9.10pm: Jon Spinks wins UKIPT4 Nottingham High Roller
The High Roller finished slightly before the Main Event wrapped up for the day and Jon Spinks defeated Chris Brammer heads-up to win his second UKIPT High Roller title.
The full payouts were, after a three-hand deal, as follows:
1st. Jonathan Spinks , £23,554
2nd. Christopher Brammer, £21,128
3rd. Mickey Petersen, £21,368
4th. Dermot Blain, £10,500
5th. Thomas Middleton, £8,150
6th. Giuliano Bendinelli, £6,250
7th. Craig Mccorkell, £5,050
9pm: Play is over
And that is that for Day 1B. A total of 54 players have advanced to Day 2, with David Price leading the way with a stack of 156,600. There are a raft of players close behind including Jack Ellwood who finished on 114,200.
A full wrap of the days play is on the way and keep an eye on the chip counts page for the overnight chip counts which we'll upload there as soon as we get them. We'll be back at noon for Day 1C, thanks for reading. -- NW
8.40pm: Last three hands
The clock has been paused and they'll be three more hands before the remaining players bag and tag their chips. -- NW
8.35pm: High Roller update
The heads-up battle between Jon Spinks and Chris Brammer continues. At the moment Spinks has a 570,000 to 320,000 advantage with blind currently 3,000/6,000. -- NW
8.30pm: Chip leaders as we enter the final 15 minutes
The overnight chip leader is likely going to be David Price as he's got 156,000 at the moment. However those who might have a say in it include:
Thomas Barratt - 103,000
Jack Ellwood - 95,000
David Harris - 80,000
Paul McTaggart - 80,000
Matt Perrins - 80,000
There are still two UKIPT winners left, Alan Gold has 40,000 and Richard Evans is on 42,000. And Devilfish is still going strong as he's got 50,000. -- NW
8.15pm: Float like a butterfly sting like a cowboy
Jamie Sykes is up to 80,000 after taking a pot from Ben Spraggons, who as a result has slipped down to 38,000.
I only caught action from the flop but Sykes (small blind) checked to Spraggons (under-the-gun), he bet 1,600 and Sykes called. On the [As] turn the pattern repeated itself with Spraggons betting 2,500 and Sykes making the call. The river was the [Kc], both players slowed down and Sykes showed [Kd][10c] to take the pot. -- NW
8.10pm: Quadzilla
I know not how the chips went in but at the tail end of the last level I saw Matt Perrins counting out 24,975 and passing it to Dahe Liu. His cards were already in the muck but Liu's cards - [Ah][6h] were plain to see - the board was [6d][6s][Jd][Kh][6c] meaning that Liu had, by the river, made quads. Perrins is down to 63,000 as a result. -- NW
8pm: Exits
A total of 12 players were eliminated during level seven meaning that just 61 players remain as we enter the last level of the evening. Among the fallers during the last hour were: Ben Jenkins, Dale Garrard, Raul Paez and John Kalmar. -- NW
Blinds up: 400/800, ante 100
7.55pm: M and M have epic battle
I heard a loud, "for f***s sake," sound behind me and swung round to see what had happened. There was a [9s][10c][Js][Qh][3s] board on the board and it was Dominic Mahoney who had uttered the expletive. He had [K][Q] in front of him whilst Kyle Maguire had the [7s][6s] on the felt.
From post-hand commentary I'm fairly certain the chips went in on the flop, it was a big pot too as Mahoney is down 14,500 whilst Maguire is up to 75,000. -- NW
7.45pm: Hulme and Leonov round two
Andrew Hulme didn't hang on to his new found chips for long as he just doubled up Viktor Leonov. Pre-flop Leonov limped the button, Hulme made it 2,400 to go and Leonov called. On the [4h][6h][9c] flop Hulme bet and Leonov called. The [9d] hit the turn and this time Hulme decided to check-call a bet from Leonov. The [Ah] completed the board and, after Hulme checked, Leonov moved all-in for 16,450.
Hulme mulled it over before announcing call, Leonov showed [9d][8h], Hulme nodded and mucked his cards. He's slipped to 32,000 whilst Leonov is up to 55,000. -- NW
7.45pm: Reeves takes chips from Foggin and Nicholson
Marc Foggin opened from the cut off for 1,300. Lucas Reeves on the button called, as did David Nicholson in the big blind.
The flop came [9h][8d][4h] and Nicholson bet out 2,800. Foggin, who started this all, backed out, while Reeves called for a [jd] turn. Nicholson, cautiously checked while Reeves bet 4,500. Nicholson had a last look at his cards to say goodbye, and folded. He's down to 28,000 while Reeves moves up to around 25,000. - SB
7.30pm: Hulme goes down, then goes up
DTD regular Andrew 'Stato' Hulme has been a presence near the top of the chip counts for most of the day. However after losing a pot of roughly 15,000 to Waheed Ashraf he'd slipped to a below average 28,575 when the following hand occurred.
He opened to 1,200 from under-the-gun, Paul Grummitt then moved all-in for 9,350 from the button and Viktor Leonov cold called from the big blind. Back on Hulme he shoved for 28,575 total and after getting a count Leonov called the extra.
Hulme: [10c][10d]
Leonov: [Ac][Kh]
Grummitt: [Qd][10s]
The [5d][6c][8s][2h][10h] board meant Hulme took both the main and side pots to climb to over 66,000, Grummitt was eliminated and Leonov is down to 24,000. -- NW
7.25pm: Ellwood is good
Jack Ellwood continues to dominate, now up to close to 100,000 chips. Two recent pots went his way, in much the same way as all the others had.
On a flop of [js][jc][5s] Paul Mctaggart checked to Ellwood who bet 700. McTaggart called though, watching as a [4s] landed on the turn. Both checked for a [7h] river card and checked that also. [qs][8h] for McTaggart, but a winning [ah][2h] for Ellwood.
It was a similar story on the next hand.
Jason Wheeler opened for 1,250 which Ellwood called from the small blind, as did Sean Randall in the big. The flop came [2s][9s][jc]. The blinds checked to Wheeler who bet another 2,500. Ellwood tanked for a moment, then reached for his chips, peeling off six gold ones for a re-raise to 6,000. Randall knew when he was beaten and folded. Shortly after Wheeler came to the same conclusion. - SB
7.15pm: High Roller update
Dermot Blain was eliminated in fourth place and the three remaining players decided to do a deal.
Chopped #UKIPT HR 3-handed with @JonSpinks and @BrammPoker, playing for £5k and the trophy now.
— Mickey Petersen (@mickeydp) November 28, 2013Unfortunately Team PokerStars Online's Mickey Petersen was out third:
Out in 3rd for £21k, got a huge cooler for 90% of the chips with AKs vs AQs but Spinks flopped a queen. No shame in losing to those guys, gg
— Mickey Petersen (@mickeydp) November 28, 2013That means Jon Spinks has big chip lead over Chris Brammer, we'll bring you the result when we have it. -- NW
7.05pm: Angell on the rail
Brett Angell is among the recent fallers. His ace-high flush looked fairly good as he got his chips in. But his opponent, Sean Randall, turned over nine-eight, which, thanks to eights on the turn and river, gave him the full house and sent Angell to the rail. - SB
7pm: Selected chip counts
Here are some of the counts of the names and notables at the start of level seven, you can check out everyone's chip count by clicking here.
Ludovic Geilich - 16,000
Richard Evans - 38,300
Chris Sly - 12,400
Scott Shelley - 46,400
Simon Deadman - 20,500
David Gent - 16,000
Devilfish - 31,000
Luke Reeves - 37,000
Jon Kalmar - 9,000
Matt Perrins - 45,000
Paul McTaggart - 51,000
Brett Angell - 24,000
Robbie Bull - 20,000
Dave Nicholson - 25,000
Andrew Hulme - 35,000
Ben Jenkins - 16,400
6.50pm: Top 10
Below are the top 10 stacks at the beginning of level seven, Jason Wheeler still leads with 94,000.
Jason Wheeler - 94,000
Jack Ellwood - 76,000
Alan Gold - 73,300
Derek Leach - 72,800
David Price - 71,000
Mark Kilpatrick - 70,000
Jamie Sykes - 65,700
Viktor Leonov - 60,600
Charles Akadiri - 60,000
Chin Chai Koh - 60,000
Blinds up: 300/600, ante 75
6.30pm: Break
That's the end of level six and players are now on a 20 minute break. -- NW
6.30pm: Kirkpatrick on the rise
Among the chip leaders right now is Mark Kirkpatrick with close to 50,000. His stack wasn't harmed in a hand against Lorenc Boci. On a board of [2d][js][8s][7c][8c] Boci turned over [tc][2c] only to watch and shrug as Kirkpatrick flipped up [5c][5s]. - SB
6.25pm: Bull market on the way up
Earlier today UKIPT4 London champion Robbie Bull was down to around 7,000, it was still over 40 big blinds but was well below the average. He's now back at around average chips having climbed to 30,000 after eliminating Saulius Tumosa.
The latter was all-in for around 5,000 with pocket threes, Bull held [10c][9c] and got there on the [10d][Kh][7s][2s][6h] board. -- NW
6.15pm: Chip leaders
We're hopefully going to get eyes on counts of the biggest stacks on the next break, which is 20 minutes from now, but to give you a flavour of who's got chips as the end of the level 6 approaches here's the approximate stacks of the chip leaders:
Jason Wheeler - 95,000
Alan Gold - 85,000
David Price - 72,000
Jamie Sykes - 67,000
Matt Perrins - 65,000
Lucas Reeves - 60,000
Viktor Leonov - 60,000
Jack Ellwood - 60,000
6.05pm: Prested presses on
A bet of 800 from Jonathon Prested in the high jack to start what would prove a big hand. Thomas Horton was in the big blind and called for a flop of [4h][8h][js]. Horton checked to Prested who bet 1,050. But Horton was not done, and check-raised to 2,300. Prested looked at his cards again, and called, waiting for Horton's reaction to the [7s] turn card.
Horton bet another 3,600. Prested, with his fist to his mouth, as if he was about to cough, thought about things. He called the check raise, and now called the bet, the [3h] landing on the river. At this point both players were happy to check, Prested showing [qc][jh] which proved good enough to take the pot. - SB
5.55pm: Fallers
Just 86 players remain now from the 132 who started the day. Big name fallers include: Paul Foltyn (88th), Marc Macdonnell (94th) and Kelly Saxby (95th). -- NW
5.50pm: Pots for Jenkins and Hulme
There's more than one reason to watch the table that has Devilfish on it as there seems to be an interesting hand or two every time I pass by and my latest visit was no different.
In the first hand I saw Devilfish raised to 600 from the cut-off and Ben Jenkins called on the button and Vaidas Siriunas did likewise from the big blind. The three of them saw a [Ah][Qs][2c] flop, Devilfish bet 1,000 and Jenkins was the only caller.
The [Ac] fell on the turn, Devilfish slowed down by checking to Jenkins, he bet 1,500 and Devilfish folded.
On the next hand it folded to Andrew Hulme on the button, he was getting a massage but that didn't stop him from raising to 700, both blinds called and it was three-way to a [jh][6h][Kd] flop. All three players checked and the [8d] hit the turn. First to act Vaidas Siriunas bet 1,050, Joseph Tully raised to 2,500 and action was on Hulme. He put out two blue 5K chips and said a figure, I didn't hear it for sure but I think it was 6,200. Either way it was enough to take the pot and keep Hulme near the top of the chip counts. -- NW
5.45pm: Taxi for Gomez
There's something about playing poker with your coat on. It suggests impermanence. Not in a Buddhist way, more a "not going to be here for much longer" one. That was what Enzo Gomez was inadvertently suggesting to his table mates.
Turns out it was more pertinent than first thought.
There was also the fact that Gomez was almost sitting side on in his seat, as if he had a taxi waiting. Suddenly, on a board of [ts][7s][8h][kh] Gomez did what he'd been telegraphing for so long. He shoved. When Adam Prickett called with [js][9c] Gomez said: "ahhhh", but nobody was convinced. Gomez was gone. - SB
Blinds up: 200/400, ante 50
5.35pm: Wheeler loses, but is winning
I just saw Jason Wheeler lose a pot to Derek Leach but despite the dent Wheeler has around 108,000 and is the current chip leader.
The American fired out 5,200 on the turn of a [9h][8h][10c][4d] board and Leach called. The [3s] completed the board, Wheeler shut down as did Leach. First to show Wheeler opened [6h][2h] for the missed combo draw and Leach showed pocket queens to take the pot. -- NW
5.25pm: Nitsche is no more
My thanks to Rich Prew of Blonde Poker for sharing the details of Dominik Nitsche's exit hand with me.
Jim Moult raised under-the-gun with [Qc][7c], Nitsche three-bet the button with[Ks][Qh], Alan Gold called from the small blind and Moult did likewise.
Nitsche c-bet 3,000 on the [kc][3c][8d] flop and Moult was the only caller. On the [3c] turn Nitsche shoved for 12,000, Moult made the call with his flush and Nitsche was drawing dead. -- NW
5.15pm: Pressure and pain for Trigg
Richard Trigg is now playing "under massage". The massage therapist has an elbow in his spine to force the badness out. The cup of coffee next to his chin is there to put it back in again.
Helping the coffee are the likes of Jack Ellwood, who is up to nearly 40,000 chips, and Alex Lynskey in the seat to Trigg's immediate right.
With a little pre-flop action they both saw a flop of [9h][8h][ad]. Lynskey bet and Trigg called for a [kd] turn card. Now Lynskey bet 2,100. Swaying gently back and forth from the wincing effects of being given the elbow, Trigg called and watched the [7s] land on the river. Both checked though, Lynskey showing [as][tc] to win the pot as Trigg pushed his cards to the muck. - SB
5pm: Snippets
Here's a snapshot of what's happening here on Day 1B:
- UKIPT4 Galway champion Alan Gold is challenging for the chip lead, he's up to 70,000.
- Registration has closed with 132 the number of runners today
- Jamie Sykes (47,000) has been moved to the same table as Jon Kalmar (32,000) and Jonathon Prested (30,000)
- Kevin Allen, Alex Goulder and Fraser Macintyre are all out
- The Devilfish is in mid flow about a pool match he played against someone for £5,000.
- The High Roller is down to four players: Dermot Blain, Jon Spinks, Mickey Petersen and Chris Brammer are the awesome foursome. Tom Middleton (fifth), Giuliano Bendinelli (sixth) and Craig McCorkell (seventh) those to have exited since the final began.
4.50pm: The life of a travelling poker player
Professional poker player Jason Wheeler is an American, who lives in Mexico, who's been in Europe since EPT London in October, won't return home until after EPT Prague in December and is using Amsterdam as a base during his trip. He's also the chip leader here in Nottingham with around 75,000.
Wheeler, like many Americans was affected by Black Friday and says: "I was one of the first three Americans to relocate to Mexico, I live in Tijuana and you can literally see America from my back yard."
He has to travel 37 kilometres to San Diego for a legal game of cards in America but says the nearest casinos with decent games are in Los Angeles, which is around two and a half hours away. And despite being one of the first to relocate he doesn't actually spend that much time in Mexico. "I spend a lot of fall and spring in Europe, summer in Vegas so I'm really only in Mexico during winter."
He final tabled a £1,000 side event at EPT London and made the final two tables of a side event at the recent Masters Classic in Amsterdam and looks set fair to score a third cash on this trip. -- NW
4.40pm: All the way from New Jersey (via Kent), Kelly Saxby
What is someone from New Jersey doing in the Nottingham? Kelly Saxby's route to the East Midlands is not exactly straight forward, but DTD has become somewhere she's seem more and more.
Saxby is originally from New Jersey, but after meeting and marrying an Englishman, she now lives in Kent, and while her father taught her poker when she was seven, only recently returned to the game which is proving a profitable side-line to her recruitment business.
It was here last summer that Saxby scored her biggest live win, a third place finishing in a £500 deep-stack event worth $25,373. More recently though, she earned some EPT silverware, winning the EPT London ladies event for another $5,934, a feat she is rightly proud of.
"It was awesome," said Saxby. "Nice to catch a good score with a little bit of recognition and a trophy!
Ladies events are still a source of dispute between those for and against. But to view it from a rigid position, of equality say, it's too easy to dismiss them as unnecessary. On paper they might not look right (as Saxby said, she would hate to be turned away from a men only event) but in reality they do seem to serve a greater purpose.
"It was a really good tournament, said Saxby. "The nice thing about women's tournaments is you just end up meeting other women, in primarily a man's environment. It's a little bit harder to make friends as a girl so it's nice to have people to talk to about poker who are on the same wavelength as you.
"There's a mix. Some women enjoy the socialising. It's a diff level of play I think. In some ways a little bit softer but at the same time you want to be the best of the women so you play a little bit harder."
For Saxby that's a formula that works. She's played the past three EPT ladies events and cashed in them all. Now though her focus is on playing well here, in a club she'd become familiar with.
"I had my biggest result over here last summer," said Saxby. "It's a long drive for me but I do try and come at least once every 2-3 months. I wish it were closer."
Despite being American a decade living in Kent has stripped her accent to a point where she's mistaken for English back in the United States. She drops her "Ts" and lengthens her vowels like everyone else. Saxby, the poker player, blending right in. - SB
4.30pm: Coren and Kelly gone as we reach halfway stage
We're now halfway through Day 1B of the UKIPT4 Nottingham 6-max Main Event and 106 of 130 players still remain in the mix.
Three players who aren't are Team PokerStars Pro Victoria Coren, Mick Graydon (who a few years ago was Ireland's first ever SuperNova Elite) and two-time WSOP bracelet winner JP Kelly.
They've been joined on the rail by Jamie Roberts, Tim Chung and David Barraclough. Cards are now back in the air. -- NW
PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Nottingham six-max: Nick Wright and Stephen Bartley. Photos by Danny Maxwell.