9pm: Done for the day
It looks as if 24 players have made it through to Day 2 from the 61 who started today. That means the average stack is 50,900, a man with way more than that is local cash game player Mitch Johnson. He's bagged up 171,500, the story on how that happened and much more will be in the end of day wrap. That'll be on its way shortly and we'll upload overnight chip counts to the blog as and when we receive them.
We'll be back tomorrow for Day 1B from noon. -- NW
8.55pm: Boeree bounced at the death
Just a few hands from the end of the day Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree was eliminated from the tournament,
She opened under-the-gun with ace-queen suited, Adam Reynolds three-bet to 4,200 with pocket queens, Boeree shoved for around 18,500 and Reynolds called. There was no ace or flush on the board for Boeree and she was out.
Meanwhile that boost to around 93,000 mean Reynolds will be second in the overnight chip counts.
8.45pm: Last three hands
The clock has been paused and they'll be three more hands before play ends for the day. -- NW
8.40pm: Johnson bossing it
Mitch Johnson has in his own words, "got the lot now." He has indeed as he's up to 150,000 after eliminating Kyriacos 'Greek Jack' Dionysiou in a near 100,000 chip pot.
Pre-flop Dionysiou raised to 2,000 from the button with [K][J] off-suit and then called when Johnson three-bet from the small blind with [Q][7]. The flop fell [q][10][3] with two hearts and I'll let Johnson take up the story. "I checked, he shoved for about four times the pot, I called and held." -- NW
8.25pm: This dealer is not a bricklayer
A huge hat tip to Rich Prew of BlondePoker for relaying the information on what has to be the largest and frostiest pot of the day so far.
David Manning raised it up, Kevin Smith three-bet, John Bousfield called and Manning did likewise. A tasty looking [K][Q][J] rainbow flop hit the felt. In a flurry of bets the chips flew in, Smith was all-in first, Bousfield re-shoved and Manning, the shortest stack of the three was the last to get his chips across the line. The reason for all the action soon became clear when the cards were turned over.
Smith: [J][J]
Bousfield: [Q][Q]
Manning: [10][9]
Wowsers. The turn and river didn't alter the scheme of things and meant Manning trebled up to 48,000, Bousfield won the side pot, which at 60,000, was bigger than the main pot and Smith was eliminated.
That one's going to sting for a while. -- NW
8.15pm: Down to 30
Just 30 of the 61 players who started today remain with Joshua Hart the latest to exit. He moved all-in for around 15,000 with pocket fours over the top of Barkatul Mohammed's open. The latter called with [Ah][Qh] and got there, eventually, on the [3s][5d][Jd][10s][Kc] board to climb to 38,000.
There's 30 minutes left in the day. -- NW
8.05pm: Simon Trumper on six-max tournaments
Simon Trumper, who's Dusk Till Dawn's Director of Live Poker was kind enough to give me his thoughts on the subtle differences between six-max and full-ring tournaments in terms of the pace of the tournament. "The average stack should be higher throughout as players go out quicker," he said. "For instance with this structure we'd expect to lose 50% of the players in the first eight levels. But I expect we'll finish with less than 30 players tonight."
So if we can take any lesson from that, it's don't bet against Simon Trumper in any under/over bets to do with numbers of runners. -- NW
Blinds up: 400/800, ante 100
7.50pm: Thew floored
The latest player to exit the main event is EPT4 Baden champion Julian Thew. According to Adam Reynolds, Thew open shoved for around 20 big blinds with K-J, Reynolds isolated with nines and the pair held up. He's up to roughly 55,000.
37 players left.
7.45pm: Pot to Vinson, Vinson, Vinson, Vinson, Vinson and Vinson
As reported earlier Ben Vinson leads the main event. Watch him play for a few minutes and it becomes obvious why.
From the button he bet 1,300 but got no takers. Then from the cut off he again made it 1,300, but got no action. He did the same from the hijack as the others at his table flinched. This continued until he was under-the-gun, at which point he paused slightly before betting, but the result was the same.
Everything changed though when he was in the big blind. This time he didn't even have to reach for his chips to win the pot, being given a walk instead.
Now in the small blind he tried something new, limping against David Manning in the big blind. When the flop came [3h][td][ks] he bet his standard 1,300. Manning folded immediately. On the seventh hand, back on the button, he rested. - SB
7.40pm: Exits
There have been five exits thus far in level seven including last year's runner-up Iqbal Ahmed. The five who are alive no longer are: Jamie O Connor, Marios Arkadiou, Iqbal Ahmed, Matthew Gray and Nick Jenkins. -- NW
7.25pm: Three times a lady
Although roughly 33% of the field has been eliminated thus far, all three females that started today are still alive. Tamara King has 36,100, Renee Xie has 26,000 and Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree has 22,000.
That is somewhat less than she started level seven with, Julian Thew, who's at the same table now has 30,000 which is double what he started level seven with. The two may well be connected. -- NW
7.15pm: No value in the High Roller, everybody's solid
A well known tournament titan, both live and online who'll remain nameless, was leaning at the cash desk, I suspected to buy-in to the High Roller. "No mate, I'm smarter than that," he said to me. "Have you seen the field, there's like two spots in it."
The man may well have a point, there's currently 30 players registered and here's some of the names already in: Mickey Petersen, Dermot Blain, Jake Cody, Chris Brammer, David Vamplew, Dominik Nitsche, JP Kelly, Rob Yong, Craig McCorkell, Ian Simpson, Matt Moss, Mick Graydon, Ross Logie and Jon Spinks. Oh and if that wasn't enough Tom Middleton and Paul Foltyn have just shown up. -- NW
7pm: Vinson leads
He may have faced setbacks earlier in the day but Ben Vinson has spent the rest of the afternoon putting that right.
Chip leader Ben Vinson
He leads the main event going into level 7 with a stack of 84,000, which is some way ahead of the next best, David Clifton-Burraway, with 65,500. He's followed by Mitchell Johnson on 61,000
Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree, who admitted earlier that six-max allows her to loosen up, is proving her point with a stack of 57,000 while the early leader David Burghardt has slipped a little, but still plays 50,000.
For all the chip counts so far, check out the chip count page. - SB
6.50pm: Back at it
The 43 remaining players are now back in their seats and will play two more levels until bagging and tagging their chips. We'll have chip counts of everyone left in for you veyr soon. -- NW
Blinds up: 300/600, ante 75
6.25pm: Living like a King
Tamara King remains enthroned at the end of her table. Limping from the small blind Iqbal Ahmed thought he'd have a go at snatching that. Instead King fired back with a three-bet, to which Ahmed immediately folded.
Her former rival Renee Xie, now at a different table, was enjoying a different type of hand, the precarious type whereby you bemoan your own situation without actually taking part.
She'd just folded ace-jack after Weswell Ellis and Scott Murdoch-Aitchison got their chips in with ace-jack and ace-king respectively. She was still in two minds as to whether she should have acted differently as the flop came [6h][th][7s]. Then followed [3d] and [9d] on the turn and river.
With the stacks counted it was a double up worth nearly 22,000 for Murdoch-Aitchison. Ellis meanwhile dropped to 17,000. - SB
6.15pm: Chip counts
There's a near two-way tie at the top of the leader board as Phil Hepburn (64,000) is just a couple of big blinds ahead of Mitch Johnson (63,000). Other players still in include:
Liv Boeree - 51,600
Julian Thew - 9,800
David Clifton-Burraway - 48,000
Dave Jones - 34,000
Kyriacos Dionysiou - 15,400
David Burghardt - 50,500
Iqbal Ahmed - 22,500
Ben Dobson - 16,300
Ben Vinson - 47,000
Jamie O'Connor - 24,000
6.10pm: More exits
It's the end of the road for Andrew Wayman, after a raise to 1,000 from Daniel Tighe, he moved all-in from 1,175 from the button. Before the next player could act, Tighe pointed out that Wayman's all-in was an under raise so the other players could just call and he'd not be able to raise. Wayman, understandably felt this breach of etiquette was a little bit out of order. But no matter as Daniel Shapiro three-bet to 3,500 from the small blind and everyone else got out of the way.
Wayman: [Ah][7h]
Shapiro: [Qc][Qh]
The [6d][9d][2s][qd][4c] board sent Wayman to the rail and he shook hands with his opponents as he exited.
And Liam Kitchen is also out, he ran jacks into the aces of Philip Hepburn, the latter is up to 64,000 and the probable chip leader. -- NW
5.55pm: Pigott on parade
If you don't have the chips to boss people around, at least look the part. Liam Pigott did this, betting 950 in the cut off before leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. Barkatul Mohammed called on the button as did Konstantin Puchkov look-a-like Kyriacos Dionysiou in the big blind.
On the flop of [9h][ks][kc] the action was checked to the turn, a [3c]. Still looking the picture of ambivalence Pigott bet 800, which Mohammed called before Dionysiou folded. It brought up the river card [jc]. Again, breaking free from his crossed arm position, Pigott bet a last 1,300. This at least raised the eyebrows of Mohammed, who thought, then passed.
Pigott may have a motive, wishing to make it clear as he changed table, of what's in store for his new opponents. His seat previously belonged to David Rawnsley (see below). -- SB
5.45pm: Exits
As level six gets underway just 47 players remain, including David Hawksworth and Phil Pritchard. Neil Rawnsley the latest to exit. Rawnsley said: "My opponent outplayed me and induced me to shove with sevens, he had queens."
Blinds up: 200/400, ante 50
5.30pm: Chip leaders
Whilst David Burghardt still leads, he's got a couple of players closing in on his stack of 60,000. Second in chips right now appears to be David Clifton-Burraway, who has a stack of 54,000. Philip Hepburn is likely in third place with around 41,000, which he got to by winning a three way pot...
From under-the-gun Liam Kitchen made it 750 to play, Ben Vinson called from the button and Hepburn did likewise from the big blind. On the [6d][6s][4h] flop Kitchen c-bet 1,350 and Hepburn was the only caller. On the [3c] turn Hepburn changed tactics, leading for 2,600 and after some thought Kitchen sunk his cards into the muck. -- NW
5.20pm: Out the door
A few more exits, no details I'm afraid but: Oliver Price, Oliver Cooper, Daniel Charlton and Huseyin Houssein are all out. 50 players still have chips in front of them. -- NW
5.15pm: Jones at the double
A significant boost for Dave Jones, who was runner-up at UKIPT1 Coventry, as I just saw him double up through Scott Murdoch-Aitchison. I missed the pre-flop action but given that there was 4,850 in the pot it stands to reason that Murdoch-Aitchison raised from the button, Jones three-bet the small blind and Murdoch-Aitchison called.
On the [3h][9h][7d] flop Jones c-bet 3,500, Murdoch-Aitchison set him in for 10,000 total and Jones called it off.
Jones: [Ad][9d]
Murdoch-Aitchison: [As][8s]
The [5d] turn and [Jh] river kept Jones in the lead and boosted him to 24,850 whilst Murdoch-Aitchison slips to 14,325. -- NW
5.05pm: Boeree on the 6-max format
This being the first six-max event of this kind it naturally appeals to poker players for various reasons. It may look like a regular event, but this difference can be huge, as Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree spoke about earlier today.
Liv Boeree
"The trouble with full ring games is that so often your hands are tied," said Boeree. "You shouldn't be playing that many hands and in this situation you get to play really deep stacked with a great structure against a range of players, and you get to be a little creative.
"Of course there's room for creativity in full ring games, but it's more so in six-max. You really get to learn about your opponents a bit more depth than you would nine-max.
For Boeree that means a greater enjoyment to the game, which shows in the way the Team Pro has been playing for the first half of the day.
"I've always really enjoyed 6-max. It makes me play in a different style. I'd say out of my comfort zone, but I feel comfortable in it. I just turn into a different person, so I'm having lots of fun."
How much fun will be determined in the coming hours and days. - SB
4.55pm: Boeree versus Thew
There are two EPT Main Event champions in the field today and thanks to a quirk of the table draw they're sat at the same table.
I talk of course of Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree and Julian Thew and whilst I'm sure, given that Thew is button to Boeree's big blind, they've clashed in pots already I just saw it play out live for the first time today.
It folded to Thew who raised to 600, Adam Reynolds folded and Boeree put the extra in from the big blind. The [jc][6s][4d] flop checked through and the [Jd] hit the turn. First to act Boeree bet 800 and Thew called. The [6c] completed the board, both players checked, "I turned the world," said Boeree showing [5d][3d], Thew had [Ac][7s] for two-pair,ace kicker to win the pot. -- NW
4.40pm: The numbers are in
With the start of level 5 the numbers for Day 1A are confirmed. A total of 61 players sat down to play the main event today.
4.25pm: Chip counts
Blinds have now ticked up to 150/300 with an ante of 25 and I can tell you that the following stacks currently sit in front of these names and notables:
Julian Thew - 16,025
Liv Boeree - 34,500
Andrew Wayman - 21,025
Kyriacos Dionysiou - 29,075
Iqbal Ahmed - 30,000
Neil Rawnsley - 17,800
Mitch Johnson - 12,300
Dave Jones - 6,150
Richard Hawes 5,100
Ben Vinson - 32,000
PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Nottingham six-max: Stephen Bartley and Nick Wright. Photos by Danny Maxwell.