4.35pm: Break it up
Every so often the world needs to pause for breath and so does this tournament. The end of level 4 signals one such juncture, so the players now have 20 minutes to rest their weary limbs before returning to the felt renewed and refreshed.
The level 5 updates onwards will continue on a separate page.
We'll see if we can get some interesting stories during the break but in the meantime, put the kettle on and make a cup of tea. We'll be back in 20 minutes... -- RS
4.35pm: Chips
It's been a good day so far for Andrew Couldridge, the UKIPT Nottingham Season 1 champion is up to 39,000, whilst Brett Angell, runner-up at UKIPT Nottingham Season 2 is down to 13,900.
Emmett Mullin, UKIPT Season 3 Galway winner is up to 30,000, Jamie Roberts though is down to 7,000 and Jake Cody (16,300) is two seats to the left of Rupinder Bedi (16,600). -- NW
4.15pm: Stella performance so far from De Meulder
Team PokerStars Pro Christoph De Meulder is flying high on 36,000 and he got his latest boost by eliminating Anthony Gale.
The action was started by Jason Tompkins who min-raised to 400 from early position, De Meulder made the call, as did Leon Campbell (button), Gale (small blind) and the big blind.
The [10h][8s][7h] flop seemed like it should've hit someone, but it was checked round and the [5s] fell on the turn. First to act Gale led for 800, it folded to De Meulder who raised to 2,300, Campbell got out the way, Gale moved all-in for around 6,000 and De Meulder made the call.
De Meulder: [5h][5d] - turned set
Campbell: [Jh][10c] - top pair and an inside straight draw.
The [3d] river was a blank though and Gale is no longer a force in this tournament. - NW
4.03pm Charalambos jacks it up
One more name has perished in the form of David La Ronda, finding himself shortstacked, he went for a double-through with [Js][Ts], only to run into the crushing form of Charalambos Xanthos, who held pocket jacks.
No dubious outdraw and La Ronda's day was done whilst Charlambos (or Bambos as he is known to his friends) was up to 34k.
"It's amazing how quickly things can turn round in poker!" Bambos observed, alluding to some unseen but crucial shift in fortune during this tournament. -- RS
3.59pm: Gone, but not forgotten
If this was tv, there would be some suitably mournful classical music playing whilst a montage of names was scrolled down the screen.
As this is a text-based service you'll have to find your own backing tracks to accompany these bustouts. We recommend Eric Satie's Trois Gymnopedies...
Magnus Martin
Dara O'Kearney
Steven Gray
Julian Thew
David Milby
Gil Pelayo
James Hinsley
Mark Goodchild
Patrick West
Ross Hamilton
Alan Wilde
Matthew Day
Zaak Hepnoz
Alison White -- RS
3.56pm: Quick count
Just a couple of quick counts for your attention:
Rob Akery - 15,750
Martins Adeniya - 13,000 -- RS
3.52pm: Keys cut
No, James Keys isn't out yet, but he has suffered misfortune in the earlier levels, leaving him on just 7,000.
He revealed the details of a rather unfortunate hand where he flopped a set of jacks on an ace, jack, seven rainbow board.
"Somehow I lost to [6d][4d]! He turned the [5d], giving him a flush and straight draw - we got it in and he made the straight on the river."
That hand cost him 10,000, but with 7,000 the 2011 Aussie millions runner-up remains a potential threat... -- RS
3.50pm: This tournament just got a little tougher
Triple crown winner Jake Cody is one of the latecomers today, but he's just taken his seat in this tournament meaning it just got a bit tougher for his tablemates. -- NW
3.40pm: Chip counts
Team PokerStars pro Vicky Coren is faring far better than Liv Boeree as she's up to 26,000, fellow EPT London winner David Vamplew has boosted his stack to 23,800, Keith Hawkins has 21,700, Matt Frankland has slipped a little to 14,600 as has Steven Watts who's on 13,800. Meanwhile of the Irish contingent I can tell you that Mick Graydon has 17,000 and David Lappin is on 14,300. -- NW
3.31pm: Tens moment for Gassian
David Gassian found himself relatively short (although still deep enough) in the small blind, holding pocket tens and down to 9,475, Gassian was not prepared to back down with his pair versus the big blind.
Following an aggressive series of raises, he moved all-in and was called by his opponent, only to discover the bad news he was staring down the barrell of elimination, facing off against pocket kings.
The board of [Ac][6h][Jh][Ad] that peeled off did little to shift the balance of power, though a game-changing [Tc] on the river caused a few sharp intakes of breath round the table - a relieved Gassian spiking his card in the nick of time to take the pot.
Up to 19,000, Gassian's jubilance was starkly contrasted by the morose demeanour of his opponent, who tried to leave the table, before realising he had his opponent covered by just a few chips.
Forced to continue, there was to be no miracle recovery as he was seen coat in hand, exiting stage left just a few hands later... -- RS
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 100-200
3.22pm: Boeree busts
Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree has just bust out of UKIPT Bristol and she was kind enough to tell me about her exit hand.
"I had 11,000 to start the hand," she told me. "I'd raised the last three hands and looked down at ace-king, bingo. I raised and seat two (Fabio Martins) re-raised. We had a bit of history, shall we say, and all the chips went in pre-flop and he's got pocket tens."
No king, ace or straightening face cards came on the board to save Boeree. -- NW
3.12pm:Calleb-OUT
The eliminations have been thin on the ground so far - no surprise given the fullsome starting stacks of the field - but as the blinds rise they are starting to mount up.
Kevin Callebaut is the latest man to feel the wrath of the poker gods, running into the pocket kings of Geoff Mockford on a decisive board of [Ks][Qd][7h][Qs][3h].
We didn't see Callebaut's hand, suffice to say he didn't have the pocket queens required to beat Mockford's hand.
That hand leaves Mockford up to 24,250.
3.07pm: Chips
A few chip counts for you: Dara O'Kearney, who's to the right of Rupinder Bedi has 16,000, on the table adjacent to them Barry McMahon has 21,000, Jude Ainsworth has 16,300 and Paul Nash is nursing a stack of 16,000.
2.57pm: Two in a row for Bedi
No one has more UKIPT main event cashes than Rupinder 'Buckaroo' Bedi and he's going the right way about adding another one to the ledger as I just saw him take down two pots in a row.
In the first he was in the small blind and four players, including Bedi, saw a [5d][3c][Jh] flop, which was checked through. The [5s] fell on the turn, Bedi led for 850 and Andrey Dimitrov was the only caller. The [2h] completed the board and Bedi fired out a bet of 2,625 which was good enough to secure him the pot.
On the very next hand Geoff Mockford opened to 350 from early positon, Anthony Forsyth-forrest made it 925 to go from middle position and Bedi then bumped it to 1,750 on the button. The original raiser folded, but Forsyth-forrest made the call.
The two players took a [6d][6c][Qd] flop and a 2,100 c-bet from Bedi took the pot down. -- NW
2.44pm: Butcher carving through the field
Tom Butcher is here representing a posse of his friends who played a tournament together - the winner of which was entered into the UKIPT, all his friends receiving a piece of any winnings.
Butcher is wearing a broad smile on his face at the moment, and the source of his beaming visage is the impressive 22,500 he has managed to accumulate thus far.
Looks like your investment is in safe hands guys! -- RS
2.39pm: Dempsey correction
An apology is due as we overestimated James Dempsey's chip stack following that earlier hand with aces. His opponent in the hand was Vicky Coren and she actually made a flush on the river to relieve Dempsey of some of his chips, and he is now down to 13,000... -- RS
2.35pm: Atherton not out yet
It's not been a good start to the day for Lee Atherton, he tweeted: "Bobbins start in #UKIPTBristol K9cc havin to pay off A3dd on 10dJc8dQd7s Down to 9.5k from 15k starting stack at break."
Meanwhile good friends Joe Roberts and David Docherty have suffered contrasting fortunes in the opening two levels. The former is down to 10,000 whilst the latter is up to 23,000. -- NW
2.28pm Channing on tilt
Neil Channing came thundering out of the blocks in the early levels, soaring up to near 20,000, but his stock has fallen somewhat latterly - much to his chagrin.
"I feel like I'm on tilt! I've been playing loads of hands but its not working out for me right now. My VPIP is extremely high - but the same can't be said of my chip stack," he revealed to us at the break - his stack down to 12,000. -- RS
2.25pm: Back from the break
Level 3 is now underway, this is the last chance for players to late reg as it closes at the end of this level. -- NW
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 75-150
2.05pm: Exits
The following players have all failed to make the first break: James Glossop, Romano Pizzo, Sandip Pindoria, Peter Akery, Andoni Sanchez, Adrian Gray, Paul Skipper and Mark Buckley.
Those players that are still in are now on a 20 minute break. -- NW
1.59pm: Jacobs shoots into lead
We have reports that John Jacobs has reached 30k already in the early stages, which will mean he is a probable chip leader at this stage.
Early days but a good start for Jacobs. Let's see if he can build on the solid foundations. -- RS
1.57pm: Chips
It's been a good start to the day for Christopher Brice, he's almost doubled his stack and is up to 28,000. He's in the secondary tournament area - a raised area just outside the main tournament room, where the UKIPT Online final table was played. The winner of that event, Wojtek Barzantny is also in that area, he's got 18,000 and Jason Tompkins, who's to his immediate right has 14,700.
Also in the same section are Jamie Burland (16,000), he's got the ever chatty Fintan Gavin (22,000) to his immediate left. One table over sits Team PokerStars Online Mickey Petersen, the Dane, who lives in London, has increased his stack to 15,900.
At a different table we've got Lee Atherton who's on 17,300 and sat across from him is PokerStars qualifier of the day Cassio Cominezi, he's flown all the way from Brazil to play in this event. And he certainly racks up the air miles as he played in the PokerStars Eureka tour event in Riga, Latvia last month. One table behind them sits Dom Kay, he's on 18,800. -- NW
1.49pm: "I'm bluffing Thew!"
Soon after Dempsey also won a nice pot off Julian Thew. Having reached the turn, Dempsey called a bet of 1,100 from Thew on the [Js][8h][6s][5d] board,
Come the draw-completing [Ts] river, Dempsey led for 3,200 and after some thought, Thew laid his hand down.
"I bluffed him!" claimed Dempsey, without showing down his hand to back up this claim...
That hand leaves Dempsey on 24k and Thew struggling slightly on 11.5k...
-- RS
1.42pm: Dempsey rising
He may be sat at the toughest table in the tournament, but James Dempsey is adjusting best to the conditions at the moment. He told us about a nice pot he won with pocket aces earlier.
He three-bet an opening raise to 200 after an initial 75 raise and his opponent called. A flop of [Tc][7c][3s] saw his opponent lead 200, which Dempsey now raised to 600 announcing "I need to find out where I am!"
His opponent now made it 1,700 and Dempsey made the call.
The pair checked down the [Kh] turn before his opponent led for 1k on the river, which Dempsey called to find out his aces were good. -- RS
1.35pm: More UKIPT heroes
I spotted a few more familiar UKIPT faces on my last lap of the room. Chris Dowling is here, the Irishman has made two UKIPT final tables and will be looking to make it a hat-trick here.
UKIPT Nottingham Season 1 winner Andrew Couldridge is in the building, as s Barry McMahon, he's fourth on the UKIPT Leaderboard, that's good but not as good as Lee Atherton who currently resides in second spot due to having had three deep runs already in Season 3 of the UKIPT. -- NW
1.20pm: Another deathly table
Just behind the aforementioned table of death sits another table, perhaps not quite as tough so let's call it the table of serious illness.
Dotted around this table are the talents of the the ever dangerous David Docherty, James Morris, who like Docherty has final tabled a UKIPT, Neil Rawnsley - who seemingly qualifies for every PokerStars regional tour and Keith Hawkins, who let's face it needs no introduction.
I saw the latter take down a pot, it was three-way to a [9h][Kd][8h] flop and when it was checked to Hawkins his bet of 725 was enough to take the pot. -- NW
1.10pm: Chatty Channing chips up
The early levels of tournaments tend to be quite subdued affairs as the players gradually start to wake up throughout the day.
One player who seems to never suffer from this problem is Neil Channing, capable of keeping up seemingly incessant commentary at his table - whatever the time of day.
He has chipped up slightly having called a three-bet with [Ad][Jd], he and his opponent checked down the [Qc][Qd][4h][Jh][8d] board before Channing fired out a value bet of 975 on the river.
He was called quickly - only for his opponent to muck after being shown Channing's hand. -- RS
1pm: Thew takes an early hit
I just saw Julian Thew lose a small chunk of his chips.
The pot was opened to 150 by Matt Frankland, Thew called on the button and the big blind came along too. On the [8h][4h][5c] flop the big blind led for 300, Frankland fast-folded, but Thew made the call.
The [Jd] fell on the turn, bet of 600, call from Thew, the [Jh] completed the board, it was checked to Thew, he fired out a bet of 1,000 and the big blind swiftly called and showed [7s][6d] for the flopped straight, whilst Thew flashed pocket queens.
"Julian gets away with murder early on," said James Dempsey. Their table has got even harder as Steve Watts is also at the table, the former professional footballer has a number of cashes to his name, including a fifth place finish at the Irish Open in 2012. -- NW
12.51pm: World Champion Burland ready for action
We need to double-check this fact but it has been suggested that Jamie Burland is the current world "Roshambo" champion.
Apparently the 2010 Brighton UKIPT winner also won the Roshambo world championship using the much-maligned strategy of "paper, paper, paper" or "The Accountant" as it is known to rock, paper, scissors afficianados.
We will be investigating how accurate this report is shortly... -- RS
12.43pm: Thirst for success
It is a well-known fact that camels can go for long periods without water, but a lesser-known fact is that camels cannot survive long without chips.
This explains why Mcdonald's tend not to open in deserts, as the stampedes of camels looking for french fries can prove very dangerous.
Keith "The Camel" Hawkins is a better behaved brand of camel and he will be concentrating purely on collecting chips the traditional way, through sharp, intelligent poker. -- RS
12.39pm: Dempsey in early tiny pot chop shocker
James Dempsey will doubtless be one of the noisier contingent of the casino today.
Already he has been heard complaining about his bad luck. Having reached the river of a Q-7-7-Q-7 board, he and another player checked it down, Dempsey showing down pocket Jacks and his opponent K-T suited.
THe dealer chopped up the sub 1,000 pot but Dempsey wanted it pointed out that it was a bad beat.
"I was ahead till the river!" he moaned in jest. -- RS
12.35pm: Table of death gets even harder
As if table Dempsey, Thew and Frankland wasn't tough enough already, they've just been joined by Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren.Sadly it'll be one of the first tables to break. -- NW
12.25pm: Spotted
The first lap of the room has unearthed a number of names and notables: Neil Channing, James Keys , Rupinder Bedi and Emmett Mullin were all in the queue to get their seat draw having just bought in.
James 'Flushy' Dempsey is sharing a table with Matt Frankland and Julian Thew, that should be interesting. Elsewhere UKIPT Online champion Wojtek Barzantny has direct position on the dangerous Jason Tompkins, the Irishman finished fifth at EPT San Remo recently and finished in the same position at UKIPT Dublin in September 2011. He's not to be confused with the famous dwarf actor.
There's a couple of Roberts in the field too, both Joe and Jamie could be players to look out for, the former finished third in Galway earlier this season. -- NW
12.10pm: Play is underway
Cards are in the air here in Bristol and Day 1B is underway. -- NW
11.58am: UKIPT Bristol day 1B is in effect
UKIPT Bristol is well underway, Day 1A having played out yesterday with action aplenty as Jonathon Prested soared into an impressive chip lead, with close to double that of his nearest rival by the close of play.
Whether anyone in the day 1B roster can match the 121,300 Prested accumulated remains to be seen but with a talent-packed field including the likes of Team PokerStars Pros Liv Boeree, Vicky Coren and Christophe De Meulder, Team PokerStars Online and Mickey Petersen and WSOP bracelet and WPT winner James Dempsey, it is more than possible.
Those players may have the established names but there will be plenty of others looking to build themselves a reputation by securing this prestigious title so we can expect a tough, uncompromising day of poker to play out today.
Hold tight, we're moments away from the start so good luck one and all! -- RS
PokerStars Blog reporting team in Bristol (in order of number of portions of sliders ordered) : Rod Stirzaker (one) and Nick Wright (none, went for the soup, the jesse). Photos by Mickey May (always has Caesar salad) .