9:35pm: Silver leads heading to Day 2
Play has ended for Day 1A. Max Silver finished clear of the pack with a monstrous 311,700. A full wrap of the day's play will be up on the blog shortly. -- MC
9:15pm: Last five hands
The tournament clock had been paused and each table will play five more hands before play concludes for the night. -- MC
9:10pm: Silver biggest amongst the big
There are currently seven stacks who sit above the 104,600 that Noel McMahon finished with on Day 1A. A familiar face in is a league all on his own though.
Max Silver has 220,000 chips after he forced Thomas Dunwoodie off his hand in a big pot.
Silver was in the small blind and bet 19,200 on the turn of a [5c][9c][jc][7d] board. Dunwoodie took a long time to make a difficult fold.
The other big stacks are:
Robert Schulz - 130,000
Alain Bauer - 125,000
Deborah Worley-Roberts - 115,000
Marc Kennedy - 112,000
Ilmari Sukanen - 110, 000
Edward Gascoigne - 110,000
-- MC
8:45pm: Happy go lucky Barrable
Peter Barrable is happy, and lucky, guy after cracking an opponent's aces to double up.
Svein Eidseter opened from under the gun and was called in the next seat before Barrable squeezed all in for 17,000 from one more seat along. Eidseter was the only caller and the cards were flipped up.
Eidseter: [ah][ad]
Barrable: [3h][3d]
Barrable was getting ready to leave before a cry of ooohs and ahhhhs made him sit down again. He had flopped a set on a [7s][4h][3c][7h][8c] board. -- MC
8:40pm: Dunwoodie's fine wine
"Three more wines and I'm raising," said Thomas Dunwoodie as he contemplated a river raise from Javed Ullah. There was a complete board of [7h][5d][4s][6s][6d] on the felt and Dunwoodie had bet 9,000, only for Ullah to raise to 19,000. The Geordie had peeled two 5k chips off his stack, he was leaning forward staring at the board (the table is one of those that is not well lit) and was trying to work out what to do. "You raise the minimum and I'm definitely calling," said Dunwoodie.
Eventually he said the three more wines line again and made the call, Ullah showed [4c][4d] for a full-house but Dunwoodie had [5c][5s] for a bigger full-house. Pot to Dunwoodie who now has 105,000, whist Ullah is down to 90,000. -- NW
8:30pm: Level 7 unlucky for some
The rate of eliminations continued to be steady. The Main Event said goodbye to Joe Grech, Joao Silva, Chihao Tsang, John O'Boyle, Michael Broschek, Seamus Doherty, Patrick McCloskey, John Trayner, Sean Donalsdson, James Waldron, Denis Croke, Jacob Stafford, Jaxi Kiernan, Gregory Cooke, Kevin Whelan, Robert Murphy, Adam Forsyth, Timothy Reisner, Neil Mackay, Timothy O'Sullivan, Nobert Berent, Viktor Celikovsky, Jarlath Kilgallon, Simon Hemsworth, Cahal Heapes, Marc Hunter and Kristina Cullen. -- MC
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 400-800, 100
8:20pm: How go Team Pro?
Team PokerStars Pro, Team PokerStars Online and Full Tilt Poker Ambassadors have all been well represented on Day 1B of UKIPT4 Dublin. Whilst Mickey Petersen and Jake Cody fell early on, the rest have stuck around.
Leading the way from this select bunch, as things stand, is Martins Adeniya, he's got 54,000. Fellow Full Tilt Poker Ambassador Sin Melin has 37,000 whilst Dermot Blain has 25,500. Team PokerStars Online's Dale Philip has 16,600 whilst a search for Liv Boeree was unsuccessful and indeed a look at the exits slips reveals that she's out. -- NW
8:11pm: Silver going for gold; chip leader with almost 140,000
"I think I'm winning," said a grinning Max Silver to, amongst others, two-time UKIPT champion Joeri Zandvliet who was railing him. And indeed Silver is as he's up to 139,000 after eliminating David Lappin.
Zandvliet recounted the action to me and told me that pre-flop there was a raise under-the-gun, Silver three-bet with pocket jacks, Lappin then four-bet, the original raiser folded and Silver tanked before calling. On the [Jh][9h][4h] flop Lappin bet roughly 13,000, from a stack of 35,000, into a pot of 17,000, Silver moved all-in and Lappin called with [Ah][K]. The board bricked out and as a result Lappin was sent to the rail. A for Silver he's already well ahead of the 104,600 that Noel McMahon finished on at the end of Day 1A- NW
8:10pm: Time off in Lu
Roger Lu is another Rational Group employee enjoying his day out of the office. His stack rose over the 50k-mark after he eliminated Jamie Dale.
Lu opened to 1,275 from under the gun and was called by Sin Melin a couple of seats along before Dale moved all in for 7,100 from the cut-off. Lu took his time before calling and that was enough to oust Melin.
Lu: [as][ac]
Dale: [6s][6c]
The board ran [kh][kd][qc][3s][7d]. Dale was on his way before the river was dealt. -- MC
8pm: All out Stevie
Stevie "allinstevie" Devlin hasn't played a live poker tournament for around a year after the birth of his first child. Obviously he had other priorities but even Devlin couldn't resist this trip across the Irish border.
Unfortunately for him though, he busted a short while ago.
"Two outed to bust. Some things never change!" he commented. -- MC
7:45pm: Recent exits
A number of big name players have falled by the wayside recently, they include: David O'Connor, Jude Ainsworth, James Walsh, Richard Milne Snr, Nick Abou Risk, Richard Evans, Thomas Kitt and Caicai Huang. -- NW
7:40pm: The numbers are in
The tournament staff have been busy crunching the numbers and I can tell you that a total of 456 players entered the fray today. This means that the total number of runners for UKIPT4 Dublin is 682!
The €350,000 guarantee has been well and truly craicked! We'll bring you details on the prize pool when we receive that information. -- NW
7:37pm: A view from the other side, with Rick Dacey
It's been really great to see how much fun the Rational Group employees are having in this tournament. It offers the blog an almost unique opportunity to get their perspective of the event. In the dinner break we caught up with PokerStars Staff Writer Rick Dacey, who knows all about this tour.
"It's pretty amazing to be given the opportunity to come and play one of these events as I've covered 50/60 UKIPTs, EPTs and LAPTs. It's obviously very easy watching from the sidelines whereas in the heat of the moment you can make great decisions and very poor ones as well. It's really interesting and I'm really enjoying it.
"I felt like I was playing pretty well to start with and got up to 30k. Then I had one hand where I knew exactly what I was doing up until the point where I did something entirely different and got married to jacks and lost about 25k in one hand. From there I went from 4k to 48k in about five hands!
"It's been good fun and I think my declaration that I'd be the value in this tournament seems to be holding true."
7:26pm: Back from the break
Level seven is now underway, during an earlier break Nick Wealthall caught up with the Irish Player of the Year Dermot Blain to talk about poker in Ireland.
Blinds up: 300/600, ante 75
6:45pm: Dinner break
The remaining players are now on a 45 minute dinner break. Let the rush for food commence. -- NW
6:40pm: Lawlor busts just before the break
Poker is a cruel game, just ask Richie Lawlor who's gone from hero to zero in short order.
Had 40k 3 hands later I'm busto. Didn't play my best today. Good luck to everyone in #UKIPTDublin
— Richie Lawlor (@LawlorRichie) February 28, 20146:35pm: Exits
We've lost over a 100 players today the latest exits include: Andrew Carlin, Justin Boyle, Jim O'Neill, Jamie Walden, Cosimo Sabatini, Filip Pettersen, James Williams, Sabot Jurgen, Luke Cerklewicz, James Clarke, Eoin Starr, Colum Horan, Mark Baxter, Daniel Perkusic, Gerard Lenihan, Paul Brown, Robert Campbell, Garret Quinless, Dean Clay, Mady Cherit, Michal Plichta, Robert Machin, Berivan Dag, Morten Eriksen, Keith Rolfe...
Robert Godmon, Rob Yong, John Law, Velasco Olalla, Neil Ryder, Neil Raine, Rudy Raveyts, Tom Gallagher, Brendan McNulty, Sven Ellrich, Anthony Faisca, Matthew Eiler-Gadsden, Andrew King, Frank Romanello, Nick Slade, Jose Pereira, Patrice Brandt, Paul McCaffrey, Ben Glanton, Joao Magalhaes, Krzysztof Stuchlik, Val Colleran, Ciaran Burke, Carlos Diaz, Vinny Gavin, Ronan Gilligan, Tamas Fuhl and Rupom Pal. -- NW
6:25pm: Blain doing a Dacey!
Dermot Blain has taken inspiration from Rick Dacey and taken an orbit to get his tournament back on track. --MC
Weeeee 5k to 36k In under an orbit 😎!! #UKIPTDublin
— Dermot Blain (@dermotblain) February 28, 2014
6:17pm: Bluffing for her Sins?
Sin Melin has dropped back to 35,000 after she failed to force Craig Grant off his hand.
The Full Tilt Poker Ambassador fired 1,200 on the flop and 2,075 on the turn before both players checked the river. The final board read [jc][ad][6h][2d][as] and Grant opened [ah][4h] for trips.
Melin looked a little down but at least she has more chips than Elena Stover. Her former neighbour busted recently. -- MC
6:05pm: Chip counts
Here's another round-up of how some of the name's and notables are getting on in UKIPT4 Dublin: Dale Philip (14,000), David Lappin (44,500), Duncan McLellan (48,500), Mick McCloskey (38,000), Dermot Blain (4,900), Gary Clarke (11,300), Nick Wealthall (33,000), Owen Robinson (32,500), Jason Beazley (24,000), Andrew Dwyer (53,000), Lee Jones (47,000), Eldon Orr (27,000), Ian Bruce (18,000), Jamie Dale (13,000)...
Jason Barton (27,000), Joe Grech (24,000), Nick Abou Risk (14,500), Peter Barrable (23,000), Richard Evans (10,000), Ludovich Geilich (34,000), Martins Adeniya (44,500), Sam Holden (42,000), Sarne Lightman (34,000), Simon Hemsworth (15,000), Liv Boeree (15,300), Tom Hall (6,000), Emmett Mullin (19,000), David O'Connor (18,000) Jack Salter (42,000) and Daniel Stacey (65,000). -- NW
5:55pm: Chip leaders
There are lots of big stacks beginning to emerge here on Day 1B. One of those is Max Silver, the UKIPT1 Dublin champion has 80,000 and told me: "I'm running good and I coolered someone with aces against eights on a 9-9-8-A-4 board."
Deboarh Worley-Roberts is another in possession of a big stack, "I had 87,000 but I've only got 75,000 now after losing a flip," she said whilst pulling a sad face. Full Tilt Poker Tour Ambassador Sin Melin has 66,000 but they all trail Ilmari Sukanen, the Finn has 84,000. -- NW
5:50pm: Who dunnit?
There has been a little bit of controversy over on table 6 after marked cards were found for a third time, meaning a third deck change.
Floor man Olivier warned the players over their conduct and that penalties will be handed out if any of them are caught doing.
Veteran player Joe Grech asked his table mates, "Come on, who is it? In 20 years of playing, I've never seen this!" -- MC
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 200-400, 50
5:30pm: Adeniya and Dacey Rocking
Martins Adeniya and Rick Dacey are cruising with stacks of 55,000 and 48,000 respectively.
Adeniya is doing his usual thing by bashing up his table left, right and centre.
Dacey on the other hand had to rely on an amazing recovery. He was down to 4,000 after he admitted playing jacks like the journalist he is, before soaring to 48,000 in one orbit of play! -- MC
5:15pm: No invite for Stover and Melin as Higgins gets maximum
Neil Higgins is a happy chappy after finding a great squeeze spot to more than double up.
Joao dos Santos raised to 650 from mid position and was called by Elena Stover (cut-off) and Sin Melin (button) before Higgins moved all in for 5,550. Dos Santos made a quick call and that was enough to see off the two ladies.
Dos Santos: [kh][jd]
Higgins: [jc][js]
The board ran [7d][5s][6h][td][5d] to safely see the jacks hold. -- MC
5pm: Ainsworth going well
Jude Ainsworth is top of the Irish Online Poker Rankings but he's no slouch in the live arena either having racked up almost $700,000 in live tournament winnings over the years. And he's off to a good start here in Dublin.
Just starting level 5, got 42k from 20k starting. 8 levels of play today. #UKIPTDublin
— Jude Ainsworth (@jthaddeus13) February 28, 20144:50pm: More than just a Kitt man
Tom Kitt is known to many people on this fair isle as a singer-songwriter; to those in the poker industry he's known as a bit of a shark across the baize. He came third in this very event back in Season 1.
The blog grabbed a quick word with him in the break to see how's he's getting on at his tough table that includes Tom Hall and Dermot Blain.
"You definitely dig a little deeper in the hometown. It was going really well there as I got up to 40k, but I'm back down to 23,000 now.
"My table's pretty good although I have Tom Hall and Dermot sat there. At least they're miles away from me and they're hating life. Tom came in late and he won his first pot just now, which was a blind steal!
"I know how capable those guys are but they're playing pretty tight, and there a good bit of value on the rest of the table, so I'm pretty happy with it overall." -- MC
4:45pm: A catch up with Liv Boeree
On the first break of the day UKIPT Host Nick Wealthall caught up with Liv Boeree. They discussed her recent trip to Australia to play the Aussie Millions and her deep run at UKIPT Edinburgh.
4:41pm: Keep the alternates coming
Alternates continue to take their seats here in Dublin - 70 alternates have been seated thus far - that's because the number of bustouts noticeably picked up during level 4. Among those to be sent to the rail were: Team PokerStars Online's Mickey Petersen, Keith Shannon, Tomasz Wrobel, Robert Finlay, Aaron Fletcher, Mateusz Zbikowski, Charles Leece, Trish Mallin, Kestutis Gecevicius, Jakub Szczotka, Teemu Hietaharju, Ferghal Keane, Chris Derrick, Brendan Keenan, Noel O'Brien, Louis Salter, David La Ronde, David Caffrey, Paul Monaghan, Adam Fallon and Derek Murray are all out.
Cards are back in the air, they'll be a 45-minute dinner break at the end of level six. -- NW
PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Dublin: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Danny Maxwell.