5.25pm:Half a dozen down
That's the end of level six, you'll find level seven updates in a new post.
5.15pm:Exits
Some of the players who've exited in the opening six levels of play include: Edvinas Gruzdas, Simon Lynas, Chaminda Tennakoon, Alexander Zeugman, Dhanak Vishal, Vitaliy Baklikov and Vasile Scutaru.
BLINDS UP: 200 -400 ante 50
4.55pm:Registration is closed
Registration was open until the start of level five and floor staff have just confirmed to me that the total number of runners today is 216. Around 21 players have been eliminated thus far, tournament staff have been manually putting together a seat draw for me so I'll be able to put names to the numbered ID cards I have in front of me.
4.40pm:Poulengeris busts
Tony Poulengeris was one of the more interesting characters in the field, having won £1,000,000 on roulette back in 2007. That piqued his interest in poker and he final tabled UKIPT Edinburgh in Season 2.
I say was because I got to his table just in time to see him bust out of this tournament. A full board of [7d][10s][4d][4c][Qs], Poulengeris showed [Qd][10h] for two pair, but Edward Thompson had pocket aces for a better two pair. "I hated that four on the turn," said Poulengeris before wishing everyone at the table good luck.
I had a talk to Thompson after the hand and he told me 1,500 went in pre-flop, 4,000 on the flop and then the rest - about 14,000 - on the turn.
BLINDS UP: 150 -300 ante 25
4.06pm:Break
The players are now on a 20 minute break.
4pm: Chip counts
As the fourth level comes to an end here's a look at a few chip counts from around the room: James Tomlin (24,800), Mark McCluskey (29,700), Tim Slater (25,000) and Willie Tann (16,000).
3.45pm: Twitterverse
Quite a few of the players are tweeting updates, anyone playing can do so using the #UKIPTSeries...here's a selection to give you a flavour of what's happening here at The Hippodrome.
@pokerstars i lost 4k chips vs a guy that wasnt sitting at the table when cards were dealt... Refunds to Cinarockey please #ukiptseries
— Cina (@CinaRocket) June 28, 2013
Table is not soft just very very bad, huge pots, 6x opens .. Re raises 5 x in a 2 day comp lol #UKIPTSeries
— Ali Zihni (@AliZihni) June 28, 2013
2nd level played 2 hands flopped str8 n trips up to 25,800 #UKIPTseries
— Ricardo Campanario (@Rikkadu) June 28, 2013
BLINDS UP: 100 -200 ante 25
3.30pm: Value check
One of the more familiar faces in the field today is Dom Kay. Way back in September 2007 he final tabled the first ever WSOPE, finishing sixth as Annette Obrestad swept all before her.
Since then he's had a few five figure scores and had a couple of semi-deep runs in the UKIPT, I reached his table to see him tanking over a river decision in an 8,000 chip pot. Eventually he elected to check, his opponent turned over [8h][7h] for just eight high, whilst Kay showed [5h][4h] for fourth pair. "I was thinking about bluffing," said Kay. "Turns out it would've been with the best hand."
3.15pm: Alternates
During the first three levels 10 players have been eliminated, their seats being swiftly filled by an alternate.
One player who's still in is UKIPT host Nick Wealthall, I overheard him chatting to the two players to his right, catching snippets of the conversation. "800 big blinds...1000 euros...within the first hour..." further investigation revealed Wealthall was telling a story about a hand he witnessed at UKIPT Marbella, an event he recently played in. "The best bit was the confidence with which he shoved 800 big blinds thinking top pair was good," continued Wealthall.
The player to his right is Sam Goodman and he's an early contender for chip leader as he's doubled his stack to 40,000 already. He told me he flopped a set of aces against an opponent holding ace-king and managed to stack him. However, Wealthall has dropped to 15,000. "They've upped the stacks to 20,000 from 15,000, this is my way of protesting," he said tongue firmly in cheek.
They increased the starting stack in @UKIPTs from 15k to 20k this year. I'm against it so I've shedded the 5k extra chips ON PURPOSE
— Nick Wealthall (@nickwealthall) June 28, 2013
BLINDS UP: 75 -150
2.45pm: Faces
A perusal of the player list that I've been sent combined with a gentle stroll round the card room has unearthed the following names and notables in today's field: UKIPT2 Newcastle fifth place finisher Tim Slater, UKIPT host Nick Wealthall, Dom Kay, Willie Tann, UKIPT3 Bristol runner-up James Greenwood, Dan Edler, Luke Bird and Mark McCluskey.
I'll be keeping an eye on their progress throughout the day.
BLINDS UP: 50 -100
2.30pm: Cards in the air
Apologies for the lack of updates, a few technical difficulties made accessing the blog difficult.
Now that I can though I can tell you that cards are in the air and it's a near sell out here at The Hippodrome. A total of 190 players are currently registered there's 14 tables in use in the theater area and an additional seven upstairs in the permanent poker room. No cries of seat open just yet and if you fancy a go yourself late registration is open to the start of level five.
2pm: Welcome to the UKIPT Series 2
It's a little like Glastonbury here at the UKIPT Series 2: there's a big crowd of people gathered together in a small space, but the good news is there's significantly less mud and the only pyramid people will be looking for is in terms of structurally sounds stack of chips. Yes, hello and welcome to the second UKIPT Series event. I'll be supplying you with live coverage from the PokerStars LIVE poker room at the Hippodrome Casino in London's West End. Back in April, the first £275 UKIPT Series event attracted 343 runners and some 'unknown' by the name of Jake Cody topped the field. The Team PokerStars Pro collected £19,400 for the win after defeating Lydia Cudduga heads-up.
The Triple Crown winner is clearly a fan of the event: "The UKIPT is a great platform for anyone looking to jump into live poker and the UKIPT Series is a great taster for a lower buy-in. You get to play against pros in a great atmosphere and you can qualify online for a fraction of the buy-in," said Cody after winning last time out.
But, he won't be here to defend his title as he's bracelet hunting at the WSOP in Las Vegas. That's even more reason to get involved. That's if you can, with a cap of 400 it's very possible that this event will sell out and it's not hard to see why. For your money you'll receive a 20,000 starting stack with an identical structure to the UKIPT Main Events. The only difference is levels are 30 minutes instead of 60; the plan today will be to play 12 of them. With a break of 15 minutes every two hours that should take us to around 9.30pm. Stay right here for all the action and back up our coverage with the usual social media channels. Get involved on Twitter by ending your tweet with #UKIPTSeries or head to the UKIPT Facebook page and let us know who you want us to follow. Cards will be in the air shortly.
Photos copyright of Neil Stoddart.