2.05pm: One for Aido, one for Ward
True to form the last two hands at this final table saw pre-flop raising wars break out, both involved Sergio Aido.

In the first Wim Neys opened to 100,000 from the cut-off, Aido three-bet to 260,000 from the small-blind, Weys four-bet to 510,000, Aido slid out a five-bet of 785,000 and Neys gave it up.

The very next hand Thomas Ward opened to 100,000 from the button, Aido three-bet to 260,000 but folded to Wards' just over min-four bet of 422,000.

The player are now on a 15 minute break during which we'll get official chip counts.

2pm: Thomas Ward doubles through Sergio Aido
They say luck evens itself out, after getting horrifically unlucky earlier, Thomas Ward just got lucky to stay in it.

Sergio Aido opened to 100,000 from early position, Ward then moved all-in from the small blind for 913,000 and Aido made the call.

Ward: [Ad][Jd]
Aido: [Kc][Ks]

The [Jd][3d][Ad] flop vaulted Ward from worst to first and he stayed there as the [6h][ and [3h] completed the board. Ward up to 1,850,000, Aido down to 2,450,000. -- NW

1.50pm: Pre-flop poker
Not too many flops being seen at the moment and those that do make it post-flop aren't making it past the flop.

Thomas Ward has moved in once, he's still keeping his head above water, but is the shortest stack. -- NW

1.35pm: Cesar Garcia eliminated in seventh place (£15,050)
Just one hand after Chris Dowling was eliminated Patrick Simcoe claimed another victim...

Cesar Garcia opened from early position off a stack of just shy of a million, Simcoe set him in from the small bind and Garcia called all-in.

Garcia: [Jc][Jh]
Simcoe: [Ks][Kd]

The [8s][5s][As] flop meant Garcia was drawing to one out, it didn't materialise on the [Qc] turn or [Kh] river.

It's been some start for Simcoe who now has around 5,700,000 chips and is the clear chip leader. -- NW

1.30pm: Chris Dowling eliminated in eighth place (£12,691)
One double up was all Chris Dowling would get...

The very next hand he shoved under-the-gun for around 400,000 with [Qd][7d], Patrick Simcoe gave him a spin from the big blind with [Kh][9s]. The [As][9s][5h][10c][8c] board means Dowling suffers yet more UKIPT final table disappointment. -- NW

1.25pm: Sergio Aido doubles through Chris Dowling
A huge pot has just gone the way of Sergio Aido and as a result he's now up to 3,500,000, whilst Chris Dowling is down to just 180,000.

The action was started by Aido, Dowling then three-bet, Aido four-bet shoved for 1,763,000 and Dowling called.

Aido: [10h][10d]
Dowling: [Ad][Kd]

The [5h][Qd][8s][5c][7c] board kept the Spaniard in front and left Dowling short.

Two hands later Dowling doubled through Aido, [Ad][10c] against [As][8c] but he's still very short on chips. -- NW

1.15pm: Neys takes a chunk from Garcia
Start of final table chip leader Wim Neys just won his biggest pot of the final table so far. There was a raise to 100,000 under-the-gun from Cesar Garcia and Neys defended from the big blind. On the [4s][5c][Ac] flop Garcia c-bet 110,000, Neys check-raised to 265,000 and Garcia smooth called. The [Js] fell on fourth street, Neys stayed aggressive, firing out a bet of 305,000, Garcia riffled his chips for a couple of minutes before releasing his hand. -- NW

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

1.05pm: Ward wins back to back pots
Thomas Ward was actually down to around 500,000 after losing that pot to Patrick Simcoe, but he has shoved two hands in a row to pick up some much needed chips. The first was an open shove, garnering him 80,000, but in the second he raised all-in from the big blind over the top of Wim Neys 80,000 open from the button. After getting a count Neys folded. -- NW

12.50pm: Patrick Simcoe doubles through Thomas Ward
I don't think I've ever seen someone take a beat of such magnitude or importance as well as Thomas Ward just did.

Pre-flop Simcoe raised to 80,000 from middle position, Ward three-bet to 195,000 from the small blind and Simcoe smooth called. The flop fell [3d][Jc][2d], Ward led for 175,000, Simcoe moved all-in for 1,695,000 and Ward snap called.

Ward: [Jd][Js] - top set
Simcoe: [Ad][8d] - nut flush draw

The [8c] turn was a blank as even if Simcoe hit another eight he'd still lose the pot, but the [4d] river card saw Simcoe, who had already stood up and collected his belongings, sit back down, Ward simple took his head phones out and inquired as to how much he owed Simcoe. After that hand Simcoe takes the chip lead as he's up to around 3,650,000 whilst Ward slips to around 600,000. -- NW

12.45pm: Three-bet for the win
It's been an aggressive tournament throughout and it didn't take long for the first three-bet pot of this final table. It folded to Philippe Souki in the cut-off, he opened to 80,000 then called when Sergio Aido made it 175,000 on the button.

The two of them saw a [Ks][4s][10d] flop and a c-bet of 180,000 from Aido was enough to take down the pot. -- NW

12.40pm: And they're off
The players are into the final furlong of this tournament and cards are now in the air here in London. -- NW

12.30pm: Welcome to the UKIPT final table
Hello and welcome to the UKIPT final table, we've got a mix of Brits, Irish, Belgians and Spaniards for the finale of Season 3. It's Belguim's Wim Neys who leads the way, although the chasing pack is not far behind.

This is how the final eight stack up as we get underway...

Seat 1 - Guy Goossens, Belgium, 1,250,000
Seat 2 - Patrick Simcoe, UK, 1,234,000
Seat 3 - Chris Dowling, Ireland, 2,262,000
Seat 4 - Wim Neys, Belgium, 3,270,000
Seat 6 - Cesar Garcia, Spain, 1,156,000
Seat 7 - Tom Ward, UK, 2,474,000
Seat 8 - Philippe Souki, UK, 2,402,000
Seat 9 - Sergio Aido, Spain, 1,748,000

and this is what they're playing for

1st. £156,800
2nd. £104,600
3rd. £63,560
4th. £44,870
5th. £33,680
6th. £22,490
7th. £15,050
8th. £12,691

If you'd like to know a bit more about the players in the final eight click here.

Play will be underway shortly, there's 21 minutes left in the current level.

PokerStars Blog reporting team in London: Nick Wright. Photos by Mickey May.

Today saw us bid adios to Season 3 of the UKIPT, the first stop of Season 4 sees the UKIPT pack it's suitcase and head off on holiday to Marbella, Spain. Fitting then that a Spaniard should win the last event of the season. That man is Sergio Aido, he was the most aggressive player at the final table throughout (although Thomas Ward ran him close) and that aggression paid off handsomely as he pocketed £144,555, picks up a shiny trophy and a seat in Monday night's Champion of Champions event, where he might earn himself a free pass to Season 4.

He started the final table sixth in chips but an early double up with pocket tens against Chris Dowling's [Ad][Kd] gave him chips to go with his undoubted talent (he chopped the EPT £1K turbo last night). For Dowling, who was left with just four big blinds, and exited soon after to Patrick Simcoe, it was more UKIPT final table disappointment, he's now finished eighth, seventh and sixth on his three trips to the final table.

That Dowling was out first seemed unlikely given that 30 minutes prior to his exit Ward had been left with just 15 big blinds when Simcoe rivered a diamond to flush his top set. It should therefore come as no surprise that the first few levels of the final table were very much the Simcoe show. He eliminated Cesar Garcia in seventh, when pocket kings collided with pocket jacks he had a stack of nearly six million when no one else had half of that.

By this stage Ward had recovered, thanks in part to doubling through the active Aido with [As][Jc] against pocket kings, ace on the flop. Ace-jack would be a theme between those two, more on that later. This all meant that the two Belgians who had made the final table were now the two shortest stacks and we'd lose them both in back to back hands.

First to go was Guy Goossens, after losing half his stack to Simcoe (who else) he had little choice but to call off his last five big blinds from the big blind with pocket twos when Aido set him in from the small blind. The Spaniard's [5s][3s] connected rather well with the [7d][Qs][5h][3d][7s] board to send the motorbike shop owner out in sixth.

Minutes later start of final table chip leader Wim Neys, who was being railed by the De Meulder twins, followed his compatriot to the rail. An 18 big blind three-bet shove with [As][9d] picked off by Aido's pocket sevens which held up, the final table was suddenly a Belgian free zone.

Down to four and Simcoe was still the chip leader, Aido and Ward were closing in with local lad Philippe Souki the definite short stack. That short stack was soon amalgamated into Ward's stack. Again pocket sevens holding up against a three-bet shove, Souki missing with [10d][9d]. The Vic cash game regular has £44,870 to pad his bankroll with though.

When three-handed play began Simcoe's stack began to get eroded by the sheer agression of Aido and Ward. It wasn't long before the two aggressive players played a monster pot. Ward was all-in and at risk with [Ad][Qc] against Aido's pocket queens in a 6,760,000 chip pot. An ace on the turn gave Ward the chip lead and left Aido as the short stack.

But, the Spaniard battled back and when he eliminated Simcoe in third with flopped top pair against the Brits bottom pair - all-in on the flop - he took a 10,195,000 to 6,195,000 chip lead to heads-up play.

Before heads-up play began the players struck a deal that evened out the payouts a little. Aido was guaranteed £124,555, Ward £116,845 with £20,000 still up for grabs.
Just a few hands into heads-up play the chip positions were reversed when Ward got three streets of value with [Ks][2s] on a [2h][Kc][3c][Qh][10d] board.

But, two big back to back pots where Aido held ace-jack in both would send all the chips and the title to the Spaniard. In the first Aido was at risk, all-in for 5,465,000 against Ward's [Kc][Qc] a ten high board saw the chip lead flip flop again. On the very next hand Aido five-bet shoved with [As][Js] and Ward committed his last five million with pocket tens. This time though the best hand couldn't hold as an ace on the flop and another on the river ruled decisively in Aido's favour.

UKIPT Final table result:

1st. Sergio Aido, Spain, £144,555*
2nd. Thomas Ward, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, £116,845*
3rd. Patrick Simcoe, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, £63,560
4th. Philippe Souki, United Kingdom, £44,870
5th. Wim Neys, Belgium, PokerStars Qualifier, £33,680
6th. Guy Goossens, Belgium, £22,490
7th. Cesar Garcia, Spain, PokerStars Qualifier, £15,050
8th. Chris Dowling, Ireland, PokerStars Player, £12,691

* denotes a deal was done

To catch up with all today's action click here and a full list of those that cashed can be found here. But, the UKIPT London title was not the only one decided today, Neil Raine has been top of the UKIPT Season 3 leader board for most of the season, with close friend Tom Hall hot on his heels. A third place finish by Raine in a £100 turbo side-event here, meant that despite Hall's 33rd place finish in the UKIPT London main event, he needed to finish eighth or better in the £2,000 UKIPT High Roller to snatch the title away from Raine.

Well Hall was one of 28 players who returned for Day 2 today, he was already in the money but chasing the leader board title that would see him get entry to every UKIPT stop of Season 4 (second is good for four events excluding the final). Well he's only gone and done it. He's currently 2/6 in the event, which plays to a conclusion tonight, he's also locked up a minimum of £18,050 so far and is shooting for the top prize of £101,950.

So Hall will be back for all of Season 4, as will the PokerStars Blog, starting in Marbella. You can qualify on the client from April 1st and the main event takes place June 12th-16th. We'll see you then, bring sunscreen.

Photos from UKIPT London © Mickey May.

Before seeing the schedule for the ninth season of the European Poker Tour, I would have expected to have gone to my grave without ever having uttered the phrase "mega-festival". But not only have I now written it several times, I have also been to at least three of them, as well as jabbering into a microphone on the subject during a live internet broadcast (in itself something else I never thought I'd do).

EPT9 has been a learning curve for all of us, and awash with mega-festivals from start to finish. It is the name some bright spark in the marketing department chose to describe the enormous festivals that combine the European Poker Tour stop with the Grand Final of the regional poker tours that bring the tournament game all the way across the world.

In Barcelona, we had the Estrellas Poker Tour bleeding into EPT Barcelona; in Prague it was the Eureka. Here in London, we have just finished the United Kingdom and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT), overlapping with the EPT. The baby brother went out with a huge bang.

There were 1,099 players ante-ing up the £700 for a seat at that tournament, the largest number of players ever for a poker event in London. They created a prize pool of £746,221 and a first prize of £144,555, which was won late yesterday by Sergio Aido, of Spain, after a heads up chop.

It might have been "only" £700 to enter, but many of the world's best players, in town for the EPT, decided to join the party. There were EPT champions -- David Vamplew, Michael Tureniec, Liv Boeree, Jake Cody, Zimnan Ziyard, Ludovic Lacay, Mickey Petersen, Martin Finger, Roberto Romanello, Kent Lundmark, Toby Lewis, Kevin MacPhee, Anton Wigg, Julian Thew -- and World Series bracelet winners or November Niners -- Richard Ashby, Kenneth Aldridge, Willie Tann, Scott Shelley, James Akenhead, Sam Holden.

Olivier Busquet also played, sitting down for a five day tournament with a buy in less than a solitary blind in the games he usually plays. It was that kind of tournament.

And Aido beat them all.

But more than just the victory in the main event, there were some intriguing sub-plots to the UKIPT festival, which have also filtered into the EPT. Aido himself is central to one of them, because after finishing day three of the UKIPT main event, and securing his seat at the final table, he then jumped into a £1,000 turbo side event. He won it.

That meant that the day before he came to the biggest final table of his career, he made the second biggest. And he won (or chopped) both of them. Viva Espana.

As Aido was busy pulling off this startling feat, the British player Tom Hall was managing something very similar. He came into the UKIPT festival in second place on the overall UKIPT leader board, which awards a huge prize to the most successful player across the entire season. Hall's friend Neil Raine was in first place, but after Raine played and bust the London main event on Day 1A, Hall scented an opportunity to overhaul him.

At the time Hall sat down to play the UKIPT, he knew he needed to finish in 36th place or better to top the leader board. The winner earns a year-long UKIPT passport -- ie, a buy-in and hotel package for every event on season four -- which is likely to be worth at least £10,000. (The full schedule is yet to be announced.)

Hall put his game face on and ploughed deep into the money. But then it suddenly transpired that Raine had cashed in a side event, picked up a few more rankings points, and left Hall now looking for a seventh place finish to earn sufficient points to take the lead again.

He couldn't do it. He busted in 33rd.

However that was not the end of the story. Far from it, in fact. Hall realised that late registration was still open for the £2,000 UKIPT High Roller event, for which rankings points were available. Raine was already in the event, but bust before the money, meaning that Hall had another chance to pip him.

He took his winnings from the main event and bought in to the high roller, and then about 24 hours later he had his abacus out again. He determined that an eighth place finish would be good enough for him to collect enough points to overhaul Raine's revised total. And he did it, finishing in sixth.

He picked up £18,050 for that, but more importantly he also became the UKIPT leader board champion (subject to final confirmation from the bean counters). He will now be freerolling through the fourth season of the UKIPT, which kicks off in June in Marbella (the outpost of the British in Spain.)

Hall is now in the EPT Main Event, sitting at Daniel Negreanu's table, and also alongside Cesar Garcia, who also made the UKIPT final table. Form is a funny thing in poker: both Hall and Aido are running very well at the moment and will likely be threats even in the supposedly more demanding environment of the EPT. (If you had seen the UKIPT main event, you would certainly contest which is the more demanding.)

The first season of "mega-festivals" has been an unqualified success, with fields and prize-pools swelled massively across the board. No doubt something similar will occur throughout next year too. And if someone could just change the name, we will all be more than happy.

*****

Follow live coverage of the EPT London main event on the EPT London page. Follow the final stages of the UKIPT main event on the UKIPT page. Follow the @PokerStarsBlog Twitter account to keep up-to-date with all the EPT action.

Marc Dubach last night topped the UKIPT High Roller beating out a tough final table to secure his first six-figure score. The likes of Byron Kaverman ($1,296,799 career live winnings), Martin Hanowski ($407,289), and EPT winner Zimnan Ziyard ($962,578) were close on Dubach's heels.

Tom Hall's 6th place finish did more than win him £18,050 it also just put him out front in the UKIPT Player of the Year race, pipping Neil Raine at the last to collect a season's worth of UKIPT Main Event packages. A season of freerolls? Must be nice. You can read more about that tussle here.

One of the faces of the UKIPT, Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren, also ran deep but was first out on the final table. She busted in 9th for £7,650, which she seemed pretty chuffed with all in all...

But all in all, very good. £7,650 in prize money and I get to go home and have a bit of a Sunday afternoon. So I'm genuinely quite happy.

— Victoria Coren (@VictoriaCoren) March 10, 2013

EPT9 London, event #D
Date: 9-10 March 2013
Buy-in: £2,150
Game: NLHE High Roller
Players: 246
Prize pool: £477,280

Marc Daubach

1. Marc Daubach, Belgium, £101,950
2. Byron Kaverman, USA, £67,980
3. Martin Hanowski, Germany, £41,410
4. Zimnan Ziyard, UK, £32,930
5. Gautam Sabharwal, India, £25,490
6. Tom Hall, UK, £18,050
7. Gordon Huntly, UK, £14,230
8. Joao Barbosa, Portugal, £10,620
9. Vicky Coren, UK, Team PokerStars Pro, £7,650
10. Christopher Frank, Germany, £7,650
11. George Danzer, Germany, Team PokerStars Pro, £6,800
12. Zoltan Purak, Hungary, £6,800
13. Hamad Almannai, Qatar, £5,950
14. Diego Gomez, Portugal, £5,950
15. Chris Moorman, UK, £5,100
16. Mikhail Petrov, Russia, £5,100
17. Albert Daher, Lebanon, £4,250
18. Wojciech Lozowski, Poland, £4,250
19. Max Greenwood, Canada, £4,250
20. Jason Gray, Australia, £4,250
21. Karl Rudwall, Sweden, £4,250
22. Alain Bauer, France, £4,250
23. Yann Dion, Canada, £4,250
24. Vincent Gabel, Belgium, £4,250
25. Werner Fenne, Norway, £3,400
26. Atanas Gueorguiev, Bulgaria, £3,400
27. Marvin Rettenmaier, Germany, £3,400
28. Jude Ainsworth, Ireland, £3,400

Click through to live coverage of the EPT London Main Event. Check out all the festival results from EPT London. Follow the @PokerStarsBlog Twitter account to keep up-to-date with all the EPT action.

Rick Dacey is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

1.05am: Richard Evans wins UKIPT Champion of Champions
Congratulations to Richard Evans who has just won the UKIPT Champion of Champions.

In the final hand he raised to 12,000 on the button and Robert Baguley called from the big blind. On the [7s][6d][2d] flop Baguley open-shoved for roughly 40,000 and Evans made the call.

Baguley: [4h][2s]
Evans: [10c][6c]

The Welsaman's hand held up on the [As] turn and [2s] river to earn him entry and hotel to every stop of Season 4 of the UKIPT.

That isn't quite the end of Season 3 though, stay tuned for a wrap of this turbo final table.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 3,000-6,000 ante 500

12.52am: Evans all-in, takes chip lead
And just like that Richard Evans is back in the lead, Robert Baguley limped the button, check from Richard Evans. On the [4h][7d][Qc] flop, Evans check-raised all-in over Baguley's 12,000 chip bet. Grimace, think and fold from Baguley.

12.50am: Nip and tuck
It's still small pot heads-uppoker being played here in London, but of course with just 27 big blinds in play then each pot, no matter how small is significant. Robert Baguley has taken the majority of them and as a result he's taken the chip lead.

12.40am: Chip counts
As we move into level 17 the chip counts are: Richard Evans (76,500) plays Robert Baguley (58,500).

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

12.30am: Still no big pots
Both players have, for the most part, taken to limping from the small blind. When Robert Baguley is in positon he's stabbing full pot at most flops and taking them down. He's even open-shoved for c.65,000 into an 8,800 pot. It might not be textbook but it's working.

However, Richard Evans is still taking down his fair share of pots and looks to have a slight chip lead. Of course this is not deep stack poker anymore, it's going to be a card or luck catching contest for that Season 4 Passport.

Level 16 has just come to an end and players are now on a 15 minute break.

12.25am: No big pots but Baguley takes the lead
There have been no massiv pots yet, but the majority of the small ones have gone Robert Baguley's way - in short he's been more aggressive. He's edged into a small lead, but with the high blinds it can all change in a couple of hands.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 2,000-4,000 ante 500

12.15am: Rough chip counts
As heads-up play gets underway it's roughly 75,000 for Richard Evans, plays 60,000 for Robert Baguley.

12.10am: Emmett Mullin eliminated in third place
From under-the-gun Richard Evans moved all-in for 35,700 with [10s][9s] and Emmett Mullin made the call with [Ac][Js].

The board came [10d][2d][8s][8c][4c] to double up Evans and leave Mullin with just 2,900.

That went in the next hand with [Ah][9c] and he got there against Robert Baguley's pocket tens, flopping trip nines.

He then folded, before having to put in almost half his stack blind as he was the big blind and he called off the rest with [6c][2c] after Evans had raised from the button with [Ad][Qd]. The [4h][3d][8s] flop was pretty decent for him, but he missed his outs on the [9h] turn and [js] river.

We're now heads-up for the UKIPT Season 4 Passport.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 1,500-3,000 ante 300

11.55pm: Emmett Mullin doubles through Richard Evans
A much needed double up for Emmett Mullin now...

He moved all-in from the small blind for 15,100 with [Js][10c] and Richard Evans made the call with pocket fours. The [7s][Ks][9h] flop was a good one for Mullin even though he didn't 'connect'. The [8c] turn was gin and the meaningless [6s] completed the board. He's back up to 31,400 whilst Evans slips to around 37,000.

11.50pm: Robert Baguley doubles through Emmet Mullin
Emmett Mullin opened to 4,800 then called all-in when Robert Baguley shoved for 25,000. On their backs.

Baguley: [As][Qc]
Mullin: [Kh][Qd]

A [3s][5d][Js][Qs][Ac] board saw Baguley double and leave Mullin with around 14,000.

11.45pm: Nicolau Villa-Lobos eliminated in fourth place
More chips for Welsh wizard Richard Evans as he's just eliminated Nicolau Villa-Lobos. The action was raise by Evans on the button, shove for roughly 25,000 from Villa-Lobos, call from Evans.

Evans: [Ks][Kd]
Villa-Lobos: [Qd][Jc]

A [6s][3s][8h][Ah][5s] board kept Evans in front and he now has roughly 75,000 of the 135,000 chips in play.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 1,200-2,400 ante 300

11.40pm: Calm before the storm?
I think the stacks being so close has led to a lull in the action, the players are generally not getting involved in any big pots. There's been one all-in shove apiece by Emmett Mullin and Nicolau Villa-Lobos but neither got looked up.

11.30pm: Close
The average stack right now is 35,000, all four players are very closely bunched. The biggest stack is around 42,000 (Richard Evans) whilst the smallest is around 28,000 (Richard Baguley), that means Emmett Mullin and Nicolau Villa-Lobos both have around 35,000.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 1,000-2,000 ante 200

11.25pm: Baguley up and down
Robert Baguley had shoved his way back into the chip lead, but he subsequently lost a sizeable pot to Emmett Mullin.

The former opened to 4,000 from under-the-gun and Mullin flat called on the button. On the [10c][3h][Ad] flop Baguley continued for 6.300 and Mullin called. The [6h] turn was checked to Mullin and his relatively small bet of 3,800 was enough to win the pot.

11.20pm: Emmett Mullin doubles through Robert Baguley
From the small blind Robert Baguley raised to 3,500, Emmett Mullin moved all-in for 16,000 and Baguley made the call.

Baguley: [Kd][Qd]
Mullin: [Ad][9h]

The [Ah][5h][Kh] flop elicited shouts of 'hold' from Mullin and his rail. The [7h] opened up the possibility of a chop, but the [6c] completed the board and the Irishman's hand held up.

11.15pm: Chip counts
Here are the chip counts as we move into level 12

Seat 1 - Emmett Mullin - 16,000
Seat 2 - Richard Evans - 43,000
Seat 7 - Nicolau Villa-Lobos - 32,000
Seat 9 - Robert Baguley - 44,000

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 800-1,600 ante 200

11.10pm: Wojtek Barzantny eliminated in fifth place
From the button Wojtek Barzanty moved all-in for 10 big blinds with [Qh][Js], Robert Baguley announced call and rolled over [As][Qs]. The German was in a lot of trouble and didn't get there on the [2d][6s][Ac][10h][9s] board.

Down to four.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 600-1,200 ante 100

11pm: Dara O'Kearney eliminated in seventh; Thomas Finneran eliminated in sixth
Two knockouts in quick succession to tell you about, Richard Evans playing the role of executioner in both.

In the first Dara O'Kearney shoved with ace-five suited for around 10,000, Evans called with pocket tens and held.

In the second Evans raised the button with [A][8], Thomas Finneran shoved from the big blind for 8,000 with queens and Evans called. An eight on the flop and an ace on the river sent Finneran to the rail.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 500-1,000 ante 100

10.55pm: Robert Baguley triples up
Action! Action! Action! Three actions for a three-way all-in...

Thomas Finneran opened to 1,700 from under-the-gun+1, Robert Baguley then three-bet to 3,700 from the button, only for Richard Evans to move all-in for 19,000. Back on Finneran he gave him a good stare before calling, Baguley then also moved all-in, but he was the shortest stack with 11,000.

Finneran: [Ac][Kd]
Evans: [Kc][Kd]
Baguley: [Ah][Qs]

The [10d][5d][Qc] flop was an intriguing one, the [10h] turn a blank, but the [Qh] river swung the pot Baguley's way. After that hand he is up to 33,000, Evans is down to 16,000 as he won the side pot, whilst Finneran is down to 7,000.

10.45pm: Baguley raise-folds
Robert Baguley now has less than 10 big blinds after raising to 1,800 then folding when Richard Evans moved all-in.

10.35pm: Chip counts
Here are the chip counts from the break

Seat 1 - Emmett Mullin - 19,200
Seat 2 - Richard Evans - 12,400
Seat 3 - Wojtek Barzantny - 12,400
Seat 5 - Thomas Finneran 29,600
Seat 7 - Nicolau Villa-Lobos - 37,000
Seat 8 - Dara O'Kearney - 14,800
Seat 9 - Robert Baguley - 9,600

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 400-800 ante 100

10.20pm: Thomas Finneran doubles through Wojtek Barzantny
On the last hand before the break Thomas Finneran doubled though Wojtek Barzantny.

It was the German who started the action, making it 1,200 to go, Finneran raised to 2,500 and Barzantny called.

Flop: [9d][7d][4h] - check, bet of 2,200 from Finneran, call from Barzantny
Turn: [Js] - check, all-in bet of 9,435 from Finneran, tank then call from Barzantny

Finneran: [7h][7c]
Barzantny: [Kd][9c]

River: [5s]

Finneran got a full double up, whilst Barzantny is down to roughly 10,000. The players are now on a 15 minute break, full chip counts will be forthcoming.

10.15pm: Chris Ferguson eliminated in eighth place
He waited a few hands, but eventually he had to move in...

From under-the-gun+1 Chris Ferguson moved all-in for 2,100 (3.5 big blinds) it folded all the way round to Emmett Mullin in the small blind, the Irishman decided to give him a spin.

Mullin: [Ah][10s]
Ferguson: [Qd][8h]

A [4d][Js][4s][3s][8s] meant Ferguson rivered a pair, but it was trumped by Mullin's flush.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 300-600 ante 75

10.03pm: Thomas Finneran doubles through Chris Ferguson
From under-the-gun Dara O'Kearney made it 800 to go, Chris Ferguson moved all-in for around 9,000 from the button and Thomas Finneran then moved all-in from the small blind for 7,050, O'Kearney folded.

Finneran: [10s][10d]
Ferguson: [As][Ks]

The board ran [Jh][9h][10h][5d][5c] and Ferguson is now down to just 2,100.

9.58pm: Finneran does a win
The shortest stack belongs to Thomas Finneran, the Irishman is down to just 7,000. He did just pick up the blinds and antes though with a raise to 1,000 from under-the-gun, with his stack they all count.

9.55pm: Barzantny ships it
On a [10d][8s][7d] flop Robert Baguley led out for 2,100 - a pot sized bet - and Wojtek Barzantny then moved all-in for 14,350 total. After getting a count Baguley folded his hand.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 200-400 ante 50

9.50pm: More for Villa-Lobos
Nicolau Villa-Lobos opened to 725 and Robert Baguley made the call. On the [3s][3c][8s] flop Villa-Lobos check-called a bet of 800. On the [Js] turn Villa-Lobos check-called again this time for 1,100.

The [9s] river was checked down, and Villa-Lobos showed [Jc][10c] to win the pot.

9.40pm: O'Kearney brings out the cold four-bet
The conditions outside have been positively arctic today and it just got a little chilly inside The Vic as Dara O'Kearney made a cold four-bet.

There was a raise to 600 from Wojtek Barzantny (hijack), a re-raise to 1,325 from Chris Ferguson (cut-off) before O'Kearney made it 3,400 from the big blind. There followed a swift fold from Barzantny and a longer dwell from Ferguson before he also folded.

Whether it's his table image, his table presence, his attire, his age or a combination of all those things, O'Kearney always gets a lot of respect when he puts chips in the pot. -- NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 150-300 ante 25

9.28pm: Chip counts
Seat 1 - Emmett Mullin - 18,000
Seat 2 - Richard Evans - 16,725
Seat 3 - Wojtek Barzantny - 15,700
Seat 4 - Chris Ferguson - 12,775
Seat 5 - Thomas Finneran 12,200
Seat 7 - Nicolau Villa-Lobos - 33,000
Seat 8 - Dara O'Kearney - 18,600
Seat 9 - Robert Baguley - 16,000

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 150-300

9.15pm: Boat for Barzantny
With 5,500 in the pot and a complete board of [3c][6s][5s][3h][3d] on the felt Thomas Finneran checked the action to Wojtek Barzantny. After about 15 seconds thought Barzantny checked it back and rolled over pocket twos for the nut low full house, it was good though as Finneran mucked.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 100-200

9pm: Two showdown hands
Both Thomas Finneran and Dara O'Kearney have been noticeably quiet so far, but that just changed. Finneran bet 600 on a [Kd][4d][Ad] flop, check-call from Dara O'Kearney, check-fold from Robert Baguley. The [2c] was checked through, before O'Kearney bet 900 on the [7h] river, this was met with a crying call from Finneran, O'Kearney rolled over pocket fours for a flopped set, Finneran mucked.

In the second Emmett Mullin (aggressor), Chris Ferguson and Nicolau-Villa Lobos all put 1,725 into the pot on the turn of a [7h][3s][6d][Qh] board, the [4d] completed the board, Mullin bet 3,850, Ferguson folded but Villa-Lobos called.

Mullin: [6h][4h] - two pair
Villa-Lobos: [9h][5h] - rivered straight

"Sick," said Mullin.

8.55pm: Chip counts
Rough eyes on chip counts, I wear glasses and their state of cleanliness depends on when Mickey May last cleaned them, luckily for you lot, she did just that at 8.15pm.

Seat 1 - Emmett Mullin - 21,000
Seat 2 - Richard Evans - 16,700
Seat 3 - Wojtek Barzantny - 13,600
Seat 4 - Chris Ferguson - 14,800
Seat 5 - Thomas Finneran 14,800
Seat 7 - Nicolau Villa-Lobos - 24,000
Seat 8 - Dara O'Kearney - 13,975
Seat 9 - Robert Baguley - 17,400

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 75-150

8.45pm: Mullin makes a call down
A sizeable pot between Robert Baguley and Emmett Mullin to tell you about. The former bet 700, 1,200 and 1,700 respectively on a [3c][10d][Qd][9s][7d] board, Mullin called him down and after the river action Baguley mucked his hand meaning that Mullin didn't have to show the winner.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 50-100

8.35pm: One for Mullin and all-in chop
Will a complete board of [2s][3s][4c][2h][Js] on the felt Emmett Mullin (small blind) fired out a bet of 1,650 into a pot of 2,700, Nicolau Villa-Lobos made the call. Mullin showed pocket queens to win the pot.

A couple of hands later Villa-Lobos and Robert Baguley got it all-in pre-flop, both players had pocket queens and they chopped the pot. -- NW

8.25pm: Sergio Aido eliminated in ninth place
Whilst I felt Sergio Aido might get active in the hope of building a stack during the EPT dinner break his exit hand was stone cold cooler.

From under-the-gun Nicolau Villa-Lobos made it 150 to go, Wojtek Barzantny flat called from the cut-off, only for Aido to make it 700 from the big blind. This elicited a four-bet to 1,800 from Villa-Lobos a fold from Barzantny and a flat call from Aido.

On the [Jh][Ks][10h] flop the two players got the chips all-in with a flurry of raises and re-raises. Showdown!

Aido: [Jd][Js] - flopped set
Villa-Lobos: [Ac][Qs] - flopped straight

The Spaniard couldn't fill up on the [6h] turn or [5d] river and the Brazilian yet again gets an early double up at a final table. -- NW

8.20pm: Aido takes the first pot
It what could be a common theme in the first 75 minutes Sergio Aido opened for a raise of 125 from under-the-gun, everyone else folded and he took the pot. You sense he's going to try and build a stack of bust trying durin the EPT dinner break.

8.15pm: Seat Draw
The seat draw has been done here's who's sitting where...

Seat 1 - Emmett Mullin
Seat 2 - Richard Evans
Seat 3 - Wojtek Barzantny
Seat 4 - Chris Ferguson
Seat 5 - Thomas Finneran
Seat 6 - Sergio Aido
Seat 7 - Nicolau Villa-Lobos
Seat 8 - Dara O'Kearney
Seat 9 - Robert Baguley

Players are just having a pre game photo taken, Sergio Aido is currently playing in the EPT main event and had been told he had to take his seat before the first exit. That tournament is now on break 75 minutes, so he's just shown up. He could bring an interesting dynamic to this final table.

We should be underway momentarily.

7.55pm: Champions league
Whilst five stops of Season 4 of the UKIPT have been announced tonight is all about bringing down the curtain on Season 3.

The UKIPT3 Champion of Champions will see the winners of the eight main events in Season 3 and the winner of the UKIPT3 Best Online Qualfier (the person who won most seats) battle it out for a passport to Season 4 of the UKIPT. That's all main events and accommodation. A five-figure freeroll.

The structure is the same as a regular UKIPT main event but with 15 minute levels instead of one hour, if last year's end of season showpiece is any barometer it should be a turbo charged five hours of winner takes all poker.

Play is set to start at 8pm, let's take a look at the runners and riders.

Emmett Mullin, Ireland, winner of UKIPT Galway and €100,000

"It's unbelievable, I've actually won a tournament as big as this, with such a tough field...It's been a bit of a drain but there's a buzz at the minute. We'll have a few drinks tonight." So said Emmett Mullin after taking down the opening event of Season 3. He's had one other UKIPT main event cash this year, finishing 204th in Nottingham.

Robert Baguley, United Kingdom, winner of UKIPT Nottingham and £210,400

One million pounds. That was the guarantee PokerStars slapped on the Nottingham leg of UKIPT. How much! Well they smashed it as 1,625 players created a prize pool of £1,137,500. The largest piece of the pie went to local player Robert Baguley, who qualified in a live satellite at Dusk Till Dawn.

Richard Evans, United Kingdom, winner of UKIPT Dublin and €75,500

Hot on the heels of Nottingham came another cinderella story as Richard Evans took down UKIPT Dublin. The proud Welshman qualified for just €15 and came back from 1.2 big blinds to win. A great moment for the self-described micro-stakes player who also cashed in Nottingham.

Chris Ferguson, United Kingdom, winner of UKIPT Newcastle and £87,640

No not that one. This Chris Ferguson is a Scotsman but he was far from tight as he shoved his way to victory in Newcastle defeating, among others, Sam Holden. He showed great fortitude to recover from an early setback at the final table, which should stand him in good stead in this turbo sit and go.

Wojtek Barzantny, Germany, winner of UKIPT Bristol (and UKIPT Online) and £90,400

Move over Layne Flack and make room for Wojtek 'back to back' Barzantny. The German sensation won two UKIPT titles in a week in Bristol. First, he defeated Chris Moorman, the UK's best ever online tournament player, to win the UKIPT Online title. Then five days later he bested a field of 550 to win UKIPT Bristol. Without a shadow of a doubt, this season's defining moment. "Congrats to Wojtek Barzantny who just shipped two UKIPT titles in a week! Stop making the rest of us look bad though..." tweeted fellow two-time UKIPT winner Nick Abou Risk.

Nicolau Villa-Lobos, Brazil, winner of UKIPT Edinburgh and £101,000

From worst to first samba style. Coming into the final table Nicolau Villa-Lobos was the shortest stack, an early double up with quads helped him gain traction and the 24-year-old boy from Brazil, who only took up poker when he had heart surgery six years ago, proved he could cut it on a cold snowy afternoon in Edinburgh in January. Can he repeat the trick in London?

Thomas Finneran, Ireland, winner of UKIPT Cork and €55,440

Whilst there's an obvious luck element in poker sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say, "the best player won." UKIPT Cork is a case in point, Thomas Finneran never featured in any huge pots, didn't take any flips and just calmly worked his way to the title.

Sergio Aido, Spain, winner of UKIPT London and £144,555

The last slot in this tournament was decided less than 24-hours ago when Sergio Aido defeated Thomas Ward to win UKIPT London. He played an aggressive game throughout, expect more of the same tonight. If he gets chips he'll be very dangerous indeed.

Dara O'Kearney, Ireland, winner of UKIPT3 Best Online Qualifier leader board

Taking the ninth and final seat in this event is Dara 'Doke' O'Kearney who won an incredible 80 seats to the various UKIPT stops during Season 3, putting him 28 ahead of his nearest rival. Amazingly though, for someone who clearly plays a lot online, O'Kearney probably has more live experience than anyone else in the field. Oh and he also created his own 'Nash equilibrium' charts from scratch, when he used to grind sit and gos, which will come in handy when stacks get short. He's a triple threat.

Photos © Mickey May.

Gareth Bale is not the only Welsh wizard with a grin permanently etched on his face, for tonight Richard Evans won the UKIPT Champion of Champions. And as we saw when he took down UKIPT Dublin in May it was immediately obvious how much it meant to him. "I'm made up, absolutely stoked," said the proud Welshman of his victory. Before adding, "I'm not sure I deserved it, but I'll take it."

Of the nine players who qualified for the Champion of Champions it's fair to say that the victory and the UKIPT Season 4 Passport that goes with it will mean the most to Evans. "I'm a micro stakes player and always will be," he said. "A high stakes tournament for me is the Sunday Storm or the Big $11."

He'll now be guaranteed to play at least five £1,000 events with further stops still to be announced. That he says he didn't deserve it was perhaps down to a couple of big suckouts against Emmett Mullin (with three left) and Thomas Finneran (with six left). "Some of the better players got unlucky," he said modestly.

But Evans also suffered a beat of his own. He got it in with kings against the ace-king of Finneran and the ace-queen of eventual runner-up Robert Baguley. A queen on the flop and another on the river sent the main pot Baguley's way and only the side pot to Evans. He turned to me on the rail and simply said. "Bo@%$*ks."

Never mind the ""Bo@%$*ks." it's his wife he needs to worry about. "I'm going to be at UKIPT Marbella for her 40th birthday," he said upon being told that the first stop of Season 4 takes place June 12th-16th.

For now Evans, who took voluntary redundancy in January, is off to celebrate with his trademark whiskey and Guinness, before returning to Portmeirion, his weekly pub poker game and to putting the JCB that's 'sitting' in his garden to good use. Seems like this grassroots tour might just have found someone to move from local to national level.

UKIPT Champion of Champions Result

1st - Richard Evans - UKIPT Season 4 Passport
2nd - Robert Baguley
3rd - Emmett Mullin
4th - Nicolau Villa-Lobos
5th - Wojtek Barzantny
6th - Thomas Finneran
7th - Dara O'Kearney
8th - Chris Ferguson
9th - Sergio Aido

For a full blow by blow account of the final table, including all the eliminations click here

Photos © Mickey May.

The UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) has been a runaway success since it opened its doors for business back in December 2009. Three seasons and multiple record-breaking fields later the UKIPT is on the verge of starting Season 4 (UKIPT Marbella, 12-16 June) but before then there's a taster of what's to come: UKIPT Series launches this Friday, 12 April.

The UKIPT Series is a new, ermm, series of tournaments which will run alongside, ermm, the UKIPT. The £250 + £25 events will use the same great structure as UKIPT Main Events but on a faster 30-minute clock. Given a 20,000 starting stack, which gives you 400 big blinds in the opening level, there's plenty of room for play. The tournament plays across three days with two Day 1s (Friday and Saturday) and one Day 2 (Sunday). This means it's plenty easy to enter, win and still get back to work on Monday without having to take any time off.

Where is it?
UKIPT Series takes place in the new PokerStars LIVE at The Hippodrome Casino card room. The casino is easily accessible by Leicester Square underground station. If you bust out (getting super unlucky, of course. How does he find aces when you six-bet shove Q7o there?) you can hit the London night life or hang around for the cash games.

Cranbourn Street,
Leicester Square,
London
WC2H 7JH
Tel: 0207 769 8888
www.hippodromecasino.com

Qualify now!
You can find online qualifiers to the UKIPT Series by clicking 'Events' > 'More' > 'UKIPT' in the PokerStars lobby. Satellites start from as little as 75 FPP. You can also buy-in direct through the PokerStars client to make sure that you guarantee yourself a seat.

Prizes mean points!
The UKIPT Series will be eligible for UKIPT side event leader board points. In addition, winners of each UKIPT Series event will also be invited to the UKIPT Champion of Champions event at the end of Season 4 to battle it out for a UKIPT Season 5 passport. That gives UKIPT Series some real added value.

Follow the action
PokerStars Blog will be on hand to track the key action and the biggest chip stacks. Workhorse Nick Wright will be scouring the floor, notepad in one hand and strong cup of tea in the other.

Rick Dacey staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

The inaugural UKIPT Series event starts this Friday and both Liv Boeree and Jake Cody have confirmed that they'll be playing the £275 tournament. We told you yesterday how great the event was and it didn't take long for Boeree and Cody to toss their chips in.

@liv_boeree @pokerstarsuk @ukipt Ill be there :D

— Jake Cody (@JakeCody) April 9, 2013

The three-day event runs 12-14 April with two Day 1s running into Sunday's finale. Find full details about the event and structure here.

Sure, there are two classic ways of looking at playing at playing a tournament alongside two EPT winners.

1) "Why would I want to play against a top quality player in a £275 buy-in event?"

2) "Great, I get the opportunity to play against a top quality player in a £275 buy-in event!"

If you're thinking about that slightly negative first question we should remind you that if it's a smaller buy-in than they're used to they'll probably be willing to get it in even lighter than normal. Yeah, suddenly you have the edge. AND you'll get the bragging rights if you scalp them, just remember to look up Nick Wright who will be on hand live blogging the event for us. In the words of Shane Falco from The Replacements (2000), "Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory lasts forever."

Rick Dacey is staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

5.45pm: Halfway there
That's six of the 12 levels done and dusted. You'll find the second half of today's entertainment in a new post.

5.35pm: Someone's going to hit a set
So said Robert Panayi as the dealer prepared to deal the fate of a three-way all-in. This is how it stood:

Panyani: [Kh][Kd] - stack of roughly 30,000
Tariq Ahmad: [Ah][Ac] - stack of roughly 15,000
Lincoln Walshe: [Jc][Jd] - stack of exactly 12,325

The [4d][Js][3s] flop brought blessed relief to Walshe who looked to be heading out of this tournament, the [9c] turn and [Td] river kept him in front. He trebled up, whilst Ahmed was out soon after and Panyani was left to try and get above starting stack once more.

5.20pm: 147
The official number of runners for Day 1A has been confirmed as 147, we're now into level six and here's a list of all those who've been snookered so far: Gergely Penzes, Sinem Melin, Barry Earnshaw, Jacqueline Maneuska-Hamilton, Ashley Taylor, Muctarr Jalloh, Lewis Higham, Bob Barber, Patrick Murray, Korn Faustus, Simon Brooks. Nathan Lee, D. Capon, John Black, Sam Hoskyn, Nicholas Ronase, Benjamin Fergus Woolf, Omar Omar, Neil Leicester, Simon Skinner, Thomas Townley, Ben Spraggons, Philippe Souki and Ben Price.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 200-400 ante 50

5pm: Chop chop
A very intriguing hand just played out on Deborah Worley-Roberts table, one that saw her sigh call her stack off.

The flop on the felt was [7c][Qc][7d] there was a bet of 5,025 in front of Worley-Roberts (small blind), an identical bet in front of Craig Sweden (mid postion) and an all-in bet in front of the button, the button had clearly also been the first to bet this flop as there was clearly a bet of 2,000 to the side of the chips that he'd slid over the line when he moved all-in.

"What you doing," said Sweden to Worley-Roberts as she pondered her decision. "Shut up," said Worley-Roberts to her friend in a playful manner. "You want a corona?" asked Marius Lietuvninkas to Worley-Roberts. "Yes please, I'm going to need it," she said before committing her stack.

Now the action was on Sweden, he too took his time. "What you doing," sniped Worley-Roberts, playfully ribbing her mate as he now took as long as she had, if not longer. "I think I'm folding the best hand," said Sweden as he slid his cards face-down into the muck.

The two active players both flipped their cards and both had ace-queen, no club so no re-draw. "We got your money, we got your money," said Worley-Roberts to Sweden, pausing only to sip on her cold beverage that had by now arrived.

4.40pm: Too late will be the cry...
Level five is now underway meaning that late registration for Day 1A of the first ever UKIPT Series event has stopped. I'll confirm total number of runners when I get that information, but I can tell you that 15 players were eliminated during the opening two levels. A player list is on its way, at which point I'll be able to put names to the numbers on the I.D cards that I receive when a player is eliminated.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 150-300 ante 25

4.20pm: Break time
That's four levels done and dusted and the players are now on a 20 minute break. The board is showing that 135 of the 144 entrants remain. One of those is PokerStars Team Online's Mickey Petersen. He appears to have taken a couple of hits early on and is down to around 14,150.

4.05pm: Once button, twice blind
A bit of a kerfuffle broke out at Tim Slater's table, but it all sorted itself out amicably enough in the end.

The hand started as all do, the dealer tossing out everyone's two hole cards. The players under-the-gun and under-the-gun+1 folded, so far so standard. It was at this point that the big blind spoke up about how he had been big blind on the previous hand, a fact that was confirmed by the small blind as she realised she was paying the small blind for a second hand in succession.

The action was paused and the floor called. It was ruled that as two actions had taken place - the two players folding - that the hand would have to be played out. And play out it did, Slater raising to 500 and everyone else folding. The big blind was a little reluctant to put in the 100 that he didn't owe to the pot, but eventually he did and it was on to the next hand.

3.50pm: Structural changes
Keen follower(s) of the blog (hi Mum!) might have noticed a couple of structural tweaks, new for Season 4 of the UKIPT. If you're not a structure geek, you might as well just gloss over this post though.

Usually level four would be 100-200 with no ante, but this season they've made the decision to bring the ante in from level four. In seasons gone by the ante didn't kick in until level six at the 150-300 level. There's a couple of other tweaks such as the 600-1,200 level now having a 200 ante instead of 100, it's now 1,000 - 2,000 (300) instead of 1,000 - 2,000 (200), 1,500 - 3,000 (400) instead of 1,500 - 3,000 (300). In short the antes, like a annoyed wasp, have got a bit more aggressive.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 100-200 ante 25

3.40pm: Don't let him in
Those were the cheeky words from a player who will remain anonymous when he saw that PokerStars Team Online's Mickey Peterson - who lives in London - had turned up to play.

He has a point though, Petersen has over $1,000,000 in lifetime earnings in live tournaments (and more online), has an EPT title to his name and a fearsome reputation both live and online.

3.30pm: Upper deck
Anyone who's played poker here at the Hippodrome will know that the poker room is right at the top of the building and is called 'The Poker Deck'. But today, the majority of tables are actually in what is usually a theatre a few floors below.

There are just two tables in use in the regular poker room and sharing the same table are Sinem Melin and Sunny Nagi. I saw the latter scoop a useful pot when he value bet 2,875 on the river of a [Ks][Qc][Js][5c][2h] board, his opponent made the call, Nagi showed [Kc][Jd] to take the pot.

3.20pm: Numbers climbing
We're now into level three of the first UKIPT Series event, when play started just 110 players were seated, that number has now climbed to 135. Late registration is open to the start of level five.

One player who's taken advantage of that is UKIPT3 Bristol runner-up James Greenwood, although we've just been told Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody will actually be playing tomorrow now instead of today.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 75-150

3.10pm: Sweden by name, Sweden by nature
Scandinavian players have a reputation for being very, let's say creative. Another player who's fast out the traps is Craig Sweden, who's very much from the UK, but he told me about a hand that has got him up to about 39,000 and he played it like a Scandinavian that's for sure.

He told me that he'd been running over the table a bit when the following hand ocured. He made it 600 to go with [Q][8] and a woman who complained that he'd been raising her blind all the time three-bet out and he smooth called. The [Q][8][3] flop connected rather nicely with his hand, she led and he called. Another eight fell on the turn, putting three hearts on board. It was checked to Sweden, he bet 3,500 and his opponent called. The river was a blank and when it once more checked to Sweden he bet a chunky 9,000, call from the lady, who mucked her hand after Sweden showed his full house.

3pm: More names arrive
A lap of the tournament room has unearthed a couple more familiar faces. I've spotted J.J. Hazan, who I'm sure would rather be known for his successful run in the 2006 Amsterdam Masters Classic, than his unsuccessful appearance on Dragon's Den.

And Paul Zimbler is in the house, seated in the middle seat in one of the tables right in the middle of the room. One of his poker nicknames is the Marbella Kid, which just so happens to be where the first UKIPT event of Season 4 takes place

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 50-100

2.45pm: Sen flush with chips and straight to the top of the leader board
One level done, one man out...

I can't tell you the name (yet) of the unfortunate bustee (and he was unfortunate), but I can tell you that Subin Sen now has his hands on a stack of over 40,000.

The dealer and Sen recounted the hand to me and this is what happened. Both Sen and the player who busted turned the nut straight on a [A][Qc][6][10c] board, Sen with [Kc][Jc] and his opponent with [Kd][Jd]. On the turn Sen led, raise to 1,900, Sen made it 6,000., shove for 20,000, call from Sen.

The [9c] river completed Sen's re-draw and gave him a straight flush to boot. He's the early chip leader here in London.

2.30pm: Spotted
There's, thus far, been 24 UKIPT main events (not counting UKIPT/EPT London) so it's inevitable that a few players who final tabled - or even won a UKIPT - will pop up at this first UKIPT Series event.

Thus far I've spotted Jamie Burland (UKIPT1 Brighton winner), Deborah Worley-Roberts (5th, UKIPT3 Cork), Philippe Souki (4th, UKIPT3 London) and Tim Slater (5th UKIPT2 Newcastle).

2.20pm: Cards are in the air
The dealers have shuffled and they've begun dealing. Yep we're underway, 110 players is the number of runners currently according to the tournament board.

The plan for today is to play 12 levels, with a 20 minute break at the end of levels four and eight. With each level being 30 minutes in length that's an approximate finish time of 9.05pm for those who survive to Day 2.

2.10pm: Welcome to the first ever UKIPT Series main event

Good afternoon, this blog is coming to you live from the Hippodrome Casino in the heart of London's West End, where the first ever UKIPT Series event is just minutes away. Action will take place in the stunning new state-of-the-art PokerStars LIVE poker room.

The UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) has been an unmitigated success since its first event back in December 2009. Three seasons later and with a fourth forthcoming, starting with UKIPT, er Marbella 12-16 June, then the powers that be decided there was room for a tour offshoot, enter the UKIPT Series.

So what's it all about then? The buy-in to all UKIPT Series events will be £250 + £25, for that you'll get a 20,000 starting stack with an identical structure to the UKIPT Main Events whilst all UKIPT Series events will have a 30 minute clock throughout. There's three currently on the schedule so if you can't make this one don't fret.

Those that do partake though will be eligible for UKIPT side event leader board points. In addition, winners of each UKIPT Series event will also be invited to the UKIPT Champion of Champions event at the end of Season 4 to battle it out for a UKIPT Season 5 passport.

The field is capped at 400 and two of those spots have been taken by Team PokerStars Pros Liv Boeree and Jake Cody, the latter will play today and Boeree is slated to play Saturday. Whilst 79 players have won their way here through online qualifiers. Why not come on down and join them? If you can't play today there's another starting day tomorrow. As is the custom both starting days will follow the same format, which will be 12 levels, meaning a finish time of approximately 9.30pm, cards should be in the air shortly.

Reporting team in London: Nick Wright. Photos by Neil Stoddart (except the UKIPT Edinburgh shot of Jake Cody, which has got Mickey May's name all over it).

9.10pm: Done for the day
Play is over for the day, it appears that roughly 46 of the 147 players made it through the day, a wrap of the day's play is on the way.

8.55pm: Last three hands
The clock has been paused and the players will play three more hands before bagging and tagging for the day.

8.50pm: Burland busts
Towards the end of the last level we lost UKIPT1 Brighton champion Jamie Burland. He told me. "I shoved for 23,000 with pocket twos from the cut-off and Charles Akadiri called with ace-queen and won the race."

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

8.35pm: Lietuvninkas leaps into the lead
A big pot for Marius Lietuvninkas just now that has given hip the chip lead. He opened to 2,500 and next to act Marco Simoes three-bet to 6,000. It was at this point that the dealer realised that the minimum raise was to 3,200. So Lietuvninkas was forced to make it 3,200, Simoes then took his bet back and made it 20,000. Floor!

The TD was called and ruled that as the action hadn't changed - Lietuvninkas had raised initially as his bet was was more than half the legal raise - that Simoes bet of 6,000 stood. Went it got back to Lietuvninkas he made the call. But Simoes was still steaming about this rule as the flop fell [7][K][3], Lietuvninkas checked, Simoes shoved for 30,000 into a pot of around 16,000 and Lietvninkas snap called. Simoes showed [Ad][4d], whilst Lietvninkas had made a good call with [8s][7s]. His hand held up on the turn and river and he now has nearly 150,000.

8.25pm: Mina getting mad
"It's going to cost anyone 25,000 to see a flop," I heard from across the room. The voice belonged to Marinos Mina, who last I knew had a stack of 75,000, so I was curious as to if he'd lost it and was blind raising for a third of his stack or what.

"I lost a 100k pot," he said. "Do you want to hear about it?" he continued. I clicked my pen into scribble mode. "A guy raises to 6,500 and I flat with [Ac][Jc], the button and small blind both peel. The flop comes [5][7][3] with two clubs. The small blind (Enzo Gomez) ships for 30,000 with [4c][2c] and I call. The turn is a deuce and the river is a non club seven. I'm down to 25,000 and he's got 100k."

Mina's still in but a bit riled up.

8.15pm: Penultimate level of the day
We're into level 11 of the 12 allotted for the day. Whilst it might seem like playing for just six hours (plus breaks) is a short day and in terms of poker tournaments it is, tournament director Luca Vivaldi explained why this is the case. "If we play any more levels than this it's possible that we may make the money, or at least to very close to it as I expect the bubble to burst sometime in level 14. We ran a very similar event on the Estrellas tour where we played 14 levels on Day 1 and we were just eight players from the money at the end of Day 1."

So despite that meaning a longer day two, there's sound logic behind it, especially as no one can know for sure how many runners they'll be on Day 1B. As it stands there are 65 of the 147 players who started still in with a shot of making Day 2.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 800-1,600 ante 200

8pm: Huge double up for Nagi
If you look below you'll see Sunny Nagi has a stack of 46,000, that's due to a double-through at the expense of Wing-Kou Yeung. It was all-in pre-flop with Nagi holding [Ac][Qd], Yeung with [Kh][Kc]. The [As][9c][9d] flop gave Nagi the lead and he stayed there as the board ran [3s][Qh]. A few hands later Yeung was out.

7.40pm: Chip counts
Here's a few counts of the names and notables that are left in: Seun Oluwole (18,000), Chihao Tsang (19,400), Paul Zimbler (14,000), Sunny Nagi, (46,000) and Jamie Burland (26,000).

7.30pm: The Tough gets going
As the players settle into the tenth level of the day the chip leader is Ian Tough. The PokerStars qualifier has 140,000.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 600-1,200 ante 200

7.20pm: Out!
There's no easy to say this but: Salim Ghozali, Abdul Miah, Lincoln Walshe, Adebayo Odetoyinbo, Jake Powell, Man Hei Lam, Zane Collinson, Colin Bord, Willie Tann, Rahim Tadj-Saadat, David Barnes, Saulius Launikonis, Master Sherman, Davide Magnan, Stephen Bridges, Robinder Dhinsa, Daniel Bland, Joe Dennis, Glenn Watson, George Sandford, Sameer Singh, Paul Pickernell, Martin Comitti, Alfie Adam, Jason Vencata Chellum, Tony Isaac and Timothy Chung are all out.

75 players remain.

7.10pm: Watson makes the table an offer
First a disclaimer, I didn't see how this hand played out, merely the conclusion.

Ben Watson was all-in with pocket jacks (at which point in the hand I know not) and Marinos Dimitrakopoulos, had, at some point in the hand, matched or preempted Watson's all-in wager with [10c][8c]. The run out of the board was [9h][5c][8s][10s][4s], "oh jesus no, you play like a t**d," said Watson to Dimitrakopoulos. He then turned to the rest of the table and said: "My names Ben Watson, please add me on twitter, £50 to whoever knocks him (Dimitrakopoulos) out."

After that hand Dimitrakopoulos is up to around 48,000.

6.45pm: Break time
The remaining 90 players are now on a 20 minute break.

6.35pm: Till death do us part
Table one, which won't break all day, is very much the table of death, just ask Mickey Petersen (see below) who was unceremoniously booted off it a short time ago. Even without the presecene of the EPT Copenhagen champion there's a raft of poker talent (and chips) to prop it up.

In seat one is Marius Lietuvninkas, the Lithuanian, who calls London home, made three deep runs in Season 1 of the UKIPT and looks primed to make another as he's up to 93,500 and is probably the chip leader. A couple of seats along sits Deborah 'Debs the Destroyer' Worley-Roberts she's, in her own words, "just lost a big pot," is looking a little sorry herself, although still smiling, and has 13,500.

Two seats to her left sits Timothy Chung, I've seen him absolutely tear tables apart on the UKIPT and as if to illustrate my point he eliminated Salim Ghozali whilst I was observing the table. On a [6s][Qc][9h][6c] board Ghozali bet 6,000 with pocket jacks, Chung moved in for 17,225 with pocket kings and Ghozali, who had slightly less made the call. The river was the [8s] and Ghozali was eliminated.

If that wasn't enough Craig Sweden is also at the table, he's chipped up too as he's on 65,000.

6.15pm: Short day for Petersen
Mickey Petersen's day is done, although he busted in semi-exciting circumstances. He was all-in with pocket eights against Master Miah who had pocket tens. The first four cards out were all aces! There was now the possibility of a chop, any face card would do it. But, the river was low and Petersen headed to the rail.

6pm: Gone
Just 100 of the 147 starters remain, almost a third of the field are out then. The latest fallers include: Ian Woodley, Bob Drummond, Xiaohe Tan, Anthony Mackay, Philip Baker, Deborah Brown, Daniel Wood, Daniel Cariello, Tariq Ahmad, Timothy Slater, Richard Mcintyre, Yiannis Liperis, William Kassouf, Zack Foulds, Thomas Wallsgrove, Rob Lacey and Les Fenton.

5.50pm: Mina means business
When you've covered a few UKIPT's you realise that the average stack hovers around the 40 big blind mark for much of the tournament, generally from late on Day 1 to the end of the tournament.

Half way through Day 1 and the average stack is a tickle under 45 big blinds, two players who have more than that are Jamie Burland (35,000, 58 big blinds) and Marinos Mina who has 70,000.

The latter was kind enough to tell me how he got his latest boost. "I opened to 800 with [Ah][8h], the button raised to 2,300 with [Ad][Jd] and I peeled. The flop was [5h][3h][3], I checked, he bet 3,200, I raised to 8,200, he shoved for 16,000 total and I called. The turn was a heart and the river an eight.

PokerStars Blog reporting team in London:Nick Wright. Photos by Neil Stoddart

In December 2009 PokerStars took a bit of step into the unknown when they launched a regional tour in the shape of the UKIPT. Three and a half years on and they've launched the UKIPT Series. It's designed to compliment the main UKIPT tour and to cater for the grass roots player that the UKIPT originally set out to serve as the buy-in on the main tour increases.

There'll still be plenty of crossover between the two entities though so it's perhaps fitting that the chip leader today is Pat Simcoe. The 48-year-old from Oxford, who works for British Gas, final tabled UKIPT London in March, finishing third; today he turned his 20,000 into more than 11 times that amount as he bagged up 220,500 to lead the Day 1A field.

Today was just like a UKIPT main event but with a turbo twist, the same structure but 30 instead of 60-minute levels. That meant when a dozen were done and dusted only 39 of the 147 who started remained. Others who joined Simoce at the top of the chip charts included: Enzo Gomez (182,600), Marius Lietuvninkas (177,600), Terry Jordan (166,800) and Uzzol Miah (145,700).

There were plenty of familiar UKIPT faces in attendance today, some like Deborah Worley-Roberts (38,300) and James Greenwood (64,900) made it through, whilst others like Jamie Burland fell by the wayside. The UKIPT1 Brighton champion is tied with Rupinder Bedi for most UKIPT main event cashes, but couldn't add another to the ledger when he lost a race with pocket twos against Charles Akadiri's ace-queen.

Other notables to hit the rail included: Philippe Souki, Willie Tann, Ian Woodley, Sinem Melin and PokerStars Team Online's Mickey Peterson. The Dane got it in with eights against pocket tens, four aces on the board meant that at least Peterson can say he busted to quads!

Two other members of 'the family' will be proudly sporting the Red Spade tomorrow as both Liv Boeree and Jake Cody will take to the felt. We're expecting a bumper field of 200 plus - see you from 2pm tomorrow - but until then it's good night. You can catch up with all today's action by clicking on the links below.

Levels 1-6
Levels 7-12

All photos are copyright of Neil Stoddart.

2.15pm: Cards are in the air
Players are still dribbling in here but cards are in the air and play is underway, a lot of tables are playing six handed or so at the moment.

2.10pm: B is for bigger
Welcome to Day 1B of the first ever UKIPT Series, a quarterly £250 +£25 event that'll be held here at the Hippodrome Casino in Leicester Square. Whilst they'll be plenty of Saturday shoppers outside in the streets looking for some valuable theatre tickets as they go about town, they'll be a couple of hundred poker players in the 'theatre' area of the Hippodrome looking to take an opponent to value town.

Amongst the thronged masses will be two members of Team PokerStars Pro as both Liv Boeree and Jake Cody are slated to play today. Same as yesterday, players will start with 20,000 chips and play the same structure as the UKIPT main event, with the only difference being the levels are 30 minutes in length. Get through 12 of them and you've made Day 2. That was something only 39 of 147 players managed to achieve yesterday, Pat Simcoe was chip leader on 220,500. The Day 1B chip leader usually finishes on more, will that be the case today? Stay right here to find out.

PokerStars Blog reporting team in London:Nick Wright. Photos by Neil Stoddart.

9pm: Play is done for the day
Roughly 60 players made it through to Day 2, a wrap of the day's play is on the way.

8.40pm: Last four hands
The clock has been paused and the remaining players will play four more hands before bagging and tagging their chips.

8.35pm: Big stacks
As we approach the closing minutes of the day, these are your curent big stacks: Nikolay Ponomarev (190,000), Juan Angel Maengual Alamo (120,000), Rafael Henderson (110,000) and Mateusz Zbikowski (110,000).

8.25pm: Last level of the day
We're now into the last level of the day, according to the tournament clock 80 players remain. The average stack is currently 49,000.

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

8.15pm: More exits
George Achillea, Joseph McErlean, Sailajan Shritharan, Benjamin Senior, Peter Evans, Gabriel Forde, Fahd Smires, Carlos Del Vigo Gonzalez, Zachary Arama, Niall Murray, Rajesh Verma, Duncan Wilkie, Gemal Husnu, Omar Khan, Leo McClean, Thomas Drew, Nir Wellgreen, Tony Lang, Peter Ogier and Daniel Tinsley are all out.

Meanwhile, what with poker being a zero sum game and all, Shantanu Banerji is going in the opposite direction as he's up to 110,000.

8pm: Cugguda collects some chips
I joined the action to see a flop reading [2h][5c][Qh], Fouad Haghighat was all-in with [Ac][Qc], Domonic Cugudda the would be executioner with pocket kings. The [3c] turn gave Haghighat some more outs and he let out a 'come on,' but the river was the [8d] and Cugguda's hand held to boost him up to 62,500.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 800-1,600 ante 200

7.50pm: Fletcher hooked
Dexter Fletcher is out, he told me: "My kings against an opponent's jack, jack on the flop." A little investigative journalism that the Junior Gazette would've proud of reveals hsi opponent and beneficiary of the outdraw to be Jose Gaminto. He was already healthily stacked and is now up to 110,000. That's good for the chip lead as Rafael Henderson has slipped to around 70,000.

7.40pm: Exits
The number of players still in with chips has dipped below 100 all of the following are part of that statistic as they are out. In no particular order: Lala Mihail Cristinel, Bijay Parkash, two-time UKIPT winner Joeri Zandvliet, Axel Briend, Jac Arama, Dinarte Araujo De Sousa, Mark Bailey, John Lucarotti, Liam Kitchen, Sam Lunt, Yu Wang, Andrew Miles, Andrew Wraight, Richard Paul, Adam Bilcock, Christopher Thomson, Onur Dag, Thomas Pipe, Leon Louis, Robert Malvasi, Paul Murrell, Nick Mazur, James Rann and Ganesh Bathmanathan have all had their day cut short.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 600-1,200 ante 200

7.20pm: Verma takes a hit
I just saw UKIPT2 Newcastle runner-up Raj Verma take a hit to drop to 10,000. He raised pre-flop from late position, both Mateusz Zbikowski (button) and Thomas Drew (small blind) made the call.

The flop fell [2d][8d][2c], it checked to Verma who bet 4,000, Zibikowski folded, Drew then moved in for 23,500 total and Verma kind of shrugged and then made the call.

Verma: [Kd][3d]
Drew: [8h][7h]

The [10s] turn and [5s] river kept Drew in front and he got a massive double up, whilst Verma is now short on chips.

7.10pm: Chip counts
A few counts from around the room: Cristiano Blanco (74,000), Duncan Wilkie (13,600), Raj Verma (10,000), Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody (26,000), Simon Trowse (26,000), Jose Gamito (50,000), Rafael Henderson (105,000 - probable chip leader) and Mateusz Zbikowski (77,000).

7pm: Prizepool
During the break I plugged the prizepool information into the blog, it can be seen by clicking here. If you're too lazy to do that (or simply don't want to) then the headline news is that the winner of the UKIPT Series 1 will take home £19,400.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 500-1,000 ante 100

6.30pm: One room
All the players are now situated in the same poker room as enough players have been eliminated to enable the floor staff to collapse the tables that were in use in the 'Upper Deck' poker room.

The bad news is of course that for that to happen players have had to go out, the latest batch of heroes who've become zeros includes: Stephen Bean, Christopher Goodson, Mark Shepherd, Victor Ilyukhin, Sundeep Sangany, Sergey Chernykh, Rajesh Rughwani, Mark Hitchens, Mia Lui, George Clyde-Smith, Gabriel Tuna, Richard Fuller, Patrick Frew, Nicholas Heron, Martin Svocak, Simon Sallstrom, Timothy Gill and Andrew Hanak.

The 130 players who remain are now on a 20 minute break.

6.15pm: Fletcher giving it both barrels
A couple of the players at Dexter Fletcher's table don't look old enough to have seen Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, never mind Press Gang so might not know that the scruffy looking bloke in seat five has had a pretty interesting career.

The actor and writer who was born in Enfield got his big break in Press Gang, a series based around the activities of a newspaper run by teenage pupils of a comprehensive school. He's gone on to star in movies such as Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and acclaimed TV dramas such as Band of Brothers and Hotel Babylon.

When it comes to poker most of Fletcher's results have come in celebrity or charity events, but he's holding his own here as he's right about average with 26,000.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 400-800 ante 100

6pm: Time
I head the word "Clock," bellowed out from a table nearby me so wandered over to see what exactly was going on.

With the board showing [Kd][Qd][7h][8h] Jose Gamito bet 12,550 into a pot of roughly 18,000. The action was on Mihail Lala and he'd obviously taken too long as someone (not necessarily Gamito) had called the clock.

The TD arrived and explained he had one minute to make a decision or his hand would be declared dead, but before the minute was up Lala made the call. The [4d] completed the board and the flush draw, Gamito checked, Lala set him all-in for his last 13,500 and Gamito made the call, Lala was reluctant to show and said: "You're good," to Gamito who rolled over [Ks][Qc], Lala showed first the [7c] then the [Ac] as a huge pot went to Gamito, he's now up to 72,000.

5.55pm: Exits
More exits to tell you about as Andrew Abernethy, Danny Blair, Nicola Malvasi, Gladys Long, Paul Grace, Jason Velarde, Andy Spiteri, Nicholas Humphris, Pekka Karvonen, Lawrence Sanchez, Jen Chiang, Jie Li, Kavey Kiavand and Neil Robertson Mcculloch have all seen their stack reduced to zero.

5.45pm: Prizepool
Drum roll please...

The winner of the first UKIPT Series event will be presented with a novelty cheque worth £19,400 whilst the loser of the final hand will pick up £13,140. In total 40 players will get paid with a min-cash worth £520. I'll get the full prizepool and pay out structure up on the blog soon.

5.35pm: Second half kicks off
We're into level seven now here at the Hippodrome, just 160 players remain but expect that number to drop dramatically over the next three hours. Yesterday 39 of 147 (26%) made it through, meaning roughly 48 players should survive to Day 2.

Jake Cody is one of those still in, the Team PokerStars Pro is on 30,500 and the Brit has already won one tournament here in the short time it's been open. You won't find it on his database though as it was the EPT9 London Media tournament. Competitive? Just a bit.

PokerStars Blog reporting team in London:Nick Wright. Photos by Neil Stoddart.

With another 196 players entering the fray today when they were added to the 147 from Day 1A the final number of runners for the first ever UKIPT Series event was confirmed at 343.

A short time later the prizepool computer spat out £19,400 as the number of pounds sterling the winner of this event will receive, not bad for £275 or less for the 79 online qualifiers. In all 40 players will get paid with a min-cash worth £520. To see the full payout structure click here.

Best placed to claim first prize at the end of Day 1B is Nikolay Ponomarev. The Russian ran up a monster stack of 183,600, although he trails Day 1A chip leader Pat Simcoe who ended his starting flight on 220,500. Other players who fared well on Day 1B included: Iain Raydon (135,600), Amit Karia (135,000), Kaloyan Kirov (129,600) and Shantanu Banerji (120,800).

Two members of Team PokerStars Pro were in attendance today as Liv Boeree and Jake Cody took to the felt. It was a case of what might have been for Boeree, who got a double up early on when an opponent tried to bluff her off a flopped flush when the board paired on the river.

She lost a few chips though and eventually got it in on the turn with 19 outs and missed them all against Rafael Henderson, who'd had a dream he'd knock Boeree out. His dream came true and his dream of winning this tournament is still alive as he made it though with an above average 104,500.

The start of Jake Cody's tournament was much the same, out of the traps quick he was up to 30,000 in the opening hour. But he then hovered around there for much of the day before picking up chips near the end of the day to finish on 89,000. "The atmosphere is a bit more relaxed than a UKIPT main event, there's lots of banter at the tables," said Cody. "I think the players thought I was bluffing a lot, that perhaps I wouldn't take a tournament like this seriously. That makes me very dangerous, as they'll call you down with like third pair. Today every time I had it I got called." Let's see if that continues tomorrow, he's in good shape.

There were a few more tough spots in the field today as a few EPT regulars dropped down in stakes to take a shot at a UKIPT Series title. Both Cristiano Blanco (56,300) and Maing Loeser (68,400) will be back for Day 2. As will UKIPT host Nick Wealthall who finished on 30,800. "Disappointing," was his succinct summing up of his day.

Joining Boeree on the rail were a host of players with UKIPT previous, two-time UKIPT winner Joeri Zandvliet came and went, as did UKIPT2 Newcastle runner-up Raj Verma. Meanwhile TV and movie star Dexter Fletcher exited the Hippodrome theatre stage left after having his kings cracked by jacks.

In fact, just 59 players survived, they'll join the 39 who did likewise from Day 1A tomorrow as we play down to a winner. Cards are in the air at noon. You can catch up on all today's action by clicking on the links below. Until tomorrow it's goodnight from London.

Levels 1-6
Levels 7-12

All photos are copyright of Neil Stoddart

2.45pm: Chip counts
I've just flowed chip counts for the entire remaning field (as of the start of level 17) into the chip counts page. The top 10 is as below, Enzo Gomez leads from Lydia Cugudda.

Enzo Gomez United Kingdom 450000
Lydia Cugudda United Kingdom 335000
Shantanu Banerji United Kingdom 326000
Kaloyan Kirov Bulgaria 276000
Uzzol Miah United Kingdom 260000
Charles Akadiri United Kingdom 244000
Jake Cody United Kingdom 235000
Terry Jordan United Kingdom 227000
Marco Vasconcelos United Kingdom 225000
Marius Lietuvninkas Lithuania 205000

2.35pm: Terry's all gold
Terry Jordan just made sure that 39 other players, as well as himself, will all collect at least a little gold for their efforts at the UKIPT Series.

Stanley Sanders raised to 12,000, Jordan flat called only for Mateusz Zbikowski to move all-in 59,000 total. Back on Sanders he quickly folded, but Jordan tanked and then called.

Jordan: [Ac][Js]
Zbikowski: [Ad][Kc]

The Pole looked primed for a double up but a [5s][Jd][2s][2h][6c] board meant that there was no need for hand to hand play and everyone left will now take home at least £520.

2.30pm: Back from the break
Every all-in and call is now being announced and Eamonn Blake is an early casualty of level 17. He shoved from the small blind for less than 40,000, with [Jc][6s] and David Dean called with pocket twos. The [Qs][6d][2d][Ah]][Qh] board pretty decisive.

Another two players have been eliminated and with 41 players remaining we're on the bubble.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 3,000-6,000 ante 1,000

2.05pm: Break time
The 44 remaining players are now on a 20 minute break, Gary Hulks, Simon Trowse, Tong Zhang, Hak-Hyun Lee, James Greenwood, Jamie Higgins and Adrian Smith didn't quite make it though as they are all out.

1.55pm: Blanco back to the drawing board
EPT3 Dortmund runner-up Cristiano Blanco has just been eliminated from the tournament and in the process Shantanu Banerji might have taken the chip lead.

The action was started by Blanco, he made it 10,500 from under-the-gun, it passed to Banerji in the small blind, he asked for a count of Blanco's stack (roughly 130,000) and then three-bet to 22,000, Blanco smooth called.

A [6h][5d][6s] flop hit the felt, Banerji c-bet 23,000, Blanco moved all-in and Banerji called pretty sharpish.

Banerji: [Ah][Ad]
Blanco: [8d][8h]

The [Ks] turn and [9s] river changed nothing and one of the most dangerous players left in is out. It's possible Banerji has overtaken Enzo Gomez as chip leader, we'll know for sure soon as tournament staff are going to do a full chip count on the next break, which is in five minutes.

1.50pm: Greenwood grabs some chips
You'll notice Joseph Field's name on the list of eliminations below, he was eliminated by UKIPT3 Bristol runner-up James Greenwood. All-in pre pocket tens against [Ac][Kh], ace on the flop flip-flopping the flip in Greenwood's favour. He's up to 85,000.

1.40pm: Bubble getting closer
Just 54 players remain in the UKIPT Series 1, meaning we're 14 off the bubble. The following players exited during level 15: Manig Loeser, Mark Norman, Traianos Ntavoutis, Raymond Persaud, Domonic Cugudda, Noel Jayapaul, Siddhartha Joshi, Pablo Herrada, Chuc Gia Khuu, John Hayes, Deborah Worley-Roberts, Joseph Field and Martin Goerig.

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

1.35pm: Flying under the radar
Get it quietly is a phrase that's bestowed upon poker players who get the gold without shouting about it. One such player is Tamer Kamel. Such was his anonymity, I completely missed the fact that he played yesterday, quite embarrassing considering he final tabled EPT London just last month. He finished seventh there, collecting a career high payday of £79,950. He's got a number of five figure scores though and is going well in this comp too as he's up to 130,000.

1.25pm: Bullets boost for Law
John Law just got a timely double up at the expense of Rafael Henderson. The former was all-in pre with aces, meanwhile Henderson had pocket fours. The board was safe and Law is up to 57,000 whilst Henderson slips to 100,000.

1.15pm: Exits
Level 14 was as far as: Gurpreet Nagi,Daniel Muddiman, Ian Tough, David Corkett, Mark Reed, Ruben Jose Rubio Gamito, Daniel Scothorne, Eric Croner, David Gant, Thomas Lodden, James Edgington, Rasmus Adjers, Paul Rodger, Jamie Wingate, Rajendra Hurkoo, David Tompkins and Csaba Tokodi would go as they are all out.

Just 68 players remain, the average stack is over 100,000 for the first time as it's 101,000.

1.10pm: Cody clashes with the chip leader
Jake Cody's table broke and he was moved to the same table as chip leader Enzo Gomez, it didn't take the two of them long to play a pot.

Come the river of a [7c][Jh][3c][8h][Ah] board Gomez bet 30,000 into a pot of roughly 80,000. "I wish you'd bet bigger," said Cody before folding his hand, Gomez showed just the [Js] as he took the pot. He's up to around 350,000, whilst Cody slips to 120,000.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 2,000-4,000 ante 500

1.05pm: So so Simcoe
Start of day chip leader Pat Simcoe has had a pretty pedestrian opening two levels and is on much the same as he started with, perhaps a couple of thousand lighter if anything. "I've won a few blinds and lost 12,000 to the gentleman to my right," was his succinct summing up of his opening two levels.

1pm: Hayes doubles through Greenwood
UKIPT3 Bristol winner James Greenwood just took a hit as he just doubled up John Hayes. The latter was all-in pre for around 25,000 with pocket tens, Greenwood holding two overs in the shape of [Kd][Qd]. Despite the flop coming eight high with two diamonds Greenwood didn't connect with the turn or river. Hes down to around 65,000.

12.55pm: Saved by the river
Hak-Hyun Lee was walking, actually physically walking away from the table only for the river to save him.

He was all-in for what looked like just under 15,000 with pocket eights and in deep trouble against Raymond Persaud's pocket tens. The [3d][Qs][9s][Ah][8h] board giving him a massive sweat, until the river kept him alive.

12.45pm: Cody climbing
It's been a decent opening 40 minutes for Jake Cody, the Team PokerStars Pro is up to 150,000 from a start of the day 89,000.

He told me: "I got ace-king in against ace-queen, it came king, king," you can't teach that. He's at a chipped up table though (although it is the next to break), to his right sits Eammon Blake, he has a similar stack to Cody, whilst to his left is Juan Angel Maengual, he's on around 110,000.

It's not slowing Cody down though, whilst I was observing his table, he opened to 6,100 from under-the-gun+1, but folded when Maengual three-bet. He got those chips back straight away though as he opened the next hand and everyone folded.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 1,500-3,000 ante 400

12.35pm: First level exits
The following players have all hit the rail during the opening 30 minutes: Darren Lyttle, Scott Hegarty, Kris Pillay, Nick Bell, Nick Wealthall, Christos Louca, Georges Tohme, Paul Morris, Joe Evans, Vladimir Vulpe, Beau Malachias, Steven Ly and Hak-Mann Lee.

Unlucky 13 for sure, 85 players remain, 40 of whom will get paid. If you need a reminder of the payout structure click here.

12.30pm: One double up
It's all happening at table three, just a couple of hands after Enzo Gomez eliminated Nick Bell there was another all-in showdown.

Andrew Hogwood was all-in for around 18,000 with pocket fives, Iain Tough the man giving him a spin with [jh][th]. Hogwood stood up, but soon sat back down again as the board came [Qh][5c][7c][3c][Ts].

12.20pm: Must be nice
Enzo Gomez, who was third in chips coming into today, is now the likely chip leader, he turned up late too and had only just taken his seat when he eliminated Nick Bell.

Gomez check-raised on the [8s][2s][10d] flop, then shoved on the [8h] turn, Bell called and showed pocket queens, but he'd been outflopped by Gomez's pocket tens. The [8d] completed the board and Gomez is now up to around 260,000.

12.10pm: Short day for Wealthall
UKIPT host Nick Wealthall is an early casualty on Day 2, he told me: "I shoved Ace-King and ran into eights. I need to get better at those." Jose Gamito was the man with the pocket pair, he's now up to 140,000.

12pm: Second and final day about to start
Welcome to the final day of the first UKIPT Series event here at the Hippodrome Casino in London. From the 343 players who started, just 98 remain. Over the next twelve hours that number will slowly diminish until there is just one. The winner today will pick up £19,400. Not bad for a weekends work. Pat Simcoe leads at the moment, he's on 220,500. Blinds will be 1,200-2,400 ante 300 at the start, which puts roughly 27 of the remaining players in shove mode, including UKIPT host Nick Wealthall who'll begin the day on 30,800. Someone coming back with an above average stack is Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody, he's got 89,000 at the start of today.

For those of you following along at home the entire Day 2 seat draw is below, play will start nine handed but go eight handed as soon as possible.

UKIPT Series 1 Day 2 Seat Draw

Table 1
Gary Hulks United Kingdom  43,000
Manig Loeser Germany  68,400
Mark Norman United Kingdom  80,300
Christopher Love United Kingdom  47,000
Darren Lyttle United Kingdom  33,000
Tim Wong United Kingdom  51,000
Darren Hand United Kingdom  89,000
Simon Trowse United Kingdom  34,100
Scott Hegarty United Kingdom  12,300

Table 2
Gurpreet Nagi United Kingdom  62,700
Kris Pillay United Kingdom  15,600
Iain Raydon United Kingdom  135,500
John Harnett United Kingdom  36,100
Mitchell Cooper United Kingdom  54,300
Traianos Ntavoutis Greece 54,300
Simon Griffin United Kingdom  45,300
Daniel Muddiman United Kingdom  40,200
Toan Nguyen Australia 37,700

Table 3
Enzo Gomez United Kingdom  182,600
Andrew Hogwood United Kingdom  21,600
Raymond Persaud United Kingdom  52,700
Noel Broadbent United Kingdom  37,200
Mike Panteli United Kingdom  63,800
Nick Bell United Kingdom  79,300
Ian Tough United Kingdom  126,100
Tong Zhang United Kingdom  24,400
Hak-Hyun Lee Sweden  38,400

Table 4
David Corkett United Kingdom  25,300
Darren Fuller United Kingdom  58,200
Rafael Henderson United Kingdom  104,500
Uzzol Miah United Kingdom  145,700
Mark Reed United Kingdom  26,500
John Law United Kingdom  79,600
Domonic Cugudda United Kingdom  45,000
Noel Jayapaul United Kingdom  61,900
Balbir Pottiwal United Kingdom  79,800

Table 5
Marco Vasconcelos United Kingdom  64,600
Ruben Jose Rubio Gamito Spain 107,600
Nikolay Ponomarev Russian Federation 183,600
Jordan Hooper United Kingdom  42,100
Daniel Scothorne United Kingdom  22,100
Stanley Sanders France 106,700
Tamer Kamel United Kingdom  98,400
Terry Jordan United Kingdom  166,800
Nick Wealthall United Kingdom  30,800

Table 6
James Greenwood United Kingdom  64,400
Christos Louca United Kingdom  30,700
Charles Akadiri United Kingdom  96,800
David Gant United Kingdom  67,500
Eric Croner Sweden  45,800
David Dean United Kingdom  67,000
Jamie Higgins United Kingdom  38,400
Amit Karia United Kingdom  135,000
Kashif Shirazi United Kingdom  46,300

Table 7
Thomas Lodden Norway  35,100
Georges Tohme United Kingdom  23,400
Ernestas Lisauskas Ireland  71,400
Siddhartha Joshi United Kingdom  60,000
Neil Kilgour United Kingdom  57,300
Marius Lietuvninkas Lithuania 177,600
Paul Morris United Kingdom  25,600
Pablo Herrada Spain 70,100

Table 8
James Edgington United Kingdom  46,500
Joe Evans United Kingdom  26,900
Cristiano Blanco United Kingdom  56,300
Rasmus Adjers Sweden  42,500
Paul Rodger United Kingdom  65,900
Chuc Gia Khuu Hong Kong 90,600
Pat Simcoe United Kingdom  220,500
Robert Lee United Kingdom  54,900
Christopher Gordon United Kingdom  73,000

Table 9
Eamonn Blake Ireland  44,600
Jake Cody United Kingdom  90,000
Jamie Wingate United Kingdom  95,200
Juan Angel Maengual United Kingdom  106,800
Rajendra Hurkoo United Kingdom  24,300
Dominic Burn United Kingdom  114,600
David Tompkins United Kingdom  69,400
John Hayes United Kingdom  48,400
Mateusz Zbikowski Poland  80,500

Table 10
Adrian Smith United Kingdom  96,000
Flavio Xausa United Kingdom  49,800
Nimisha Rattan United Kingdom  43,300
Faisal Khokhar United Kingdom  59,000
Kaloyan Kirov Bulgaria 129,600
Michael McIntyre United Kingdom  60,100
Lydia Cugudda United Kingdom  50,000
Joseph Field United Kingdom  71,300
Vladimir Vulpe Romania 35,800

Table 11
Steven Ly United Kingdom  88,700
Vincent Meli France 71,900
Beau Malachias United Kingdom  40,900
Deborah Worley-Roberts USA 38,300
Richard Stanley United Kingdom  112,600
Csaba Tokodi Hungary 29,200
Hak-Mann Lee Sweden  18,200
Shantanu Banerji United Kingdom  120,800
Martin Goerig Germany  39,900

PokerStars Blog reporting team in London: Nick Wright. Photos by Neil Stoddart.

8.10pm: Break time
The players are now on a 15 minute break whilst tournament staff colour up and race off the 1k chips. You'll find level 25 updates in a new post.

8pm: Jake Cody wins a million chip pot
I joined the action to see a sizeable amount of chips already in the pot and Jake Cody (mid position) betting 150,000 on the turn of a [5h][4h][Jh][10h] board, Terry Jordan announced call. The [2s] completed the board, Cody took his time before sliding out a bet of 250,000.

In reaction to this Jordan let out an audible sigh before announcing call, Cody showed [Ah][Js], "I should've known," said Jordan as he showed [Qh][Tc] to the table. That pot was over a million and as a result Cody is up to about 1,500,000 whilst Jordan is down to roughly 550,000.

Cody is also playing online at the moment as he's playing a VIP one table tournament on PokerStars, his good friend Toby Lewis is doing his best to take the $350 bounty that's on Jake's head.

Lost the headsup, bubbled the bounty tournament but chipleader with 6 left at the #ukiptseries and playing another bounty tournament onstars

— Jake Cody (@JakeCody) April 14, 2013

7.45pm: Stacked
The chip leader is still Tim Wong, he's accumulated more during the opening hands of the final table and is up to around 1,900,000, there's then four players bunched 100,000 either side of the million chip mark as there's little to choose between Terry Jordan, Lydia Cugudda, Jake Cody and Uzzol Miah. Whilst Enzo Gomez is the short stack with around 650,000.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 15,000-30,000 ante 4,000

7.35pm: Kaloyan Kirov eliminated in seventh place (£2,700)
The last PokerStars qualifier has just been eliminated and Kaloyan Kirov was very unlucky not to get a much needed double up.

After Uzzol Miah opened to 52,000 with [As][8c], Kirov moved all-in for 217,000 with [Ad][Qh] and Miah tank called. A [4d][8h][Js] flop put Miah into the lead and he stayed there on the [7c] turn and [9d] river.

Six left.

7.25pm: Shantanu Banerji eliminated in eighth place (£1,977)
The shortest stack at the start of the final table belonged to Shantanu Banerji and he couldn't ladder his way up the pay scale.

Jake Cody opened to 48,000 from the cut-off, Banerji moved in for around 275,000 from the button and Cody made the call.

Banerji: [As][Qs]
Cody: [Kd][Ks]

The [2s][Th][7c][9h][4h] board kept Cody in front and just seven players remain.

7.15pm: Final table is go
The final table is off, it's Tim Wong who leads the way with 1,760,000.

6.35pm: Final table chip counts and seat draw

Seat One: Kaloyan Kirov, Bulgaria, PokerStars qualifier, 315,000
Seat Two: Terry Jordan, 1,041,000
Seat Three: Enzo Gomez, United Kingdom, 607,000
Seat Four: Lydia Cugudda, United Kingdom, 1,099,000
Seat Five: Uzzol Miah, United Kingdom, 740,000
Seat Six: Jake Cody, Team PokerStars Pro, United Kingdom, 762,000
Seat Seven: Shantanu Banerji, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 284,000
Seat Eight: Tim Wong, 1,760,000

6.15pm: Marius Lietuvninkas eliminated in 9th place (£1,450)
The final table of the first ever UKIPT Series is set and Marius Lietuvninkas, a man who knows what it's like to final table a UKIPT main event is the unlucky bubbler.

There's been an insane amount of big pairs running into each other in the last 30 minutes and that's what happened again in this hand. The action was opened by Uzzol Miah with pocket kings, Lietuvninkas shoved with pocket jacks and Miah made the call.

An [Ah][7c][9d][Ts][7h] board later and the final table of eight was set. The players are now on a one hour dinner break, I'll bring you the seat draw and chip counts during it.

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

6.10pm: Pat Simcoe eliminated in 11th place (£1,250)
Pat Simcoe has just missed out on making back to back UKIPT final tables as he's just been eliminated in 11th place.

He shoved all-in on a [8c][9h][7c] flop with [9c][8s] and Terry Jordan called with [8d][6h]. He hit his draw on the [5c] turn and Simcoe didn't suck out on the [Ah] river.

We're now down to nine players and they'll be a re-draw for the unofficial final table, when one more player is eliminated the final table will be set.

6.05pm: Wong wins massive pot, Henderson out in 10th
Wow! A huge near two million chip pot has just gone the way of Tim Wong, he's taken a big chunk out of Lydia Cugudda, eliminated Rafael Henderson and claimed the chip lead.

The action was opened by Cugudda, she raised to 45,000 from under-the-gun, Wong then three-bet out of the small blind, Henderson jammed all-in for around 350,000, Cugudda thought for ages and announced she was all-in and Wong snap called, he was all-in for 719,000.

Cugudda: [Js][Jc]
Henderson: [Qd][Qs]
Wong: [Kh][Kc]

The board ran [7s][10h][3h][10d][2s], Wong won the pot, Cugudda is down to around 900,000 and Henderson was out in 10th. Because at the same time on the other table there was another all-in and call.

6pm: Cody eliminates another one
Faisal Khokhar was down to just 95,000 and moved all-in from under-the-gun with [Ks][6d], next to act Jake Cody flat called with [Ac][3s] and everyone else folded. The board ran [Jc][Qd][2d][9d][7s] and Khokhar is out in 12th.

5.55pm: Double double and one closer to final table bubble
Two doubles up and one exit to tell you about:

The first double up saw Uzzol Miah double up through Terry Jordan, Miah holding pocket jacks was all-in for 250,000, Jordan up against it with [Ad][Th]. A [2h][Qs][9h][7d][3d] safe enough for the pair and reducing Jordan to around 600,000.

The second double involved Kaloyan Kirov doubling up his micro stack to a short stack his [As][Td] getting there against Shantanu Banerji's pocket eights on a [Jd][Jc][Th][7s][3h] board.

And... Charles Akadiri is out, he shoved with [Ah][Ts] but ran into the chip fortress that is Lydia Cugudda and pocket queens. He flopped a ten but got no help on the turn or river and we're down to a dozen here at the Hippodrome.

5.50pm: Cody coolers Maengual
A big pot for Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody, who just eliminated Juan Angel Maengual. The Brit raised it up to 40,000 and called Maengual's 250,000 shove very quickly. On their backs:

Maengual: [Ad][Qc]
Cody: [Ad][As]

The board came [6d][Js][3d][7h][Ac] and Cody eliminated Maengual and we're down to 13 players.

5.40pm: Cugudda accumulates Burn units
"Super cooler man," were the words Shantanu Banerji used to describe the following hand and the man has a point.

It folded to Lydia Cugudda in the small blind, she opened to 46,000, Dominic Burn three-bet to 147,000, Cugudda shoved and Burn, who had around 475,000 snap called.

Cugudda: [Kh][Ks]
Burn: [As][Ad]

The [4s][Kd][6d] flop gave Cugudda the lead and she made a face that was one almost of embarrassment at the outdraw she'd just inflicted. The turn and river were both blanks and she's now up to 1,560,000. "It was never going to play out any other way," she said after the hand was over.

5.30pm: Starting stack
The big blind is now 20,000, which is equivalent to the stack with which the players started with 22 levels ago.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 10,000-20,000 ante 3,000

5.15pm: Re-draw news

Table One:
Dominic Burn
Marius Lietuvninkas
Shantanu Banerji
Kaloyan Kirov
Tim Wong
Charles Akadiri
Rafael Henderson
Lydia Cugudda

As well as Cugudda, Tim Wong and Dominic Burn are chipped up, whilst Shantanu Banerji has lost some since the break.

Table two:
Pat Simcoe
Terry Jordan
Uzzol Miah
Enzo Gomez
Faisal Khokhar
Jake Cody
Juan Angel Maengual

Since the re-draw Vincent Meli has been eliminated in 15th place, Jake Cody is in shove mode and has done once already. Terry Jordan has around 850,000, Enzo Gomez is on 600,000 and Pat Simcoe has 420,000.

5pm: Chip counts
Below are the chip counts from the last break (although we've accounted for Tim Wong's increase). It's still Lydia Cugudda who leads, she's the only player to have breached the one million chip mark so far.

Lydia Cugudda United Kingdom 1027000
Terry Jordan United Kingdom 780000
Tim Wong United Kingdom 600,000
Enzo Gomez United Kingdom 540000
Dominic Burn United Kingdom 535000
Marius Lietuvninkas Lithuania 450000
Pat Simcoe United Kingdom 420000
Juan Angel Maengual United Kingdom 370000
Shantanu Banerji United Kingdom 303000
Charles Akadiri United Kingdom 300000
Rafael Henderson United Kingdom 270000
Jake Cody United Kingdom 240000
Faisal Khokhar United Kingdom 210000
Kaloyan Kirov Bulgaria 205000
Uzzol Miah United Kingdom 130000
Vincent Meli France 110000

5pm: Tamer Kamel eliminated in 17th place (£665)
It didn't take long to lose a player once play resumed and it's EPT9 London finalist Tamer Kamel who's gone out. He three-bet all-in from the big blind for around 150,000 with pocket queens but Tim Wong, who had raised on the button, had a genuine hand, aces.

An ace in the window gave Wong a near lock on the hand and he's up to 650,000. There's now a short break in play whilst they re-draw to two tables.

4.55pm: Back from the break
The 17 remaining players are now back in their seats and level 21 is underway, when one more player is eliminated there will be a complete re-draw for the final two tables. The average stack is 403,000.

Below is a list of the in the money finishers so far.

18th. Ernestas Lisauskas, Ireland, £665
19th. Andrew Hogwood, United Kingdom, £665
20th. Michael Panteli, United Kingdom, £665
21st. Mitchell Cooper, United Kingdom, £665
22nd. Flavio Xausa, Italy, £665
23rd. John Law, United Kingdom, £665
24th. Robert Lee, United Kingdom, £665

25th. David Dean, United Kingdom, £585
26th. Kashif Shirazi, United Kingdom, £585
27th. Amit Karia, United Kingdom, £585
28th. Toan Nguyen, Australia, £585
29th. John Harnett, United Kingdom, £585
30th. Christopher Gordon, United Kingdom, £585
31st. Christophe Love, United Kingdom, £585
32nd. Marco Vasconcelos, Portugal, £585

33rd. Darren Hand, United Kingdom, £520
34th. Noel Broadbent, United Kingdom, £520
35th. Simon Griffin, United Kingdom, £520
36th. Richard Stanley, United Kingdom, £520
37th. Stanley Sanders, France, £520
38th. Nikolay Ponomarev, Russia, £520
39th. Neil Kilgour, United Kingdom, £520
40th. Darren Fuller, United Kingdom, £520

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 8,000-16,000 ante 2,000

4.40pm: Break time
The remaining players are now on a 15 minute break.

4.35pm: More for Jordan
Terry Jordan now has a stack of roughly 675,000 after eliminating Ernestas Lisauskasi in 18th place. It was all-in pre-flop with Lisauskas holding [Kh][7h] and Jordan a dominating [Ks][Js].

The [Jd][7d][8c][2h][Kc] board gave them both two pair, but Jordan's was better. Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody, who's slipped to 260,000, has been moved to that table for balancing purposes. They'll be a re-draw after the next elimination though.

4.20pm: The ups and downs of Shantanu Banerji
Two big pots in succession for Shantanu Banerji, one going for him and one against him.

In the first Mike Panteli raised to 30,000 from under-the-gun with pocket nines (the best hand he'd seen all day), Banerji was in the big blind, he looked down at pocket jacks and raised enough to set Panteli all-in. The latter called off his remaining 120,000 but missed on the [8s][3h][5h][Ac][2h] board.

Onto the next hand, it folded to Banerji in the small blind, but after requesting a count from Rafael Henderson (it was 101,000), Henderson simply shoved blind and after getting a count Banerji made the call.

Henderson: [Qc][Qs] - he was genuinely blind though
Banerji: [Kc][4h]

The [Jh][10d][Qh] flop was an interesting one, especially given that the [Qh] was the window card. But the straight didn't get there as the board ran [5d][Jc] and Henderson survived, Banerji meanwhile turned a small profit over the two hands.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 6,000-12,000 ante 2,000

4.05pm: Mitchell's miracle comes to an end
In the end Mitchell Cooper couldn't turn his short stack into something tangible and make a run at this. He shoved from the small blind for 37,000 with [4h][2h] and Rafael Henderson made the call with [Jh][6h]. The [10s][9c][Ah][9d][7c] board gave Cooper some chops outs to go with his pair outs but he missed them all on the river.

3.55pm: Re-draw done
The re-draw is complete and here's what it's thrown up:

- Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody has run pretty good with his table draw, he's got 400,000 and is the chip leader on his table. EPT9 London 7th place finisher Tamer Kamel is a couple of spots to Cody's left, but he's got just 120,000.

- Lydia Cugudda has got a couple of dangerous players on her table, sitting two to her left is Marius Lietuvninkas (350,000) he final tabled UKIPT Coventry in season one and has a number of results to his name. And a chipped up Terry Jordan (550,000) is three seats to her right.

- On the third and final table it's Shantanu Banerji (400,000) and Enzo Gomes (480,000) who have the biggest stacks.

3.45pm: Dean done in by Cody
A great start to the level for Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody as he just eliminated David Dean in 25th place. The triple-crown winner opened to 20,000 from the cut-off with [As][Js], Dean shoved from the button for roughly 140,000 with [Kh][9d] and Cody made the call.

The board came [6s][7h][2h][7s][6h] and Cody is now up to around 400,000. With just 24 players remaining there's now a complete re-draw taking place and a quick pause in the action.

3.35pm: Cugudda crushing
Just 26 players remain as we enter the 19th level of this tournament. Top of the pile right now is Lydia Cugudda, she's been on quite the rush and is up to around 900,000. She's absolutely running over her table and meeting very little resistance. But she does have one of the other big stacks to her direct left, Shantanu Banerji has about 490,000 and is probably third overall. Enzo Gomez has about 530,000.

In short, she's leaving everyone else in her wake, including Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody. He's still right in the mix though and currently has a stack of 230,000, which is just below the average of 264,000.

PokerStars Blog reporting team in London:Nick Wright. Photos by Neil Stoddart.

11.30pm: Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody wins UKIPT Series 1
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that with the stacks as they were and the blinds high that the next all-in would decide this tournament. And so it proved.

From the button Jake Cody raised to 240,000, Lydia Cugudda shoved for 2,700,000 and Cody snap called.

Cugudda: [Jd][10c]
Cody: [Ks][Kh]

The [10h][Qd][8c] flop was a good one for Cugudda's hand, she now had a few outs for the win, but Cody was still a 68% favourite to take the title. The [6d] turn increased that to 79%, everyone knows Cody doesn't lose 80-20s and the [2c] hit the river so Cody held on to win the first ever UKIPT Series title and £19,400. A big hand to Lydia Cugudda who at times today totally ran over the field and takes home £13,140 for her second place finish.

A full wrap of today's play is on the way.

11.20pm: Jake Cody reclaims chip lead (just)
Since Lydia Cugudda doubled through, only one pot has made it to the river, Jake Cody won it and as a result he's taken the chip lead, but given that there's just a couple of big blinds between them, then by the time I've finished writing this it could've changed hands again.

In the pot that did get to fifth street, Cugudda raised to 250,000 pre-flop and Cody smooth called. On the [Th][Kc][3d] flop Cody check-called a bet of 225,000. The [3c] turn checked through and Cody then led for 350,000 on the [Js] river, with one look at her cards Cugudda was done with the hand and tossed it into the muck.

11.15pm: Lydia Cugudda doubles through Jake Cody
From the button Jake Cody raised to 240,000, Lydia Cugudda raised all-in for 1,770,000 total and Cody called.

Cody: [Ac][9h]
Cugudda: [Ad][Jd]

The [Js][10d][Ks][8s][10c] board kept Cugudda in front and she's now got a slight chip lead, as it's roughly 3,580,000 plays 3,040,000.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 60,000-120,000 ante 20,000

11.05pm: Back and forth
There's been no big pots of note over the last half-dozen hands and as a result no real chip movement. It's as you were, but if Cugudda were to double through then the stacks would be almost even.

11pm: First blood to Cody
Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody has extended his chip lead. He raised to 200,000 pre-flop, call from Lydia Cugudda. The [3h][3d][10s] flop went check, check and the [Ah] landed on the turn. It checked to Cody, he bet 200,000 and Cugudda called. The [5h] filled out the board, check, bet of 475,000 from Cody, call from Cugudda. The triple-crown winner rolled over [Ac][9c] and Cugudda mucked.

It's now roughly 5,000,000 plays 1,600,000.

10.52pm: Heads-up chip counts
As the heads-up battle gets underway the chip counts are 4,340,000 for Jake Cody, plays 2,280,000 for Lydia Cugudda.

10.50pm: Terry Jordan eliminated in third place (£8,110)
Terry Jordan was chip leader 10 minutes ago, now he's out. That in a nutshell is the beauty and danger of no-limit Hold'em.

First he doubled up Lydia Cugudda, he raised to 250,000 with pocket sixes, she shoved for 1,155,000 with [Ah][6d] and he called it off. The [2d][Ad][8d][Jc][Qh] board giving her a crucial double up.

The next hand he moved all-in from the button for 1,225,000 with [Jd][9h], Jake Cody made the call from the big blind with [Ac][Kc], a [2d][Ad][8d] flop paired Cody, but gave Jordan a flush draw, he picked up more outs on the [Jc] turn, but missed them all on the [Qh] river.

We're now heads-up for the title here at the Hippodrome, it's Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody versus Lydia Cugudda.

10.45pm: Tim Wong eliminated in fourth place (£6,240)
Twice Tim Wong has got it in very good against Jake Cody, twice the Team PokerStars Pro has got there.

It folded to Cody in the small blind and he moved all-in for roughly 1,500,000 with [Kh][9h], Wong made the call with pocket jacks, he had Cody covered by a solitary 25k chip. The [Kd][Ks][5s] flop catapulted Cody into the lead and there was no miracle jack for Wong on the [4h] turn or [9s] river. Wong was all-in the next hand and eliminated by Cody.

10.40pm: Chip counts
As level 29 gets underway here are the official chip counts

Seat Two: Terry Jordan, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, 2,470,000
Seat Four: Lydia Cugudda, United Kingdom, 995,000
Seat Six: Jake Cody, Team PokerStars Pro, United Kingdom, 1,470,000
Seat Eight: Tim Wong, United Kingdom, 1,685,000

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 50,000-100,000 ante 10,000

10.30pm: Ten minute breather
That's the end of level 28 and the players are on a short 10 minute break. I'll be getting official chip counts during that break.

10.25pm: Terry Jordan doubles through Jake Cody
Erm, this kind of thing doesn't happen to Jake Cody, but the Team PokerStars Pro sucked out earlier when his ace was dominated and he's just experienced the harsh end of the variance stick in a hand against Terry Jordan.

On the button Cody opened to 160,000, Jordan jammed for 1,145,000 from the small blind and Cody called.

Cody: [Ah][Jh]
Jordan: [Ad][5h]

The [2s][3c][2c][4h][Ac] saw Jordan shout, "Yes," when he turned the straight and he's now up to around 2,300,000 and in his own words, "back in the game." Meanwhile Cody has around 1,500,000 and Jordan is more than back in the game, he's the chip leader.

10.15pm: Terry Jordan doubles through Tim Wong
It folded to Tim Wong in the small blind, he took a quick glance at Terry Jordan's stack, then moved enough chips across the line to set Jordan all-in. Insta-call from Jordan, who was all-in for 675,000.

Jordan: [Th][Ts]
Wong: [Ks][5c]

The [8c][5s][Jh][4s][3c] board gave Jordan a bit of a fright but he survived and that means that Lydia Cugudda is now the shortest stack.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 40,000-80,000 ante 10,000

10pm: Enzo Gomez eliminated in fifth place (£4,880)
Something had to give and finally it did...

From under-the-gun Lydia Cugudda moved all-in for around 650,000, it passed all the way to Enzo Gomez in the big blind and he called all-in for around half of Cugudda's stack.

Cugudda: [Ks][Qd]
Gomez: [As][7d]

"Hold," said Gomez in the general direction of his rail. But it didn't as the board ran [Qh][Qc][Js][Jh][2h] and Cugudda made a full house to eliminate him in fifth.

9.50pm: 110 big blinds
There's only 110 big blinds in play between the five players and it's Enzo Gomes who's most at risk. He's down to just 360,000 - six big blinds. Meanwhile Terry Jordan has also slipped below the 10 big blind mark.

9.45pm: Cody wins...
Online...Jake Cody has just taken down his one VIP single table tournament and he can now focus on trying to win the first ever UKIPT Series event and get his hands on the UKIPT lovely trophy.

9.35pm: Chip counts
These are rough eyes on chip counts but here's how it stands right now here at The Hippodrome.

Seat Two: Terry Jordan, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, 730,000
Seat Three: Enzo Gomez, United Kingdom, 550,000
Seat Four: Lydia Cugudda, United Kingdom, 875,000
Seat Six: Jake Cody, Team PokerStars Pro, United Kingdom, 1,700,000
Seat Eight: Tim Wong, United Kingdom, 2,750,000

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

9.25pm: Jake Cody doubles through Tim Wong
It folded to Jake Cody in the small blind and he moved all-in for 635,000, Tim Wong asked for a count, cut out the necessary chips and called. I could see on the iPad the Cody had, that his was simultaneously all-in in the VIP match he's currently playing online.

The cards were turned over, Cody had [Ah][4h], Wong a dominating [Ad][9d], the [Kh][Jc][5d] flop perhaps bought some possibility of a chop into play but was safe enough for Wong, however the [4s] gave Cody the lead and Wong didn't re-suck on the [3d] river.

Cody now up to around 1,300,000, whilst Wong slips to 2,400,000. Cody also won his all-in online, getting it in behind there too but spiking on the river.

9.10pm: Uzzol Miah eliminated in sixth place (£3,430)
From mid-position Uzzol Miah moved all-in for 630,000, it passed to Tim Wong in the small blind, he got a count, tanked and then passed. "Why couldn't you have made the other decision?" asked Terry Jordan. Clearly he was faced with a spot where he didn't want to call, but felt he must and that's what he did.

Jordan: [7s][7d]
Miah: [6s][6d]

Jordan had made a good call, even having Miah's suits covered, the [8c][4d][Kd][4c][Td] board kept Jordan in front and just five players remain here at The Hippodrome.

9.05pm: Terry Jordan doubles through Uzzol Miah
From under-the-gun Uzzol Miah raised to 105,000, Terry Jordan pushed all-in from the button for 320,000 and Miah made the call.

Miah: [3h][3c]
Jordan: [Kd][Jc]

The [7d][8d][6d] flop didn't put Jordan in the lead but he was now a favourite and he got there on the [9d] turn and faded the straight flush chop on the [Qs] river.

He's up to around 700,000 whilst Miah is down to 630,000.

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

9pm: Lose some, win some for Miah
A couple of mid-size pots to tell you about, both involving Uzzol Miah...

He raised it up to 85,000 from under-the-gun and then called when Lydia Cugudda three-bet to 225,000 from the big blind. On the [7d][5d][Qh] flop Cugudda simply plonked a stack of 25k chips totalling around 300,000 over the betting line, this was enough to force Miah to fold.

A couple of hands later he completed from the small blind (he'd done this once before at the final table), Jake Cody raised it up to 120,000 but then folded when Miah limp re-raised to 340,000.

8.50pm: Action but no action
Both Terry Jordan and Enzo Gomes have been all-in in the past 10 minutes, but neither picked up a caller. Apart from that it's been small pot poker, with Jake Cody winning more than his fair share of pots. Be that through pre-flop raise and takes or raises and c-bets.

You sense a big pot is brewing.

8.40pm: All-in and chop
Terry Jordan moved all-in over the top of a Tim Wong open, the chip leader called, but they both had ace-king and by the turn neither could make a flush so they chopped the blinds and antes.

8.35pm: Cody lurking but Wong still leads
The players are back in their seats for level 25, Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody has had a great start to the final table and is closing in on the chip lead. He's also playing online in a special one table sit and go, in which he has a bounty on his head.

Seat Two: Terry Jordan, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, 460,000
Seat Three: Enzo Gomez, United Kingdom, 615,000
Seat Four: Lydia Cugudda, United Kingdom, 935,000
Seat Five: Uzzol Miah, United Kingdom, 1,155,000
Seat Six: Jake Cody, Team PokerStars Pro, United Kingdom, 1,645,000
Seat Eight: Tim Wong, United Kingdom, 1,855,000

PokerStars Blog reporting team in London: Nick Wright. Photos by Neil Stoddart.

The inaugural UKIPT Series is going to be tough to top as Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody defeated a field of 343 to claim the first prize of £19,400 and his first tournament victory since he completed his Triple Crown in May 2011.

He's had bigger scores than this one since then but not got his hands on a trophy and it's clear the winning is as important to him as any monetary gain. "It's nice to get that winning feeling back, it's actually the same hand I won EPT Deauville with. It's also great to win a PokerStars tournament as a Team PokerStars Pro."

Cody was quick to take to Twitter to announce his win:

Winnerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

— Jake Cody (@JakeCody) April 14, 2013

And the congratulations soon followed:

@jakecody well done mate

— Alex Ferguson (@AlexFergielive) April 14, 2013

@jakecody Give someone else a chance ffs.

— Keith Hawkins (@keiththecamel) April 14, 2013

To get that win he had to get past a tough field, none more so than Lydia Cugudda, who would finish runner-up when her [Jd][10c] lost out to Cody's pocket kings with near chip parity. She had dominated play leading up to the final table, was the first to break the million chip mark and had almost double that of second place with just 14 players left.

That she didn't take the chip lead to the final table was down to a huge three-way pot that played out with ten players left. She held pocket jacks, Rafael Henderson had queens and Tim Wong pipped them both with kings. The cowboys held and Wong winged his way to the top of the chip counts.

It was a position he held until there were just four players left, then he, like many before him found that Cody simply doesn't lose the big pots when it matters. Twice he got it in good against Cody, both times he would've eliminated the Team PokerStars Pro. First Cody's [Ah][4h] got there against Wong's [Ad][9d], then his [Kh][9h] made a full house to crush Wong's pocket jacks and his hopes in fourth place.

In Cody's defence he shoved first in both hands and in between the two pots lost a big pot with [Ah][Jh] against Terry Jordan's [Ad][5d] when the latter made a wheel.

Terry Jordan's final table fortunes nicely encapsulate the game of no-limit Hold'em. He was chip leader with four left and out in third ten minutes later. First Cugudda cracked his pocket sixes with [Ah][6d], ace on the flop. Then Cody finished him off, [Ac][Kc] holding when it mattered against Jordan's [Jd][9h].

By this point Enzo Gomez (fifth), Uzzol Miah (sixth), Kaloyan Kirov (seventh) and Shantanu Banerji (eighth) had all played their part in an entertaining final table

UKIPT Series 1 Final table result:

1st. Jake Cody, United Kingdom, Team PokerStars Pro, £19,400
2nd. Lydia Cugudda, United Kingdom £13,140
3rd. Terry Jordan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, £8,110
4th. Tim Wong, United Kingdom, £6,240
5th. Enzo Gomez, United Kingdom, £4,880
6th. Uzzol Miah, United Kingdom, £3,430
7th. Kaloyan Kirov, Bulgaria, PokerStars Qualifier, £2,700
8th. Shantanu Banerji, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, £1,977

Before the final table though there was the small matter of bursting the bubble. 98 players returned for Day 2 all hoping to secure a top 40 finish and a min-cash of £520. Before we reached that point though poker luminaries like Cristiano Blanco, Manig Loeser, Deborah Worley-Roberts and James Greenwood had been vanquished. Sometimes hand for hand play can last an age but here it wasn't even needed as Mateusz Zbikowski was sent packing by Jordan before it started and we were in the money.

Following the tension release of the bubble bursting there was a steady stream of eliminations, those that cashed but crashed before the final table included: Day 1B chip leader Nikolay Ponomarev (38th, £520), Mitchell Cooper (21st, £665) and UKIPT London finalist Pat Simcoe (11th, £1,250). To see the full list of payouts click here.

To catch up on all of today's action click on the links below

Levels 13-18
Levels 19-24
Levels 25-30

The next UKIPT stop is Marbella from June 12th-16th and the next UKIPT series event is a couple of weeks later June 28th-30th. If I can't convince you to play one of them perhaps Jake Cody can. "The UKIPT is a great platform for anyone looking to jump into live poker and the UKIPT Series is a great taster for a lower buy-in. You get to play against pros in a great atmosphere and you can qualify online for a fraction of the buy-in." Those qualifiers should be live in the client soon, but until next time it's goodnight from the PokerStars Blog.

All photos are copyright of Neil Stoddart.

The UKIPT team have been onto us to write something about the upcoming UKIPT Marbella event. We're going on holiday, they say. The UKIPT is joining up with the ESPT, they add. So what? Why should we right about that? Everyone knows that there's a €1,100 UKIPT Main Event going on in sunny Spain by now. You do know about that, right?

But satellites are running now and you've got to qualify soon if you're going to get to Marbella for 12 June on the cheap, they exclaim. Well, yes, that is worth flagging up, I suppose.

And there's the welcome cocktail, free party and chance to run around like a maniac shooting pellets at one another, they suggest.

Wait... what...?

Now you're talking!

Welcome Cocktail, Hotel H10 Andalucia Plaza Pool*
Date/time: Tuesday 11th June, from 21:30 until 23:30

Airsoft Experience
Date/time: Thursday, 13th June, from 11:15 until 16:00
Bus Collects Players at H10 Andalucia Plaza Hotel at 11:30
Airsoft Experience 12:00 - 14:30
Lunch 14:30 - 15:30
Bus picks players up at 15:30 back to hotel by 16:00

PokerStars Marbella Festival Official Party*** - Ocean and Aqwa*
Date/time: Saturday, 15th June, from 21:30 until 23:00 (Open bar) at Ocean (the official party), from 01:00am the party moves to the upcoming club Aqwa (official after party) where players will enjoy a glass of champagne upon arrival and party until the early hours of the morning.

* Wristbands are required for entry
** Spots are limited and players need to contact info@estrellaspokertourhotels.com to sign up, there might not be availability upon your arrival
***Open Bar for the first 1.5 hours of the party

And, of course, there is a whole of poker going on with a great spread of tournaments and cash games on offer. This is one that you really don't want to miss. Check the UKIPT Marbella schedule here.

Find the UKIPT satellites in the PokerStars lobby by clicking 'Events' > 'More' > 'UKIPT'. Good luck!

Rick Dacey is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

9.45pm: June not feeling so August
It's always great to see a healthy contingent of ladies turn out for the pokers to break up the rivers of machismo that tend to pool at the poker tables.

Sadly the few women to have made the trip to Marbella have not fared so well, though June Murphy is one lady still flying the flag for the fairer sex.

Her stack is well in that 10-15BB danger zone however where caution must be cast aside - with just 9,500 she will be forced into a move to double through before the attritional blinds carve away too much of her remaining fold equity.

All the best June! -- RS

9.30pm: Jans Brandishejs Big Stack
Confident big-stack Jan Brandejs put his older opponent, Vitaly Kutovenko, to a 4,400 chip test, the board reading [Jc] [3s] [4s] [8s]. Kutovenko made the call in rhythm and both players saw an [8c] river. Playing the bully Brandejs moved all-in for his opponent's last 23,000. Was he merely putting the pressure on? We'll never know since Kutovenko folded. Cool, calm, and collected, Brandejs has been grinding out €500 events for the past few years on the Czech circuit. Today he's putting himself in position to take it up a notch.

"I'm not telling," he says resolutely. "You might be friends with him," he adds, pointing to Kutovenko. - GC

9.16pm: Moreno survives tens moment

Whenever you're allin for your tournament life, there's usually a sweat, though when Jose Antonio Escobar Moreno went to war with Sergio Fernandez Bernal, finally moving all-in on a [5d][7h][4s] board and flipped up pocket tens, he must have been very excited to see his opponent turn up [Tc][7c] leaving him needing to evade a mere two outs to save himself and boost his chances.

A bricky [5d][Ac] turn and river sealed a welcome double-through to 42k whilst Bernal was in murkier waters - a residual 17k left behind once he'd paid off Moreno. -- RS

9.04pm: Head count
352 brave warriors set out from their villages to fight the beast that is variance and 152 lie slain on the battle field, their souls free to indulge in the other diversions on offer here in Marbella. That leaves 200 players left vying for the title - the average stack up to 35,000 at this point. -- RS

8.55pm: Chips in Motion

Pablo Rojas has earned the ears of the players and the smiles of the dealers. He also has a lot of antes and blinds in his stack, as he likes to play a lot of pots, particularly on his button. His stack morphs between art and order every time one passes by. In either case, it is above average, 51,250 at last count. --GC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 400-800 ante 100

8.50pm: Back for level 8
The buffet just suffered a mauling, the restaurant area left awash with chicken legs, roasted pepper leftovers and assorted salad detritus.

Safe to say the players appetites for sustinence have been sated and their appetite for chip accumulation re-ignited.

Three more levels to go - there should be plenty of twists left in this tale before the night is done. -- RS

Once more unto the breach, dear friends... -- RS

7.50pm: Dinner time!
Seven hard levels of poker have created a hunger in out remaining players that resulted in a mass stampede to the local restaurants come the end of level 7. We narrowly avoided being trampled to death meaning we'll be back with you in one hour for the resumption - with three more levels scheduled to be played out.

See you then!. -- RS

7.40pm: A Spin Round.

Let's spend an orbit with PokerStars' Team Spain Pro Juan Manuel Pastor, who has been relaxed, borderline perfunctory today. No reason to get excited on Day 1 for this veteran of the Spanish poker scene.

Dealt into the cutoff it folds to the HJ who opens, prompting a fold from our moment's hero.

In the hijack the next hand JMP opens to 1300 and steals the blinds and antes.

From the right of the hijack to under the gun he folds at every opportunity. Nearly ten minutes passes - the life of an MTT player!

In the big blind, an MP player opens limps, the HJ follows suit, and the SB calls. JMP is having none of it, making it 3600, six big blinds, to go. The two in position players call. On a [Jd] [9d] [2s] flop, JMP doesn't hesitate to fire 10,000 in the form of two cool blue chips. Both give it up quickly.

With a short stack all-in and already called in front of him, an easy fold is made in the small blind.

On the button an older man with heaps of chips opens under the gun and LMP gets out of the way. Another routine orbit - slow, steady, and ending with more chips than he started. -- GC

7.20pm: The fine line...
Small margins can stand between winning and losing in this game and Netherland's Zhi Wei Tan just rode the waves of variance with aplomb in what proved a massive hand..

The action started with Tan facing off against Beresnev Aleksandr on a [7s][5h][2h] board and facing a bet of 3,400 from his Russian opponent.

Tan now made a huge 21,000 check-raise shove which threw Aleksandr deep into the tank for some minutes. He emerged to make a brave call with [Ac][7c] for top,top.

He was nominally ahead too, Tan holding [7h][8h] for top pair and the flush draw but a turned [9d] and [6s] saw the Dutchman take the lead with a straight.

"Sick call!" commented Tan as he swept up the pot to move to just over 50,000, whilst Aleksandr was left very short and in need of a snappy power double if his journey is to continue much deeper. -- RS

7.11pm: Chips ahoy!
There's a new sheriff in town and his name is Zakrzewski - the pole sitting atop the standings with a very healthy 95,000.

For the top chip counts as we stand, click on the chip count tab just to the right of this post. -- RS

7.00pm: House of pain is back in effect
More bruising encounters to come as the players re-take their seats and prepare for level 7. With the blinds and antes forming a chunky aggregation in the middle, battles for their ownership are likely to prove bloody and for some players fatal.

Expect casualties galore. Basically imagine the opening 20 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" but with nicer beaches. -- RS

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 300-600 ante 50

6.45pm: And relax...
Another bombastic pair of levels has come to pass, meaning we're due our regular rest period of 15 minutes. It's a break - we'll see you soon. -- RS..

6.40pm: Pole chopped down

Pawel Jaslkolski's tournament was going along swimmingly but we joined him on what will likely prove to be a key pot in his demise.

The hand in question saw Jaslkolski facing a huge 18k bet from Eugenio Antonio Celume Mualim into what was already a sizeable 20k+ pot on a [Qd][4d][6s][8h][Kd] board.

Jaslkolski was reluctant but made the call with pocket eights for a set, only to get the bad news that Mualim had him hung, drawn and quartered with [Ad][7d] for the pretty diamond nut flush.

He looked a little disconsolate and the rest of the table mumbled sympathetic overtures as he passed the bulk of his stack over to the joyful Mualim.

Not out yet, but with less than 10k, Jaslkolski is in trouble whilst Mualim has risen to a whopping, chip-leading, set-busting 82k. Go go gadget suck out! -- RS

6:20pm: Monton is Charisma en Español
The garrulous Miguel Gurrea Monton has emerged as the tournament leader, not in chips, but entertainment. He doesn't appear to take a breath as he comments on every hand. "Un momento," he sighs with the action on him, leaning back in his chair whistling. After slamming his single tower stack in the middle, his opponent folds without hesitation. Monton tables two queens and the show goes on. -- GC

6.00pm: Ivan runs terrible
Ivan Notario's dreams of securing this prestigious title have been dashed - the last of his chips fired in with [Ks][9d] on a [5d][8c][9d] board.

He was called by a priced-in Alexander Ferguson, his [Jc][Qc] for a gutshot and overcards needing some help, which duly arrived on the [2d] [Js] turn and river.

No histrionics from Notario, he took his beat in good grace and departed with a hand-shake, leaving a beaming Ferguson up to 32k - unlike his famous namesake, this Ferguson is unlikely to be retiring anytime soon... -- RS

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 200-400 ante 50

5.33pm: Three Names Tango
Andoni Aguila Exposito's only live poker cash is a third place finish in a €70 buy-in side event at ESPT Madrid in January. Today he's raised the stakes, coming back from break as chip leader with 76,000. Immediately he was caught bluffing the river by Joseph Gulas of the Czech Republic. Exposito smiled and sheepishly threw his cards into the muck without exposing them, his chances of winning at showdown presumably hopeless. Gulas took the option of not showing his own hand and began collecting the pot. This sequence did not satisfy the dapper Miguel Gurrea Monton, who vociferously demanded to see Gulas' cards. The floor was called and it was confirmed, there were no tabled cards to force Gulas to show. Insistency turned to apology as Monton returned to his affable self. Meanwhile, Exposito got back on track, winning a comparable pot the subsequent hand. -- GC

5.12pm: Exposito rises to the challenge
Everyone likes to see the lay of the land and the chip counts show that Andoni Aguila Exposito has successfully scaled the rest of the players after four levels - his stack having risen to a mountainous 76,000. -- RS

The full chip counts can be found here.

4.52pm: Sell-out!
In certain fields, selling out is frowned upon, but here in the poker world, it's always good news. Day 1a managed to entice 352 players to hand over their hard-earned monies to play and we've just received news that day 1b is also sold out!

That does mean you may struggle to buy a seat now - there is the possibility to register as an alternate, but the tournament's popularity means you won't be guaranteed a seat.

You snooze, you lose! -- RS

4.34pm: Jensen soaring, Killmartin falling
Soren Jensen has always proved a colourful and entertaining character at the felt, the highlight of his career, his 2nd place finish at the 2008 Denmark EPT in an attritional 7 and a half hour heads up battle versus American Tim Vance.

Although he was bested that day, his near $700k result was mightily impressive and the potential is there for him to add another feather to his impressively capped CV here - his stack up to 29,750.

David Kilmartin has experienced contrasting fortune during the opening stages however, and he is down to a mere 4,500 - barely more than a chip and a chair at his disposal.

The generous blind structure however should ensure he has enough leverage to propel himself back into contention, should fortune favour the popular Irishman. -- RS

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 100-200 ante 25

4.30pm: The battle continues....
Four levels of hard fought poker have been played out, and it looks as though there will be ten levels in total today so six to go... -- RS

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars Marbella Festival brought to you by UKIPT and ESPT: Rod Stirzaker and Gareth Chantler. Photos by Eric Vogel.