an amazing recovery. He was down to 4,000 after he admitted playing jacks like the journalist he is, before soaring to 48,000 in one orbit of play! -- MC

5:15pm: No invite for Stover and Melin as Higgins gets maximum
Neil Higgins is a happy chappy after finding a great squeeze spot to more than double up.

Joao dos Santos raised to 650 from mid position and was called by Elena Stover (cut-off) and Sin Melin (button) before Higgins moved all in for 5,550. Dos Santos made a quick call and that was enough to see off the two ladies.

Dos Santos: [kh][jd]
Higgins: [jc][js]

The board ran [7d][5s][6h][td][5d] to safely see the jacks hold. -- MC

5pm: Ainsworth going well
Jude Ainsworth is top of the Irish Online Poker Rankings but he's no slouch in the live arena either having racked up almost $700,000 in live tournament winnings over the years. And he's off to a good start here in Dublin.

Just starting level 5, got 42k from 20k starting. 8 levels of play today. #UKIPTDublin

— Jude Ainsworth (@jthaddeus13) February 28, 2014

4:50pm: More than just a Kitt man
Tom Kitt is known to many people on this fair isle as a singer-songwriter; to those in the poker industry he's known as a bit of a shark across the baize. He came third in this very event back in Season 1.

The blog grabbed a quick word with him in the break to see how's he's getting on at his tough table that includes Tom Hall and Dermot Blain.

"You definitely dig a little deeper in the hometown. It was going really well there as I got up to 40k, but I'm back down to 23,000 now.

"My table's pretty good although I have Tom Hall and Dermot sat there. At least they're miles away from me and they're hating life. Tom came in late and he won his first pot just now, which was a blind steal!

"I know how capable those guys are but they're playing pretty tight, and there a good bit of value on the rest of the table, so I'm pretty happy with it overall." -- MC

4:45pm: A catch up with Liv Boeree
On the first break of the day UKIPT Host Nick Wealthall caught up with Liv Boeree. They discussed her recent trip to Australia to play the Aussie Millions and her deep run at UKIPT Edinburgh.

4:41pm: Keep the alternates coming
Alternates continue to take their seats here in Dublin - 70 alternates have been seated thus far - that's because the number of bustouts noticeably picked up during level 4. Among those to be sent to the rail were: Team PokerStars Online's Mickey Petersen, Keith Shannon, Tomasz Wrobel, Robert Finlay, Aaron Fletcher, Mateusz Zbikowski, Charles Leece, Trish Mallin, Kestutis Gecevicius, Jakub Szczotka, Teemu Hietaharju, Ferghal Keane, Chris Derrick, Brendan Keenan, Noel O'Brien, Louis Salter, David La Ronde, David Caffrey, Paul Monaghan, Adam Fallon and Derek Murray are all out.

Cards are back in the air, they'll be a 45-minute dinner break at the end of level six. -- NW

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Dublin: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Danny Maxwell.

"Why does this still seem like gambling to you? I mean, why do you think the same five guys make it to the final table of the World Series of Poker every single year? What, are they the luckiest guys in Las Vegas? It's a skill game, Jo."

The above is a classic quote from the cult poker movie Rounders and if you replaced World Series of Poker with UKIPT Dublin then you could very well be talking about Max Silver. For the Brit has made the final table of the UKIPT Dublin Main Event in two out of his three attempts, winning it in Season 1 and finishing fourth in Season 2. On the solitary occasion he didn't final table, he busted out during Day 2 last season, he put his unexpected free time to good use by finishing runner-up in the High Roller side event.

Tonight Silver finds himself in a familiar position staring down on the field from the summit of the chip counts. Silver was also in the lead at the conclusion of Day 1 of UKIPT2 Dublin and at the end of play today he bagged up a monstrous 311,700 chips, some 207,300 more than Day 1A chip leader Noel McMahon. His stack is, as far as we can tell, a UKIPT Main Event record for the end of a Day 1. All the more impressive when you consider that he had just eight levels to amass his, whereas Marcin Milde (278,700, UKIPT3 Nottingham) and Sam MacDonald (260,100, UKIPT2 Nottingham) had 11 levels to build their impressive hauls.

As to how Silver got his chips today, "I played well and ran better," he told PokerStars Blog. It's a potent combination in the hands of someone as skilled as Silver. He was down to 8,000 after two levels but had over 80,000 by level five. He coolered an opponent with aces against eights, on a [9][8][8][A][4] board, with most of the chips going in on the river.

But it was late in the day when Silver really went to town, going from that stack to over 300,000 in less than two hours. He got one boost by eliminating David Lappin in a four-bet pot. Silver flopped a set of jacks on an all heart flop, Lappin held the [Ah] but missed his draw on the turn and river. Silver then took Thomas Dunwoodie's six-figure stack in short order over a triumvirate of hands. The denouement is that Silver has nearly eight times the current average stack and if he maintained his stack he'd still have the average with 44 players remaining. His lead of 167,800 over Marc Kennedy (143,900), who is second in chips, is bigger than Kennedy's stack!

The second starting flight of UKIPT4 Dublin was a sell out and by the time over 80 alternates had been seated the field topped out at 456. Add them to the 226 who played Day 1A and you get a total field of 682, creating a prize pool of €463,078. From that pot, a total of €87,700 is reserved for the winner, anyone making Monday's final table will be guaranteed €8,748 and 103 players will cash for a minimum of €1,250. You can see the entire payout structure here.

And Silver wasn't the only one to amass more than the Day 1A chip leader as: Ludovic Geilich (138,900), James Young (129,400), Deborah Worley-Roberts (108,800), Ilmari Sukanen, (133,800) and Robert Schulz, (141,200) all proved B stood for bigger.

A number of members from Team PokerStars Pro, Team PokerStars Online and Full Tilt Poker Ambassadors took to the felt today, with mixed results. All three Full Tilt Poker Ambassadors made it through, Sin Melin ended the day with 37,400, Martins Adeniya bagged up 50,300, whilst Dermot Blain has the most work to do tomorrow as he'll start on 22,500.

However, for those wearing the Red Spade the day was not so profitable. Only Dale Philip progressed and the fact that the Scotsman's head was on the felt at the end of the day tells its own story. At least the Scotsman will be back, but he's got a below average 26,775. A profit is a profit though and what Liv Boeree, Jake Cody, and Mickey Petersen would give for that stack right now.

Petersen and Cody busted early on. Cody called off his stack on an ace high board with ace-jack, despite sensing he was beat. He was right as his opponent - Kasper Linneman - had ace-king. He'll be back for the High Roller tomorrow and you suspect Petersen and Boeree might well join him.

Numerous Rational Group employees took advantage of the fact that they were, for only the second time ever, allowed to play in a UKIPT Main Event. PokerStars Head of Poker Communications Lee Jones was one such person who temporarily gave up the day job for a shot at a poker title.

Wait, what? That's right, I'm playing #ukipt Dublin tomorrow. My first @PokerStars event ever. pic.twitter.com/MCRMhp9MqG

— Lee Jones (@leehjones) February 27, 2014

And despite running pocket kings into Cody's quad sevens early on he recovered and ended the day on a very healthy 95,800. Among the employees who'll be joining him on Day 2 will be PokerStars Head of PR Michael Josem (61,600) and PokerStars Blog Staff Writer Rick Dacey (38,600).

Other big names to progress to Day 2 include:

Kevin Killeen - 61,200
Owen Robinson - 43,300
Jack Salter - 65,700
Mick McCloskey - 68,700
Tom Hall - 62,700
Duncan McLellan - 21,300
Sam Holden, 15,900

Whilst the likes of Joe Grech, Nick Abou Risk, Jude Ainsworth and Richard Evans will all have to wait until UKIPT4 Nottingham for another shot at a UKIPT Main Event. Everyone else left in, including Silver, will have to negotiate Day 2 and 3 before they can even think about winning the title.

To catch up with all today's explosive action click here and here. The Day 2 seat draw can be viewed here, whilst the start of Day 2 chip counts can be perused by clicking right here. We'll be back tomorrow from noon as will UKIPT Host Nick Wealthall who was 'multi-tabling' today by playing and doing his usual gig of recording some UKIPT videos. He finished the day on 55,400 and below you can see one such video, in which Wealthall takes you through his Day 1.

All photos are copyright of Danny Maxwell. You can see his Day 1B gallery here.

4:15pm: End of the level
We're halfway though Day 2 so the players are now on a 15 minute break. You'll find level 13 updates in a new post. -- NW

4:05pm: League of Nations
The 682 entrants to UKIPT4 Dublin came from a total of 37 different countries. It's no surprise that United Kingdom (240) and Ireland (237) contributed the most players. After them Germany (26), Poland (23) and Netherlands (23) round out the top five. The full breakdown is as below:

United Kingdom - 240
Ireland - 237
Germany - 26
Netherlands - 23
Poland - 23
Lithuania - 13
Norway - 12
Spain - 12
Isle of Man - 9
Italy - 9
Belgium - 7
United States - 7
Denmark - 6
Portugal - 6
Czech Republic - 5
Hungary - 5
Finland - 4
France - 4
Slovakia - 4
Austria - 3
Canada - 3
Israel - 3
Romania - 3
Sweden - 3
Croatia - 2
Australia - 1
Brazil - 1
Greece - 1
Iceland - 1
Malta - 1
Russian Federation - 1
Slovenia - 1
Switzerland - 1
Turkey - 1
Ukraine - 1
United Arab Emirates - 1
Venezuela - 1

A Venezuelan UKIPT winner has a nice ring to it. -- NW

3:50pm: Jones can't keep up with Salickas
Sad news as another Rational Group staff member has been sent to the rail, this time Lee Jones is the man to fall.

PokerStars Head of Poker Communications open shoved for 47,800 from under-the-gun+1, it looked for all the world that he was going to get it through as one by one the players folded round to Vytenis Salickas in the big blind.

The Lithuanian, who had roughly 65,000, thought it over and then made the call, showdown time!

Jones: [7d][7h]
Salickas: [9h][9d]

The [10h][2s][6c][4h][5c] board kept Salickas in front and Jones wished the table good luck as he left. -- NW

3:45pm: Back to being Debs the Destroyer; busts Adeniya
She was firing blanks earlier but Deborah Worley-Roberts reloaded and fired to eliminate Martins Adeniya.

She raised off the button before the Full Tilt Poker Ambassador three-bet to 27,000, leaving himself with just 100 chips behind. Worley-Roberts called with ace-queen to see an ace-ten-rag flop.

Adeniya check-called all in for his last 100 chips with queen-jack and missed the Broadway draw. Worley-Roberts moved up to 120,000. -- MC

3:30pm: Max Power
During the first break in play UKIPT Host Nick Wealthall caught up with runaway chip leader Max Silver.

3:25pm: Bust outs bring us closer to the bubble
Whilst the bubble isn't in plain sight just yet, if you squint a bit and look in the rear view mirror it's just about visible.

That's because 153 players remain and 103 players will make the money. Among those who've facilitated this tournament being just 50 places off paying are: Nicholas Gavriel, Mick Graydon, Andrew Dwyer, Paul Van Oort, Stephen McGrath and Day 1A chip leader Noel McMahon as they're all out. -- NW

Blinds up: 1,000/2,000, ante 300

3:20pm: Chip counts
Here are some chip counts of the name's and notables left in the field:

Cat Taylor - 50,000
Deborah Worley-Roberts - 75,000
Dermot Blain - 30,000
Ed Gascoigne - 127,000
Jack Salter - 110,000
James Young - 42,000
Kevin Killeen - 120,000
Lee Jones - 100,000
Mathias Puzich - 91,000
Mick McCloskey - 157,000
Nick Wealthall - 70,000
Sin Melin - 29,000
Steve Jelinek - 161,000
Tim Chung - 155,000

3:15pm: Silver and friends at the top
Max Silver is still the chip leader with around 440,000. Here's how the top five round out:

Daniel Stacey - 290,000
Michael Naughton - 260,000
Dirk Thijssen - 240,000
Robert Schulz - 190,000

Also worth noting is that father and son team, Ian and Ed Gascoigne, are doing well. Ian (130k) made the point he's catching up with his son (Ed- 135k)! -- MC

3:10pm: Davey doubles through Geilich
I joined the action on a [3d][10s][4s] flop, Ludovic Geilich fired out a bet of 7.700, Daragh Davey then moved all-in for 36,200 and Geilich made the call.

Geilich: [Qc][Qh]
Davey: [Ad][Ac]

The [3h] turn and [7c] river completed the board, "nice hand," said Geilich. Davey is up to 80,000 -- NW

3:05pm: Chuck chucked out
They'll be no final table repeat in Dublin for Rational Group Employee Chuck Fabian. He finished second to Joeri Zandlivet in Season 2.

#UKIPTDublin QQ < AA. At least I lost to another member of Dublin staff. Good Luck!

— C. Fabian (@ChuckFabian) March 1, 2014

3pm: Stacey stacking up again
Daniel Stacey has already made two deep runs during Season 4 of the UKIPT (11th UKIPT London and 6th UKIPT Isle of Man) and with 230,000 he's got almost three times the average here in Dublin.

He got to that lofty height by eliminating Mark James in a pot worth almost 70,000. Marc Kennedy opened to 3,500, James then moved all-in for what looked like 29,000. It folded round to Stacey who slid out 50,000 (10x blue 5k chips), Kennedy asked if it was a raise and it was ruled as one. "I meant to flat call if it helps your decision," said Stacey. After some thinking Kennedy folded (pocket jacks he claimed) and it was time for showdown.

Stacey: [Kc][Kh]
James: [Ah][Qh]

The board ran [8s][2d][4c][Jc][10d] and on the turn Kennedy said: "that's me." Pot to Stacey and he's up with the chip leaders now. -- NW

2:50pm: Kevin Kileen-ing up

About 150k now after Kk to aj all in pre. #UKIPTDublin

— Kevin Killeen (@killeenkevin18) March 1, 2014

2:45pm: Debs the destroyer firing blanks
Deborah Worley-Roberts is back down to 85,000 after she emptied the clip Sean Flood and failed to find a lethal shot.

Flood played the hand very passively but it worked for a full double up. He called from the big blind when Worley-Roberts raised from under the gun.

The board ran out [2c][ts][7s][6h][kc] and Worley-Roberts bet 4,100, 5,200 and 18,800 on each street. The 18,800 bet was the last of Flood's chips and he called them off with [ac][7h] after some thought.

It was good as a surprised Worley-Roberts mucked her hand whilst saying, "You're a mini hero, aren't you?" -- MC

2:30pm: Over a hundred out in the first two levels
A massive 103 players busted out during the opening two levels, 55 in level 9 and a further 48 in level 10. Some of the notables who just failed to make the first break of the day were: Ian Bruce, Andy Black, Tim Boyle, Robbie Bull and Eldon Orr. -- NW

2:24pm: Poker - a zero sum game
Plenty of tweets during the break from players still in the tournament. Some are up after two hours, others are down. Here's a selection:

400k going into 1600bb. Avg is 65k #UKIPTDublin

— Max Silver (@max_silver) March 1, 2014

Kicked off day 2 of #UKIPTDublin with 50k. Lost every pot for 1st two levels so down to grinding 10bb

— Martins Adeniya (@AceKingMartins) March 1, 2014

Didn't play many hands first 2 levels today. Did win all the ones I did play so 44k now #UKIPTDublin

— Dara O'Kearney (@daraokearney) March 1, 2014

Blinds up: 800/1,600, ante 200

2:02pm: Break time
That's the first two levels of the day done with, to celebrate the 207 remaining players have been let out to play for 15 minutes. Bagsy the swings. -- NW

2pm: Six-pack
Despite the exits of Robbie Bull and Duncan McLellan earlier today there are still six UKIPT Main Event champions left in the mix here on Day 2.
Whilst the exploits of Max Silver - who's the current chip leader with over 400,000 - have been well documented - let's take a look at the other five are getting on.

Ludovic Geilich came into today with almost 140,000 and he's increased his stack to 170,000 whilst Joeri Zandvliet is up to 120,000 from a start of day 81,100.
Sam Razavi is also a member of the six-figure club as he's got 105,000, which is a massive increase from the 24,400 that he began Day 2 with.

Thomas Finneran has 65,000, more than double the 27,500 he started with and Dean Hutchison has 54,000 which is a slight increase on the 51,500 he bought into Day 2. -- NW

1:55pm: Hall can't be shifted
Tom Hall couldn't be shifted off a hand and his stance helped his stack rise to 115,000.

He was in the big blind and defended after an early position raise from the big-stacked Robert Schulz. The German bet the flop and bombed the turn before both checked the river. The final board read [9h][8d][8c][3c][5s] and Hall opened [js][9s] for two pair. It was good as Schulz mucked to drop to 175,000. -- MC

1:48pm: All pots count for Robinson
When you're short stacked, every pot counts. Just ask Owen Robinson.

He opened to 2,400 from the hijack and was called in three spots en route to a [4s][js][kd] flop. All four checked, as they also did on the [7h] turn. Robinson bet 5,000 on the [ah] river and picked up one caller.

Robinson opened [as][Jc] for two pair and took the pot to move up to 37,000. -- MC

1:40pm: Petersen one of the High Rollers
The Main Event isn't the only tournament taking place right now as the €2,200 High Roller got underway at noon. It's a single re-entry event and thus far it's attracted 24 entrants, including six who got in via a satellite last night.

One of those to hop in is Team PokerStars Online's Mickey Petersen. He's at the same table as Robbie Bull and Adrian Mateos. Whilst we've also spotted Dean Lyall and Simon Hemsworth in the field. -- NW

Busted #UKIPTDublin Main Event so jumped in the 2k HR, nice field and love the structure! Got @Amadi_17 at my table, should be fun!

— Mickey Petersen (@mickeydp) March 1, 2014

1:30pm: Level 1 bust outs
There were a total of 55 eliminations during the opening level of the day, we've already reported the first spate (see 12.15pm post) but can now tell you that: Edward Tombs, Robert Molloy, Duncan McLellan, Inaki Santos, Paul Fowler, Ciarian Cooney, Steven McKenzie, Garry Hughes, Kristian Sehstedt, Colin Fitzgibbon, Adrian Smith, Alex Jobling, Peter Barrable, Michael Rossiter, Juan Roig, Dale Philip, Gary Robb, David Lyness...

Luigi Knoppers, Krzysztof Zakrzewski, Gerry Glynn, Shaun Hegarty, James Glossop, Toby Woolard, Sean O'Neill, Mateusz Warowiec, Dawid Paczka, Matthew Willis, Javed Ullah, Danny McHugh, Richard Pearson, Paul Keogh, Steve O'Dwyer, David Scully, Sam Holden, Birger Rasmussen, Michal Havavka, Conor Blain, Philip Plunkett, David Tierney, Michael Grimley, Marcel Wachter, Julius Schneider and Ambrose Travers are also out.

234 runners remain and the average stack is 57,000. -- NW

1:25pm: Dominated Dacey departs
Rational Group employee Rick Dacey's UKIPT Main Event adventure had come to an end. He was rather unlucky to run into two big, dominating, hands either side of him.

Timothy Chung opened from the hijack before Dacey three-bet all in for 24,000 from the button. Yiannis Liperis was in the small blind and just cold called the shove. Chung wasn't in the same mood and shoved behind. Call.

Dacey's king-queen was in a world of trouble against Liperis' big slick and Chung's pocket queens and the board ran blank. -- MC

1:10pm: The saddest man in the room
I'm not sure the PokerStars Blog has ever witnessed a man so unhappy to have doubled up in a poker tournament. Take a bow Michael Kettiros, he hasn't been to bed yet and clearly wants to get there!

He is sitting there with hood up and sunglasses on trying to shut out the world. He open shoved for 41,600 with [Ac][Jh] and sat there stoically not following the action. A few seats round Noel McMahon made the call and when the dealer instructed Kettiros to turn his cards over he said: "Did I get a call?" Informed that he did, he turned his hand over and saw that he was in bad shape against McMahon's pocket kings.

The [2c][Ah][Ac] flop gave Kettiros the lead, "You're sh****g me," said an excitable Kettiros. The board ran out [8c][10h] and Kettiros said: "I should be happy, but I'm not," as he collected his chips. He's up to 85,000 whilst McMahon, who was the Day 1 chip leader is down to 70,000. -- NW

1:02pm: Day 2 introduction with Nick Wealthall
Before Day 2 got underway UKIPT Host Nick Wealthall set the scene.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 6,00-1,200, 200

1pm: McLellan shoved into Jelinek's straight flush to bust
Duncan McLellan's Day 2 ride has come to an after an eventful first level. Steve Jeinek and Igor Wilk were also in the hand, the former being the player who scopped the lot with a straight flush.

The turn was out and the board read [kc][td][8d][9d]. Jelinek led for 4,500 from the big blind before McLellan shoved for 49,000. Wilk called the shoved and then called off the extra when Jelinek shoved for 66,000.

Jelinek: [6d][7d] for a straight flush.
McLellan: [ad][Js] for the nut flush draw and open ended straight draw.
Wilk: [kd][7s] for a worse flush and straight draw.

McLellan and Wilk were both drawing dead rendering the [9s] river meaningless. Wilk was left with 70,000. -- MC

12:55pm: Dale done and dusted
With a below average stack of 26,800 to start the day it was always going to be a case of trying, rather than hoping, to get back on parity for Team PokerStars Online's Dale Philip. Well the sole remaining player flying the Red Spade tried, but sadly failed.

Busted #UKIPTDublin. @entim raised the button, I shoved 24BBs with 97s, he called and held w/ 88. Happy with play, disappointed with result.

— Dale Philip (@Daleroxxu) March 1, 2014

12:45pm: Respect your elders
Dara O'Kearney is not your typical 'older' poker player. The former ultrarunning champion who describes himself as an 'old guy who clicks buttons' clicks them pretty well for an 'old guy'. He was the UKIPT3 Online Qualifier of the year and is currently ranked inside the top 10 in the Irish Online Poker Rankings and inside the top 20 in the Irish Live Poker Rankings. So perhaps fear, rather the respect is better terminology.

Old guy on my table just cold 4 bet shoved. Two snap folds. Up to 35k #oldmandoke #UKIPTDublin

— Dara O'Kearney (@daraokearney) March 1, 2014

12:40pm: Dutch courage goes unrewarded
When we heard that a player wanted to speak to a blogger about a bad beat that had ended his UKIPT4 Dublin Main Event we metaphorically rolled our eyes, if you've heard one bad beat story (we've heard a thousand) you've heard them all.

Turns out our cynicism was unfounded as Pieter van den Hoogen - a Dutchman who qualified for just €22 - had a quite wonderful story to share. And true to stereotypes he wasn't foaming at the mouth, but totally chilled about what had happened.

"So very first hand of today Duncan McLellan, the guy who won Isle of Man shoves from under-the-gun+1 for 26 big blinds, I'm next to act and look down at queens. I think for about 30 seconds, it's the first hand after all, and then move all-in. He has [8h][4c] and the flop comes 4-4-2!"

After that brutal beat Van den Hoogen was left with six thousand. "The very next hand McLellan shoves again! I have ace-queen so it's easy to commit my last six thousand, he had 9-8. The first card that the dealer shows on the flop is a queen, but then it comes eight-nine and I'm out!"

The Dutchman intimated that he'll probably come back for the €330 Dublin Cup which starts at 6pm tonight. You can see the entire UKIPT Dublin schedule here. -- NW

12:35pm: New day, same Max Silver
Max Silver is a sick man. That was meant in the best possible way though. He had a rail of Steve O'Dywer and Sam Holden as he dismantled two opponents (one eliminated) and moved up to around 420,000.

Silver raised to 2,000 from under the gun and was called by Edward Gascoigne two seats along before Javed Ullah squeezed to 4,200 off the button. The raise was small enough to tempt both opponents into calling.

The flop fell [4h][as][9s] and Ullah continued for 6,800. Silver check-raised the bet up to 16,700 but failed to shift either opponent as both called. On the [tc] turn Silver moved all in.

Gascoigne tanked for a few minutes before deciding to fold and preserve the 70,000 or so he had remaining, but Ullah called all in for around 63,000 after thinking for a good while as well.

Silver: [td][9d] for a turned two pair.
Ullah: [ad][qc] for top pair.

The board completed with the [3d] and Ullah was gone. -- MC

12:25pm: Holden and O'Dwyer Depart
There was no comeback for either Sam Holden or Steve O'Dwyer.

Holden ran ace-nine right into an opponent holding aces and O'Dwyer lost a flip when his tens couldn't stay ahead of ace-king. -- MC

12:20pm: Table of Doom

28, 1, Ambrose Travers, United Kingdom, 25,500
28, 2, Joeri Zandvliet, Netherlands, PokerStars qualifier, 81,100
28, 3, Stefan Ebinger, Germany, Rational Group staff, 48,000
28, 4, Thomas Hall, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, 62,700
28, 5, Remco Gerlach, Netherlands, PokerStars qualifier, 10,300
28, 6, Timothy Boyle, Ireland, PokerStars player, 87,800
28, 7, Dale Philip, United Kingdom, PokerStars player, 26,800
28, 8, Daniel Stacey, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, 53,600
28, 9, Michael Josem, Isle of Man, Rational Group staff, 61,600

That's a pretty sick line-up given that it contains Joeri Zandvliet (two-time UKIPT champion), Tom Hall (UKIPT3 leader board champion and recent 10th place finisher at the PCA), Dale Philip (Team PokerStars Online), Daniel Stacey (sixth place finisher UKIPT4 Isle of Man) and Michael Josem (PokerStars Head of PR). -- NW

12:15pm: Seat Open
Players are busting out at a rate of knots at the start of Day 2. At least one table has already been closed as 11 players were knocked out in the opening 10 minutes. They were: Philip Gildea, Chris Murray, Dariusz Paszkiewicz, Henry Port, Scott Gray, Pieter van den Hoogen, Tony Ranis, Karl Murphy, Ricardo Da Fonseca, Sam Grafton and Brian Holland. -- NW

Bust #UKIPTDublin 2nd hand of Day 2 A5<AK.

— Sam Grafton (@SquidPoker) March 1, 2014

12:05pm: Gray one of the first to go
The legendary Scott Gray was one of the first to exit on Day 2 here in Dublin, he shoved with [Ad][2d] for around 14 big blinds and ran into the pocket eights of Gerry Glynn and got no help from the community cards. -- NW

12:01pm: Shuffle up and deal!
Cards are in the air for Day 2. The plan for today is to play eight levels, meaning play should finish around 9pm. That's just in time for the party then! -- MC

11:50am: Silver starts Day 2 in the gold position
Welcome back to Day 2 of the PokerStars.com UKIPT Dublin. For the first time in the Main Event all remaining players are in action together and the race to make the money is on.

Max Silver starts the day as a massive chip leader with 311,700, more than double what Marc Kennedy had in second position. There are still 309 players remaining and their main focus will to still be alive when 103 players remain. Do that and you'll be in the money and guaranteed €1,250 for less than two days work.

Dale Philip is flying solo for the red spade on Day 2 but Full Tilt Poker is still being well represented by Tour Ambassadors Sin Melin, Dermot Blain and Martins Adeniya. Rational Group employees still in the hunt include Lee Jones, Rick Dacey, Chuck Fabian, Michael Josem and Roger Lu.

Cards will be in the air at midday.

9.05pm: Day 2 is in the books
Day 2 is over, in eight levels of play today 309 players have been reduced to just 54. The players have been through the bubble and out the other side. Best placed heading into Day 3 will be Daniel Stacey. He'll take 806,000 into tomorrow and will be looking to improve on his sixth place finish at UKIPT4 Isle of Man. Max Silver, who was the start of day chip leader, is in second place with 602,000.

There are a ton of other great players still in the mix too, with the likes of Thomas Finneran, Joeri Zandvliet, Tom Hall, Dean Hutchison, Daragh Davey and Jack Salter still in contention. We'll be back at noon for live coverage of Day 3 and a wrap of the day's play is on the way. -- NW

8:45pm: Final five
The clock has been paused and five more hands will be played before Day 2 is a wrap. -- NW

8:40pm: Late in the day double ups
Two players have, momentarily at least, dodged the hangman's noose as they were all-in but survived.

First to feel the sweet relief of having their hand hold up was Dirk Thijssen, the Rational Group Staff member had [Qs][Qd] and got it in on, I think, the turn against James Daly's pocket sevens. The reason for all the action was clear as the board was [Qh][6h][7c][Kc] at this point. So Daly had one out and he didn't hit it on the [Ac] river, he drops to 43,000 whilst Thijssen is up to 175,000.

Meanwhile Robert Vishnudatt had committed his final 91,500 on a [4d][2s][5c] flop with [Ah][4h]. Jack Salter had put him at risk, he had [Qc][3s] for an open-ended straight draw. The pair held though as the [Jc] and [2d] completed the board. -- NW

8:30pm: Chip counts
There's just over 30 minutes left to play and here are the chip counts of some of the 62 players that are still in: Dirk Thijssen (105,000), Deborah Worley-Roberts (78,000), Kevin Killeen (440,000), Nick Newport (80,000), Max Silver (555,000), Ludovic Geilich (165,000), Jack Salter (360,000), Dean Hutchison (330,000), Ian Gascoigne (100,000), Dara O'Kearney (88,000), Tom Hall (95,000) and Joeri Zandvliet (160,000). -- NW

8:20pm: Stacey staying on top
It's going to take something pretty special for Daniel Stacey to not convert his massive chip stack into the overnight chip lead. He's now up to around 800,000 after eliminating Michael Kettiros.

The Blog only caught the river action but with a complete board of [6d][5s][5c][2c][Ac] on the felt Kettiros bet 50,000, Stacey set him in for roughly 140,000 total and Kettiros called it off. First to show was Stacey, he opened [6s][6h] for a full-house, Kettiros couldn't better it but was obliged to show his hand which was [Ad][10d]. -- NW

8:16pm: Taste of Salter for Silver
Jack Salter moved up to 335,000 in chips after he made a straight in a hand versus former chip leader, Max Silver.

Silver raised off the button and Salter peeled from the big blind to see a [jd][9s][qs] flop appear. Silver continued for 10,100 and called when Salter check-raised to 30,000. Salter led out for 32,500 on the [th] turn and Silver called before both checked the [7h] river.

Salter opened [kd][tc] for a straight. Silver dropped to 430,000 and said it could've been a lot worse as he held top two pair. -- MC

8:12pm: High Roller update
Just seven players remain in the €2,000 UKIPT4 Dublin High Roller. That means it's bubble time! Amongst those still in contention are Team PokerStars Online's Mickey Petersen, Simon Hemsworth and Dean Lyall. The latter just doubled up to 110,000 when his pocket sixes held up against pocket threes. That takes Lyall above the average of 97,000.

They all trail Craig Timmis though as he's the chip leader. -- NW

8pm: One in, one out
Martin Gallagher survived an all-in against Daragh Davey but to be fair, he had the best of it. He was all-in for 78,000 with [Ac][As] and up against Davey's pocket eights. The bullets were not dodged as the board ran [4s][6c][Qg][9s][9h].

However, there was no reprieve for Robert McCormack, he shoved for 52,000 with [Ah][5d] but ran smack into Stephen Lovatt's [As][Qc]. The [9h][Ac][9d][4c][3c] board kept Lovatt in front. -- NW

Blinds up: 2,500/5,000, ante 500

7:55pm: Razavi the raconteur
UKIPT2 Cork champion Sam Razavi used to be an actor before turning to poker. So he's pretty comfortable in front of a camera. As you'll see if you watch this video with him in which he discusses living and playing poker in Asia.

7:50pm: Wealthall whamboozled
Sound the sad face klaxon, UKIPT Host Nick Wealthall has been eliminated from the tournament. He told me: "I three-bet jammed with jacks for 14 big blinds, my opponent called with pocket sevens and a seven came on the river." -- NW

7:45pm: Payouts so far
The payout page will be updated as and when the information is received. Check out the finishers so far:

88th. Gerard Morgan, United Kingdom - €1,340
89th. Antonis Poulengeris, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier - €1,340
90th. Colin Lovelock, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier - €1,340
91st. Brian Warren, Ireland - €1,340
92nd. Kathleen Padovani , United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier - €1,340
93rd. Edward Gascoigne, United Kingdom - €1,340
94th. Philipp Teipel, Germany, PokerStars qualifier - €1,340
95th. Ilmari Sukanen, Finland, PokerStars qualifier - €1,340

96th. Rory Brennan, Ireland, PokerStars player - €1,250
97th. David Crilly, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier - €1,250
98th. Giacomini Carlo, Italy - €1,250
99th. Darren Burns, United Kingdom - €1,250
110th. John Hanaphy, Ireland - €1,250
101st. Andrew Brennan, Ireland, PokerStars player - €1,250
102nd. Marcin Kreft, Poland, PokerStars qualifier - €1,250
103rd. Adrian Old, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier - €1,250

7:35pm: A pow-wow with Petersen
Earlier today UKIPT Host Nick Wealthall caught up with Mickey Petersen. The Dane busted out of the Main Event but is playing the High Roller.

7:30pm: Double up for Craigie
With a [3h][2h][Kd] flop on the felt Kerry Jane Craigie re-raised all-in for 72,500 total and Harry Johan Rutten made the call.

Craigie: [Ks][Js]
Rutten: [Ah][Jh]

"Hold," said Craigie as the dealer burned and turned and hold she did as the [7d] and [2d] completed the board. -- NW

7:15pm: Top stacks from the break
Daniel Stacey - 685,000
Max Silver - 437,000
Jonathan McCann - 375,000
Declan Barker - 330,000
Stefan Ebinger - 328,000
Esben Guenther - 300,000
Svein Eidseter - 280,000
Kevin Killeen - 270,000
--MC

7:10pm: One double up, one time to go home
Plenty of all-in and calls from the floor to tell you about.

Robert Schulz moved all-in for 33,000 with [Kd][Jh], Gregory Hayles flat called, only for another player to move all-in for 220,000 total with pocket aces. Back on Hayles he tanked for an eternity, he then moved his cards towards the betting line, drew back his index finger to fold and...dragged his cards back to take one more look. He then folded.

The [9h][2d][10s][Jc][Kc] board meant Schulz hit runner-runner to stay alive.

However, Gerard Morgan was not so lucky, he shoved for 20,000 with [Ks][9d] from the button but couldn't stay ahead of Adrian O'Donoghue's [Jd][5s] on a [8d][6h][2c][10s][JS] board.

90 players remain. -- NW

7:05pm: The grinder tales with Rory Rees
The scenario: You come into Day 2 of a tournament with fewer than nine big blinds and know that around 200 players have to bust before the money is made. Someone offers you the chance to min cash. Would you take that offer?

Of course you would as more than 95% of the time you'll bust without making the money.

Rory Rees was that man (there was no offer though) and he managed to turn that 5% chance into a min cash. The blog caught up with the happy/relieved Rees just after he busted.

"I came in third last in the whole field and wasn't expecting much, I was more looking forward to going out tonight. I tripled up a couple of times and doubled up a couple of times to hang around, but the whole time I never had more than 20 big blinds.

"I managed to squeeze in (the money) with 10k and busted a couple of hands after that. It was a grind of a day!

"I'm going to the PokerStars party tonight and hopefully I'll still be out tomorrow!" -- MC

6:40pm: End of level 14
Six levels down, two more to go. The players are now on a 20 minute break. -- NW

6:35pm: In the money tweets
You can feel the release of tension in the room now that the bubble has burst. Many players have put that expunging of nervous energy to good use by summing up their excitement about being in the money here in Dublin. And they've done it in 140 characters or less the clever things.

480k in the money of #UKIPTDublin. Average is 130k

— Max Silver (@max_silver) March 1, 2014

Weeee. ITM in UKIPT Main for 6th time of last 8. Now time to spin 17 bbs. 5 out of 6 Firmys cashing pretty sweet too #UKIPTDublin

— Dara O'Kearney (@daraokearney) March 1, 2014

ITM in UKIPT Dublin. Time to spin 20BB. GL all still in. #UKIPTDublin #grinding

— pokerpiper (@pokerpiper) March 1, 2014

6:30pm: Finneran survives the bubble
UKIPT Cork Champion Thomas Finneran was debating whether or not to call all in on the bubble from the big blind after Andrew Brennan had moved all in, with 1,100 more chips, from mid position.

He knew there was another all in, and luckily for him, it was at the table behind his seat enabling him to see that two players had called Tim Chung's shove. He liked those odds and made the call for 41,400.

By the time the cards were turned up, Finneran new he was safely into the money.

Finneran: [ac][kc]
Brennan: [ks][qc]

The board ran [7c][jc][jd][8h][th].

That left Brennan with fumes and he busted the next hand. -- MC

6:22pm: Tim Chung bubbles UKIPT4 Dublin
There was no way back for Tim Chung after his kings into aces accident (see below). He moved all-in from the button for 17,000 and picked up calls from Charlotte Gouldsborough (small blind - stack of 77,000 total) and Padraig Burns (big blind - stack of 63,000 total).

There was a pause whilst the other tables finished their hands, Chung was the coolest customer in the building and he was getting a massage to boot. The [3c][6d][Qc] flop was checked through and the [Jc] fell on the turn, when checked to, Burns bet 10,000.

"Really? Really?" said Gouldsborough, incredulous that Burns had bet into a dry side pot. Regardless, she made the call and the [4s] hit the river. Both players checked it down, Burns showed first - [Jh][Js] - for the turned set. "I didn't want you to hit a club," he said as Gouldsborough showed [Ac][10d], Chung meanwhile had [As][4c] and couldn't improve on Burns' holding.

As a result everyone left in is in the money or were they? There was another all-in at another table...details on that coming right up. -- NW

6:15pm: Cooler on the bubble helps Ebinger
Rational Group employee Stefan Ebinger won't have to face the office on Monday morning as the bubble boy after he survived an all in scare.

It was an inevitable cooler as he had aces in the small blind and Tim Chung had kings in the big blind. Chung three-bet called off the large (148k) shove.

The board ran [ac][5s][8c][9h][ts] to make Ebinger top set. -- MC

6pm: Bubble time!
UKIPT Dublin is on the bubble after the elimination of Cathal Shine.

Hand-for-hand play will progress until one more player busts. -- MC

5:50pm: Melin one of those to soft bubble
Full Tilt Poker Ambassador Sin Melin was one of those to bust agonisingly close to the money.

Just busted 8 off the money gutted :( #UKIPTDublin

— Sin menis Melin (@SinTheMenis) March 1, 2014

Others to suffer the same fate include: Fergal Cawley, Noel Murphy, Bryan Napier and Jason Foran. -- NW

5:40pm: 106 remain, 103 get paid
The dealers are being asked to announce all-in and calls now as the bubble is so close. There haven't been many yet and the ones that have occurred have gone the way of the short stacks.

Michael Kettiros has over 200,000 after coolering Ilmari Sukanen, the former led for 25,000 on the river of a [jh][10d][8s][8d][Ks] board, Sukanen set him in for 85,200 total and Kettiros called. He showed pocket eights for 'just quads' whilst Sukanen had [Ac][Qc] for the rivered straight. The Finn is down to 85,000 as a result.

And Philipp Teipel doubled up his micro stack to a short stack when he shoved for 11,300 with pocket jacks and got called by an opponent with [Ac][8h]. A [10c][8s][4s][4h][7c] board made him sweat but he held on to double. -- NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 1,500-3,000, 400

5:35pm: Cruel end for Razavi
Daniel Stacey started today with 53,600 chips but has more than half a million after he eliminated an unlucky Sam Razavi.

Razavi opened from the button and Stacey called from the small blind to see a [qd][7c][ac] flop fall. Razavi bet 5,000 there and 18,400 on the 2h turn, with Stacey calling both times.

The board completed with the [3c] and Stacey set Razavi all in for his last 50-60k. Razavi called, stood up, flashed [ad][ah] for top set, said nice hand and threw his cards at the muck all within three seconds before making his exit.

He new he was beat but had to call. Stacey opened [kc][jc] for the nut flush and scooped. -- MC

5:20pm: Josem ready to party after busting
When you see a player sat alone at an empty table when he's supposed to be in the tournament, you now the news in not good.

PokerStars Head of PR Michael Josem was that man. He told the Blog he busted after he opened off 25 big blinds with ace-ten from mid position. The most active player at the table three-bet off the button and Josem put his foot down and shoved. That time the player in question had ace-king and the board ran blank.

Josem will make the most of the evening and attend the players party happening later on this.-- MC

5:15pm: Exits
The bubble is oh so close as 112 players remain and 103 will get paid. Recent exits include: Aleksandras Voisnis, Con Collins, Sean Flood, Roy Burns, Allister Neill, Mathias Puzich, Cat Taylor, Craig Grant, Paul Delaney and Niall Larkin. -- NW

5:10pm: Will the Flood gates open for Worley-Roberts?
Deborah Worley-Roberts and Sean Flood have been having a right old ding-dong of a battle today. The former got the last word though work after a cooler of a hand.

"Aces versus ace-king suited," was how Worley-Roberts described it. "All pretty standard."

That left Flood with 1,000 chips and he was out soon after. Worley-Roberts moved back up to 106,000. -- MC

4:55pm: Some chip counts
A few chip counts as the bubble approaches: Thomas Finneran (78,000), Tom Hall (160,000), Joeri Zandvliet (145,000), Ludovic Geilich (138,000), Sam Razavi (78,000), Dean Hutchison (95,000), Nick Wealthall (90,000), Sin Melin (46,000), Dara O'Kearney (40,000). -- NW

4:47pm: The Blog talks to the Ludovic Geilich; man who loves a four-bet
Since Ludovic Geilich won UKIPT Marbella last year he's broken through to the next level, playing most EPTs where he's been a revelation.

The blog caught up with him in the break where he talks about adjusting between different buy in levels and different opponents.

"I think in this circumstance you can't bluff an awful lot as players know your face and they're not going to believe you, they'll just call you down. You have to select your opponents very well but the standard is still very high on the UKIPT, that's for sure.

"It's not an easy field, even compared to EPTs. For instance, today I've got a really tough table and yesterday I had one too. Today I've not had a good seat draw as I have Dara Davey to my left who's quiet good. I'm not opening as light, and when I am opening, I'm opening from very early position to stop him, as it forces him to three-bet through the whole table. I'm folding a lot more from middle position because he's going to take advantage from that. It's a good dynamic." -- MC

4:40pm: Chip leaders
Here are the top 10 stacks as level 13 gets underway. Max Silver still leads, but he's getting reeled in.

Max Silver - 388,000
Daniel Stacey - 371,000
Jonathan McCann - 370,000
Dirk Thijssen - 325,000
Michael Naughton - 290,000
Jack Salter - 260,000
Kieran Birt - 221,000
Mick McCloskey - 220,000
Dara Fitzgerald - 217,000
Declan Barker - 210,000

4:30pm: Blain among those to fall as bubble looms large
Just 131 players remain in the UKIPT4 Dublin Main Event. 103 of those players will win a minimum of €1,250. However for many, including Full Tilt Poker Ambassador Dermot Blain, that dream is no longer a reality.

Busto floped nut straight couldn't hold v nut flush draw 😂...stars party later have feeling it's going to be loose one 🍻 #UKIPTDublin

— Dermot Blain (@dermotblain) March 1, 2014

He wasn't the only player to exit during level 12, other players to fall by the wayside included: Adam Jaguscik, Stefano Bellisario, Stephen Hamilton, James Thomson, Susanne Philiips, Martin Stuart, Daniel Shapiro, Ben Senior, James Young, Tomasz Raniszewski, Paul Man, Tim Klarpas, Paul Feldstein, Jan Nakladal, James Metcalf, Marc Kennedy, Roger Lu, Lewis Barber and Jim McLean. -- NW

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Dublin: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Danny Maxwell.

UKIPT Dublin Day 2 came and went over another eight one-hour levels today. It was the day where hopes were dashed and financial dreams were rewarded. That's because the bubble was burst during the sixth level of play.

More on that later. First to a man who had a similar story to what Max Silver experienced yesterday. Daniel Stacey started the day with 53,600 but went on a tear from the off and ended the day with 806,000. At the end of play he told the Blog, "Running mega hot, it's been mad. Hottest I've ever run. I didn't think it was possible to run this good."

He eliminated Marc James when his kings managed to stay ahead of ace-queen and then he eliminated Sam Razavi just before the bubble burst in a pot worth 200,000. Razavi flopped top set with pocket aces but couldn't pry Stacey off a flush draw that came in on the river. Stacey put Razavi all in and the former UKIPT champion had committed too much and called off the rest.

Not a bad day for a man who satellited into the event in the first place.

Silver started the day as massive chip leader and got off to a flier in the first level as he flew past the 400,000 mark. He had to slow down at some point though and he mostly treaded water - albeit it in the poker equivalent of a penthouse suite swimming pool - for most of the of the day and ended on 602,000 after a late surge.

Other players who are right in contention for a really deep run tomorrow include Michael Naughton (468,000), Vytenis Salickas (405,000), Kevin Killeen (375,000), Dean Hutchison (371,000) and Daragh Davey (360,000). Tom Hall (135,000), Joeri Zandvliet (279,000), Jack Salter (167,000), Ludovic Geilich (98,000), Deborah Worley-Roberts (108,000) and Rational Group employee Dirk Thijssen (181,000) can never be counted out.

Now, to that bubble. There was pretext to the hand that cost Tim Chung his tournament life without a bean in his pocket. He lost a 300,000-chip pot to Rational Group employee Stefan Ebinger in an aces versus kings set up in the blinds.

Down to less than six big blinds he moved all in from the button with ace-four. He was called by both players in the blinds, one of them being Padraig Burns with pocket jacks that made a set on the turn to burst the bubble.

Chung wasn't alone in not cashing today. Rational Group employees Rick Dacey, Lee Jones and Michael Josem all departed before the money. They helped form a group that included Full Tilt Poker Ambassadors Sin Melin, Martins Adeniya and Dermot Blain.

The PokerStars Players party had been thoughtfully scheduled for today so at least there is a place for all of them to drown any sorrows still lingering in their souls. For the remaining players it offers a place to test their discipline with a long day of poker expected tomorrow.

Play will resume at midday and will continue until a final table of eight has been assembled. Until then it's party time!

To catch up on today's exciting action please click on the links below, you can also see tomorrow's seat draw, start of day chip counts and who's finished where by clicking on the links below.

Levels 9-12
Levles 13-17
Prize pool and payouts
Day 3 seat draw
Day 3 chip counts
Prizewinners

Photos courtesy of Danny Maxwell, you can see all today's images here.

4.31pm: Break time
Four levels down, who knows how many to go. What we do know though is that you'll find level 21 updates in a new post. -- NW

4.30pm: No way past Silver for Nielsen
Raymond Nielsen is the 21st placed finisher in the Main Event as he just lost a race to Max Silver to bust. The Norwegian shoved for 271,000 from middle position and after getting a count Silver made the call. He had dropped to around 500,000 so the call was for more than half his remaining stack.

Silver: [9s][9d]
Nielsen: [Kh][Qc]

The race soon became one sided as the [9c][3s][7h] flop gave Silver a set. Nielsen was up and gone before the [2c] and [2d] completed the board. -- NW

4:25pm: Padraig burned
Padraig Burns was down to 110,000 chips and had to make a move. He found what he was looking for but it ended in defeat.

He moved all in from second position and was called by Joeri Zandvliet in the hijack.

Burns: [as][td]
Zandvliet: [ah][qd]

The board ran [ad][2h][jd][6h][7c]. -- MC

4:20pm: Naughton on a flier; busts Gosk
Michael Naughton is up to 950,000 after two big all in hands. First he doubled through Max Silver and then he eliminated Grzegorz Gosk.

He three-bet all in for 350,000 with [ah][jh] after Silver had opened with [as][9d]. Silver called but stayed behind through the [5d][tc][7s][ks][kd] board. Silver dropped to around 600,000.

Moments later, he raised and called when Gosk shoved for 204,000.

Naughton: [ac][tc]
Gosk: [kc][qh]

The board ran [6c][2c][6s][4h][6h] to send Gosk home. -- MC

4.10pm: Hall passes Zandvliet test
Tom Hall is up to 570,000 after getting a fortuitous double up against Joeri Zandvliet. Hall had pocket sevens but was behind Zandvliet's pocket jacks. He spiked a seven though to double through him. -- NW

4pm: Juraj Matejovič eliminated in 24th place (€2,550)
It's been a terrific showing from Juraj Matejovič in his first ever live poker tournament but the Slovakian PokerStars qualifier has just been eliminated in 24th place.

It was Svein Eidseter who did the damage, the Norwegian called all-in for 213,000 with [A][Q] after Matejovič had shoved for 215,000 with [A][K]. There was a ten and a jack on the flop and a king on the turn filled Eidseter's straight and Matejovič was out the next hand. -- NW

3:55pm: Big slick costs Hutchison dearly
Dean Hutchison busted before the three-table redraw to end his hopes of back-to-back UKIPT titles. He filled the Blog in on his demise.

He was up to a million chips at one point but lost a 900k flip to Ben Senior who four-bet called off his stack with pocket tens. Hutchison had ace-king and missed. That left him with 28 big blinds that got whittled down to 21 big blinds before ace-king did for him again.

He opened from under the gun and then five-bet all in but ran into pocket aces, held by the four-bettor. Another impressive showing from the Scot. -- MC

3:40pm: Third title handed on a trey to Zandvliet?
Poker is a game of skill and luck. To win two UKIPTs would most possibly mean that a player would've had his/her fair share of luck. How much luck would a person need to win three? Ask Joeri Zandvliet who just cracked Vytenis Salickas' aces.

The Lithuanian opened from the button and snap called when Zandvliet shoved for 335,000 from the small blind.

Zandvliet:[3c][3d]
Salickas: [ac][ad]

The board ran [8h][tc][kd][3s][5d] to make Zandvliet a set on the turn. Salickas was left with around 300,000. --MC

3:35pm: Final three table re-draw
Here's the re-draw for the final three tables:

Table 1

Vytenis Salickas, PokerStars qualifier, Lithuania
Joeri Zandvliet, PokerStars qualifier, Netherlands
Tom Hall, PokerStars qualifier, United Kingdom
Martin Gallagher, PokerStars qualifier, United Kingdom
Robert Sturman, PokerStars qualifier, United Kingdom
Gregory Hayles, PokerStars qualifier, Australia
Dirk Thijssen, Rational Group staff, Isle of Man
Padraig Burns, Ireland

Table 2

Matan Elgazar, PokerStars player, Ireland
Zakhar Galper, PokerStars qualifier, Israel
Juraj Matejovič, PokerStars qualifier, Slovakia
Svein Eidseter, Norway
Benjamin Senior, PokerStars qualifier, United Kingdom
Thomas Finneran, PokerStars player, Ireland
Ivan Tononi, Italy
Laurence Ryan, PokerStars qualifier, Ireland

Table 3

Christopher Wood, PokerStars qualifier, United Kingdom
Michael Naughton, PokerStars qualifier, Ireland
Stefan Ebinger, Rational Group staff, Germany
Kevin Killeen, PokerStars player, Ireland
Grzegorz Gosk, PokerStars qualifier, Poland
Raymond Nielsen, PokerStars qualifier, Norway
Declan Barker, Ireland
Max Silver, PokerStars player, United Kingdom

Blinds up: 6,000/12,000, ante 3,000

3:25pm: Final three tables
As just 24 players remain there's now a short pause whilst they re-draw for the final three tables. -- NW

3:20pm: Campbell busts in classic race
Mary Campbell looked all set for a double up until an ace dropped on the river to dash those hopes.

She raised from under the gun and called all in when Declan Barker shoved from the big blind.

Campbell: [qc][qd]
Barker: [ad][ks]

The board ran [js][7h][5h][2d][ac]. Barker moved up to 1.2 million chips. -- MC

3:12pm: Revenge is dish best served straight away
Michael Naughton didn't have to wait long to get his own back on Thomas Finneran. He shoved for 230,000 with pocket sixes from the cut-off and Finneran called with pocket queens on the button. The [4d][10s][2d][6c][9h] board means Naughton is back up to 500,000 whilst Finneran drops to 320,000. -- NW

3:08pm: All-in Finn
Thomas Finneran's face had a grin on it that suggested he'd just got away with one and he had.

Pre-flop Michael Naughton opened from the small blind and Finneran defended from the big. The [8h][9c][Qc] flop was checked through and the [2d] fell on the turn. Naughton led for 34,000 only for Finneran to move all-in for 244,000 total. Back on Naughton he got a count, had a good old think and then made the call.

Finneran: [3c][2c]
Naughton: [10c][10s]

Naughton had made the right call, but in this game that doesn't always mean they get rewarded and the [3h] river gave Finneran the win the hard way as his two pair took the pot. He's up to 550,000 whilst Naughton is down to 230,000. -- NW

3:02pm: Ben is the Senior chip stack after taking out two players
Ben Senior is up to around 1.4 million after he eliminated Robert Vishnudatt and Daragh Davey in one hand.

Tournament director Luca Vivaldi kindly recounted the main facts of the hand. Senior opened from under the gun with aces before Vishnudatt three-bet with queens. Davey moved all in with jacks and Senior just called. Vishnudatt then moved all in behind and Senior snapped.

The flop came ace-high and was all diamonds. Davey was the only player holding a diamond but the turn and river bricked out. -- MC

2:55pm: Remembering the fallen
Just 27 players remain, here are the players who finished in 33rd-43rd position.

33. Timothy Boyle, Ireland, PokerStars player - €1,950
34. Adrian O'Donoghue, Ireland - €1,950
35. James Daly, Ireland - €1,950
36. Paul Febers, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier - €1,950
37. Ian Gascoigne, Ireland - €1,950
38. Daniel Stacey, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier - €1,950
39. Andrius Bielskis, Lithuania, PokerStars player - €1,950
40. Jonathan McCann, United Kingdom, PokerStars player - € 1,710
41. Arie Van Noordenne, Netherlands, PokerStars qualifier - € 1,710
42. Anthony Smyth, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier - € 1,710
43. Jack Salter, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier - € 1,710

2:50pm: Campbell and Burns double up
There was an all-in and calls on two separate tables at the same time both times the at risk player survived, here's what happened.

First to survive a sweat was Padraig Burns. The bubble burster three-bet shoved with pocket threes for roughly 100,000 over the top of Max Silver's open. The chip leader got a count and then called with [9c][8h]. The [7h][2d][8c] flopped looked to have sent the pot Silver's way but the [3d] turn gave Burns an unbeatable hand.

Whilst on an adjacent table Mary Campbell three-bet shoved for 171,000 with [Ac][Kh], Kieran Birt already had 25,000 in the pot and he called the extra off with [Ad][Qd]. The [5d][9d][3c] flop gave him extra outs but he missed them all on the [2c] turn and [2s] river. -- NW

2:45pm: Padovani hand not so lucky today
Sonia Padovani and Kathleen Padovani are the only mother and daughter combo that we can remember cashing in a UKIPT Main Event. Katheen (mother) busted yesterday in 92nd place, and her daughter just followed.

The action folded around to Grzegorz Gosk in the small blind and he set Padovani all in for her last 72,000. She made the call from the big blind.

Gosk: [4h][5d]
Padovani: [ks][jd]

"Your lucky hand!" said a railer to Padovani.

"I know! I hope it's lucky today," she replied.

It wasn't though as the board ran out [2d][th][ah][as][5h] to hit the Pole's five on the river. -- MC

2:35pm: Chip counts
During the break tournament staff did eyes on chip counts of all the remaining players. You can view their handiwork right here. -- NW

2:30pm: Rookie Matejovič doubles up
The PokerStars Blog loves a good background story and Juraj Matejovi, who just doubled up through Thomad Finneran, has provided it for today.

He only been playing poker for one month and before that he studied the game for two months before playing a hand. Over that time he has managed to read 20 poker books!

Finneran raised to 23,000 and tank-called when Matejovič three-bet all in for 152,000.

Matejovič: [qh][qd]
Finneran: [6c][6s]

The board ran [th][7d][9d][qs][7c] to make the Slovakian a full house. Finneran dropped to 310,000. -- MC

2.25pm: He cashed then crashed
UKIPT Host Nick Wealthall made it through to Day 2, then he made the money but then he busted. Relive his roller coaster ride in less than three minutes. -- NW

2.17pm: Chip leaders
As level 19 gets underway these are the top five chip stacks in the Main Event.

Max Silver - 1,100,000
Larry Ryan - 970,000
Dean Hutchison - 950,000
Robert Sturman - 750,000
Declan Barker - 580,000

Blinds up: 5,000/10,000, ante 1,000

2.02pm: Time for a recess
Two 60 minute levels have been completed today so the players are now on a 15 minute break. -- NW

2pm: Hall gets his oats, then loses them
It's been an up and down first two levels for UKIPT3 leader board champion Tom Hall as he explained in this tweet.

Went from 135k to 360k in 90 mins no showdown hero'd it all off in 1 hand, back to 135k obviously #UKIPTDublin

— Tom Hall (@Jabracada) March 2, 2014

1:55pm: Febers falls
UKIPT4 Galway runner-up Paul Febers will not be making a second UKIPT final table here in Dublin. However, Dean Hutchison looks well placed to make back to back final tables, and possibly titles, after eliminating Febers.

Hutchison opened from the cut-off, Febers jammed for roughly 230,000 and Hutchison's chips were in the pot a nanosecond later.

Febers: [3c][3s]
Hutchison: [Qd][Qh]

The [Ad][Qc][Jd][9d][Ac] board gave Hutchison a full-house and he's now up to 975,000. -- NW

1:46pm: Double for the double champ Zandvliet
Joeri Zandvliet's quest to win a historic third UKIPT title is still on after he doubled up through Svein Eidseter.

Zandvliet opened to 16,000 from under the gun before his Norwegian opponent three-bet to 42,000 from the next seat. Zandvliet came back with a four-bet to 97,000 and called all in for 240,000 when shoved on.

Zandvliet: [qs][qd]
Eidseter: [jd][jh]

The board ran [7d][7c][2d][3s][3d]. Eidseter dropped to around 100,000. -- MC

1:35pm: Stacey out; Ryan chip leader
Yesterday Daniel Stacey said to the PokerStars Blog: I didn't think it was possible to run this good."

He had 806,000 and the chip lead coming into Day 3 and now just 90 minutes into the day he is out.

He was down to 585,000 by the time of his exit hand, which coincidentally was the exact stack that Laurence 'Larry' Ryan had too. In the hand in question Ryan opened to 17,000, Stacey three-bet to 40,000, Ryan four-bet to 90,000, Stacey shoved and Ryan snap called.

Ryan: [As][Ad]
Stacey: [Ah][Kc]

The [4s][9s][3d][Jh][2d] board didn't even give Stacey a sweat. If he had a hot hand yesterday he ran ice cold today. Poker, it's a cruel game. Ryan now has 1,200,000 and is the new chip leader. -- NW

1:25pm: Max-a-million; McCann busts to Silver
Max Silver has soared past the million-chip mark after he won a large flip to eliminate Jonathan McCann.

McCann raised to 16,000 off the button before Silver three-bet 44,000 from the big blind. After McCann came back with a 91,000 four-bet, Silver shoved. McCann called off for about 410,000.

Silver: [ac][jc]
McCann: [8c][8d]

The board ran a Silver-lined [qc][js][tc][jd][7h]. Silver moved up to 1.28 million! --MC

1:20pm: A welcome from Wealthall
It's Day 3 here in Dublin, but of course you know that. As does UKIPT Host Nick Wealthall as you can see in the video below.

1:15pm: Day 3 exits

10 players were eliminated in the opening level and they all picked up € 1,710 for their efforts here in Dublin.

44. Mark McShane, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier - € 1,710
45. Stephen Lovatt, United Kingdom - € 1,710
46. Kasper Linneman, Denmark, PokerStars qualifier - € 1,710
47. Phillip Corion, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier - € 1,710
48. Tim Farrelly, Ireland - € 1,710
49. Deborah Worley-Roberts, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier - € 1,710
50. Ludovic Geilich, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier - € 1,710
51. Gary Coulahan, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier - € 1,710
52. Przemyslaw Misztela, Poland, PokerStars qualifier - € 1,710
53. Christopher Farrelly, Ireland - € 1,710
54th. Igor Wilk, Poland - €1,710

1:10pm: Salter's stack dissolved
Jack Salter has been eliminated after he lost a race in a battle of the blinds.

The action folded around to Vytenis Salickas in the small blind and he completed. When Sater raised, Salickas moved all in and Salter called.

Salickas: [4s][4d]
Salter: [qs][kh]

The board ran [2d][6c][3d][8h][Ah] to miss Salter's over cards. Salickas' stack rose to 530,000. -- MC

Blinds up: 4,000/8,000, ante 1,000

1:05pm: Juraj Matejovič wins battle of the blinds
Juraj Matejovič now has a stack of 170,000 after winning a battle of the blinds against Stephen Lovatt.

It went all-in pre-flop with Lovatt holding [Qs][Jd] whilst Matejovič had [Ac][Qc]. The [4c][Kc][8c] flop ended the hand and the meaningless [6c] and [6s] completed the board. Lovatt was left with just 3,000 and although he quintupled up to 15,000 he was out soon afterwards. -- NW

12:55pm: Aces cracked
If there was a head shaking human equivalent of the Churchill Dog then Mark McShane would be a shoe in for the role right now. In an all-in pre-flop encounter he had way the best of it with [Ah][Ad] against Declan Barker's pocket kings in a pot worth 350,000.

There was a gnat's breath between the two stacks so when the board came [kc][6d][Jd][3h][10s] to double up Barker, it meant McShane was left with just 6,000 chips. They went in shortly afterwards and he was eliminated. He was still shaking his head as he headed to the payouts desk. -- NW

12:50pm: Silver gets the Max and eliminates Linneman
It hasn't taken long for Max Silver to reclaim the lead here on Day 3, and it was down to his elimination of Kasper Linneman.

Silver raised from the button and was called by the Dane (SB) en route to a [4d][ad][qd] flop. Linneman check-called the flop before he led the [3s] turn. Silver raised the bet and called when Linneman shoved.

Linneman: [4s][4h] for a set.
Silver: [7d][9d] for a flopped flush.

The river came as the [tc] and Silver added 300,000 to his stack to move up to 880,000. -- MC

12:40pm: Coulahan coolered
When you've only got 12 big blinds [Ah][Qd] looks like aces and it was certainly a good enough hand for Gary Coulahan to commit his chips with. He got a few folds before Sonia Padovani called all-in for less on the button.

You could see from Coulahan's face that he sensed even though he had a strong hand he was drawing slim and so it proved as Padovani showed pocket kings. The [5h][Qh][5c][3c][Jh] board gave Padovani a sweat, but she doubled up.

So Coulahan was left with just two big blinds, one of which he was forced to put it on the next hand as he was the big blind. Padraig Burns raised to 15,000 from the button with [Ac][Jh], Coulahan put his remaining chips in without looking and one by one turned over [5h][2s]. "I'm live at least," he said as the dealer fanned a [2c][Qd][10s] flop. Any respite was short lived though as the [Kd] came on the turn to give Burns an unbeatable straight. -- NW

12:30pm: Sparkly top fails for Worley-Roberts
"I wore the sparkly top and everything!" bemoaned a giggling Deborah Worley-Roberts at the pay out desk.

She was in the small blind, sat on 15 big blinds, and facing a button raise. She looked down and shoved after seeing ace-jack. Kieran Birt was the player on the button and called with kings. Good game Worley-Roberts. -- MC

12:25pm: Fashionably late
Chip leader Daniel Stacey was conspicuous by his absence for the first 20 minutes, but he's now in the building. -- NW

12:20pm: Geilich gone
Ludovic Geilich is out despite in his own words, "turning maximum outs," against Joeri Zandvliet. The PokerStars Blog spotted him at the payouts desk and the UKIPT4 Marbella champion was happy to tell us about his exit hand.

"I've got 90k, the button min-raises and I jammed with king-ten and he's got ace-ten. On the river I had nine club outs, three kings, three jacks for a higher straight and three sixes for a chop. I know he's good enough to open any king and strong queens on the button to put me under pressure so I felt king-ten was good enough. As it is he had me crushed." -- NW

12:12pm: Silver arrives late, gets straight to work
The public transport meant Max Silver was late arriving today. He missed the first hand but eliminated Igor Wilk on the third hand.

Wilk was down to 85,000 when he moved all in from under the gun. Silver was on the button and successfully isolated with a raise.

Wilk: [as][jc]
Silver: [ah][kd]

The board ran [ks][5c][2h][4h][9c] to pair Silver's king. -- MC

12:01pm: Cards in the air
Play is underway. -- NW

12pm: Stacey leads, but Silver lurks
The PokerStars Blog has never been in the lead in a car race, horse race or any other sort of race (apart from ones that involve getting to the buffet first). So we can only imagine what it's like to have the lead in such a race and have a Ferrari, thoroughbred or even a vastly experienced and successful poker player right behind you.

That's the position Daniel Stacey finds himself in at the start of Day 3 of the UKIPT4 Dublin Main Event. Yes he yes a chip lead of over 30 big blinds, yes he has two deep runs on the UKIPT already this season, but he also has Max Silver to contend with. The UKIPT champion, who has over $1,250,000 in lifetime earnins, started Day 2 with the chip lead sailed serenely through it. He finished the day on 602,000 and trails only Stacey who'll start with 806,000. Whilst the seat draw has kept them apart Stacey's table will be the first to break today.

Whilst those two protagonists might share top billing the undercard to Day 3 ain't too shabby. It features two-time UKIPT champion Joeri Zandvliet (279,000), UKIPT4 Galway 3rd place finisher Daragh Davey (360,000), UKIPT4 Marbella winner Ludovic Geilich (98,000), UKIPT3 Cork top dog Thomas Finneran (242,000) and UKIPT4 Edinburgh champion Dean Hutchison (371,000) who's still in the hunt for back to back UKIPT titles.

Through in two Rational Group Staff (Dirk Thijssen, 181,000 and Stefan Ebinger, 268,000) who're hoping to emulate Chris Jonat (4th UKIPT4 Isle of Man); Tom Hall (135,000), Kevin Killeen (375,000), Paul Febers (359,000), Jack Salter (167,000) and Deborah Worley-Roberts (108,000) and what you've got is one of the most stacked final 54 of any UKIPT Main Event. It should be a cracker.

Cards will be in the air at noon, blinds will be 3,000/6,000 ante 1,000 and the average stack is 247,000.

Key UKIPT4 Dublin Day 3 Facts:
- Play will continue until we reach a final table of eight players
- Everyone left in has locked up a minimum of €1,710
- There are five former UKIPT champions left in, six if you count the fact Joeri Zandvliet has two titles.
- A further six players have previously made a UKIPT Main Event final table
- Two side events start today. The €150 + €15 PLO Double Chance gets underway at noon. And the €100 + €10 NL - Holdem Turbo - Super Deepstack - EPT Edition with a UKIPT Nottingham "1 Million Guarantee" Main Event Package added, starts at 3pm.

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Dublin: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Danny Maxwell.

9:50pm: The final table
That's all for today. A full wrap of the day's play will be posted on the blog shortly. Here's how the final is set for tomorrow:

Seat 1. Joeri Zandvliet - 1,310,000
Seat 2. Larry Ryan - 920,000
Seat 3. Kevin Killeen - 3,505,000
Seat 4. Christopher Wood - 650,000
Seat 5. Max Silver - 2,545,000
Seat 6. Ivan Tononi - 435,000
Seat 7. Dirk Thijssen - 1,290,000
Seat 8. Robert Sturman - 2,695,000

9:45pm: Benjamin Senior eliminated in 9th place (€6,950)
It took four hands of nine-handed play before the official final table was set.

Christopher Wood shoved the first three hands and took the blinds and antes. On the fourth hand, Max Silver moved all in from the button trying to pressure the shorter stacked Benjamin Senior and Ivan Tononi in the blinds. Senior woke up with a hand though and made the call.

Senior: [tc][td]
Silver: [qd][7d]

The board ran [8h][7c][9d][qh][5c] to make Silver two pair. -- MC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 20,000-40,000, 5,000

9:20pm: The final nine
Seat 1. Joeri Zandvliet - 1,325,000
Seat 2. Larry Ryan - 1,045,000
Seat 3. Kevin Killeen - 3,480,000
Seat 4. Christopher Wood - 475,000
Seat 5. Max Silver - 1,985,000
Seat 6. Benjamin Senior - 780,000
Seat 7. Ivan Tononi - 490,000
Seat 8. Dirk Thijssen - 1,165,000
Seat 9. Robert Sturman - 2,610,000

9:07pm: Break time
There was just two minutes left on the clock when Declan Barker was eliminated. There was then a re-draw for the final nine and they played two hands before the clock ran down. Both hands were simple raise and takes.

The players are now on a 15-minute break, we'll bring you the chip counts and seat draw before play restarts. -- NW

8:55pm: Declan Barker eliminated in 10th place (€5,650)
Declan Barker has taken UKIPT Dublin down to a one-table affair after he was eliminated in tenth place.

Kevin Killeen opened to 60,000 and was called by Max Silver before Barker three-bet all in for 599,000. Killeen called and that was enough to scare Silver off the pot.

Killeen: [qs][qh]
Barker: [5d][5h]

The board ran [3d][7h][ac][kh][8s] to send Barker home. Killeen is now the big chip leader with around 3.5 million chips.

The final nine players will now be drawn onto one table of nine. -- MC

8:45pm: Zandvliet binks another three-outer
Two-time champion Joeri Zandvliet has had to rely on some luck to stay alive today. For at least the third time today, he hit a three-outer in an unavoidable confrontation.

Larry Ryan raised from the small blind and called after Zandvliet shoved from the big blind for 669,000.

Ryan: [ah][qh]
Zandvliet: [ac][5h]

The board ran [7s][3c][5c][7c][4d] to make the Dutchman two pair. Ryan dropped to 900,000. -- MC

8:45pm: Michael Naughton eliminated in 11th place (€5,650)
Bad timing cost Michael Naughton his place in UKIPT Dublin.

He was down to around 620,000 when he open shoved from the cut-off. He got through the button and small blind but Kevin Killeen was waiting in the big blind with a big hand and made the call.

Naughton: [ad][2h]
Killeen: [jc][jd]

The board ran [3h][ts][9d][2d][6d] to send the pot Killeen's way. He took over the chip lead with that as his stack rose to 2.7 million. -- MC

8:30pm: Tom Hall eliminated in 12th place (€4,900)
It was a day of many highs and many lows for Tom Hall. His latest low was the final act as he was eliminated.

He and Robert Sturman took to a [jh][8s][5s] flop where the chips went in. Hall opened [qh][jd] for top pair but was behind Sturman's [kh][ks]. The board ran out [8d][3s].

Earlier Hall was interviewed by UKIPT Host Nick Wealthall-- MC

8.20pm: Chip counts

Table one

Seat 1. Michael Naughton - 680,000
Seat 3. Declan Barker - 550,000
Seat 4. Benjamin Senior - 990,000
Seat 5. Kevin Killeen - 1,500,000
Seat 6. Max Silver - 2,100,000
Seat 7. Christopher Wood - 850,000

Table two

Seat 2. Joeri Zandvliet - 550,000
Seat 3. Ivan Tononi - 875,000
Seat 5. Tom Hall - 440,000
Seat 6. Robert Sturman - 1,950,000
Seat 7. Dirk Thijssen - 725,000
Seat 8. Larry Ryan - 1,600,000

8.15pm: Senior doubles through Silver
After Max Silver opened to 80,000 from early position Ben Senior moved all-in from the small blind for 460,000 total, back on Silver he called.

Silver: [Ah][Kc]
Senior: [Js][Jh]

The pair held on the [10d][5c][4s][2d][Qs] board. Pot to Senior. -- NW

Blinds up: 15,000/30,000, ante 4,000

8.05pm: Svein Eidseter eliminated in 13th place (€4,900)
A huge pot has just gone the way of Max Silver, he now has a stack of over 2,500,000 and is back in the chip lead.

The hand started innocently enough with a raise to 51,000 under-the-gun from Svein Eidseter, Silver called from the small blind and Christopher Wood did likewise from the big blind. On the [6d][Qh][8c] flop Silver led for 71,000, Eidseter raised to 200,000, Silver re-raised to 350,000 and Eidseter went into the tank.

The Norwegian had 930,000 in total and after thinking for a couple of minutes said: "If you have a set then you have a set," before shoving all-in.

Silver started laughing at the situation but composed himself enough to ask the dealer to pull in his 350,000 and 350,000 from Eidseter's bet so he could see how much more it was relative to the pot.

Silver then started talking aloud, "I block aces...I still have outs to that..." curious about what was going on Eidseter asked Silver, "what is your hand?", to which Silver replied. "I have ace-queen, what is your hand?" "There's only one way to find that out," shot back Eidseter, "You could just tell me, it'd be cheaper," said Silver.

Eventually after weighing it up Silver pushed the requisite calling chips over the line. "Good call," said Eidseter showing [Kh][Qc]. "I didn't think you'd have ace-queen as you just called pre-flop," but that's exactly what Silver had, [As][Qs] to be precise, and it held on the [6c] turn and [9s] river.

He told the Blog that after that hand he's up to 2,550,000. -- NW

8pm: Double-double for Senior
Benjamin Senior is back in with a fighting chance after he doubled up twice.

First his ace-king stayed ahead against Max Silver's ace-four and then he shoved 233,000 in from the small blind with [kd][2s]. Kevin Killeen called from the big blind with [ah][qc] but was powerless to stopping the board from running [7h][jh][2d][4d][9c]. -- MC

7:50pm: Stefan Ebinger eliminated in 14th place (€4,400)
The two remaining Rational Group employees just tangled in vey amusing pot that left one short and out the very next hand.

Robert Sturman opened from under the gun and was called by Dirk Thijssen in the next seat before Stefan Ebinger moved all in for a little more than 600,000. Sturman folded but Thijssen starting celebrating as he called with [ad][ah] for his last 484,000.

It's very dangerous to celebrate too early, as the poker gods don't look kindly upon it. Ebinger opened pocket tens and got immediate service from the gods as the flop fanned [td][qc][8d].

The thing was, Ebinger didn't learn from his opponent's mistake and he started celebrating. The poker gods soon put a stop to that and made the turn [as] for a re-suck-out. The river came as the [2s] and Thijssen doubled.

That left Ebinger short and he busted the very next hand when his [jd][th] failed to beat Larry Ryan's [ks][qh]. -- MC

7:35pm: Senior short after losing back to back hands
In the final hand before the break Ben Senior had his aces cracked but if he thought the break might do him good then he'd have been mistaken as since the break he's lost two pots and is down to around six big blinds as a result.

First he tangled with Kevin Killeen, the Irishman opened to 50,000 from under-the-gun and Senior defended from the big blind. The [10d][Kc][10s] flop was checked through and the [4d] fell on fourth street. When checked to Killeen bet 44,000 and Senior smooth called. The [Qc] completed the board, both players checked and Killeen's pocket nines were good.

Two hands later Senior opened to 50,000 on the button and Max Silver called from the big blind. On the [5c][8c][3s] flop Senior c-bet and Silver smooth called. The [10s] turn was checked through and the [Jd] filled out the board. Once more Silver checked, Senior fired out a bet of 60,000 and Silver began to laugh at himself. He picked up chips from his stack and basically intimated that he was going to make a crying call and one that he didn't think was good, but that the price was too good to pass up.

And call he did, "good call," said Senior opening [Qc][4c], Silver showed [Qh][Jc] to take the pot. -- NW

7:20pm: Joeri Zandvliet doubles through Tom Hall
If there's a silver lining to being outdrawn its finding out that your opponent has fewer chips than you thought...

Joeri Zandvliet shoved all-in from the cut-off with [Ac][Jh] and Tom Hall made a swift call from the big blind with [As][Kd]. The [Qc][10h][3c][5c][Jc] board meant Zandvliet rivered a flush to outdraw Hall. "You've got about 375,000 right?" asked Hall. But after Zandvliet's stack was counted down it was established that he had 299,000. Whilst Hall drops to 350,000 after that hand.

Earlier today the two-time UKIPT champion Zandvliet did an interview with Nick Wealthall which you can see below. -- NW

7:05pm: Official counts from the break
Table one

Seat 1. Matan Elgazar - 16th
Seat 2. Joeri Zandvliet - 353,000
Seat 3. Ivan Tononi - 1,010,000
Seat 4. Stefan Ebinger - 626,000
Seat 5. Tom Hall - 664,000
Seat 6. Robert Sturman - 1,706,000
Seat 7. Dirk Thijssen - 590,000
Seat 8. Larry Ryan - 1,587,000

Table two

Seat 1. Michael Naughton - 545,000
Seat 2. Martin Gallagher - 15th
Seat 3. Declan Barker - 837,000
Seat 4. Benjamin Senior - 410,000
Seat 5. Kevin Killeen - 1,460,000
Seat 6. Max Silver - 1,400,000
Seat 7. Christopher Wood - 1,285,000
Seat 8. Svein Eidseter - 989,000

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 12,000-24,000, 300

6.46pm: Break time
That's the end of level 22 here in Dublin. The 14 remaining players are now on a 15 minute break. -- NW

6.45pm: Martin Gallagher eliminated in 15th place (€4,400)
In a hand that took place as the last seconds of level 22 ticked down Martin Gallagher was eliminated in a three-way all-in.

He shoved for 209,000 from early position, Ben Senior flat called from middle position only for Christopher Wood to shove all-in for 466,000 total. When it folded back to Senior he made the call.

Gallagher: [Ad][10s]
Senior: [As][Ah]
Wood: [Qs][Qd]

The [2d][10c][Qh] flop meant Wood vaulted into the lead, the [6d] turn and [5h] river didn't change a thing and Wood scooped a huge pot. He's up to roughly 1,150,000, Senior is down to around 400,000 and Gallagher is gone in 15th place. -- NW

6.30pm: Matan Elgazar eliminated in 16th place (€3,900)
Never go broke in a limped pot, they say. It's understandable though when you flop a flush and have a redraw to straight flush. This just happened to Matan Elgazar.

He limped under the gun and saw an [8c][7c][qc] flop along with Dirk Thijssen and Larry Ryan. Thijssen led out, Ryan raised and Elgazar shoved. Thijssen folded but Ryan snap called.

Ryan: [kc][5c]
Elgazar: [9c][tc]

The board ran out [3c][7s] and Elgazar departed in 16th place. -- MC

6:15pm: Huge double up for Sturman
We have a new chip leader and his name is Robert Sturman. He's ascended to that position thanks to doubling though former incumbent Tom Hall.

The action in the hand was started by Joeri Zandvliet, the Dutchman made it 46,000 to play, Hall three-bet to 94,000 on the button only for Sturman to jam all-in for 890,000 total from the small blind. Zandvliet ducked out the way but Hall was going nowhere. He counted his chips down and then dropped a call across the line.

Hall: [Ah][Ks]
Sturman: [Ad][As]

"I'm all-in with aces against ace-king, but he's running like God," shouted Sturman to a friend on the rail. The flop fell [10s][5s][Kc], "flops come king-high," crackled Radio Sturman. The [7c] fell on the turn and the [8h] hit the river. "I briefly thought about folding," said Hall as he counted what remained of his stack. He's down to 550,000 whilst Sturman is up 1,850,000. -- NW

6:05pm: Last two tables redraw

Table one

Seat 1. Matan Elgazar
Seat 2. Joeri Zandvliet
Seat 3. Ivan Tononi
Seat 4. Stefan Ebinger
Seat 5. Tom Hall
Seat 6. Robert Sturman
Seat 7. Dirk Thijssen
Seat 8. Larry Ryan

Table two

Seat 1. Michael Naughton
Seat 2. Martin Gallagher
Seat 3. Declan Barker
Seat 4. Benjamin Senior
Seat 5. Kevin Killeen
Seat 6. Max Silver
Seat 7. Christopher Wood
Seat 8. Svein Eidseter

6pm: Silver still going strong
Max Silver has more than doubled his starting stack today to over 1.2 million.

1.25m w 16 left in #UKIPTDublin average is 835k.

— Max Silver (@max_silver) March 2, 2014

Blinds up: 10,000/20,000, ante 3,000

5.50pm: Finneran not in
We're down to the final two tables here in Dublin and it's UKIPT3 Cork champion Thomas Finneran who's busted in 17th place.

He shoved all-in from under-the-gun+1 for roughly 210,000 with [Jd][9c] and Svein Eidseter made the call from the big blind with [Ac][Kc]. The [4c][8h][Ah][4h][Jh] board sent Finneran to the rail. They'll now be a short pause whilst a re-draw of the final 16 players is carried out. -- NW

5:43pm: Hall leaps into the lead after busting two players
"Welcome to my day one world!" Shouted over Max Silver to Tom Hall after he eliminated a second player in three hands to take over the chip lead with 1.7million.

"I'm embarrassed to be running this good!" replied Hall.

Vytenis Salickas was Hall's first victim. He three-bet all in for 352,000 after Hall had opened from under the gun. Hall took his time before calling with [ac][jd]. Salickas opened [7h][7d] but failed to stay ahead through the [8s][as][qd][4d][qs] board.

Two hands later Hall called a Gregory Hayles raise whilst in the small blind to see a [3h][qd][7s] flop appear. The chips went flying in and the cards were flipped up.

Hayles: [ac][qh] for top pair, top kicker.
Hall: [3c][3s] for a set.

The board ran out [9c][3d] to make Hall quads. -- MC

5:40pm: Bad timing sees off Galper

Zakhar Galper picked a bad spot to shove light and it cost him his tournament life.

The action folded around to Larry Ryan on the button and he raised and called when Galper shoved from the big blind.

Galper: [qh][9h]
Ryan: [as][qd]

The board ran [6d][8c][jc][kc][3c] and failed to connect with Galper's hand. Ryan moved back up to 900,000. -- MC

5:30pm: Senior cements his status as chip leader
Ben Senior is not costing to the final table, no he's putting the pedal to the metal. He three-bet to 80,000 from the small blind over the top of Matan Elgazar's 37,000 chip open. Back on Elgazar he four-bet to 150,000 total. After giving Elgazar a stare down for a good couple of minutes Senior moved all-in. Elgazar had 280,000 back, so had committed a third of his chips, but he elected to preserve the rest and folded his hand. -- NW

5:20pm: Easy come, easy go for Salickas
Just an orbit after winning a 700,000 chip flip, Vytenis Salickas lost a 800,000 chip pot when he had Tom Hall drawing to three outs.

It folded to the Lithuanian PokerStars qualifier and he raised to 33,000 on the button. It passed to Tom Hall and he shoved for 385,000 from the big blind. After getting a count Salickas elected to call and it was time for showdown.

Hall: [Ac][6h]
Salickas: [8h][8s]

The [Ks][10d][Ah] flop gave Hall the lead and he stayed there on the [7h] turn and [10h] river. He's up to roughly 800,000 whilst Salickas drops to 275,000. -- NW

5pm: Salickas not so slack
Vytenis Salickas has gotten over the disappointment of having his aces cracked in the last level by winning a flip worth nearly 700k.

He three-bet all in for 338,000 from the small blind after Robert Sturman raised to 35,000 from mid position. Call.

Salickas: [ac][jc]
Sturman: [7c][7d]

The board ran [3s][td][kc][as][tc] to pair Salikas' ace. Sturman dropped to 560,000. -- MC

4.50pm: Down to just 20 in the Main Event
During the last break the tournament staff whipped round and did a chip count of every single player left in the Main Event. So the Blog can tell you that Ben Senior leads with 1,450,000, the only other member of the million chip club is Declan Barker with 1,240,000. Max Silver has slipped to fifth and has 899,000. Whilst fellow UKIPT champions Joeri Zandvliet (580,000) and Thomas Finneran (390,000) are both still in.

Benjamin Senior, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, 1,450,000
Declan Barker, Ireland, 1,240,000
Michael Naughton, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier, 919,000
Robert Sturman, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, 910,000
Max Silver, United Kingdom, PokerStars player, 899,000
Laurence Ryan, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier, 730,000
Kevin Killeen, Ireland, PokerStars player, 687,000
Svein Eidseter, Norway, 670,000
Stefan Ebinger, Germany, Rational Group staff, 666,000
Ivan Tononi, Italy, 600,000

Gregory Hayles, Australia, PokerStars qualifier, 600,000
Joeri Zandvliet, Netherlands, PokerStars qualifier, 580,000
Tom Hall, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, 510,000
Vytenis Salickas, Lithuania, PokerStars qualifier, 500,000
Dirk Thijssen, Isle of Man, Rational Group staff, 485,000
Christopher Wood, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, 396,000
Thomas Finneran, Ireland, PokerStars player, 390,000
Martin Gallagher, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, 365,000
Matan Elgazar, Ireland, PokerStars player, 345,000
Zakhar Galper, Israel, PokerStars qualifier, 340,000

4.45pm: Down to just 20 in the Main Event
Just 20 players remain in the UKIPT4 Main Event, these players are the latest to fall

21st. Raymond Nielsen, Norway, PokerStars qualifier, € 3,000
22nd. Padraig Burns, Ireland, € 3,000
23rd. Grzegorz Gosk, PokerStars qualifier, Poland, € 3,000
24th. Juraj Matejovič, Slovakia, PokerStars qualifier, € 2,550
25th. Dean Hutchison, United Kingdom, PokerStars player, € 2,550
26th. Mary Campbell, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, € 2,550
27th. Kieran Birt, Ireland, € 2,550
28th. Esben Guenther, Norway, € 2,200
29th. Magnus Karlsson, Sweden, PokerStars qualifier, € 2,200
30th. Robert Vishnudatt, Netherlands, PokerStars qualifier, € 2,200
31st. Daragh Davey, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier, € 2,200
32nd. Sonia Padovani, United Kingdom, PokerStars player, € 1,950

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Dublin: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Danny Maxwell.

Tomorrow's UKIPT Dublin final table has all the ingredients of a classic. A homegrown hero has the chip lead whilst two UKIPT champions will go for another title in the city where they've both tasted victory before.

When cards get in the air it'll be Kevin Killeen who has the chip lead with a massive 3,505,000, but he'll have to get past both Max Silver and Joeri Zandvliet if he wants to be hoisting the trophy and oversized novelty cheque aloft come Monday night.

UKIPT4 Dublin Final Table

Seat 1. Joeri Zandvliet, Netherlands, PokerStars qualifier, 1,310,000
Seat 2. Larry Ryan, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier, 920,000
Seat 3. Kevin Killeen, Ireland, PokerStars player, 3,505,000
Seat 4. Christopher Wood, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, 650,000
Seat 5. Max Silver, United Kingdom, PokerStars player, 2,545,000
Seat 6. Ivan Tononi, Italy, 435,000
Seat 7. Dirk Thijssen, Isle of Man, Rational Group Staff, 1,290,000
Seat 8. Robert Sturman, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, 2,695,000

That Silver and Zandvliet have made the final table of yet another UKIPT is a remarkable achievement in itself but it's where they've done it that makes it even more noteworthy. In Season 1 Max Silver defeated a field of 590 players to win UKIPT Dublin. The two-time UKIPT High Roller champion final tabled UKIPT Dublin again in Season 2, he finished fourth, knocked out by Zandvliet, en route to the Dutchman winning a second UKIPT title to go with the one he won in Manchester in Season 1.

The two protagonists also final tabled UKIPT1 Edinburgh with Silver finishing sixth and Zandvliet fourth. Tomorrow Zandvliet goes for an historic third title, Silver for a second that would put him on a par with Zandvliet, Wojtek Barzantny and his close friend Nick Abou Risk.

More on them later but first to Killeen. He started Day 3 eighth in chips of the 54 who remained and quietly went about his business with ruthless efficiency. He steadily increased his chip stack without ever being in contention for the chip lead or at risk of going bust. That is until he went on a rush at the end, he eliminated Michael Naughton in 11th place and Declan Barker in 10th to shoot into the chip lead. The Irishman is a UKIPT regular and is usually spotted in a trademark comedy animal hat. For this event he's exchanged some cranial warmth for chin warmth by sporting a bushy beard. Perhaps it's his lucky charm?

Whilst Silver will start third in chips tomorrow many will have him as their favourite to win. "We might as well give him the trophy and play for second place," said one Irish tournament regular when the Brit, who lives in Dublin, collected another personal UKIPT record on Day 1B. Silver finished on 311,700 to break the record for the biggest chip stack after Day 1 of a UKIPT.

He slipped a bit on Day 2 where he 'only' managed to double his chip stack. Still, the 602,000 he bought into Day 2 meant he started second in chips. He was soon in the lead. He became the first player to break the million-chip-mark when he won a flip to eliminate Jonathan McCann. Although he got short after doubling up Michael Naughton, midway through the day, he fought back and then made a big call against Svein Eidseter. The Norweigan four-bet all-in for 930,000 (46.5 big blinds) on a [6d][Qh][8s] flop. It was two-thirds of Silver's stack to call and call he did with [As][Qs]. Eidseter had [Kh][Qc] and was out in 13th. Silver also ended the day when he eliminated Ben Senior in ninth.

Whilst Silver, who has over $1,200,000 in lifetime earnings, will start third tomorrow the player just ahead of him qualified for just £8. Step forward Robert Sturman, who'll be playing the biggest final table of his life tomorrow. He played the biggest pot of his life today against UKIPT3 leader board winner Tom Hall. With 16 players Hall had the chip lead, that was until he ran [Ah][Ks] into Sturman's aces in a pot worth 1.8m. Two hours later Sturman eliminated Hall in 12th place so Hall's quest for a UKIPT Main Event table goes on. Sturman will be hoping he wasn't simply nominated in the best supporting poker player category come tomorrow night.

Whilst Silver was rarely out of the top five stacks all day Zandvliet was trying his best to climb out of the bottom five for much of it. He'll be the first to admit that as well as using skill along the way he also got lucky to reach the final table. He cracked aces with threes, ace-king with ace-jack and ace-queen with ace-five. Lol Dutchyments! He'll start fourth in chips tomorrow as he goes for his third UKIPT Main Event title.

Back in October Rational Group Staff were, for the first time ever, allowed to enter the UKIPT Main Event when the tour headed to the home of PokerStars in the Isle of Man. The same grace was granted here in Dublin as it's the home of Full Tilt Poker. Tomorrow Dirk Thijssen will hope to better Chris Jonat - who looks after Team PokerStars Online by day - fourth place finish in Isle of Man.

That he has that shot is in no small part due to the fact that he knocked out Stefan Ebinger - the only other remaining Rational Group Staff Member - in 14th place. Aces against tens sounds simple enough but there was a premature celebration when a ten came on the flop, an ace on the turn saved Thijssen's red face though. By day he's a product manager for PokerStars working on desktop and mobile software improvements for players.

Of the three players who come to the final table with less than a million in chips it's Larry Ryan who's best placed to make a comeback. He'll start with 920,000 but having been chip leader during the first half of the day might well think he could and should've more. Still he's got experience on his side having finished fifth in EPT6 Prague in 2009. Like Ryan, Chris Wood is short on chips, but not experience. He was runner-up at the Irish Winter Festival way back in 2008 and has numerous other scores to his name.

Last but not least Ivan Tononi may only have 11 big blinds, but the Italian lives in Dublin so will have home field advantage on his side.

Today was about the race to the final table and for that race to be run we had to lose 46 players along the way. Most remarkable of all was Daniel Stacey's fall from grace. He started the day as chip leader and despite missing the first 20 minutes he was out within 90 minutes. He'd already dropped some when he lost the rest to Larry Ryan with ace-king against aces and was out in 38th.

Others to hit the rail on Day 3 were: Ludovic Geilich (50th), Jack Salter (43rd), Paul Febers (36th), Daragh Davey (31st), Dean Hutchison (25th) and Thomas Finneran (17th). To catch up on all today's action (including videos) and to see a complete list of prizewinners click on the links below. We'll be back tomorrow at noon to bring you live coverage of the final table.

Levels 17-20
Levels 21-25
Prizewinners
UKIPT Dublin videos

All photos are copyright of Danny Maxwell