11.25pm: Gabriel Dragomir wins UKIPT Series 2 (£16,480); Paul Zimbler second (£8,000)
On the final hand Paul Zimbler raised to 250,000 on the button, Gabriel Dragomir moved all-in and Zimbler made the call for his last 1,500,000.

Dragomir: [4s][4d]
Zimber: [Kh][Qs]

The board stayed low coming [10h][2s][7d][5d][9c] and the two protagonists shook hands and Draogmir's rail whooped in delight. Congratulations to the Romanian on winning UKIPT Series2 and congratudolances to Paul Zimbler on his second place finish. A full wrap of the day's play is on the way.

11.20pm: Dragomir in control
Gabriel Dragomir is in control of this heads-up match and is slowly grinding Zimbler down, the first signs of frustration have crept in to Zimbler now. He's down to around 2,200,000 and has open shoved once. "This is going to be over in about five hands," he predicted.

11.05pm: Dragomir drags first big pot of heads-up play
I reached the table to see a complete board of [2c][8d][6s][Ks][6d] on the felt and a bet of 1,000,000 even in front of Paul Zimbler (button), the pot was around 1,500,000 and after about 20 seconds Gabriel Dragomir announced call. Zimbler was slow to turn his hand over, a sure sign someone doesn't think they've won the pot. Indeed Dragomir showed [9d][8s] and Zimbler tapped the table, "I said to myself give up, give up, but I couldn't," said Zimbler after the hand.

That pot means Dragomir has a roughly 6,800,000 to 2,800,000 chip lead.

11pm: Heads-Up chip counts
Chip counts are very close as heads-up play gets underway, Paul Zimbler has 5,000,000 and Gabriel Dragomir has 4,600,000.

Blinds Up: 60,000 - 120,000 ante 20,000

10.55pm: Patrik Meca eliminated in third place (£8,000)
Down to 20 big blinds Patrik Meca open shoved with [Ks][Jd], Paul Zimbler tanked before saying, "let's do it," he made the call and showed [3d][3s]. It looked a reckless one on the [6c][Th][Kc] flop but the [3c] turn put him back in front and the [9s] hit the river to eliminate Meca in third.

10.45pm: Craig O'Neill eliminated in fourth place (£8,000)
I joined the action on a [Ac][5c][4d] flop to see a bet of 250,000 in front of Craig O'Neill, a call of 250,000 in front of Paul Zimbler and Gabriel Dragomir sliding a big tower of 25,000 chips out to signal that he was all-in, O'Neill swiftly called and Zimbler agonised before folding his hand.

O'Neill: [Ah][Ts]
Dragomir: [Kc][2c]

The [5s] was a brick but Dragomir got their the hard way as the [3d] fell on the river to give him a straight.

10.40pm: A couple of small pots for Gabriel Dragomir
It's clear that Gabriel Dragomir and Paul Zimbler are the two most active players at the table and they just clashed in a couple of pots.

In the first Zimbler opened to 250,000 on the button and Dragomir called from the small blind. It was checked down on a [6c][7d][Ac][10s][2s] board, at which point Dragomir bet 400,000 and Zimbler quickly called. Dragomir showed [Qd][Tc] whilst Zimbler showed just the [7c].

An orbit later Zimbler limped from the small blind and Dragomir checked his option. On the [6h][Js][3s] flop Zimbler bet 125,000 and Dragomir made the call. The [7s] checked through before Zimbler bet 225,000 on the [Ad] river. In swift order Dragomir moved all-in and Zimbler said: "You played your flush well," before folding his hand.

10.30pm: Craig O'Neill doubles through Patrik Meca
From under-the-gun Patrik Meca opened to 250,000, Gabriel Dragomir called in the small blind, only for Craig O'Neill to move all-in for 590,000 from the big blind, Meca called but Dragomir folded. On their backs:

O'Neill: [Ah][4h]
Meca: [Ac][8h]

The [5h][Jh][Qd] flop gave O'Neill a flush draw and it completed on the [Th] turn rendering the [Qc] river meaningless.

10.25pm: Chip counts
100% accurate chip counts done by floor staff...

Patrik Meca, Czech Republic, 3,420,000
Paul Zimbler, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 3,150,000
Gabriel Dragomir, Romania, 2,230,000
Craig O'Neill, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 610,000

Blinds Up: 50,000 - 100,000 ante 10,000

10.15pm: Break time
The players are now on a 15 minute break.

10.10pm: Craig O'Neill doubles up
It was a good time to find aces for Craig O'Neill as he got his last 265,000 in with them and Paul Zimbler called him blind from the big blind. He'd have called anyway given that he had [Ad][7d]. The [7s][3s][5c][2h][6d] board gave him a sweat but his hand held.

10.05pm: Huge near treble up for Gabriel Dragomir
From under-the-gun Craig O'Neill raised to 180,000, Ben Miller moved in for around 800,000 from the button, Gabriel Dragomir moved all-in for 1,065,000 and O'Neill called the all-in for three way action.

O'Neill: [As][Kh]
Miller: [Ks][3s]
Dragomir: [7h][7c]

The [9s][2h][2c][8d][6d] board eliminated Miller, near trebled Dragomir's stack to about 3,000,000 and left O'Neill with just 275,000.

9.55pm: Four all-ins no calls
Two a-piece from Gabriel Dragomir and Ben Miller, no calls though. Still five handed.

9.45pm: Current chip counts (rough)
Patrik Meca, Czech Republic, 2,500,000
Paul Zimbler, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 3,600,000
Benjamin Miller, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 600,000
Gabriel Dragomir, Romania, 800,000
Craig O'Neill, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 1,300,000

Blinds Up: 40,000 - 80,000 ante 10,000

9.35pm: Paul Zimbler doubles through Garbriel Dragomir twice
From the button Paul Zimbler raised to 160,000, it folded to Gabriel Dragomir in the big blind, he thought he had called but had actually put in an amount that meant he had to make the minimum raise to 260,000. Back on Zimbler he moved in for 780,000 and Dragomir called.

Zimbler: [Qs][Qd]
Dragomir: [7d][5d]

A [5c][4h][4c][As][Jd] board later and Zimbler was up to around 1,800,000, whilst Dragomir slipped to 2,600,000.

The next hand Zimbler raised, Ben Miller called on the button and Dragomir did likewise from the small blind. On the [Qs][8h][5s] flop it checked to Zimbler, he fired a bet of 300,000, Miller folded, Dragomir jammed and Zimbler called all-in.

Zimbler: [Kh][Qc]
Dragomir: [Ah][8s]

Zimbler held on the [3s] turn and [5h] river and is now the chip leader with around 3,600,000 whilst Dragomir is down to around 800,000.

9.25pm: David Radnor eliminated in sixth place (£8,000)
David Radnor didn't have a two million stack for long...

From the cut off Gabriel Dragomir raised to 125,000, Radnor three-bet to 350,000 from the small blind, Dragomir moved all-in for 1,580,000 and Radnor called.

Dragomir: [Ah][As]
Radnor: [Ac][Kc]

The [7d][4c][Td][3d][4d] board bought no help to Radnor and left him with 400,000. A couple of hands later they went in with pocket sixes but were out gunned by Ben Miller's [Kh][Jd] on a [7c][3c][Ks][8c][4s] board.

9.15pm: Michal Jaron eliminated in seventh place (£8,000)
And another one bites the dust...

Michal Jaron raised to 135,000 and David Radnor defended from the big blind. On the [7s][4h][9d] flop Radnor checked, Jaron jammed for 600,000 and Radnor called.

Jaron: [10h][7h]
Radnor: [Ad][9d]

The [Jd] turn and [Qc] river kept Radnor in front and he's now got almost 2,000,000.

Blinds Up: 30,000 - 60,000 ante 10,000

9.05pm: Mark McCluskey eliminated in eighth place (£8,000)
From under-the-gun Mark McCluskey moved all-in for around 775,000 with [Js][Ts] and received a call from Patrik Meca in middle position. The Czech player was in good shape as he had [Qc][Qh] but the [4s][3s][5d] flop gave McCluskey plenty of outs. He missed them all on the [Kc] turn and [3h] river though and shook hands with everyone as he left the table.

9pm: Deal details
Some nine handed chops can be complicated, not this one! Everyone took £8,000, apart from chip leader Gabriel Dragomir who has locked up £10,000. And there is still £6,480 to play for.

8.50pm: Simon Griffin eliminated in ninth place
On the first hand post deal Simon Griffin was eliminated by David Radnor. The former opened to 100,000 with ace-jack, Radnor moved all-in with ace-queen and Griffin called all-in for 670,000.

There was no help for either on the board and there's now a short break whilst official final table photos are taken.

8.45pm: Deal!
A deal has been done, I'll bring you full details of it when I can. Cards are back in the air.

8.35pm: Deal or no deal?
Given how close the chip stacks are during the break the players have been attempting to broker a deal and when they all returned from the break they sat down to discuss it further. They've got to leave a certain amount on the table to play for but I think they've come to a deal, the details of which I'll bring you soon.

Whilst the players have been talking this over UKIPT Host Nick Wealthall plugged the numbers into an ICM calculator (which doesn't take into account skill level or the amount they have to leave to play for) and according to ICM the biggest stack was worth £13,106.72 and the shortest stack £7,060.90. So the biggest stack was worth less than second place money and the shortest stack was worth more than fifth place money.

8.05pm: Unofficial final table seat draw
Although the official final table is eight handed there will not be a redraw when we lose one more player. So, the seat draw below is how it'll stay for the duration of this tournament.

Mark McCluskey, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 790,000
Simon Griffin, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 675,000
David Radnor, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 715,000
Patrik Meca, Czech Republic, 1,410,000
Michal Jaron, Poland, 905,000
Paul Zimbler, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 1,055,000
Benjamin Miller, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 845,000
Gabriel Dragomir, Romania, 2,040,000
Craig O'Neill, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 940,000

8.05pm: Anthony Flynn eliminated in 10th place (£1,885)
Down to just over five big blinds [Ac][Kd] more than qualified for Anthony Flynn to move all-in for his final 265,000. It passed to Ben Miller in the big blind and he mulled it over before making the call with [Kh][9c].

The [6c][Ks][4d][3d][9h] board meant Miller spiked the river to win the pot and set up the unofficial final table.

The players have decided to dump the dinner break and instead have gone on a 15 minute break. I'll bring you the final table seat draw and chip counts when I receive them.

Blinds Up: 25,000 - 50,000 ante 5,000

7.58pm: Unofficial final table bubble
Despite being short on chips Madhavan Kasthuri was very late coming back from the break and apparently was out the first hand back, meaning there are just 10 players left and we're on the unofficial final table bubble.

7.55pm: Zimbler and Meca at the double
Paul Zimbler has got some of his chips back from Gabriel Dragomir, doubling up with [Kd][Qs] against [Ah][9h] on a [5d][9c][Kh][Ks][Qc] board, he was all-in for 355,000 so is back up to around 730,000.

And on a [6s][9s][7c] flop Anthony Flynn holding [Ac][8h] and Patrik Meca holding pocket eights got 630,000 in each. The turn and river were blanks meaning Meca is up to around 1,400,000 whilst Flynn is down to dust.

7.50pm: McCluskey and Griffin double, Palfrey is out
Action and lots of it to tell you about...

First Mark McCluskey doubled through Anthony Flynn in a blind on blind battle. From the small blind Flynn set McCluskey all-in for 280,000 with [Kc][10c] and McCluskey made the call with [Kd][Qd]. The board ran [Jh][9s][4h][6d][3h] and McCluskey doubled.

On the other table Simon Griffin moved all-in for 255,000 from the button with [Js][8d] and Callum Palfrey made a good call with [Jh][Th]. But he wasn't rewarded as the [8h][kc][9d][2s][Kd] board connected better with Griffin's hand.

This left Palfrey with just a handful of big blinds and he was the very next hand when he shoved from the small blind with [7s][4s] and couldn't get there against Calum O'Neill's [Qd][Ts].

7.35pm: Huge pot as Dragomir doubles through Zimbler
The two chip leaders just played a near three million chip pot and as a result Paul Zimbler has gone from chip leader to one of short stacks.

I missed the exact action pre-flop and on the flop but Gabriel Dragomir raised pre-flop and Zimbler defended from the big blind.

By the turn the board was [Kh][7s][4c][9s] Zimbler bet 80,000 and Dragomir called. On the [7d] river Zimbler bet 320,000 (a near pot sized bet) and Dragomir moved all-in, after getting a count Zimbler made the call. Dragomir showed [As][7c] whilst Zimbler flashed [Ah][Kc].

After that hand Dragomir is up to around 2,800,000 whilst Zimbler has dropped to 350,000.

7.25pm: Back from the break
The players are back in their seats and here's the lie of the land. It's Paul Zimbler who leads, the Marbella Kid has 1,670,000, but four of the five biggest stacks in the field are at his table so he could do a fair chunk of them in any one hand. There will be a one hour dinner break when the unofficial final table of nine is reached.

Table One:
Gabriel Dragomir, Romania, 1,350,000
Callum Palfrey, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 490,000
Craig O'Neill, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 980,000
Paul Zimbler, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 1,670,000
Michal Jaron, Poland, 865,000
Simon Griffin, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 360,000

Table two:
Anthony Flynn, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 825,000
Mark McCluskey, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 325,000
Patrik Meca, Czech Republic, 475,000
Madhavan Kasthuri, India, 405,000
David Radnor, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 560,000
Ben Miller, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 865,000

All photos are copyright of Neil Stoddart

The decision of start of final table chip leader Gabriel Dragomir to lock up £10,000 as part of a nine way chop seemed a smart one given that by the time play was six handed he was the second shortest stack. However, the Romanian rallied, was almost even going into heads-up play with Paul Zimbler and 25 minutes later he had all the chips and an extra £6,480.

The instigator of that nine way chop was Zimbler, he was smart enough to know that with steep blinds, shallow stacks, sharp pay jumps and not a lot to choose between the stacks that a deal was the smart play. Some three way deals can take a lot of negotiating so one might think a nine way chop would be fraught with danger. But it proved relatively easy, Dragomir, who had 2,040,000 at the time (40.8 big blinds) took £10,000 and the other eight players - whose stacks varied between 675,000 and 1,410,000 - took £8,000 leaving £6,480 to play for.

The deal certainly loosened things up as in the hour following it Simon Griffin (ninth), Mark McCluskey (eighth), Michal Jaron (seventh) and David Radnor (sixth) were all eliminated. Chip wise, courtesy of doubling up twice against Dragomir, it was Zimbler who was chip leader.

Ben Miller was the shortstack at this juncture and he was next to go in a three-way all-in that got Dragomir back in the mix, the Romanian's pair of sevens holding against Miller's [Ks][3s] and Craig O'Neills [As][Kh]. That left O'Neill short and despite two double ups he ultimately never recovered and exited in fourth. When a few hands later Zimbler eliminated Patrik Meca in third we were heads-up.

The style of play of the two main protagonists meant that the heads-up match was never going to be a marathon, but if it were a boxing match it would've been stopped long before it ended. Zimbler was floored by punch after punch, seemingly always having the second best hand, bluffing at the wrong time or on one hand choosing not to bluff when playing the board when his opponent had just seven high. So it was almost inevitable that when the first all-in and call of heads-up play saw his [Kh][Qs] up against Dragomir's pocket fours the pair would hold.

The board was bereft of paint and Dragomir's cheering section, including his cousin Catalin who finished 14th in this tournament, erupted in delight. Amazingly Dragomir, a 29-year-old businessman, who plays as a hobby entered for fun because he was visiting friends in London. And, this was only his second big buy-in tournament, he won the first one too. He now plans to play more UKIPT's and is intending to travel to Galway for the next UKIPT stop.

UKIPT Series2 Final Table Result:
1st.Gabriel Dragomir, Romania, £16,480*
2nd. Paul Zimbler, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, £8,000*
3rd. Patrik Meca, Czech Republic, £8,000*
4th.Craig O'Neill, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, £8,000*
5th. Ben Miller, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, £8,000*
6th. David Radnor, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, £8,000*
7th. Michal Jaron, Poland, £8,000*
8th. Mark McCluskey, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, £8,000*
*denotes nine way deal

Of course today was not all about the final table as 131 players returned hoping to at least finish in the top 56 and make the money. Before the bubble burst we lost Tim Slater, Dale Garrard and Jerome Bradpiece to name just three. Whilst those who cashed but crashed out before the final table included: Alfie Baldwin (48th, £550), Jeff Kimber (36th, £635) and Day 1 chip leader Callum Palfrey (12th, £1,595). And Ignacio Harris, who finished 56th made the money with a single ante chip. Too see all the in the money finishers click here.

You can catch up will all today's action and the previous days by clicking on the links below.

Levels 13-18
Levels 19-24
Levels 25 - 30
Day 1A
Day 1B

The next UKIPT Series event takes place here at The Hippodrome September 27th-29th, whilst the UKIPT moves onto Galway for a festival that runs July 27th - August 12th. But for now that's all folks.

All photos are copyright of Neil Stoddart

Besides playing a lot online lately (I love playing the Women's Tuesday and Sunday), I still enjoy feeling real poker chips and cards in my hands. It was time for some live poker again. Luckily, a few weeks ago, I got my live program from PokerStars. One of the stops that I would play was the UKIPT in London. Without any hesitations, it is one of my favorite locations.

My trip starts with a short travel on the Eurostar. On the train, I checked the weather for the next four days in London couldn't believe what I saw on my phone screen (that weather app is amazing). I would witness the first sunny and warm days of the year in London. Great weather and awesome poker!

One of my closest poker friends and colleagues, Joe Stapleton, moved six months ago to London. Joe is the American co-presenter and commentator for the European Poker Tour shows, together with the amazing James Hartigan. Joe is one of the funniest and brightest broadcasters poker has to offer, and I was invited to stay at his place for the entire trip. Joe lives near Brick Lane, one of my favorite neighborhoods of London and also only 15 minutes away via the Tube from the Hippodrome Casino.

Joe decided to play the tournament, along with James Hartigan, Charlotte Van Brabander (our Belgian Friend of PokerStars) and hundreds of other poker lovers. This £250 buy-in attracted more than 400 players in one of the most beautiful casinos of the city. As I took my seat at one of the tables, I saw a guy in front of me who kept giving me big smiles. First, I thought he took me as someone else, but after one hour of painful thinking, I finally recognized him. No, he was not someone secretly in love with me or a big fan... He was Joeri Zandvliet! He's a well-known Dutch poker player, and we used to spend days together with Charlotte Van Brabander during the first UKIPT I played in Dublin a few years ago. I felt really bad that I couldn't put a name to his face. I checked his winnings for this article, and, by the way, he won that main event in Dublin. Oh great, now I feel even worse!

This UKIPT started pretty well for me. I managed to build a decent stack in the first hours (more than two times average). But after that good run, I kept collecting bad beats. First, a flush against a full house, followed by a set of kings against a flush, and then to finish the butchery, I lost with a straight against - oh yes - a flush! And that last hand killed me. I busted just before the last break. Pretty gross. But while I was playing, I saw Joe wandering around; he busted before me and looked a bit lonely. That was the perfect occasion to try the cash game tables at the Hippodrome.

That cash game session with Stapy (that's what he likes me to call him) at the £1/£2 table was probably the funniest one of my young poker career. Joe was pretty hilarious and got all the players on tilt, and he finally ended the game with the chips of all his adversaries, including mine. At our table sat Lulu Gainsbourg. He's a really good friend of mine and recently moved to London. Lulu wanted to play the UKIPT tournament, but it was completely full, so he couldn't register for it.

After the cash game, Joe, Lulu and I were starving and desperate to find a nice place to get some late dinner. Lulu knew of an awesome restaurant called Balans Café. What we forgot is that this restaurant is located in a specific neighborhood right in the middle of Gay Pride night! After walking through enormous crowds of partying drag queens and lightly dressed men, we finally found that restaurant. We had amazing dishes and delicious cocktails (my favorite one was the Porn Star, sounds terrible but tasted amazing) served by some more drag queens.

The next day was a bit painful. But besides playing poker, I'm still a girl. And you know, when you are a girl in one of the most fashionable cities in the whole world, AND it's sale time, I have to shop! And that's exactly what I did. I practically robbed Urban Outfitters and Topshop... and killed my credit card. The day after, Joe and I went for a big city walk. The weather was amazing as expected, the perfect occasion for a city trip. We walked the whole Queens Walk and enjoyed some delicious Mexican burritos, the perfect meal to get in shape for another live poker tournament.

Before leaving this beautiful city I wanted to play the £110 rebuy event at the Hippodrome. Joe gave me another £100 to rebuy or add on, and if I reached the money, we would split the winnings. Good accounts make good friends. This tournament was a small one; only the top three would get paid. That one went much better than the UKIPT. After a few hours, I was the chip leader of the tournament and kept this position until the top three. Yes, I made the money! It was £440 for third, but the winner would take home more than £1000. Knowing how much that shopping trip cost, that first prize was more than welcome!

Unfortunately, my luck made a big U-turn, and I busted in third. Still, I was the only woman in the tournament, so I was really proud that I made it so far and taught those guys a lesson. Even the floor manager was impressed and railed me the whole time!

And on that happy note, my London poker trip ended. The next day, it was time to pack my bags. It took some mathematical thinking to figure out how I would get all those new clothes in my tiny little bag. Finally, Joe took me back to the St. Pancras Station. It won't be too long before I see Joe again because we will meet in September under the Spanish sun. See you all in Barcelona for the first stop of the European Poker Tour Season 10. Olé!

The largest ever festival to touch down on Irish soil begins tomorrow. Get there. Be there. It's going to be a massive 17 days of poker with the €1,000,000 guaranteed UKIPT Galway Main Event topping a 60 event schedule. There's going to be cash games, a UK vs Ireland Heads-Up Championship, rake-free happy hours and giveaways galore.

If you want some Irish-based craic or Guinness jokes you're just going to have make them up yourself. There's too much poker to waste time on them: the Full Tilt Poker Galway Festival is upon us!

The HUGE schedule
It's true, we did indeed state that there's going to be 60 events. You can see the full UKIPT Galway schedule here, but we'll tell you that there's lots to play, including Omaha and even the Irish Bridge Masters.

Qualify for the €1m Main Event: 8-12 August
Satellites are running on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker round the clock so check out both lobbies to see what suits you best. This Sunday there's a €215 MEGA Qualifier with 15 seats guaranteed. There are €27 and €55 feeders running into that so you could be getting to play the €1,100 event really cheap.

Party time: 27 July & 10 August
Two parties? Two parties!
Festival opening party: Saturday, 27 July @ 7.30pm
UKIPT Main Event party: Saturday, 10 August @ 9pm

Both are being held in the entertainment marquee. Get stuck in and don't forget to bug the new UKIPT Ambassadors. They will dance on command, but only as long as you show your Main Event ticket.*

*They will not dance on command, but they'll almost certainly be more than happy to join you at the bar.

Cash game shenanigans
You can win a €1,100 UKIPT Galway Main Event seat in the exclusive Bad Beat Jackpot promotio (29 July-5 August). One seat per day will be awarded to the player with the highest-ranked losing hand that day. Every cloud has a silver lining...

They'll also be Cash Game Happy Hours between 9pm and 10pm from 29 July-2 August providing some rake-free action. Listen for the bell to mark the start and finish of that.

Cash game rake will be set at 5% capped at €15 (€12 for 5 players or less)
€20/€40 and above will be €25 per player per half hour
€50/€100 and above will be €30 per player per half hour
Open Face Chinese action will hold a €40 per 30 min session charge per table. For example, two players would pay €20 each, but four players would contribute €10 each.

You can also expect to see Gus Hansen in Galway who spoke to Sarah Grant at the EPT Grand Final about the upcoming festival (it was recorded a few months ago).

Rick Dacey is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

The UK & Ireland Poker Tour Galway Main Event is underway in Ireland, and some of the best poker players in the region have made their way to the Emerald Isle to see if they can take home the title.

And, we'll be honest. It's a little awkward for us.

See, the UKIPT is largely a PokerStars tour and has been for four seasons. What's more, that Full Tilt Poker company used to be a competitor. But now, Full Tilt is part of the Rational Group which also runs PokerStars. Further, Full Tilt took over UKIPT Galway, and hence, took over the live reporting of of the event.

So, yes, it's a little awkward for us. Like, I dunno, watching your mother date your dad's business rival. Or something like that. I mean, on any other day, it would be us sharing an afternoon with Danielle "dmoongirl" Andersen and figuring out where we could find the nearest pint of Guinness. But not today.

Alas, the PokerStars Blog is not there this week. But our writers are! Frequent PokerStars Blog contributors Gareth Chantler and Rod Stirzaker are writing for the Full Tilt Blog and covering all the action.

So...just this once...we'll encourage you to head across the street and read some coverage that's not here. You can see it all on the Full Tilt Poker Blog.

Good luck to all our friends in Galway. Bring us back a pint.

Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging

The UK & Ireland Poker Tour event in Galway this weekend marked a lot of firsts: a full poker village, a Full Tilt Poker sponsorship, and Alan Gold's first major poker title.

Gold has put up a couple of small four-figure cashes before, but last night, he pocketed a reported €205,600 after beating Paul Febers in a quick heads-up battle.

The 860-player event paid out the top 104 places and ended when Gold showed down [Qh][Jd] on a [Qd][6h][5s][Qc][kd] board versus Feber's pocket nines.

For a full report and results of the 60-event festival, visit the Full Tilt Poker Blog.

Congratulations, Alan Gold, on a great performance.

Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging

PokerStars' headquarters is a warm, open place. Nearly every employee from nearly every department sits out in the middle of the room. They can see each other's faces. They can talk and share what's happening with their job. There is a lot of laughter and camaraderie, as well there should be in a place where the whole job is about playing a game.

Yet, there is another group of people here who you almost never see. They sit behind a frosted glass wall in a room where the door is almost always closed. The door reads, "Security Managers," and these are the people that make sure PokerStars players don't get cheated.

The idea of cheating is older than poker itself, and while a taboo subject in the online poker world, it's one that Steve Winter, Director of Game Integrity, wants to talk freely about. I met him this week on the Isle of Man where he told me as much as he could about the inside world of policing PokerStars.

Winter is a soft-spoken man who measures his words carefully. A one-time odds-maker for a sports book, Winter has a long background and full career in online gaming security. A good day for him is one where he finds the bad guys before anybody knows they exist.

"It's always a great success story to me when we do manage to catch people cheating and return all of the monies back to the victims," he said.

Winter heads a team of 82 people who spend their entire working days looking for players who might be colluding, using robots to play for them, or sharing accounts with other players.

If you've ever played live poker, you know the constant guard you have to keep to make sure no one is cheating. You can hope the dealer is watching. You can hope the floor man is watching. But that's all it is. It's hope, and you can never be sure. At PokerStars, you don't have to hope, and you can feel sure about how closely the game is being watched.

At PokerStars, Winter's team is monitoring every single hand in every single game every single day. While they don't watch every hand with their own eyes, they still do the job, because they have something better than eyes. They have computers. Big ones. Smart ones. They're like virtual bodyguards who never sleep.

"The systems we've developed over the years are very good at knowing what normal poker is like," Winter said.

That's his clever way of saying, he's got the tools to know if you cheat. For obvious reasons, he won't reveal a lot about how those systems work, but by way of example he told me about one little tool that watches how you move your computer mouse. Winter's tools know how human hands move, and they know how robots move. Winter's team can spot a poker playing robot a mile way in the fog. If something looks wrong, Winter's team jumps on it.

"We're fighting people who maliciously cheat, but not only that. We're looking to educate people who might perhaps not know the gravity of their actions," he said. "We're monitoring the games very closely, picking up problems before they become really big problems."

While Winter's primary focus is on making sure PokerStars players have the best protection possible, he's also a key component in educating regulators and legislators in new markets. When PokerStars goes to new countries, Winter's team is often the very first part of the presentation to local officials. It's an essential education for anyone who labors under the misimpression that the online poker world is still the wild, wild West, and it's the reason PokerStars leads the industry in game integrity.

"When a player sits down at PokerStars, they can be sure every game is being monitored and recorded," Winter said. "Players know that PokerStars is the safest place to play."

Brad Willis in the PokerStars Head of Blogging

8.50pm: Done for the day
There are 30 players left in the UKIPT4 Isle of Man Main Event and they're currently bagging and tagging their chips. We'll be bringing you a full re-cap of the days play shortly. -- NW

8.45pm: Petersen busts and more for Moreira De Melo
Contrasting fortunes for those wearing the Red Spade in the final few hands of the Main Event.

Team PokerStars Online's Mickey Petersen, who had been nursing a short stack for much of the day, got knocked out. Chris Straghalis opened to 12,000, James Browning moved in for 80,000 with pocket tens and Petersen called all-in for slightly less with pocket nines. No help on the board and he was out.

Meanwhile, Team PokerStars SportsStar Fatima Moreira De Melo was busy knocking out UKIPT3 London runner-up Thomas Ward. The Scotsman was short on chips and committed them with [K][Q] he was in bad shape against the pocket queens of Moreira De Melo and didn't get there.

She's now up to around 575,000 and looks to be second in chips. -- NW

8.40pm: Last three hands
There are three more hands to play tonight, a good civilized amount, before bagging up begins. Stay with us for a wrap of the day's play, full chip counts and Day 3 seat draw. We've had some technical problems with our chip count page which appears to be refusing to update. Apologies for any inconvenience on that front. -- RD

8.35pm: In the money finishers
A total of 20 people have cashed but crashed so far in this tournament, a full list of the in the money finishers are below.

36th. Neil Rawnsley, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, £2860
37th. Radu Zamostean, Canada, PokerStars Qualifier, £2,860
38th. Mark Lane, United Kingdom, £2,860
39th. Dara O'Kearney, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier, £2,860
40th. Liam Batey, United Kingdom, £2,375
41st. Nick Abou Risk, Canada, PokerStars Player, £2,375
42nd. Sean Randall,United Kingdom, £2,375
43rd. Sam Grafton, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, £2,375
44th. Francis Muyshondt,Belgium,PokerStars Qualifier, £2,375
45th. Oliver Deacon, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, £2,375
46th. Periklis Charmpilas, Greece, PokerStars Qualifier, £2,375
47th. Robbie Bull, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, £2,375
48th. Fredrik Stromberg, Isle of Man, Rational Group Staff, £2,375
49th. Kovacs Gergo, Hungary, PokerStars Qualifier, £2,375
50th. Jörg Viereck, Germany, PokerStars Qualifier, £2,375
51st. Simon Fuller, United Kingdom, £2,375
52nd. Anthony Galloway, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, £2,375
53rd. Sam Kenny, Isle of Man, £2,375
54th. Mitchell Johnson, United Kingdom, £2,375
55th. Sean O'Neill, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, £2,375

8.35pm: Rawnsley busts; more for McLellan
There is no stopping Ducan McLellan at the moment and he just eliminated Neil Rawnsley in 36th place.

The latter opened to 12,000 in early position and called when McLellan three-bet to 27,500 from the button. On the [5c][js][3c] flop action checked to McLellan, he fired out 40,500, Rawnsley moved in for 95,000 total and McLellan called.

Rawnsley: [7c][7d]
McLellan: [Kh][Jc]

The board bricked out and Rawnsley was on his way in 36th place, McLellan is up to 915,000 and already has right around an average stack for the final table. -- NW

8.25pm: Lane closed
Mark Lane came into the day as the chip leader but things didn't work out for him. He ended up jamming all-in from the big blind with a light [ts][5d] into Colin Marks' pocket fives. No ten and Lane was sent to the rail. Marks up to more than 200,000. Duncan McLellan still the man to beat with more than 700,000. -- RD

8.20pm: Handley spinning it up
Mark Handley is packing 85,000 at the moment and getting deep into the money, which is a pretty incredible achievement given that he was down to 2,000 after the first hand of the day.

"It's the biggest tournament I've been in," said Handley.

There's been a few low-to-high stack stories today, most noticeably Fatima Moreira de Melo and Jack Ellwood who are both packing big stacks now. -- RD

8.10pm: Chip counts
I've just given the chip count page a spring clean. Check out the latest counts here. -- NW
8pm: Batey also busts
A shortstacked Liam Batey moved all-in for roughly 30,000 with [Ad][4c] and Jack Ellwood looked him up with [Ac][Qh]. The better hand held as the board came [7h][Jc][10s][Kh][5c]. 38 players remain. -- NW

7.50pm: Abou Risk busts
Sam Razavi is now the only former UKIPT champion still in as Nick Abou Risk has just busted, he told me: "It folded to Chris Jonat in the small blind and he jammed 14 big blinds with nines, I called with A-Q and he hit a third nine."

Abou Risk says he'll likely be in Nottingham for the next leg of the UKIPT at the end of November. -- NW

Blinds up: 2,500/5,000, ante 500

7.45pm: Barr passes the test
There was a raise to 8,500, Chris Jonat flat called and Jonathan Barr then moved all-in for 71,000 total from the big blind. The original raiser folded, but Jonat made the call.

Barr: [Ah][Qh]
Jonat: [5d][5h]

The [8s][8d][7c][6h][6d] board meant that Jonat's pair was counterfeited, he's down to 150,000 whilst Barr is up to around 135,000. -- NW

7.40pm: Petersen at the double
Team PokerStars Online's Mickey Petersen just got a much needed double up, he was all-in and at risk for 56,500 with pocket nines, Paul Coughlan the caller with [Ac][Jd]. The [7h][Js][5s][9h][6d] board a fun sweat for the Dane. He's up to around 115,000. -- NW

7.35pm: Bubble-burster Jonat chipping
Players are falling thick and fast at the moment. Periklis Charmpilas is gone as is Oliver Deacon whose "magic sevens" couldn't suck out when he jammed the button. Chris Jonat, who burst the bubble with aces, found bullets again in the small blind to send Deacon to the rail. That pot took Jonat up to around 220,000. -- RD

7.30pm: Grafton out (but explains his hood' move)

And here's Sam Grafton's exit in his own words.

Out. Guy open jammed 17bb. I renamed like 23bb from sb with AQo. Deadman found AK in bb and shover had QQ. #notagoodspot

— Sam Grafton (@SquidPoker) November 2, 2013

7.25pm: No double for Robbie Bull
Robbie Bull won UKIPT London last month for £113,405, which you can read about here, but his double hopes have been quashed. Bull jammed with [4c][4s] and was isolated by Mate Mecs from Hungary with [ah][ts]. Mecs flopped an ace and Bull failed to catch up.

Sam Razavi and Nick Abou Risk are the only previous UKIPT champions left in. -- RD

7.15pm: Samuel Nova not so super, Handley doubles
Colin Marks rivered a straight to knockout Samuel Nova after the pair got it all-in pre-flop. Nova held eights to Marks' ace-ten which spiked a gutshot on fifth street.

Things went better for John Handley who doubled through monster stack Duncan McLellan with king-queen against pocket threes. -- RD

7.05pm: Chip leaders
Here are the top three stacks from each of the six remaining tables in the UKIPT4 Isle of Man Main Event. Duncan McLellan has a huge lead from his nearest rival, although if Jack Ellwood continues his surge upwards he'll have caught him before too long.

Duncan McLellan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 630,000
Jack Ellwood, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 388,000
Matthijs Rebel, Netherlands, PokerStars Qualifier, 321,500
Daniel Stacy, Ireland, 295,000
Thomas Dunwoodie, United Kingdom, 290,000
Fatima Moreira De Melo, Netherlands, PokerStars SportStar, 258,000
Chris Straghalis, United States, Rational Group Staff, 257,000
Dahe Liu, United Kingdom, 250,000
Paul Coughlan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 240,000
Simon Deadman, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 214,000
Mark Lane, United Kingdom, 210,000
Peter Warfvinge, Sweden, 198,000
Sam Grafton, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 190,000
Barry Greenstein, United States, Team PokerStars Pro, 178,000
Owen Fenwick, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 168,500
Jamie O'Connor, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 162,000
Harry Lodge, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 152,000
Alexander Schilt, Switzerland, PokerStars Qualifier, 146,000
Christopher Jonat, United Kingdom, 103,000
Radu Zamostean, Canada, PokerStars Qualifier, 100,000

7.05pm: Freerollin' towards £94k
Just before the break I was introduced to Owen Fenwick who was looking very happy with himself, as he should. He's at a couple of seats round from poker legend Barry Greenstein with a healthy 170,000 stack and a guaranteed £2,375 (and, of course, a shot at £94,090). What's more, he qualified online in a freeroll. That's right. All this for free. Could be a dream story. -- RD

7pm: Back underway
The 51 remaining players are back in their seats, the average stack is a healthy 148,500 (37,125 big blinds). -- NW

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

6.51pm: Break time
The players are off to the bar, Robbie Bull, UKIPT4 London champion, already has a bottle of J2O in his hand. Others may follow suit, they all want to follow in Bull's footsteps and win a UKIPT title. -- NW

6.50pm: The Bear traps two in one hand
Whilst Ellwood and Galloway were locking horns in two hands, Barry Greenstein eliminated two players in the same hand.

A shortstacked Mitch Johnson was all-in for around five big blinds with [Ad][Qc], he was in a world of hurt as Sam Kenny was all-in with [Ah][As] and Greenstein had put them both at risk with pocket tens.

The [4d][10s][7d][Qs][2d] board made Greenstein a set and the Team PokerStars Pro is up to 210,000. -- NW

6.45pm: Ellwood's one-two combo floors Anthony Galloway
I'm not sure Anthony Galloway is ever going to want to play poker against Jack Ellwood as the Geordie just dismantled Galloway's stack over the course of two hands.

In the first the two protagonists reached the river of a [Ks][2s][10h][7d][10c] board with around 80,000 in the pot. Action was on Galloway, he fired out a bet of 22,000 and Ellwood moved all-in for 96,700 total. Galloway looked pained, but eventually he called, Ellwood showed [Ac][10d] for rivered trips, Galloway [Jh][Jc] for the outdrawn overpair.

The very next hand it folded to Ellwood on the button he raised to 6,000, Galloway three-bet to 12,000 from the button and Ellwood smooth called. On the [Ad][6c][8d] Galloway bet 7,000 and Ellwood made the call. The [7s] hit the turn, Galloway checked, Ellwood bet 15,500 and Galloway flat called.

The [7d] hit the river, Galloway changed tack leading for 14,000 with just 44,000 back. Quick as a flash Ellwood moved all-in and Galloway recoiled at this turn of events. He tanked, tanked and tanked some more. Could he take any more of the punishment Ellwood had been giving him? Evidently not as he announced call and showed [Kd][Kc], Ellwood though had flopped it as he showed [As][Ah], Galloway was out in 52nd place. -- NW

6.40pm: O'Neill's aces cracked
"It happened to me the other way round earlier so I can't complain," said Sean O'Neill as he gathered his belongings after he'd been knocked out, quite refreshing to not hear a poker player moaning about their exit!

To the hand in question, Chris Jonat, who burst the bubble, opened to 7,000 from under-the-gun, O'Neill three-bet to 18,000 from the cut-off, Duncan McLellan slid out a tower of blue chips totalling 100,000. He was the biggest stack and was effectively asking the others to play for all their chips, Jonat declined but O'Neill called all-in.

McLellan: [Ks][Kd]
O'Neill: [Ac][Ah]

The [4c][6d][9d][kh][9c] board favoured McLellan. "He can't miss," said one of his tablemates to me. Indeed McLellan may well be chip leader, he's got somewhere in the region of 520,000. -- NW

6.35pm: Tim Michels bubbles, Chris Jonat doubles
Should you pass queens here? Some would say that you should, while others would argue it's too strong a hand to pass on the bubble.

Big stack Duncan McLellan opened from early position and Chris Jonat, PokerStars Senior VIP Relationship Manager quickly moved all-in for 47,700. Tim Michels had pocket queens and a 35,000 stack. To call would be to risk his tournament life on the bubble. He made the call.

Play was hand for hand on the bubble and the cards had to remain face down until play at all tables was complete. It was the only all-in. Jonat looked a little nervous and, I think, said, "Hold me, Rick." It could easily have been something else that was said, joining a canon of saying that were never said.

The cards were turned over. Michels looked surprised and not in a good way.

Michels: [qc][qs]
Jonat: [ad][ah]

Floorman Nick O'Hara took the microphone and talked the board through so as to stop players from other tables racing over.

The [4h][5d][9d] flop was good for Jonat. The [kd] was also fantastic as it killed one of Michels two outs. The [jd] hit the turn flushing Jonat up to 90,000 or so, and Michels out the tournament. All remaining players now guaranteed £2,375.

Players still in include Team PokerStars Online's Mickey Petersen, Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein, and UKIPT winners Sam Razavi, Nick Abou Risk and Robbie Bull (and runner-up Jack Ellwood). -- RD

6.25pm: The bubble has burst
The bubble has burst, details are on the way. -- NW

6.20pm: Abdullah the bubble-bubble
Much like no one remembers who loses in an FA Cup Semi-Final no one remembers who was the last player out before the bubble boy. To put that right step forward Ashiq Abdullah who has finished in 57th place here in the Isle of Man. He held aces and flat called a raise from Peter Warfvinge. On the [J][10][10] flop Warfvinge checked, Abdullah simply open shoved and Warfvinge snapped him off as you would with [J][10]. -- NW

6.10pm: We got your back
Roving reporter Brad Willis got a chance to watch the watchers at PokerStars HQ. Read his interview with the man in charge of keeping PokerStars the safest place to play. -- RD

6pm: Bubble time
We're on the bubble here in the Isle of Man. Thomas Dunwoodie got a huge double up through Alexander Schilt with aces versus kings. Stay tuned for the bubble bursting moment. Fredrik Stromberg is one of those at risk after losing a large chunk of his stack to Sam Razavi with a set versus Broadway. Fairly grim for Stromberg. -- RD

5.55pm: How Fatima became chip leader
The video team caught up with Fatima Moreira de Melo at the last break to find out how the PokerStars SportStar swiped the chip lead.

5.45pm: Daly's house crumbles
Kevin Daly has finished in 60th place in the UKIPT4 Isle of Man Main Event. He jammed all-in for around 40,000 on the river of a [2h][10d][9c][9d][9s] board with [K][2] only to run into the superior full house of Mate Mecs, who held [10h][6s].

There's a lot of players asking us how many short stacks there are, who's short and so on. The bubble is definitely playing a role in this tournament right now. -- NW

5.35pm: Punishing jumps
It's a tough couple of levels around the bubble here. Level 13 is 1,200/2,400 while Level 15 is 2,000/4,000 meaning your stack all but halves in the space of 60 minutes, which is particularly brutal for those trying to eke into the money. -- RD

Blinds up: 1,500/3,000, ante 400

5.25pm: Another one bites the dust
Andrew Hulme has just been sent to the rail by Simon Deadman after Hulme jammed a flush draw in a multi-way pot only to run into Deadman's top set.

Hulme held [9c][8c] against Deadman's [jh][js] on a [3c][kd][jc] flop. No clubby help came on the turn or river.

Sixty players remain with five more needed to go before the money. Play has slowed up somewhat. -- RD

5.15pm: Exits
We're down to just 61 players now in the Isle of Man, the latest exits include: Francis Dunleavy, Ramunas Skardzius, Ryan Hayes, Gierdrius Grigorius, Priit Brikker, Niall Farrell, Rasmus Nicolaisen, Brian Watterson, Ben Mayhew, Gabor Szabo, Peter Barrable, Martins Adeniya and Alexander Ekart. -- NW

5.10pm: One exit, one double up
There's no slowing down because of the bubble here in the Isle of Man, although to be fair both these hands probably play the same way regardless.

In the first William Fasano opened to 6,000 from the small blind, Matthijs Rebel asked him how much he had left (about 50,000) and then three-bet to 11,000, Fasano moved all-in and Rebel snap called.

Fasano: [Ad][Kc]
Rebel: [As][Ac]

A cooler of a hand went the way of the Dutchman as the board came [2d][8s][Qc][5c][6d], "It wouldn't have mattered if he had 150,000," said Andrew Hulme afterwards.

Meanwhile on table 1, Owen Fenwick was busy opening to 5,900 from early position, Sam Razavi three-bet to 15,000 on the button and when it got back to Fenwick he moved all-in. "I'd like a count but I'm probably calling," said Razavi. The dealer counted down the stacks and Fenwick had 92,800. "Yeah, I call," said Razavi.

Fenwick: [Ah][Qh]
Razavi: [Jh][Jc]

The flop fell [2h][6s][4h], "how can I win from here?" said Razavi. And he was proved right as he couldn't hold as the [9h] turn completed Fenwick's flush rendering the [9c] river meaningless. Razavi is down to around 90,000 after that hand. -- NW

5.05pm: +EV strategy?
Dara O'Kearney won a phenomenal number of UKIPT packages online last season, which gave him the Online Qualifier of the Year title. He seems to be pretty handy in the live forum, too. He's still in with about 10 players needed to bust before the money.

Did a bit of raise folding (rarely a profitable strategy) & then a raise call that didn't prove profitable either. 70k. Average 113k 63 left

— Dara O'Kearney (@daraokearney) November 2, 2013

5pm: Fallers and runners
Players recently lost include Paul McTaggart, David Yan, Dominik Nitsche, Ed Ramshaw, Lee Hunter and GordonCasey.

There's a bit of a PokerStars love-in in one corner of the room with sponsored players Barry Greenstein and Mickey Petersen sharing a few laughs with PokerStars people Chris Straghalis and Fredrik Stromberg. Could make for an interesting heads-up... -- RD

4.50pm: Boeree busts
Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree had been short on chips for a while and she finally found a spot to get them in when it folded to her on the button. Her all-in shove was for 28,600, Jonathan Barr moved all-in over the top from the small blind for 43,000 and the big blind got out of the way.

Boeree: [7d][7s]
Barr: [Ac][Qh]

The board came [5s][3c][5c][Qc][4c] and Boeree said: "good game," to the table before taking her leave. -- NW

4.35pm: Chip counts
Okay, here are the full chip counts from the break. Fatima Moreira De Melo is stiill out in front as we run towards the bubble. Last look at the clock shows 70 players remaining.

Fatima Moreira De Melo, Netherlands, PokerStars SportStar, 262,300
Duncan McLellan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 242,000
Dahe Liu, United Kingdom, 242,000
Alexander Schilt, Switzerland, PokerStars Qualifier, 210,000
Radu Zamostean, Canada, PokerStars Qualifier, 206,000
Matthijs Rebel, Netherlands, PokerStars Qualifier, 190,000
Anthony Galloway, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 185,000
Oliver Deacon, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 185,000
Sam Razavi, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 180,000
Mark Lane, United Kingdom, 170,000
Mickey Petersen, Denmark, PokerStars Team Online, 165,300
Lewis Jeal, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 160,000
Simon Deadman, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 158,000
Daniel Stacy, Ireland, 155,000
Paul Coughlan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 150,000
Fabio Esposito, United Kingdom, 145,000
Chris Straghalis, United States, Rational Group Staff, 134,200
Robbie Bull, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 132,200
Sam Grafton, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 130,000
Ben Jenkins, United Kingdom, Full Tilt Poker Ambassador, 120,000
Tomasz Chmiel, Poland, PokerStars Qualifier, 116,000
Thomas Dunwoodie, United Kingdom, 115,000
Periklis Charmpilas, Greece, PokerStars Qualifier, 110,000
Thomas Ward, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 110,000
Colin Marks, United Kingdom, 108,000
Neil Rawnsley, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 100,000
Owen Fenwick, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 99,600
Karl-Fredrik Stromberg, Isle of Man, Rational Group Staff, 99,500
Kovacs Gergo, Hungary, PokerStars Qualifier, 98,000
Peter Warfvinge, Sweden, 97,000
Jamie O'Connor, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 95,000
Kevin Daly, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 94,800
Simon Fuller, United Kingdom, 92,000
Steve Russell, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 90,000
Barry Greenstein, United States, Team PokerStars Pro, 89,700
Liam Batey, United Kingdom, 85,300
Matthew Mckenzie, United Kingdom, 85,000
Dara O`Kearney, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier, 85,000
Richard Milne, United Kingdom, 84,000
Sean O`Neill, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 80,000
Lewis Cheetham, United Kingdom, 80,000
Nick Abou Risk, Canada, PokerStars Player, 80,000
Jörg Viereck, Germany, PokerStars Qualifier, 78,000
Harry Lodge, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 77,000
Christopher Phillips, Isle of Man, 75,000
Sam Kenny, Isle of Man, 68,800
James Browning, United Kingdom, 67,000
Ryan Hayes, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 67,000
Christopher Jonat, United Kingdom, 66,000
Ashiq Abdullah, United Kingdom, 65,000
Francis Muyshondt, Belgium, PokerStars Qualifier, 62,000
Mitchell Johnson, United Kingdom, 56,700
Sean Randall, United Kingdom, 55,000
Andrew Hulme, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 55,000
Trevor Dinneen, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier, 55,000
William Fasano, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 54,000
Samuel Nova, Switzerland, PokerStars Qualifier, 51,000
Giedrius Grigorius, Lithuania, PokerStars Qualifier, 50,000
Jonathan Barr, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 49,000
Francis Dunleavy, Ireland, 46,000
John Handley, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 45,700
Tim Michels, Germany, PokerStars Qualifier, 43,000
Adam Topping, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 40,000
Mate Mecs, Hungary, PokerStars Qualifier, 39,700
Andrew Campbell, Isle of Man, 37,000
Jack Ellwood, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 36,100
Liv Boeree, United Kingdom, Team PokerStars Pro, 34,500
Ramunas Skardzius, Lithuania, PokerStars Qualifier, 28,000
Niall Farrell, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 27,200
Priit Brikker, Estonia, PokerStars Qualifier, 13,200

4.20pm: Chip counts coming
The players are currently on a 15-minute break and the team are scurrying around to get full chip counts from the tables (thank you to the dealers, floor staff and media coordinator). One player that should be looking a little more healthy is Sam Grafton who doubled up with a full house against Ben Mayhew (who bust the next hand).

Congrats to Calum Morrissey who last night won the UKIPT Isle of Man fancy dress competition for a £1,100 seat into the UKIPT Nottingham six-max. -- RD

Took me about an hour to get my face off last night! #fancydress #ukipt

— Calum Morrissey (@MorrisseyCalum) November 2, 2013

Had such a good night, got a free roll in to Nottingham! #goodtimes #ukipt #greatpeople @Liv_Boeree @RealKidPoker pic.twitter.com/GgmRoGc4YZ

— Calum Morrissey (@MorrisseyCalum) November 2, 2013

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Isle of Man: Rick Dacey and Nick Wright. Photos by Rene Velli.

Even before I discovered she was one of the most beautiful people I'd seen in recent memory, it was the fiddle player who drew me to the lobby of the Villa Marina theater. Less than 50 yards away, the UKIPT Main Event players had just reached the money, and somebody was pouring pints in the nearby bar, but the most intoxicating thing in the building was the sound of that fiddle.

It was the type of thing you don't expect to see at a poker tournament: six Celtic musicians jamming for the people who had come to watch the poker. It was perfect. It was happy. Admittedly, I'm a sucker for a fiddle, but I couldn't get enough of it.

Now, some people might have thought a band was out of place at a poker tournament, but PokerStars' Head of Poker Communications, Lee Jones, couldn't disagree more. See, he's on a mission.

"I want to tell the world how fun poker is," he said. "I like to think of myself as a poker evangelist."

Jones told me that a couple of days ago when he had me up to his Isle of Man Office. His walls are covered with big pictures of his family's North Carolina home and land, as well as portraits of Team PokerStars Pro. He doesn't get back there as much as he'd like, but he feels like he's got an important job these days. Summed up, it sounds like this: "Let's make poker fun again."

Tonight's band was just another way to have fun.

Anyone who has played poker with Jones knows that he's a rules nit. They know he's particular. And don't even think about asking him to see his hand if you didn't pay for it. When he plays, he plays to win. That doesn't mean, however, that he doesn't want people to have a ball at the table.

He said, "It's an extraordinary opportunity to hang out with people, have competition, and have a blast."

Jones learned poker when he was around six years old. His dad taught him math and odds with the game. He's played ever since, and he's seen the game change in dozens of ways throughout the years. Most of the last decade, Jones has been working with PokerStars in some capacity. He's been watching things closely.

"One of the things we've seen is a rise in what I would call The Grinder Mentality," he said. "All they think about is 'what is your three-betting range' and 'shouldn't he have flatted there?' They forget that it's about fun."

While Jones may consider himself an evangelist, this is not a sermon. He doesn't want to preach. He's just simply pointing out what's happened to the perception of the game in recent years. It's no secret that PokerStars has produced a lot of world champion poker players. It's one of the things the company built its reputation on. The thing is, when it comes down to it, the champions don't take up much space in under the poker tent.

"The huge majority of people who play poker don't play it professionally. They play it because it's fun," Jones said. "Maybe they'll make a little money. Maybe they'll lose a little money, but they'll have a great time doing it."

It's clear how seriously Jones takes this job. When I arrived on the island Wednesday night, he picked me up in his little car and zipped through the streets of Douglas. He took a quick dinner meeting where I first heard him talk about his mission. Then it was off to a VIP Club live party. We weren't there two minutes before he'd made his way to the crowd and started working as the MC. That job done, he grabbed his coat and we zipped to the Villa Marina where he MC'd a huge PokerStars staff tournament (before, yes, going on to finish in third place).

It was all part of his on-going and non-stop attempt to bring fun to poker and bring fun to the area that surrounds it. It's not an indictment of grinders. He loves them, too. He just wants to make sure everybody else is having fun in the process.

"Obviously, there are going to be people out there playing professionally, and that's great for them, but the majority of the people playing poker aren't playing professionally," he said.

And that brings us back to tonight, the Celtic band, and that fiddle player. Jones didn't just stand with me and watch. He ran to his car and grabbed his guitar.

Within a few minutes, he was playing along with them and leading them in "Galway Girl." There are people I know here who almost never have a smile on their face, and even they were grinning and tapping their feet.

And here's the inescapable thing. Jones may wear a stone face when he's in a hand, but once the chips get pushed, he just wants to have fun. For him, that's what it's all about. That's why he's the poker evangelist.

"It's our mission to make the poker tent big and to bring everybody in," he said.

And if you're looking for that poker tent, you can just listen for the sound of a Celtic band. I hear their fiddle player is pretty good.

Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging

Duncan McLellan tonight bagged up an enormous 870,000 stack, close to twice as much as his closest rival, PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira de Melo. It's almost a final table average stack. McLellan may have the most chips but the chasing pack is brimming with talent and, in the shape of Barry Greenstein, experience. The Team PokerStars Pro carries through 211,000, $8,035,172 in live cashes and a whole heap of incredible poker anecdotes.

Over eight one-hour levels the Day 2 field of 161 players was squeezed to 30 who will tomorrow play down to a final eight live on a live webcast (ukipt.com/tv). You can see who made it through and with how many chips here and we've even put up the Day 3 seat draw here.

McLellan just seemed like he could do wrong today. The more chips he got the happier he was to put his opponents' tournament lives at risk. The tactic seemed to work as his chip count spun up into a pinball score.

Moreira de Melo went through her own purple patch during a fantastic level where she took a measly stack of sub 20,000 to 270,000, and was actually one card away from being out. The normally unflappable PokerStars SportStar seemed as shocked as anyone else. Perhaps not shocked, more excited. The rest of the day played out nicely as she continued to chip up eventually bagging 573,000 at the end of play, good for second in the overnight chip counts. Don't believe the smile.

The bubble burst when Tim Michels called all-in with pocket queens behind the three-bet shove of Chris Jonat who had, wait for it, pocket aces. There was no upset and Michels was busted out in the unenviable 56th place. The PokerStars VIP Manager proceeded to chip up to 242,000. This Main Event was granted special dispensation to allow Rational Group employees (PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker) to play. Jonat and Chris Straghalis (293,000) are the only two left.

There are some great players left in this field, most noticeably Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein, including British showcase talent Jack "jackellwood" Ellwood, UKIPT Cork champ Sam Razavi, UK pro James Browning and Full Tilt Poker Tour Ambassador Ben Jenkins. Razavi seemed to lead a charmed life. He managed to get involved in a three-way cooler with queens into kings and aces and proceeded to win, even after Domink Nitsche turned a set, and later flopped Broadway to a set. He made it through with 197,000.

Players that didn't make it through included Team PokerStars Online's Mickey Petersen, UKIPT champs Nick Abou Risk and Robbie Bull, Sam Grafton and Dara O'Kearney (who all cashed). Other players that were sent to the rail today include EPT winners and Team PokerStars Pros Liv Boeree and Jake Cody, Julian Thew, who's also an EPT champ, EPT regular John Eames, and UKIPT winner Max Silver (all of whom bust before the money).

An enthusiastic tip of the hat goes to Daniel Stacey who finished 11th at UKIPT London winning a last longer promotion with Full Tilt Poker in the process that freerolled him for this tournament. Stacey is going strong with 406,000.

Brad Willis investigates....
PokerStars Head of Blogging Brad Willis was doing some snooping around PokerStars HQ and spoke to the man in charge of making PokerStars the safest play to play and also took a whimsical sideways look at the conspiracy of fire alarms and poker tournaments, which you can read here.

Catch up with all the day's action here:
Levels 9-12
Levels 13-16
Prize pool and payouts

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Isle of Man: Rick Dacey and Nick Wright. Photos by Rene Velli.

Strand Street runs north to south along a cobblestone walk just a few steps from the Irish Sea. It's where you go if you need a cup of coffee, some Chinese take-away, or a new plan for your cell phone. When the sun is out, it's a bustling and vibrant place that can make even an outsider feel right at home.

At the north end of the street sits a little place called Star Pizza. It's the same type of pizza and kebab joint you could find almost anywhere in London. A few booth seats, a line of soda cans in the cooler, some meat already strung onto a skewer, a man with a thick accent behind the counter. It was here--the most unassuming of places in a place already known for being unassuming--that something sort of remarkable happened.

I hadn't eaten in a day or so and needed sustenance. I ordered some food and sat down to review some notes after a long day of work.

"You're with the poker?"

The man behind the counter had leaned over and seen a badge on my chest that gave me away. I said I was.

"Are you winning?" he said. The man had to be 50 years old, but I saw wonder in his eyes.

I explained I was working here, and that I wouldn't have time to play the Main Event.

"But," I said, "when it's all over, somebody is going to win around £100,000."

"Wait," the man said, and disappeared in the direction of the kitchen.

Moments later, another man was there. He was younger, and smiling. The counter guy had pulled him out by his shoulders and was now pointing at me.

"He's with the poker," the counter man said.

The questions started and didn't stop for some time: How much did it cost? How long will it last? How much can you win? Can anybody enter? I answered them all, and each time it seemed like their smiles got bigger. A shy young woman peeked around the corner and looked at me. I smiled (it was contagious), and she smiled back. I was a spectacle at Star Pizza.

It occurred to me that these people were excited. They were excited about the idea that a major poker tournament was happening just down the street. They were thrilled with the idea that anybody could get in. This was their home. This was a place not many people know and even fewer know much about. Here, in the middle of Douglas, Isle of Man, some of the world's best poker players were battling for big money.

"We like poker, too," said the counter man. He might have felt like he needed to explain himself, but he didn't. I understood. Even though I've seen poker in countless countries, there is something special and exciting about seeing it happen for the first time in a place that hasn't seen a major poker event since European Poker Tour founder John Duthie won the Poker Million here 15 year ago. I wasn't just excited for the poker tour. I was excited for the people here, even the guys at Star Pizza.

"You should come down and watch," I said.

The smile never faded as the kitchen man reluctantly went back to his post. "I will," he said.

Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging

For continued coverage of the UKIPT4 Isle of Man Main Event please click here.

4.35pm: Break
Join us in a new post shortly. We'll get a full chip count to you shortly.

4.30pm: Jonat on the rise
Chris Jonat has been very active this level. Here's a little selection of his action:

- Jonat opened for 25,000 under-the-gun and Jamie O'Connor three-bet to 50,000 from the button. Jonat came back over the top for 100,000 and O'Connor passed. Jonat showed [3c][4c].

"Nice play," said Barry Greenstein.

"Nice play from Barry Greenstein? That's worth it," said Jonat.

- Harry Lodge opened to 24,000 from under-the-gun and Jonat three-bet to 50,000 from the button. O'Connor four-bet to 100,000 and Jonat moved all-in over the top for 584,000.

O'Connor looked in a pickle. He puffed his cheeks out

"You've been very lucky against me," said Jonat, now on his feet with his hands on his hips.

"Last time you were talking you had kings," said O'Connor.

After some will-you-show-if-I-show banter O'Connor passed and flashed ace-king. Jonat tabled red kings. Good read by O'Connor.

"If you'd clicked it back I would have got it all-in," said O'Connor.

"I'm enough of a fish that I don't want the sweat," replied Jonat.

Jonat works for PokerStars and is in charge of managing Team PokerStars Online. Looks like he's been learning plenty from his younger charges. He's currently up to 700,000 as the last remaining Rational Group staff member. -- RD

4.20pm: Greenstein doubles
Barry Greenstein has more then $8m in live tournament winnings. He's been there, done it and got the bracelet (well, three actually). Greenstein got one shove through before getting looked up by Harry Lodge. Greenstein doubled in very standard fashion to 260,000. -- RD

4.15pm: Paul Coughlan eliminated in 13th place (£6,650)
Down to just 72,000 Paul Coughlan moved all-in with [Ks][Qs] and Duncan McLellan gave him a spin with [As][10h]. The [9d][9h][3h][6h][10d] board kept McLellan in front and we're down to a dozen in the Main Event. -- NW

4.10pm: Marks doubles through McLellan
Colin Marks is up to around 650,000 after doubling through Duncan McLellan. He moved in on the turn of a [Kc][4s][7c][Ad] board for 188,000 with pocket fours and McLellan called with [Ah][Qd] and was drawing dead. The [As] gave him trips but not the pot. He's on the slide and down to around 500,000. -- NW

4.05pm: O'Connor up to over a million
Jamie O'Connor just won a huge pot against Chris Jonat to climb to over a million in chips, whilst Jonat drops to around 480,000.

Pre-flop Jonat made it 25,000 to go from early position and called when O'Connor three-bet to 50,000 on the button. The [7c][3c][8c] flop was checked through and the [kc] landed on the turn. It was checked to O'Connor, he bet 60,000 and Jonat called. The [6d] completed the board, again Jonat check-callled, this time for 140,000, O'Connor showed [10c][9h] for the rivered straight and Jonat mucked. -- NW

4pm: Browning doubles, then busts
Before he got moved to the feature table Duncan McLellan doubled up James Browning. He raised to 33,000 from under-the-gun with [Kd][Js], Browning moved in for 110,000 with pocket sixes and McLellan made the call. The [10d][Qd][7s] flop was quite the sweat for Browning but he held on the [2s] turn and [5s] river.

The next hand Harry Lodge raised to 25,000 on the button, Browning moved in for 240,000 from the small blind and Lodge made a crying call.

Browning: [Qd][Qs]
Lodge: [Kc][Qh]

Browning looked set fair to finally get his hands on an average stack but the [8c][10c][7c][Jd][As] gave Lodge broadway to eliminate Browning in 14th. -- NW

3.55pm: Alexander Schilt doubles through Chris Jonat
On a [4c][jh][6c] flop Chris Jonat c-bet 28,000 from the button, Alexander Schilt check-raised to 65,000 and Jonat moved all-in.

Schilt, who had about 160,000 back, tank called and showed [Jd][10c]. He was well behind to Jonat's pocket kings, that was until the [Jc] hit the turn to vault him into the lead. The [6h] completed the board and put a big dent in Jonat's stack. -- NW

3.50pm: McLellan pulls a huge bluff to break a million
Duncan McLellan has just raked in a huge post to break the million mark. McCellan opened to 34,000 and was called by Dan Stacey before Dahe Liu three-bet the button to 92,000. Both players called.

Liu c-bet 78,000 into the [5h][qc][2d] flop and McLellan check-raised to 205,000. He showed [kd][td] for an air-ball bluff. -- RD

3.40pm: Rebel without a stack
PokerStars Qualifier Matthijs Rebel has just been sent to the rail after getting rivered by Dahe Liu. Rebel's [ad][ts] was ahead of Liu's [ks][qc] until it binked a queen on the river. The Dutchman went in 15th (£5,870).

Liu is up to 752,000. Dan Stacey is leading with 932,000 and Fatima Moreira de Melo is down to 650,000 after losing a flip to Colin Marks who's now on around 300,000. -- RD

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

3.27pm: Feature table seat draw
Here's how the feature table lines up currently:

1. Daniel Stacey, 885,000
2, Richard Milne, 615,000
3. Paul Coughlan, 193,000
4. Dahe Liu, 612,000
5. Matthijs Rebel, 211,000
6. Colin Marks, 193,000
7. Fatima Moreira De Melo, 680,000

3.25pm: Razavi and Phillips bust to bring the re-draw
Fifteen players remain in the Main Event after busts from Sam Razavi and Chris Phillips. Phillips went out to Chris Jonat with [kh][jh] to [ad][jc] all-in pre-flop. Razavi managed to run into aces after three-bet jamming his last 150,000.

Here's the outer table draw.

Table six
1. Alexander Schilt, 220,000
2. Jamie O'Connor, 700,000
3. Adam Topping, 400,000
4. Harry Lodge, 470,000
5. James Browning, 110,000
6. Duncan McLellan, 800,000
7. Barry Greenstein, Team PokerStars Pro, 210,000
8. Chris Jonat, Rational Group staff, 900,000

Don't forget that you can watch the live stream by clicking here. -- RD

3.10pm: Mate Mecs out from feature table
Mate Mecs has just been eliminated in either 18th or 17th (there was a bust out on the outer table at the same time) he was all-in with [Ah][7d] and up against Daniel Stacey's [Qc][Jc].

The [5h][As][10s] flop was a decent one for Mecs, the [2c] turn safe enough but the [Kd] river a disaster as it gave Stacey broadway.

The youngster from Stoke is up to nearly 600,000 and making another deep UKIPT run. He finished 11th at UKIPT4 London and due to winning the Full Tilt Qualifier last longer competition won a free seat to this event. -- NW

3pm: The ups and downs of Sam Razavi
Sam Razavi thought he was out and had to be called back to the table, it's a good job he came back as he's since spun his stack back up to something workable. Let's rewind...

There was a raise to 23,000 from Colin Marks, Richard Milne then moved all-in for 262,000 from the button with [Ac][Kh] and Sam Razavi moved all-in over the top with [jd][js] and Marks folded. The [jc][6s][10s] flop gave Razavi a set but the [Qh] turn gave Milne broadway and he held on the [2c] river to climb to 560,000.

Razavi was left with just 15,000 and they went in soon after, Colin Marks had raised in front to 23,000 and Chris Phillips called from the big blind to create a small side pot.

On the [5c][5s][8h] flop Phillips led for 25,000 and Marks folded an ace, Phillips showed [Qs][Jh] for just queen high, Razavi showed [Kc][9d] and was ahead. The [Ad] fell on the turn and would've eliminated Razavi had Phillips not bet, because the [3c] completed the board.

Soon after Richard Milne raised to 22,000 with [8s][8c], Razavi moved in for 55,000 with [Kh][Jc] and Milne made the call. The [10c][9c][6h][Kd][6s] board boosted Razavi all the way up to 131,000. He shoved all-in the next hand and is now up to aroune 175,000. -- NW

2.50pm: Straghalis out in 19th (£4,800)
Chris Straghalis comeback was short-lived. He jammed [ad][qc] and was looked up by Adam Topping with [ah][jh]. Topping turned a jack to send Straghalis to the cage to collect £4,800. -- RD

2.40pm: Meet chip leader Duncan McLellan
Our coverage tends to focus on the players that most people will want to know about and are most likely to know (Barry Greenstein anyone?) but Duncan McLellan really deserves his time in the spotlight. McLellan was near the chip lead at the end of Day 1A and he ran away with a monster stack throughout the second half of Day 2: his 870,000 stack was way ahead of the 573,000 next largest stack.

I spoke to the 49-year-old bricklayer from Corby in Northamptonshire. He plays once a month live and also plays a lot online at PokerStars, which is where he qualified for this event. In fact with half an hour to go last night he had more than a million but lost a big flip.

"I was looking over a big stack of chips. It was kind of embarrassing. I don't like that much attention. I'm not one of those super star professional players. I'm a recreational player. I'm keen. I'm trying," said McLelllan.

The 'trying' seems to be working out pretty well so far.

"I was tired from the ferry on Day 1, which was a 12-hour journey but I got a good night's sleep afterwards and came here with 98,000 and span it up to almost a million. I didn't put a foot wrong all day. I knocked out five, six, seven people. I played the best poker of my life Friday and Saturday. I've really stepped up to the mark for this tournament," he said,

This is McLellan's third UKIPT and he's said that some of his winnings from this will go into playing the Nottingham six-max. He's now sat a few seats away from Team PokerStars Pro and poker legend Barry Greenstein.

"You look up to people (like Barry). I was sat with Liv Boeree and Daniel Negreanu was walking about. It's quite intimidating. It's a nice worry, but is quite intimidating for a recreational player. You feel that they've got the best hand, that they've got it," said McLellan.

At the moment that seems to be the other way, that McLellan's always got it. He's been well above average pretty much the whole tournament. Keep that up and you know what happens. -- RD

2.35pm: Thomas Dunwoodie eliminated in 20th place (£4,800)
Down to just 27,000 Thomas Dunwoodie moved all-in and he picked up two callers in the shape of Alexander Schilt and Duncan McLellan.

On the [7c][Jc][Qs] flop McLellan bet, Schilt folded and it was time for a showdown. Dunwoodie showed [As][4c], McLellan [As][7h].

The [2h] turn and [5s] river changed nothing and we're down to 19 players. They'll be a re-draw when we reach 16. -- NW

2.35pm: Jack Ellwood eliminated in 21st place (£4,315)
They'll be no second UKIPT final table appearance for Jack Ellwood as he just busted to Dahe Liu on the feature table.

The Geordie was all-in for 187,000 with [Ad][Kd] and up against Liu's pocket tens. The 'classic race' graphic came up on the live stream but it wasn't a race for long as the [jc][10c][js] flop left Ellwood drawing slim. The [3s] turn left him drawing dead and all the [Jh] river did was change the type of full house that Liu had. -- NW

2.25pm: 100% accurate chip counts
Fresh out the kitchen here are 100% accurate chip counts as done by staff on the break. It's still Duncan McLellan who leads and Fatima Moreira De Melo is still his closest challenger.

Duncan McLellan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 870,000
Fatima Moreira De Melo, Netherlands, PokerStars SportStar, 587,000
Dahe Liu, United Kingdom, 476,000
Christopher Jonat, United Kingdom, Rational Group Staff, 470,000
Matthijs Rebel, Netherlands, PokerStars Qualifier, 457,000
Sam Razavi, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 415,000
Daniel Stacy, Ireland, 407,000
Harry Lodge, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 385,000
Barry Greenstein, United States, Team PokerStars Pro, 375,000
Jamie O'Connor, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 350,000
Richard Milne, United Kingdom, 335,000
Paul Coughlan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 303,000
Adam Topping, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 300,000
Alexander Schilt, Switzerland, PokerStars Qualifier, 280,000
Colin Marks, United Kingdom, 202,000
Jack Ellwood, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 189,000
Christopher Phillips, Isle of Man, 150,000
Mate Mecs, Hungary, PokerStars Qualifier, 150,000
Chris Straghalis, Isle of Man, Rational Group Staff, 120,000
James Browning, United Kingdom, 60,000
Thomas Dunwoodie, United Kingdom, 55,000

2.20pm: Play resumes
We're into a new blind level. Game on. I spoke to Duncan McLellan at the break so we'll give you some info about him shortly. -- RD

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

2.10pm: Straghalis doubles on the last hand before the break
Chris Straghalis jammed from the small blind for his last 54,000 and Duncan McLellan made the call from the big blind. Staghalis was ahead with [ks][5c] to [jh][9h] and stayed ahead throughout. He's up to 120,000, good for 12 big blinds in the next blind level. -- RD

2pm: Break time
The players are now on a 15 minute, we'll be getting chip counts during it. -- NW

1.55pm: Coughlan doubles, Straghalis short
Paul Coughlan raised it up to 18.000 pre-flop and Chris Straghalis flatted from the big blind. On the [8s][9h][6d] flop it checked to Coughlan, he bet 25,000, Straghalis raised to 55,000 and Coughlan jammed for 136,000 total.

"I think you think I'm at it, but I'm not," said Straghalis. He got the dealer to pull in the 55,000, eyed up the pot, took the 81,000 out of his stack and counted what remained (89,000). He then announced call.

Straghalis: [8c][5c]
Coughlan: [Js][Jc]

The [3d] turn and [3c] river kept Coughlan in front, "nice hand," said Straghalis as he shipped the majority of his stack to him.

Straghalis then proceeded to raise two of the next three pots but lose both and is in real trouble now. -- NW

1.45pm: Cheetham out in 22nd, Browning in trouble
Lewis Cheetham is out in 22nd and James Browning could well be next. Paul Coughlan jammed for 77,000 with pocket nines and Browning slowly called with [as][qs] for more than half his chips. The nines held up to leave Browning with 55,000. -- RD

1.40pm: Greenstein doubles through Straghalis
Barry Greenstein has just doubled through Chris Straghalis in a horrible cooler. Greenstein was all-in for his tournament life for 165,000 with [td][th] while Straghalis held [9h][9c].

A nine in the window gave Straghalis help before the flop spread [9s][ts][5s] to give set over set.

"Awwww, you're kidding me," said Straghalis.

The turn and river ran out [4h][8c].

"It's going in on the flop anyway," said Straghalis, possibly trying to help himself away from tilt.

"That was scary when the nine showed," said Greenstein, now looking more perky with around 340,000. Straghalis is down to 200,000. -- RD

1.35pm: Handley busts in 23rd to Jonat, collects £4,315
Isle of Man local Mark Handley has been sent to the rail after shoving his last 64,000 with [ah][jh] from the cut-off. He was unlucky to find Chris Jonat with [ac][kd]. -- RD

1.30pm: Mate Mecs doubles through Dahe Liu
It's always nice to find aces, especially when you're down to 15 big blinds and that's what happened to Mate Mecs on the feature table.

He got them in with [As][Ad] and found a willing caller in the shape of Dahe Liu who had pocket sixes. The [Qd][7c][Kd][2c][7d] board doubled Mecs to 264,000 whilst Liu slips to 214,000. -- NW

1.20pm: A lull in proceedings
After the madness of the opening level, in which seven players were eliminated, the action has slowed in the opening 20 minutes of level 18.

There's very few flops being seen and most pots are being taken by a single raise. The shortest stack, at least on the outer tables, belongs to Lewis Cheetham. He just moved all-in but got no action, he counted down his stack of around 90,000 and said: "I'm alive for another orbit now."

Still 23 players in the Main Event. -- NW

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

1pm: Christopher Phillips doubles up
The shortest stack at the start of play belonged to Christopher Phillips. The Isle of Man resident just doubled up though and is no longer the shortest stack.

There was a raise to 12,000 from Jamie O'Connor, Sam Razavi flat called and Phillips did likewise from the big blind. On the [6h][Qs][6s] flop O'Connor bet 27,000, Razavi folded, Phillips moved in for 64,000 and O'Connor reluctantly called.

Phillips: [Kh][Qh]
O'Connor: [7s][5s]

The [kc] turn and [Ad] river kept Phillips in front and doubled him to around 180,000. -- NW

12.55pm: Chimel out in 24th
Tomasz Chimel has busted out at the feature table, he had his aces cracked by Dahe Liu who hit runner-runner broadway straight with [A][J]. -- NW

12.50pm: Razavi aiming to pitch flag at final table
Sam Razavi has been 'flag hunting' all week, desperately seeking a cash in the Isle of Man to add a flag to his burgeoning collection. He'd got close in a couple of side events and finally got over the line in the Main Event.

He just doubled up through Chris Jonat when they both flopped a set on a [js][6c][As] board, all the money flew in and Razavi's jacks were ahead of Jonat's sixes. There was no one outer on the [3c] turn or [9d] river. After that hand Razavi is up to 400,000, whilst Jonat is down to 315,000. -- NW

12.40pm: Final three tables
We're down to the final three tables of the UKIPT4 Isle of Man Main Event as Peter Warfvinge has just fallen in 25th.

He was all-in for around 120,000 with [As][Qs] and was in bad shape against Richard Milne's pocket queens. A [4d][5c][9c][8h][Jh] board saw him eliminated.

No re-draw at 24, but table eight, which was the feature table has been broken. -- NW

12.30pm: Five fall early on
They're falling thick and fast here at the moment with five players falling early on. Ben Jenkins' ace-queen was toppled by Alexander Schilt's ace-king in an unfortunate button to big blind raise-shove-call. Jonathan Barr's kings were cracked by a flopped flush draw which got there. Steve Russell was busted by Rational Group staffer Chris Straghalis while Owen Fenwick (who qualified for this event through a freeroll) got deuces in against Richard Milne's kings and couldn't suck out. This speed of consolidation is pretty damn quick. Expect it to slow when we get down to two tables. -- RD

12.20pm: Russell busts
An exit from the feature table to tell you about now...

A short stacked Steve Russell moved in for 62,000 from the small blind with [Js][6h] and Chris Straghalis gave him a spin from the big blind with [Ac][3c]. A [10d][10h][7c]Kh][2d] board means we lose Russell and just 28 remain. -- NW

12.15pm: McLellan loses some
Duncan McLellan is definitely trying to bully the table but they're not letting him get away with it. Twice he's opened to 18,000 and twice he's been shoved on. Adam Topping and Alexander Schilt the players getting frisky. -- NW

12.10pm: Esposito the first man out
It only took a few hands to lose the first player on Day 3 and it's Fabio Esposito gone.

Sam Razavi opened to 12,000 from under-the-gun, next to act Chris Jonat bumped it to 27,000 and Esposito moved all-in from the big blind for around 150,000. Razavi's cards went in the muck but Jonat made the call.

Jonat: [Qs][Qd]
Esposito: [Ad][Kh]

The [9d][Qc][9s][3h][6d] board ruled decisively in Jonat's favour. -- NW

12pm: Party time
There was a frighteningly* good party a couple of nights ago at the Tahiko nightclub here in the Isle of Man. Catch up with the fun in the video below. Apologies in advice for the cackling witch.

*See what I did there?

11.40pm: Day 3 aka the final table charge
We're in the money with 30 players remaining at the UKIPT Isle of Man Main Event with Duncan McLellan's 870,000 stack way ahead of the chasing pack. PokerStars SportStars Fatima Moreira de Melo is in second place with 573,000. Check out what happened yesterday by clicking here. Play resumes at noon. You can also follow the live webcast here.

Table five
1, Alexande Schilt, 171,000
2, Paul Coughlan, 174,000
3, Benjamin Jenkins, Full Tilt Poker Tour Ambassador, 105,000
4, Thomas Dunwoodie, 187,000
6, Duncan McLellan, 870,000
7, Adam Topping, 155,000
8, James Browning, 187,000

Table six
1, Owen Fenwick, 135,000
2, Colin Marks, 373,000
4, Fabio Esposito, 154,000
5, Sam Razavi, 197,000
6, Chris Jonat, 242,000
7, Peter Warfvinge, 151,000
8, Christopher Phillips, 74,000

Table seven
1, Jonathan Barr, 152,000
2, Harry Lodge, 348,000
3, Matthijs Rebel, 496,000
4, Dahe Liu, 250,000
5, Tomasz Chmiel, 155,000
6, Richard Milne, 139,000
7, Daniel Stacy, 406,000
8, Jack Ellwood, 225,000

Table eight
1, Steve Russell, 70,000
2, Chris Straghalis, 293,000
3, Lewis Cheetham, 100,000
4, Mate Mecs, 165,000
5, Barry Greenstein, Team PokerStars Pro, 211,000
6, Jamie Connor, 279,000
7, Fatima Moreira de Melo, PokerStars SportStar, 573,000
8, John Handley, 167,000

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Isle of Man: Rick Dacey and Nick Wright. Photos by Rene Velli.

Fatima Moreira de Melo stood up, raised her hands, and accepted the applause from the assembled crowd.

"Yes, look at me," she said ruefully. "I lost."

She's a woman who accepts irony well. Everyone was applauding her for busting out of a tournament. I was to blame, and so she leveled her eyes at me and pushed two playing cards in my direction. Somebody had written her name on one. Liv Boeree's name was on the other.

"Liv wants hers to go to the sharks," Fatima said. "I like animals, too."

This was at last night's PokerStars Helping Hands charity tournament, a posh affair that hosted every Team Pro in attendance, local celebrities and players, and a big number of PokerStars staff, including the top brass. PokerStars had put bounties on the Team Pros, and I now had two to give away. Because I'm not going to ignore Fatima, I made sure they went to a local charity involved with the basking sharks that feed off the coast of the Isle of Man.

Before the end of the night, Helping Hands had raised more than £10,000 to help out charities here on the Isle of Man. I even got a chance to bust Leo Margets, who insisted her bounty go to support Manx Cancer. I don't ignore Leo, either.

Also impossible to ignore is how organized the PokerStars charity efforts have become in recent months. Looking back over the years, I've seen PokerStars raise a lot of money for a great number of worthy causes including tsunami and earthquake relief, AIDS, and Darfur aid. While some of those efforts were made public, a great many more happened that we never heard about.

I'll be honest. I'm in the business of telling stories, so I've not always understood PokerStars' reluctance to seek publicity for what it does to help charities. I asked about that when I met Sue Hammett this week.

"They wanted to help out, not for any publicity, but because it was the right thing to do, and people wanted to help," she said. "I love that about PokerStars."

Hammett is the Head of Corporate Giving here at PokerStars HQ. She's been here for a little more than a year, and she's taken on the job of organizing the charity efforts PokerStars makes all year long. It's a program that gave last night's charity tournament its name, Helping Hands.

Around the world, PokerStars operates eight different local charity communities. Every one of them is run by volunteers from the company. The effect can be almost immediate. In Costa Rica, they raised enough money to provide massive support to the Foundation for Wellbeing of Women, providing money to teach women a professional trade. They're currently working with 80 women and providing education to 200 children per week.

"They're run entirely by local volunteers, and they donate their own time to give back to the communities," Hammett said.

While PokerStars has an intense focus on helping the communities where it has offices, it's also working on a global scale, having partnered with Care International, a global disaster relief charity operating in more than 80 countries. The partnership allows PokerStars to quickly ramp up any relief and aid efforts it organizes when there is a need somewhere in the world. PokerStars has also recently worked to raise money for cancer research and South American education centers.

"I think ever since the beginning of PokerStars, there has always been a sort of philanthropic undercurrent there," Hammett said. "I've been totally blown away with how I can get things done."

That, she says, is because this isn't just a matter of a big company giving away big money. It's a matter of the people in the company who are genuinely excited about the idea of donating their time and money. Hammett said this is a philosophy that literally comes down from the top of senior management who don't believe in the idea of red tape when it comes to charitable efforts.

"I've worked a previous companies whereby it might take me months to even get something signed off. Here it can take a matter of days," she said.

Included therein are PokerStars policies for its employees. They all get time off to volunteer locally. If they raise money for charity, PokerStars will provide matching funds. If employees want to deduct from their paycheck for charity, PokerStars makes that happen.

While I know this might sound a lot like a corporate line, I can assure you it's not. This is for real. I know it, because last night as I waited for the charity tournament to begin, I listened as one of the local employee charity chairmen told me about his passion for helping out and how close to his heart it was. He wasn't telling me because I write for this blog. He was telling me because he meant it.

And if that's not enough, please go read this. That's a story of what happened last spring when a record snowfall hit the Isle of Man, the day senior management here told all employees that non-essential work was canceled for the day if they wanted to go help out their neighbors.

That's simply how things work here. I've never been able to explain it in a way other than this: PokerStars hires good people, and good people do good things.

Meanwhile, Helping Hands, Sue Hammett, and her volunteers are looking forward to what is to come. The goal is simple, she says.

"Every hand we deal will help someone somewhere in the world," Hammett said.

Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging

7.25pm: Overnight chip counts
Here are the chip counts of the eight remaining players.

1. Adam Topping, United Kingdom PokerStars Qualifier, 676,000
2. Chris Jonat, United Kingdom Rational Group Staff, 952,000
3. Duncan McLellan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier,1,161,000
4. Harry Lodge, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 569,000
5. Daniel Stacey, United Kingdom, 1,087,000
6. Jamie O'Connor, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 1,243,000
7. Richard Milne, United Kingdom, 956,000
8. Fatima Moreira De Melo, Netherlands, Team PokerStars SportsStar, 524,000

And this is what they're playing for:

1st. £94,090
2nd. £59,660
3rd. £43,120
4th. £34,870
5th. £27,600
6th. £21,250
7th. £15,810
8th. £11,455

We'll be back from noon tomorrow to bring you coverage of the final table and you can also watch the live stream at pokerstars.tv. -- NW

7.15pm: Alexander Schilt eliminated in ninth place (£9,270)
The first hand after the break the official final table was set. From under-the-gun+3 Chris Jonat raised to 48,000, Alexander Schilt moved all-in for around 330,000 and Jonat called to put him at risk.

Jonat: [10s][10c]
Schilt: [3s][3c]

The board came [5s][4s][Qc][Ks][8c] and Schilt was eliminated in ninth place.

A full wrap of the day's play and overnight chip counts will follow. -- NW

7.15pm: Play back underway
We're back from the break and with around 14 big blinds Alexander Schilt is the short stack. -- NW

Blinds up: 12,000/24,000, ante 3,000

7.01pm: Break time
The players are now on a 15 minute break. -- NW

7pm: Duncan McLellan doubles through Daniel Stacey
On the last hand before the break Duncan McLellan got the chips he lost to Jamie O'Connor back from Daniel Stacey.

The chip leader opened to 40,000 from under-the-gun, McLellan made it 106,000 on the button, Stacey set him all-in for around 550,000 and McLellan made the call.

Stacey: [Ad][Qd]
McLellan: [Ah][Ks]

The [Kh][9h][4s][10h][8c] run out gave McLellan a double up, he now has around 1,200,000 whilst Stacey drops to a little over 1,100,000. -- NW

6.55pm: Chip counts
It's still Daniel Stacey who leads the unofficial final table.

1. Adam Topping, 660,000
2. Chris Jonat, 570,000
3. Duncan McLellan, 571,000
4. Harry Lodge, 482,000
5. Alexander Schilt, 372,000
6. Daniel Stacey, 1,639,000
7. Jamie O'Connor, 1,291,000
8. Richard Milne, 871,000
9. Fatima Moreira De Melo, 531,000

6.50pm: Jamie O'Connor doubles through Duncan McLellan
Another clash between Jamie O'Connor and Duncan McLellan to tell you about and this time O'Connor got some revenge.

He opened for 40,000 and McLellan flat called from the big blind. On the [4s][10s][3d] flop McLellan bet 68,000, O'Connor made it 150,000, McLellan moved in and O'Connor snap called.

McLellan: [Ac][10h]
O'Connor: [Kd][Ks]

The [4c] turn and [8s] river meant that O'Connor doubled to 1,291,000 and McLellan slips to 571,000. -- NW

6.35pm: McLellan bluff shoves the turn
A very interesting hand between Duncan McLellan and Jamie O'Connor just took place. The latter raised to 40,000, McLellan three-bet to 85,000, O'Connor 4-bet to 160,000 and McLellan called.

On the [10s][5h][Ac] flop O'Connor c-bet 80,000 and McLellan called. On the [6s] turn O'Connor slowed down, McLellan moved all-in for 525,000 and O'Connor folded. As he took the pot McLellan showed [3h][2h] for the bluff. -- NW

6.15pm: The final nine
Here's the re-draw of the final nine, players will stay in these seats for the rest of the tournament:

1. Adam Topping, 680,000
2. Chris Jonat, 865,000
3. Duncan McLellan, 864,000
4. Harry Lodge, 470,000
5. Alexander Schilt, 430,000
6. Daniel Stacey, 1,600,000
7. Jamie O'Connor, 581,000
8. Richard Milne, 993,000
9. Fatima Moreira De Melo, 450,000

6.10pm: Chris Jonat doubles through Jamie O'Connor
There almost wasn't the need for a nine handed unofficial final table as at the same time as Liu was busting on the feature table, Chris Jonat was all-in and at risk on the outer table.

He four-bet jammed for 420,000 with [Ac][Js] and O'Connor got a count before calling with pocket nines. The board ran [6h][8c][Qd][Ah][Qs] and Jonat spiked the turn to stay alive.

Chips counts and seat draw for the final nine coming right up. -- NW

6.05pm: Down to nine!
Dahe Liu has just bust out to Duncan McLellan after jamming [ks][td] to [8d][8c]. The eights held. The last nine players will now re-draw for the final table. Full counts to come. -- RD

6pm: Interview with Chris Jonat
Chris Jonat, the manager of Team PokerStars Online, is among the last 10 players in the UKIPT Isle of Man Main Event. The video blog team caught up with him at the last break.

5.50pm: Feature table chip counts
Here are the chips from the feature table:

1. Duncan McLellan, 597,000
2. Daniel Stacey, 1,733,000
3, Richard Milne, 1,022,000
4. Dahe Liu, 431,000
6. Fatima Moreira De Melo, 156,000

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

5.40pm:Barry Greenstein eliminated in 11th place (£7,670)
Having previously losing a pot to Jamie O'Connor, Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein was down to around 200,000 and found a spot to get his chips in after O'Connor opened to 32,000 from under-the-gun and Harry Lodge called on the button. O'Connor folded but Lodge made the call.

Greenstein: [Ad][Js]
Lodge: [Jc][Jd]

Greenstein was in rough shape and didn't connect with the [8c][5c][Kh][Qh][3c] board and shook Lodge's hand before leaving the table. -- NW

5.30pm: Schilt hits Lodge for six
It's not often a suck out, a re-suck and then a re-suck-suck (is that even a phrase?) all happen on the flop but that's what happened in a hand between Alexander Schilt and Harry Lodge.

Pre-flop Lodge made it 38,000 to go, it folded to Schilt in the big blind and he got confirmation that Colin Marks had busted from the feature table, he then moved all-in for 286,000 and Lodge quickly called.

Lodge: [10h][10c]
Schilt: [6d][6c]

The flop rolled off in this exact order, [6s], Schilt was now in front, [10d], Lodge took back the lead, [6h] and now Schilt was back in the lead with flopped quads! The poker gods decided that they'd been enough excitement for one board as the [5d] and [5c] completed the board. After that hand Lodge drops to 600,000. -- NW

5.25pm: Helping hands
PokerStars people can be a handy bunch to have around. Got too much snow? They'll get their spades out (boom, boom) and get to work. Seriously though, PokerStars take this charity thing pretty seriously, as Brad Willis found out. Click through to read about it. -- RD

5.15pm: Marks out in 12th (£6,650), Milne a million strong
Colin Marks has just been knocked out in 12th in a huge million chip pot against Richard Milne. It all went in pre-flop with Marks holding [ks][kd] to Milne's [ah][qs]. Milne had just 50,000 behind, leaving him little more than two big blinds if he'd lost.

The [6h][8h][ac][5c][jd] board was grim reading for Marks. -- RD

5pm: When the Stars come out in Douglas
Brad Willis has spoken to poker fans all around the world and the Isle of Man is no different. Click through to find out about some happy faces here. And talking of happy faces, you should read this article about poker evangelist Lee Jones. -- RD

4.45pm: Final 12 back at it
The final 12 have all defied the odds to still be in from the field of 37 but a third of the players who remain will not make tomorrows final table. However, you'd put good money on Daniel Stacey making the final as he leads with 1,498,000.

Here's how the final twelve stack up currently:

Feature table:
1. Duncan McLellan, 460,000
2. Daniel Stacey, 1,498,000
3, Richard Milne, 631,000
4. Dahe Liu, 278,000
5. Colin Marks, 706,000
6. Fatima Moreira De Melo, 534,000

Outer table:
1. Alexander Schilt, 296,000
2. Jamie O'Connor, 750,000
3. Adam Topping, 430,000
4. Harry Lodge, 720,000
5. Barry Greenstein, Team PokerStars Pro, 330,000
6. Chris Jonat, Rational Group staff, 600,000

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Isle of Man: rel="author">Rick Dacey and Nick Wright. Photos by Rene Velli.

For the first time in their history, PokerStars and the Rational Group allowed its people to play in one of their Main Events. So, this UKIPT stop in the Isle of Man was a monumental moment and homecoming. It worked out well for many a staffer. Two employees won side events. Several others went deep in the Main. Team Online manager Chris Jonat is at the final table tomorrow. It's a testament to the fact PokerStars people know the game pretty well.

I, too, have never played a PokerStars-sponsored event, and it occurred to me that--for the sake of research and a good story--that I would play a side event here. The next part of the plan was that I would win it and use the money to finance a grand party for my upcoming birthday. It's my duty to report to you that I now have all the answers. This is information you need to know. I now offer you...

How (not) to play a UKIPT poker tournament

1. Enter a tournament based solely on the idea that it would be a good story: This was likely my first bit of folly. It never--and I mean never, ever--occurred to me that the tournament would end without an amazing story to tell here. This is akin to me believing I would never--ever!--get gray hair.

2. Run red hot in a prior tournament that had no cash prize pool: So, not to brag (I'm bragging) but I took third place out of 100 people last night in the £50 buy-in Helping Hands charity tournament. Yes, folks, I get there when it counts. While I got a lovely watch for my efforts (thanks to PokerStars for that), I got something even more important: an overwhelming sense of self-worth and importance.

3. Have an overwhelming sense of self-worth and importance: This probably goes without saying, but I'm neither worthy nor important. Any rumors to the contrary have been bought and paid for in pints of lager or blackmail material over the past several years.

4. Forget what time the tournament begins: I was sure that today's £110 Super Deep Stack turbo tournament started at 6pm. I would've bet you £110 on it. That 4pm kick off was a real kick in the pants. Thank goodness the UKIPT has late registration. I was sure everything was going to work out in the end.

5. Believe it's all going to work out in the end: At one point during the four and half hours I played today, a guy turned to me after my 20th consecutive fold and asked, "Are your cards really that bad?" I assured him they were, and privately told myself, "It's all going to work out in the end."

6. Play the meat to a good player sandwich: That sounds dirtier (or tastier) than it should. But know this: there are some damned good players here this week, and I happened to get placed right between them today. It's a lot like sitting in the back seat of a car on the hump, having to use the cheap seatbelt, and hoping that the inevitable crash kills you fast.

7. Pretend the crash isn't inevitable: If you play like me, it's the rough equivalent of driving blindfolded the wrong way down a freeway. The only thing left to sort out at the end of every tournament is where the medical examiner can source my dental records so he can officially identify my body.

8. Blind down to half the starting stack: I'd like to offer some defense (card dead, rampant nit virus, bad flops) but we all know the cards don't matter.

9. Shove that stack blind under the gun with 30 seconds remaining until the break: I mean, we all know waiting through a tournament break with a micro-stack is like standing naked in a shopping mall (or is that just me?), but I really just couldn't be bothered to take the abuse anymore.

10. Assume that PokerStars Serial Qualifier and Friend Pierre Neuville won't look you up with queen-eight: He will, he will beat you, and he will say, "Thank you," when it's over.

I like to think I offer a valuable service to the readers of the PokerStars Blog. Oh sure, it's a matter of sacrifice and humiliation, but that's what I was put on this earth to do. So, go forth, fine readers, and play as many UKIPT events as you can. They are amazing festivals with great people, talented staff, and lots of fun to be had.

Just don't play like me.

Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging and the world's worst poker player

Tomorrow is going to be a great day of poker. Not only have we got a fantastic mix of players fighting it out for the £94,090 first place prize and the first ever UKIPT Isle of Man title, but there's some incredibly playable stacks. Jamie O'Connor may carry through the chip leader mantle into the final table but four other players are close behind. Even the shortest stack, PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira de Melo, has more than 20 big blinds.

Few could argue that O'Connor didn't play well. He laid down ace-king pre-flop to a five-bet shove from Chris Jonat who showed pocket kings and was a constant threat throughout. Sure, he got bluffed by McLellan (see below) and Jonat, who four-bet showed [4c][3c], but O'Connor had the last laugh: he doubled through McLellan's top pair, top kicker for a 1.2m pot with pocket kings.

Daniel Stacey looked likely to take the chip lead when he was dominating with a 1.7m chip stack but the last level wasn't kind. He lost a million chip pot to McLellan late on with ace-queen to ace-king. Any result will be a good one as he's here on a freeroll. He won his seat into this tournament by finishing 11th in the UKIPT London Main Event (£8,480) which also won him a Full Tilt Poker last longer bet. It's certainly not been a wasted gift.

Stacey was a terror at the TV feature table for most of the day which strongly indicated that his deep run in London was no fluke. If his plan was to raze his opponents to the ground then he can rest soundly tonight on a job well done. He finished up with 1,087,000.

There was no warming into the day. Players fell from the off with a flurry of exits taking play down to three tables in 30 minutes. It took a further three hours to get down to two tables and the last table was set a good couple of hours after that. In all, it took six levels and two hands of the seventh to get down to our final eight players. They'll play down to a winner tomorrow live on the UKIPT webcast.

The UKIPT Isle of Man final table
1. Adam Topping, United Kingdom PokerStars Qualifier, 676,000
2. Chris Jonat, United Kingdom Rational Group Staff, 952,000
3. Duncan McLellan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier,1,161,000
4. Harry Lodge, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 569,000
5. Daniel Stacey, United Kingdom, 1,087,000
6. Jamie O'Connor, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 1,243,000
7. Richard Milne, United Kingdom, 956,000
8. Fatima Moreira De Melo, Netherlands, Team PokerStars SportsStar, 524,000

The payouts
1st. £94,090
2nd. £59,660
3rd. £43,120
4th. £34,870
5th. £27,600
6th. £21,250
7th. £15,810
8th. £11,455

Fatima Moreira de Melo had a tough day thanks to a starting seat draw that placed Stacey on her left and a re-draw that... placed Stacey on her left. Moreira de Melo is an Olympic gold medal winner, a competitive spirit who smile sweetly as she batters your stack. Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis, a player not known for his passive nature, once told us that when coaching Moreira de Melo he'd had to get her to rein in rampant aggression. Moreira de Melo isn't the only PokerStars patched player on the final table.

Chris Jonat wears a 'PokerStars Staff' patch showing him to be, well, someone who works for PokerStars. The Isle of Man is the home of PokerStars HQ and the decision was made to allow staff members to play if they wanted to buy into the £1,100 event. Jonat was one of those to take that opportunity. He's proved to be no slouch, as you'd expect from someone who's in charge of managing Team PokerStars Online and had been a SuperNova Elite cash game grinder before joining PokerStars on the other side of the table. Jonat popped the bubble yesterday and he did the same to close the action tonight eliminating Alexander Schilt in 9th place with tens holding up to a short-stacked shove with a baby pair.

Last night's monster chip leader McLellan continued to display that here was a man that wasn't afraid of playing some poker. He check-raised with air in one three-bet, three-way pot then again, with just nine players left, in a big pot when he called a four-bet from Jamie O'Connor, floated the flop then jammed the turn for half-a-million on a [ts][5h][ac][6s] board. O'Connor passed and McLellan showed [2h][3h]. It's not exactly abc poker but McLellan's been well chipped throughout and you can't fault someone for making a great read and having the courage to follow through with it. EPT Grand Final champion Steve O'Dwyer seemed to agree.

watching the @ukipt stream while playing sunday tournaments and just saw some old boy run an epic fucking bluff. bravo sir. #ukiptlive

— steveodwyer (@steveodwyer) November 3, 2013

Players that we lost today playing from 30 down to eight included Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein (11th, £7,670), James Browning (14th, £5,870), UKIPT Cork winner Sam Razavi (17th, £5,285) and Jack "jackellwood" Ellwood (21st, £4,315). You can check out all the UKIPT Isle of Man payouts here.

Tomorrow's final table should be a fascinating one, but if you're looking for a little more UKIPT flavour then check out some of the article below.

Brad Willis investigates....
PokerStars Head of Blogging Brad Willis has been peeking behind the PokerStars curtain here on the Isle of Man, the home of PokerStars HQ. Willis caught up with Sue Hammett, Head of Corporate Giving as well as poker evangelist Lee Jones.

Check out the day's action below:
Levels 17-20
Levels 21-23
Prize pool and payouts

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Isle of Man: Rick Dacey and Nick Wright. Photos by Rene Velli.

In the farthest corner of the PokerStars office building on the Isle of Man sits a nondescript room with a heavily-marked whiteboard on the wall. In the farthest corner of that room, sitting under the whiteboard is a man named Matthew Robins. He's officially known as Head of Compliance at PokerStars, and even he agrees, he's not the kind of employee most PokerStars players think much about.

"It's probably one of those roles most people wouldn't be that interested in," he says.

While that may be true, Robins is one of the most important people in the company, because if he doesn't do his job, there is trouble. Big trouble.

"To protect the reputation of the company is of huge importance to me," Robins said when I met him last week in his office.

You can think of Robins as a sort of internal affairs officer with PokerStars. It's his job to make sure PokerStars complies with every license it gets. What's more, it's his duty to keep a very close eye on all PokerStars employees to make sure they aren't doing anything wrong. He's a watchdog with an eye so keen you wouldn't want to sneeze the wrong way in front of him.

What most people might not recognize about Robins is how much time he spends fighting online poker's version of the Loch Ness Monster.

"There is a bit of a myth that we have to try to dispel over time," he said.

That myth, Robins said, is whether money laundering happens in the online poker world.

"I believe there is a big misperception about whether money laundering takes place on internet poker and on gambling in general," he said.

Robins, who is not the kind of person to cast blame idly, believes a hyperactive media has overblown a non-issue created by opponents of online gaming and people who haven't taken the time to educate themselves about both online poker and the realities of what it takes to launder money.

"I think it's mainly because of the perception that it's not face-to-face," he said. "They don't really understand the controls, the audit trails, and the transparency we have."

You have to imagine Robins as the man who sits beside Loch Ness all day long looking for Nessie to raise her head. Then, every time a tourist comes by, he has to explain there is no such thing. Then he goes back to watching. If he sees a shadow in the water, he investigates, but in the end, it's always just a shadow.

This is Robins' job all the time. He and his team have developed strict and exacting controls over how money moves through PokerStars' system.

PokerStars' many gaming licenses require that the company complies with anti-money-laundering regulations globally. There is no way PokerStars would have the licenses it does if it couldn't prove it had the matter well in hand. Robins and his team keep a close eye out for anyone who looks the least bit suspicious.

"People that are on international sanctions lists, potential terrorists," he said. "Players wouldn't recognize that we have to scrutinize our player base for them to make make sure we don't have any of those people playing, and we have to prove that to our regulators on a regular basis."

The funny thing is--and it would be funny if it weren't so important--is that no self-respecting money launderer would deign to use online poker as a source of cleaning up dirty money. Why? It's incredibly inefficient, despite what online poker detractors might think.

"Part of our goal is to prove them wrong and educate regulators that it's not actually a very effective place for someone to try to launder money," Robins said. "It would be a huge, huge amount of time and effort for them. There are far more easier ways for a money launderer to be successful outside of poker."

Nevertheless, because the misperception exists, and as long as people continue to promote the myth, Robins stays at his post. There are so many alarms and triggers at PokerStars that anything that looks even vaguely weird gets the compliance team's attention.

"We have dedicated a huge amount of resources to prevent fraudsters," Robins said. "It's not in our interest to allow that kind of activity. Our goal has always been to make this the most attractive site for players and the most unattractive site for fraudsters."

So, a word of warning to Nessie, the Yeti, Bigfoot, and the chupacabra: myths aren't welcome at PokerStars, and watchdog Matthew Robins is always watching.

Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging

4.25pm: Fatima Moreira eliminated in second place (£59,660)
Fatima Moreira de Melo waved her hand to indicate she was all-in, her shove was for 905,000 and Duncan McLellan didn't take too long to call.

Moreira de Melo: [5d][5c]
McLellan: [Ah][10d]

"It's a classic race," said James Hartigan. "It's a big race in terms of Fatima's career, she really wants this," added Nick Wealthall. The [Js][Qh][Kh] flop made the race very one sided as McLellan flopped a straight. The [2c] turn card ended proceedings and the meaningless [6s] completed the board.

Congratulations to PokerStars Qualifier Duncan McLellan for winning the UKIPT4 Isle of Man Main Event and £94,090. And to use Joe 'Stapes' Stapleton's phrase congradudolences to Team PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira de Melo on a great performance and her runner-up finish which nets her £59,600.

A full wrap of the day's play is on the way, thanks for reading the blog, we'll be back for UKIPT Nottingham which runs November 27th-December 2nd and qualifiers for that tournament are running now. -- NW

4.20pm: McLellan wins first big pot of heads-up play
The first big pot of heads-up play has gone the way of Duncan McLellan and he now has 83% of the chip in play.

Fatima Moreira de Melo raised on the button to 100,000 and McLellan made the call. On the [7c][7s][2h] flop McLellan led into Moreira de Melo and she just called. "If she's got a good hand there's no need to raise him there as he only calls with a seven," said David Williams.

The [Ad] hit the turn, McLellan bet 290,000 and again Moreira de Melo smooth called to take us to the [6c] river. McLellan slowed down checking it over to Moreira de Melo. She took her time and then bet 360,000. This bet sent McLellan into the tank, eventually he made the call and it was a good one as Moreira de Melo showed [ks][js] for king high, McLellan showed [8c][6s] for a rivered pair of eights.
After that hand Moreira de Melo is down to 1,119,000 whilst McLellan is up to 5,980,000. - NW

4.15pm: Chris Jonat, PokerStars hero
Fourth-place finisher Chris Jonat is still in the building. Measuring up some number of inches more than six feet tall, the Canadian is an easy figure to spot, not least of all because he keeps getting nods of congratulations from colleagues who came down to the Villa Marina to rail him. Jonat lives here on the Isle of Man managing Team PokerStars Online from the PokerStars offices. I managed to grab him before his workmates could lift him aloft and carry him out on their shoulders (probably, maybe).

"It's really been so much fun and I can't complain about anything obviously. I'm a little disappointed because I was pretty committed to not ever trying to pull any big bluffs and I did, but my read was right on him. I was just unlucky that he was able to find the call. Beyond that, everything is good," said Jonat.

That hand was against Duncan McLellan on a [qc][td][jc][5d][9h] board where McLellan held [8c][6c] and had caught a weak straight on the river. Jonat represented a big hand but couldn't push McLellan off his.

"He made a great call and with the amount of chips he had it was a good call because I could have just had two-pair or whatever. I don't blame him on the call, I'm just a little bummed out that he hit the straight without hitting his flush because I wouldn't have put any more chips in if he'd hit his flush. I don't think he was chasing that straight but he hit it," said Jonat.

The £34,870 will obviously be welcome but what about the bragging rights at work? Surely he'll be milking that?

"I'll have to get some massive poster to put up over my desk and wear a crown around the office for a couple of days or something. I'm still Canadian so I'm not that good at bragging, but it's been fun to go this far for sure," said Jonat, a wide smile on his face.

It was a great run for Chris from bursting the bubble to bursting the final table through to that last big bluff. He did the company proud. -- RD

4.05pm: Off we go!
Heads-up play is underway, remember you can watch the live stream at www.pokerstars.tv. -- NW

3.52pm: Short break
The players are taking a short 10 minute break whilst the table is prepared for heads-up play.

The chip counts are Duncan McLellan 5,130,000 (103 big blinds)

Plays Fatima Moreira de Melo, who has 2,360,000 (47 big blinds) -- NW

3.50pm: Richard Milne eliminated in third place (£43,120)
One hand back and one exit...

From the small blind Richard Milne open jammed from the small blind with [Ks][5c] and Fatima Moreira de Melo snap called. "She must be really strong to call that quickly," said David Williams, and the Dutch gold medal winning Olympian was as she had pocket queens.

The [7s][Ad][10h][5d][4d] board kept Moreira de Melo in front and we're now heads-up for the title. Should she win she'll become the first ever female winner of a UKIPT Main Event. -- NW

3.45pm: No deal
Chip leader Duncan McLellan clearly didn't like the numbers as there's been no deal and play continues. -- NW

3.40pm: Deal negotiations
The three players are taking time out to discuss a deal, this is what they're still playing for:

1st. £94,090
2nd. £59,660
3rd. £43,120

Ike Haxton has been drafted in by Fatima Moreira de Melo to help with negotiations and I overheard him on the microphone saying the ICM numbers were as follows:

Duncan McLellan - £83,000
Fatime Moreira de Melo - £61,500
Richard Milne - £52,500

But they have to leave £20,000 to play for and Toby Stone told them the equity distributions would be as follows:

Duncan McLellan - £76,814
Fatima Moreira de Melo - £52,330
Richard Milne - £47,725

Will they deal?. -- NW

3.35pm: Three handed chip counts
Duncan McLellan has an absolutely massive chip lead over the other two players with 5,130,000 of the 7,490,000 in play.

3. Duncan McLellan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 5,130,000 (103 big blinds)
7. Richard Milne, United Kingdom, 700,000 (14 big blinds)
8. Fatima Moreira de Melo, Netherlands, Team PokerStars SportStar, 1,660,000 (33 big blinds)

3.35pm: Chris Jonat eliminated in fourth place (£34,870)
After losing that big pot Chris Jonat didn't take long to try and double up but unfortunately it didn't go his way. He moved in for 290,000 and Duncan McLellan was still stacking chips, he thought for a little while and then made the call, Richard Milne and Fatime Moreira de Melo both folded.

Jonat: [Kc][Js]
McLellan: [As][Qd]

The [10s][Qc][Jd] flop was, as Nick Wealthall said: "an action flop," Jonat still had 37% equity, but that dropped to 9% on the [Ks] turn and he needed to make a full house to win or for an ace to appear for a chop. However, the [10d] completed the board and Jonat shook the hands of his opponents as he left the table. -- NW

3.32pm: Duncan McLellan wins 1.8m pot
There is just no stopping Duncan McLellan as he just won a huge 1,800,000 pot against Chris Jonat...

Pre-flop Jonat made it 80,000 to go from the button and both blinds called. On the [Qc][10d][Jc] flop Jonat fired out a bet of 140,000 and only McLellan called. The [5d] fell on the turn, Jonat fired a second barrel, 200,000 was the price, it was a price McLellan liked as he made the call. The [9h] hit the river, McLellan checked once more and again Jonat fired, he made it 400,000 and after a tank McLellan called and showed [8c][6c] for the rivered straight and flopped flush draw.

Jonat meanwhile is now very short as he's down to around 295,000. - NW

3.30pm: Moreira de Melo, competitive as always
Last night the UKIPT press room was invaded by deck/spread/galaxy* of PokerStars sponsored players looking for a reliable connection to play the Red Spade Open, a $55 buy-in with a $1,000,000 guarantee. That's quite incredible (and even more so that the prize pool ended up topping $1.6m). David Williams, Vanessa Rousso, Ike Haxton, Liv Boeree, and Andre Coimbra sat in a corner of the room getting set up for the Sunday grind. There was banter and merriment but, much like the times that someone has a drink in their hand, reporting on eavesdropped press room conversations is just not on.

After a short while, PoekrStars SportStar Fatima Moreira de Melo entered the room having just made the UKIPT final table. After a flurry of congratulations from press and sponsored PokerStars colleagues, Moreira sat down, fired up PokerStars and started playing the Red Spade Open.

Lee Jones was working alongside us in the press room and turned round to Moreira de Melo, a look of incredulity on his face, "You're playing poker?" he said.

The insinuation was clear. What was Fatima doing firing up a tournament with 32,558 runners when she had a big final table ahead of her the following day?

A member of press row suggested she just dump her stack (not the PokerStars Blog, I hasten to add). Fatima said that she couldn't. Yes, you could look at it that she couldn't because, a) maybe she had a contractual obligation to play, or b) that dumping your stack just wouldn't be ethical. But I'd suggest it was, c) Fatima is simply unable to stop herself from competing. Behind the sweet smile is one of the most ferociously competitive people you're ever likely to meet. She's won gold medals at the Olympic and in the World Championships for the Netherlands. She also won a Dutch version of the Survivor TV show and was quite ruthless in doing so by all accounts. She's still in and fighting with just a few players left at this final table.

And well done to Williams, he finished 1,644th for $113.95. Not the best cash of his career though... -- RD

3.20pm: Harry Lodge eliminated in fifth place (£27,600)
Down to just 430,000 Harry Lodge moved all-in from under-the-gun with [As][Jh] and got looked up by Duncan McLellan with [Qs][10c]. The [8c][10h][6c] flop favoured the chip leader and the [3h] turn and [2d] river eliminated Lodge and gave McLellan even more chips.

Still that £27,600 will buy a lot of pints and pasta for the economics student. McLellan now has 3,700,0000. -- NW

Blinds up: 25,000/50,000, ante 5,000

3.15pm: Chip counts
For the first time in a while Team PokerStars SportStars Fatima Moreira de Melo has a workable stack but she, like everyone else, still trail Duncan McLellan.

2. Chris Jonat, United Kingdom Rational Group Staff, 840,000 (21 big blinds)
3. Duncan McLellan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 3,260,000 (82 big blinds)
4. Harry Lodge, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 525,000 (13 big blinds)
7. Richard Milne, United Kingdom, 1,090,000 (27 big blinds)
8. Fatima Moreira de Melo, Netherlands, Team PokerStars SportStar, 1,775,000 (44 big blinds)

3.10pm: Harry Lodge doubles through Duncan McLellan
It folded to Duncan McLellan in the small blind, he set Harry Lodge all-in for his final 265,000 and Lodge quickly called.

McLellan: [As][2c]
Lodge: [Ac][10h]

The [7s][Ks][Kh][Qh] flop and turn opened up the possibility of a chopped pot, but the [3c] was one of the rivers that ensured Lodge doubled up. He's still short on chips though. -- NW

3.05pm: Daniel Stacey eliminated in sixth place (£21,250)
Like London buses another elimination has come along in...

Daniel Stacey open jammed for 360,000 and for the second time today Fatima Moreira de Melo found aces at the right time. Stacey turned over [kd][7d] and was in a world of hurt. The [3c][Ah][5h] flop didn't make things any better and he was drawing dead on the [5c] turn.

The [Js] completed the board and it's another commendable performance from Stacey who finished 11th at UKIPT4 London. -- NW

3pm: Jamie O'Connor eliminated in seventh place (£15,810)
After Chris Jonat opened to 80,000, Duncan McLellan and Daniel Stacey called before Jamie O'Connor moved all-in for 595,000 total. The original raiser folded but McLellan and his monster stack did not. "He's getting a good price to call, 515,000 into 950,000," said Ike Haxton. After much tanking he called it off and after Daniel Stacey folded it was time for showdown.

McLellan: [Ad][8d]
O'Connor: [Ah][Kd]

The [3s][7d][8c] flop made it a reverse domination situation and McLellan held on the [3h] turn and [7h] river to eliminate O'Connor in seventh. Whilst McLellan is up to 3,870,000. -- NW

2.55pm: McLellan wins a monster, has over three million
The two chip leaders just clashed in a pot worth over a million chips and one that was bigger than all but the top three chip stacks.

Pre-flop Chris Jonat raised to 80,000 from the cut-off and Duncan McLellan called from the button. On the [Kd][6h][8h] flop Jonat c-bet 80,000 and McLellan made the call. On the [Jd] turn Jonat fired again, this time 120,000 and again McLellan made the call.

The flush completing [4h] completed the board and this slowed Jonat down as he checked it over to McLellan. The chip leader fired out a bet of 265,000 into 650,000. "If he's got a decent king here I think Chris has to call," said Ike Haxton in the booth. And that's what Jonat did, McLellan showed [Ah][7h] for the stone cold nuts.

After that hand McLellan now has 3,035,000 whilst Jonat slips to 1,075,000. -- NW

2.50pm: Jamie O'Connor doubles through Harry Lodge
Down to just 310,00 Jamie O'Connor shoved from under-the-gun+1 and Harry Lodge called from the big blind to put him at risk.

O'Connor: [Ah][9s]
Lodge: [Ac][5h]

The [9c][Qs][Kc][3c][6d] board gave Lodge a flush draw on the turn but it missed on the river and he's now down to 320,00 whilst O'Connor is up to 675,000. -- NW

2.45pm: Chip counts through 91 hands
It's still Duncan McLellan who leads from Chris Jonat, Richard Milne is the only other player with more than 20 big blinds, whilst Harry Lodge, Fatima Moreira de Melo, Daniel Stacey and Jamie O'Connor are all in relative trouble.

2. Chris Jonat, United Kingdom Rational Group Staff, 1,770,000 (44 big blinds)
3. Duncan McLellan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 2,225,000 (56 big blinds)
4. Harry Lodge, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 650,000 (16 big blinds)
5. Daniel Stacey, United Kingdom, 455,000 (11 big blinds)
6. Jamie O'Connor, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 410,000 (10 big blinds)
7. Richard Milne, United Kingdom, 1,065,000 (27 big blinds)
8. Fatima Moreira de Melo, Netherlands, Team PokerStars SportStar, 595,000 (15 big blinds)

2.40pm: O'Connor down to 10 big blinds
After raising pre-flop, checking the flop, check-calling a bet from Chris Jonat on the turn and then folding the river Jamie O'Connor is down to 10 big blinds. -- NW

2.30pm: Final table profiles
If you'd rather get your final table profiles in moving pictures then you can click on the video below. -- RD

2.25pm: Moreira de Melo moves in
Fatima Moreira de Melo has moved in twice in the last few hands, both times over the top of a Jamie O;Connor open. She's all but doubled her stack in the process. -- NW

2.20pm: Stacey at the double
It didn't take long for Daniel Stacey to get his stack of five big blinds over the betting line. On the very first hand on the level he moved in for 195,000 total over the top of a 80,000 open from Chris Jonat with the latter calling the extra.

Jonat: [Ac][2d]
Stacey: [Ad][10h]

The Stoke-on-Trent based player was in great shape, and he held on the [Jd][3c][5s][9d][6d] board and got a near triple up to 12 big blinds. -- NW

2.16pm: Back from the break
Players are back in their seats and action is back underway. -- NW

2.15pm: Chip counts
Over the first 69 hands Duncan McLellan has very quietly stretched out into a near one million chip lead from Chris Jonat. Daniel Stacey and Fatima Moreira de Melo are in real trouble with under 10 big blinds

2. Chris Jonat, United Kingdom Rational Group Staff, 1,415,000 (35 big blinds)
3. Duncan McLellan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 2,257,000 (35 big blinds)
4. Harry Lodge, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier,729,000 (18 big blinds)
5. Daniel Stacey, United Kingdom, 201,000 (5 big blinds)
6. Jamie O'Connor, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 780,000 (20 big blinds)
7. Richard Milne, United Kingdom, 1,220,000 (30 big blinds)
8. Fatima Moreira de Melo, Netherlands, Team PokerStars SportStar, 360,000 (9 big blinds)

Blinds up: 20,00040,000, ante 5,000

2.05pm: Jonat wins last hand before the break
"Everyone's gone, this is a big pot and they might come back to one less player," said Nick Wealthall as Chris Jonat and Jamie O'Connor tangled in a pot.

Pre-flop Jonat made it 60,00 from the hi-jack and O'Connor called from the big blind. On the [7h][9d][Kd] flop both players checked, "no one c-bet anymore," said Wealthall. On the [2c] turn Jonat put out a delayed c-bet of 75,000, O'Connor slid out a check-raise of 180,000 total, but folded when Jonat set him all-in.

The players are now on a 15 minute break, Ike Haxton will be in the commentary booth with Nick Wealthall and James Hartigan when players return. -- NW

Headed over to the tourney site to watch my boss @yvrchris take down the #ukiptiom Hoping to jump on the #ukiptlive stream some time today

— Isaac Haxton (@ikepoker) November 4, 2013

2pm: Stacey gets one through
From under-the-gun+1 Daniel Stacey moved all-in for 185,000, a little over six big blinds. "There's no way this gets through," said the commentators in the booth.

But get through it did and Stacey added 67,000 to his stack. -- NW

1.50pm: Deck change
Team PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira de Melo just noticed that the [kd] was marked so there's been a short break whilst a fresh deck is bought to the table.

Daniel Stacey with seven big blinds and de Melo with 15 big blinds are the two shortest stacks. -- NW

1.45pm: McLellan reclaims the chip lead
A medium sized pot just played out between Chris Jonat and Duncan McLellan with the latter taking it down to take the chip lead.

Pre-flop Jonat made it 60,000 from the cut-off, McLellan made it 150,000 from the hi-jack and Jonat made the call. Both players checked the [Ac][Qh][7h] flop and the [Kh] rolled off on the turn. First to act Jonat bet 140,000 and McLellan made the call. The [5s] completed the board, both players checked and McLellan showed [Kd][Qd] for two pair. "He's got to bet the river there," said Nick Wealthall in the commentary booth. -- NW

1.40pm: Chip counts
Thanks to that knockout Richard Milne is the new chip leader, but it's still tight at the top with eight big blinds separating the top four stacks.

2. Chris Jonat, United Kingdom Rational Group Staff, 1,196,000 (40 big blinds)
3. Duncan McLellan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 1,320,000 (44 big blinds)
4. Harry Lodge, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 882,000 (29 big blinds)
5. Daniel Stacey, United Kingdom, 327,000 (11 big blinds)
6. Jamie O'Connor, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 1,349,000 (45 big blinds)
7. Richard Milne, United Kingdom, 1,447,000 (48 big blinds)
8. Fatima Moreira de Melo, Netherlands, Team PokerStars SportStar, 647,000 (22 big blinds)

1.35pm: Adam Topping eliminated in eighth place (£11,455)
We've just had the first exit from the final table and it was, surprisingly, the two quietest players (according to Nick Wealthall) who played it.

From under-the-gun+2 Richard Milne opened to 60,000, Adam Topping moved all-in for 498,000 from the cut-off and although Chris Jonat looked interested he folded but Milne made the call.

Milne: [As][Ks]
Topping: [Ac][Qd]

It was all over by the turn of a [7s][6h][Js][9s][3s] board, Topping is out in eighth, winning £11,455, whilst Milne is now chip leader with 1,447.000. -- NW

1.30pm: How (not) to play a UKIPT
Brad Willis, the head honcho of the PokerStars Blog, has been looking around both the Isle of Man and the UKIPT this week. Here managed to find himself some time to play a couple of tournaments, too. Find out how (not) to play a UKIPT here. -- RD

1.30pm: O'Connor takes the chip lead
Sound the five-bet pot klaxon and shake the dust off it whilst you're at it...

Harry Lodge opened to 60,000 from the hi-jack, Jamie O'Connor three-bet to 120,000, Lodge popped it to 245,000 and O'Connor moved all-in. He was the covering stack. "Let the face saving tank commence," noted Nick Wealthall in the booth.

The student from Exeter tanked for a few minutes before folding and O'Connor took the chip lead with that pot. But not for long as the very next hand they went at it again, Lodge opened to 60,000, O'Connor three-bet to 120,000, Lodge four-bet to 245,000 and this time O'Connor folded. -- NW

1.20pm: Chip counts
Chris Jonat has taken the chip lead, the head of Team Online is up to 1,273,000 but it's still close at the top with five players within nine big blinds of him.

1. Adam Topping, United Kingdom PokerStars Qualifier, 438,000 (15 big blinds)
2. Chris Jonat, United Kingdom Rational Group Staff, 1,273,000 (42 big blinds)
3. Duncan McLellan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 1,183,000 (39 big blinds)
4. Harry Lodge, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 1,007,000 (34 big blinds)
5. Daniel Stacey, United Kingdom, 387,000 (13 big blinds)
6. Jamie O'Connor, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 1,224,000 (41 big blinds)
7. Richard Milne, United Kingdom, 1,009,000 (34 big blinds)
8. Fatima Moreira de Melo, Netherlands, Team PokerStars SportStar, 647,000 (22 big blinds)

1.17pm: Daniel Stacey shoves twice
With less than 10 big blinds Daniel Stacey only has the one move and he's used it twice. Both times he got it through and scooped the blinds and antes. - NW

1.15pm: A fabulous setting
The Villa Marina makes for a great poker venue. It really does. There are well maintained wooden floors, a high domed ceiling, one that would give anyone with vertigo cause to shudder if forced to climb a ladder to attach a disco ball, piñata or 'Class of 78' banner, and plush theatre seats around the edge of the room, both in the tiered stalls and dress circle. It really is a fine space for a UKIPT as hundreds of players have found this last week.

There are four rows of seats just below the stage and another couple on the stage. Many of those seats are getting filled up and we can expect those to continue to fill up as the day goes on, particularly if Chris Jonat or Fatima Moreira de Melo make the final few spots - there are a lot of PokerStars people in the Isle of Man. -- RD

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

1.05pm: Fatima Moreira de Melo doubles through Daniel Stacey
From under-the-gun Fatima Moreira de Melo moved all-in for 341,000, Daniel Stacey made the call from the button, both blinds folded and it was time for showdown.

Moreira de Melo: [Ac][Ah]
Stacey: [As][Jh]

Moreira de Melo was a 92% favourite to double up and she did just that on the [2s][9d][10d][Ad][Qs] board. She's up to 742,000 and Stacey is down to 253,000. -- NW

12.50pm: Release the all-in triangle
The all-in triangle just made its first appearance at the final table here's how...

Harry Lodge opened pre-flop from the hi-jack, Daniel Stacey three-bet from the cut-off and when it folded back to Lodge he smooth called.

On the [5s][3s][Qs] flop Lodge checked to Stacey he bet 112,000 and Lodge made the call. The [3c] hit the turn and both players checked to see a fourth spade, the [8s] to be exact, complete the board. First to act Lodge bet 85,000. "I really like this bet if it's to induce a bluff from Stacey," said Wealthall. After about a minutes thought Stacey made it 180,000 total and Lodge went into the tank. After a minute or so Lodge moved all-in for 440,000 total, but no sooner had the all-in triangle made an appearance then Stacey mucked his hand. After that hand Lodge is up to 1,114,000 and Stacey is down to 591,000. -- NW

12.35pm: Lodge gets a lift
Harry Lodge was the second shortest stack with just 19 big blinds, he min-raised from under-the-gun and Duncan McLellan defended from the big blind. The [7h][2d][Ah] flop was checked through and the [Ah] landed on the turn. McLellan led and Lodge made the call. The [10h] completed the board and McLellan led for 100,000. "I think Lodge has a hand as he checked the flop," said Nick Wealthall in the booth. "As for McLellan he's uncapped, your guess is as good as mine." Eventually Lodge called and McLellan insta-mucked his hand so we'll never know what either player had. After that hand Lodge is up to 708,000. -- NW

12.25pm: Chip counts
Duncan McLellan has taken the chip lead but it's incredibly tight at the top with the top three separated by just three big blinds.

1. Adam Topping, United Kingdom PokerStars Qualifier, 518,000 (22 big blinds)
2. Chris Jonat, United Kingdom Rational Group Staff, 1,293,000 (54 big blinds)
3. Duncan McLellan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 1,328,000 (55 big blinds)
4. Harry Lodge, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 447,000 (19 big blinds)
6. Daniel Stacey, United Kingdom, 1,032,000 (43 big blinds)
7. Jamie O'Connor, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 1,236,000 (52 big blinds)
8. Richard Milne, United Kingdom, 958,000 (40 big blinds)
9. Fatima Moreira de Melo, Netherlands, Team PokerStars SportStar, 356,000 (15 big blinds)

12.25pm: Jonat takes one from Stacey
Chris Jonat raised it up from the cut-off and Daniel Stacey defended from the big blind. On the [4s][Kc][4h] flop Jonat c-bet 60,000 and Stacey called. "He showed yesterday that he's quite capable of floating the flop out of position with no hand," said Nick Wealthall in the booth.

Both players checked the [7h] turn, the [Jc] river completed the board and Stacey led for 85,000. "I think Jonat should call with ace high here," said Wealthall. Jonat did call and he had better than ace high as he showed [Jd][10d] for one pair and it was good. -- NW

12.15pm: O'Connor gets some revenge
Yesterday Duncan McLellan bluffed Jamie O'Connor off a huge pot with the ol' [3h][2h] and O'Connor just got some revenge in the first pot that made it to the river.
McLellan made it 63,000 from the cut-off, O'Connor flat called from the big blind and the two of them took a [8d][4s][3h] flop. It checked to McLellan he bet 74,000 and O'Connor made the call. The [2c] turn was checked through and the [4d] completed the board. First to act O'Connor led for 100,000, McLellan folded and O'Connor showed [7][6] as he took the pot. -- NW

12.10pm: First orbit passes without major incident or showdown
We're now eight hands into the final table and there's been little action of note thus far. There's only been two flops but no hand has made it to fourth street.

The most active player has been Duncan McLellan he's dragged three pots and as such has taken the chip lead as he's up to 1,322,000.

Chris Jonat, Daniel Stacey and Adam Topping have also won pots during the first orbit. - NW

12.01pm: Play is underway
Cards are in the air on time!! -- NW

12pm: Meet your final table

Seat 1. Adam Topping, United Kingdom (PokerStars Qualifier): 676,000
This final table appearance already represents 22 year old Adam Topping's biggest live tournament cash. The semi-pro has been playing live poker in and around his native
Manchester for the past three years, sticking to No-Limit Hold'em for the most part. He won his seat into the UKIPT Main Event in a satellite on PokerStars, meaning that for a self-described "bankroll nit" it's been worth venturing out to the Isle of Man. He added that, "with all the pros playing" it was a must-visit stop and is looking forward to his first final on the tour.

Seat 2. Chris Jonat, United Kingdom (Rational Group Staff): 952,000
Chris Jonat, who manages Team PokerStars Online, is the last remaining Rational Group staff member left in the UKIPT Isle of Man Main Event. The 43-year-old lives in the Isle of Man but originally hails from Vancouver, Canada where he played bass in a band (The Clumsy Lovers) and played online cash games attaining the VIP level of Supernova Elite before getting the call from PokerStars to help run the VIP Club programme. Jonat's wife runs a website and has a book coming out in April 2014. He says that win or lose, he's "really happy that they allowed us to play here."

Seat 3. Duncan McLellan, United Kingdom (PokerStars Qualifier): 1,161,000
Full-time bricklayer Duncan McLellan has been laying some solid foundations in this Main Event. The 49-year-old from Corby, Northamptonshire was 12th in chips at the end of Day 1 and a runaway chip leader coming into Day 3. He twice showed enormous bluffs at the final table, including in a monster pot against Jamie O'Connor for his tournament life. McLellan has a lot of heart and could create fireworks tomorrow, adding to his string of cashes (mainly in Nottingham) in the last two years.

Seat 4. Harry Lodge, United Kingdom (PokerStars Qualifier): 569,000
Harry Lodge is currently studying Economics at Exeter University. He started playing poker - for £2 - at boarding school with friends. He decided that he wanted to improve his play and began reading up on poker. As soon as he turned 18, Harry started playing online. This stop is only Harry's second UKIPT and when asked what he thought about the possibility of winning the UKIPT Isle of Man title, he modestly declined to even think about that possibility. No matter which position he finishes in tomorrow - the UKIPT Isle of Man will be his biggest cash to date.

Seat 5: Daniel Stacey, United Kingdom: 1,087,000
Daniel Stacey is a 23-year-old professional poker player from Stoke-on-Trent who won his seat in the Isle of Man Main Event in a Full Tilt Poker Last Longer at UKIPT London last month. He finished 11th there (winning himself £8,480 in the process) and is now guaranteed at least another £11,455. He's had success online, too, finishing fourth in the Sunday Million under the username 'Noobladonk'. He plays Omaha Zoom when not playing tournaments. Should he win, buying a house would be the first thing on his mind, but says that, come what may, "It's been a good tournament."

Seat 6: Jamie O'Connor, United Kingdom (PokerStars Qualifier): 1,243,000
Jamie O'Connor is a 24 year-old professional poker player from Leeds. He's been playing poker for six years, having picked it up from watching his Dad play. O'Connor or "Boz" as he's known to his friends, mainly grinds online tournaments with his biggest online win being worth $20,000. O'Connor has had live success as well having won a tournmanent for £45,760 at the back end of last year. However with this result, he already plans to play the next UKIPT in Nottingham in a few weeks. O'Connor travelled here with Simon Deadman, Jonathan Salfi and Oliver Cooper, all of whom played this event and will be hoping to rail him to victory tomorrow.

Seat 7: Richard Milne, United Kingdom: 956,000
Richard Milne has caused tournament reporters to scratch their heads at live events (such as UKIPT Marbella where he cashed for €1,760) because his name has appeared twice in player lists. This is because he often travels with his father, also Richard Milne. Both played this Main Event. The 26-year-old semi-pro has gone much further than his dad here and is already guaranteed his biggest cash. Milne normally focuses on Zoom cash games, but has been known to tackle a tournament Sunday or two, as well as a regular vacation to Las Vegas. Should he take top honours here he says he'll play all UKIPT stops next year.

Seat 8: Fatima Moreira de Melo, Netherlands (PokerStars SportStar): 524,000
PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira de Melo has time booked in the UKIPTLive commentary booth tomorrow but a reschedule may be on the cards. Moreira de Melo, from Rotterdam, is one of Holland's best known field hockey players, and an Olympic gold medalist to boot. She played as part of the team that took gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won a bronze medal at the Sydney games in 2000, and silver in 2004 in Athens. She's since turned her hand to the sport of poker, banking more than $100,000 in live tournament cashes around the globe. Moreira de Melo would be a hugely popular winner with the international poker community.

11:40pm: Final table set
First of all, you should read last night's wrap of the action. That will get you up to speed with how the final table was set. Jamie O'Connor may be leading but it's not by much. Five players are well stacked and the other three aren't actually too far behind. It should be a fascinating day of poker. You can watch the action streamed here.

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Isle of Man: Rick Dacey and Nick Wright. Photos by Rene Velli.

I have an admission I must make: I was wrong about the Isle of Man.

I've had a long association with PokerStars, and when people have asked me what's on the island, my response has always been the same.

"The Isle of Man has three things: sheep, the TT motorcycle race, and PokerStars," I'd say.

In the past week I've learned that's a lot like looking in the sky and saying, "It has a moon."

I don't like to be wrong, but I'm happy to admit when I am. This is one of those times.

Rob, the driver who picked me up from the airport Wednesday night, thought he knew me when I got off the plane.

"Ah, Brad!" he said. "I've picked you up before, I think."

I felt bad telling him he hadn't, but it didn't matter, because we hadn't driven five kilometers before he was treating me like an old friend, sharing golfing stories, and talking about taking his mother shopping the next morning. Twenty-five minutes later, he said, "If you need anything at all, just call me."

I should've known then that I was going to like the Isle of Man.

I'm not a big city guy. I love to visit them. I love action. I love big experiences, but at my heart, I'm a small town guy. I feel at home in places where people know each other.

The Isle of Man has fewer than 84,000 people and only four main areas of commerce. You can drive from one end of the island to another in an hour if you want to. To get here, you have to fly through bumpy air over the Irish Sea in a small prop plane. To be here, you have to want to be here, and the Isle of Man does a very good job of making people like me want to walk its streets.

In the six days I've been in Douglas, I've bought my coffee from the same guy. A bartender recommended a different bar he thought I'd enjoy. A guy I rivered in a cash game approached me at the cage to congratulate me and let me know he was happy for us both winning some money. PokerStars employees loaned me British currency, bought me dinner, and gave me rides around town. Countless more locals offered to show me new things, invited me to their homes, and made me feel less like I was in a foreign place and more like I was coming back home. Much like Rob the taxi driver, it wasn't long before new friends felt like old ones.

This was also my first visit to a UKIPT event. I've written for years about how they are affordable festivals with a big-money feel, but I'd not experienced just how true that was until this week. The festival and its staff are as professional as any $10,000 buy-in series I've seen. I enjoyed the brief time I got to play here, and I'd be exceptionally happy to play some more someday.

I was treated with the same kind of friendly professionalism when I got a chance to visit the PokerStars office. Though I've been writing for the PokerStars Blog since 2005, this was the first time I'd met a lot of longtime PokerStars employees. They made me feel like a celebrity when I was here, which I have to assume is how they treat everybody. I knew they were good people, but I didn't know how good until this week.

That's all a long way of saying, again, I was wrong about this place. Yes, the weather can be ridiculous. Sideways rain isn't an event any more than lunch is. It feels like the wind is always blowing. It's a little chilly, and sometimes downright cold. But, unlike what I might have told people another time, the Isle of Man is a lot more than that. It's real people with genuine hearts who take an understandable and deserved pride in the place they call home.

A week was not nearly long enough to get to know this place properly. There was much I wanted to do and see that I simply couldn't fit in the schedule. The good thing is, I feel like I'd be welcomed back any time.

I have an early flight tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to going home, but I'll have a lot of fond memories from my time here in Douglas, and I hope this event comes back so I can do this again next year.

I'm not sure which cab driver will pick me up in the morning, but I sort of hope it's Rob.

After all, we're old friends now.

Previous stories

Isle of Man: Three feet to stand on
How to get a job at PokerStars (Version: Delicate)
At least you're not dead
In the belly of the beast: The PokerStars Data Center
Fanning the flames of conspiracy
PokerStars' real and virtual bodyguards
Poker evangelist, Lee Jones
When the stars come out in Douglas
Helping Hands at PokerStars
How (not) to play a UKIPT poker tournament
Matthew Robins, PokerStars' watchdog

Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging

Duncan McLellan today won the UKIPT Isle of Man Main Event beating international hockey legend and PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira de Melo to claim the title and £94,090. It took four days for the PokerStars online qualifier McLellan, a 49-year old builder from Corby Northampton, to win the fourth leg of Season 4 of the United Kingdom and Ireland Poker Tour, topping a field of 379 on the home ground of PokerStars HQ. Olympic hockey legend Moreira de Melo's runner-up spot won her £59,660.

McLellan played a big and bold style of poker throughout the tournament, switching between shunting large stacks of chips with the nuts or with complete air. At yesterday's TV table he twice revealed two huge moves. "I ran some big bluffs yesterday to try to set the scene for today. The idea was to use my reputation and play tighter today to play some proper poker," he said.

It's hard to fault the tactic and McLellan understandably looked thrilled to have spun his £200 online qualification into £94,090 and a UKIPT title.

"Everyone here from PokerStars has been so friendly. It's been a great weekend. I'm playing Nottingham for sure and I'm thinking about a jump to Prague (for the EPT) in December," said McLellan.

How it played out
The final table always looked like it might warm up slowly given a fairly equal distribution of chip stacks. It took 46 hands before Andrew Topping was toppled in 8th place: his [ac][qd] no good against Richard Milne's [as][ks].

By this point, the shortest starting stack of the day, Moreira de Melo, had already doubled up with aces through Daniel Stacey. Stacey and Jamie O'Connor had looked like two of the brightest talents in the latter stages, but today did not go as planned for either of them and both found themselves short. O'Connor went first in seventh (£15,810), a disappointing return on coming in today with the chip lead. He brutally lost out with [ah][kd] against McLellan's [ad][8d] all-in pre-flop.

Stacey followed just two hands later in sixth (£21,250) after running into the aces of Moreira de Melo for the second time in as many hours. Both Stacey and O'Connor would have hoped for a higher finish, but both should be proud of their final table achievements. On a different day, either could have won.

Harry Lodge, the treasurer of the Exeter University Poker Society, went the tend hands after that for £27,600, which should go a long, long way at The Ram Bar campus watering hole. Lodge played a solid game buy just couldn't manage to get his ace-jack to hold against McLellan's queen-ten. Three players bust in the space of 12 hands.

Then there were four
McLellan then pulled ahead by winning a huge pot for a quarter of the chips in play. He picked off a gutsy bluff from Chris Jonat, who works for PokerStars here on the Isle of Man managing Team PokerStars Online. Jonat was representing a straight, but McLellan had one himself. Jonat's short-stacked [kc][js] shove was called by McLellan moments later with with [as][qd] and held. All credit to Jonat, the former Supernova Elite outlasted colleagues and his stable of online grinders to book a very creditable fourth place (£34,870).

"I'll have to get some massive poster to put up over my desk and wear a crown around the office for a couple of days or something. I'm still Canadian so I'm not that good at bragging, but it's been fun to go this far for sure," said Jonat.

The general bonhomie of both PokerStars staff and Manx players during the event has been warming. If you were ever in doubt that PokerStars people love the game then you should have stuck your head in at the Villa Marina. They really love the game. We are poker indeed.

Deal negotiations started then quickly stalled three-handed. Richard Milne (700,000) was significantly shorter than Moreira de Melo (1,600,000) and the Dutchwoman was a long way behind McLellan (5,130,000). The refusal of the deal seemed to work out for the bigger stacks as Milne went soon after with [ks][5c] to Moreira de Melo's pocket queens leaving a tighter two-to-one heads-up showdown.

The heads-up opponents were responsible for six of today's seven eliminations; two for Moreira de Melo and three for McLellan. It had been quite the demolition job. The first big pot went to McLellan to further swing the title towards the recreational Northamptonshire player. Moreira de Melo made a chunky bet with [ks][js] on the river of a [7c][7s][2h][ad][6c] board and McLellan called with [8c][6c]. If a blank had come would McLellan have blasted the pot? Would Moreira have called with king-high? It's an interesting one to ponder. As it was McLellan took a dominating lead again and won the ensuing flip, his [ah][td] flopping Broadway against Moreira de Melo's pocket fives.

Moreira de Melo is a fiercely competitive spirit and she's adapted incredibly well from grass (or astroturf) to baize. She started the day the shortest stack and said that this morning she would have told herself, "Fourth would be nice. To run it up to second is a dream come true."

Second place is something that Moreira de Melo didn't handle well in her hockey days. Has poker mellowed her?

"It used to never be good enough for me. When I was playing field hockey we lost the final to Germany in 2004 at the Olympics and we were devastated. Now I'm playing poker I've been thinking more in terms of percentages and I can deal with loss way better than when I was an active hockey player. Whenever I've made the right decisions I can deal with the loss way better."

The £59,660 runner-up prize is the largest of Moreira de Melo's career. She was one card away from elimination two days ago. It has been quite the rollercoaster.

"It's been incredible. The local people and PokerStars staff here have been so incredibly supportive. When I doubled up with aces I got this huge applause, it felt like I was playing in front of a home crowd. It almost got me emotional," she said.

It has been emotional. Join us next time at the UKIPT Nottingham six-max 27 November - 2 December. Qualifiers are running online now for as little as £1.10. McLellan qualified online. Could you?

Check out how it all played out today. And you can check all the play here. You should also read some of the fantastic behind-the-scenes coverage from Brad Willis, Head of Blogging.

Rick Dacey is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog. Photos by Rene Velli.