4:25pm: Break down
Four levels have been completed meaning it's time for a fifteen minute pause in play. The players will be returning shortly, as will we, for level five. See you soon!
Update: You can follow level five updates here. -- RS
4:24pm: Squid Chipping Up
Sam "TheSquid" Grafton has had a productive opening four levels, reaching 41,000 at the break.
He had this to say as he went on his break:
"I've not had the best of table draws really, but I've just played solid and chipped up. It's going well really!" -- RS
4:22pm: Moneymaker undoes self-harm with triple-up
Chris Moneymaker was sat looking at his sub-2k stack and spoke, "Only done the damage to myself today. All self-inflicted!"
Moments later, Simon Hemsworth limped in front of Moneymaker, who shoved for 1,600. Paul Haycock called from the big blind, as did Hemsworth.
The board ran out [8d][2h][5c][4h][4s] with checks all the way down.
"I think I win this," said Moneymaker who opened pocket fives for a full house. -- MC
4:15pm: More counts from around the room
More big names, further chip counts:
Simon Hemsworth - 18,500
Steve Warburton - 14,000
Jamie Sykes - 29,000
Dean Clay - 24,500
David Gent - 30,100
Danny Laming - 34,000
Simon Deadman - 18,000
Matti De Meulder - 5,500
Richard Kellett - 22,500
Joeri Zandvliet - 24,000
Neil Raine - 21,000
Dermot Blain - 19,000
Patryk Slusarek - 22,500
Zimnan Ziyard - 19,800
James Mitchell - 14,800
Robbie Bull - 23,400
Andrew Chen - 37,000
Jamie Roberts - 12,800
Duncan McLellan - 24,400
Jack Salter - 24,300
4.05pm: De Meulder gets a double
"Your timing was impeccable," said Neil Rawnsley to the PokerStars Blog who had turned up just in time to witness Christophe De Meulder double up. The Team PokerStars Pro three-bet to 1,025 over the top of Tony Wu's 400 chip open. Back on Wu, he re-raised to 2,200 and De Meulder made the call in position.
On the [Ks][8h][6d] flop both players checked and the [7s] fell on the turn. First to act Wu led for 2,000 and De Meulder smooth called. On the [2s] river Wu fired out a blue 5k chip and De Meulder gave it a think. After about one minute in the tank he moved all-in for an effective 15,000 and Wu snap called. De Meulder showed [As][Js] for the nut flush, whilst Wu opened [Kh][Kc] for the flopped set that was outdrawn on the river.
After that hand De Meulder is up to 38,000. - NW
4pm: Paul McBust
Pau McTaggert will be trying his luck on Day 1C after he was eliminated after a frustrating day on the felt.
He told the blog a he had a ton of pairs in multi-way pots and failed to hit a set once. He also had a lot of suited connectors that flopped gutshots and/or backdoor draws but never came in and cost him a fortune.
He busted with ten-eight on a [t][7][6] flop to an opponent with pocket queens.
-- MC
3.55pm: Interesting chip counts
Here's a flavour of the chip counts from the felt.
Jamie Burland - 44,500
Charles Chattha - 31,000
Nick Hicks - 24,000
Sunny Chattha - 18,500
John Conroy - 14,500
Chris Moneymaker - 19,500
Martins Adeniya - 15,750
John Eames - 17,325
Kevin Allen - 50,000
Rick Trigg - 15,000
Renee Xie - 36,000 -- RS
3:48pm: Frankie works his magic
There are big draws and there are thin draws.
Chin Chai "Frankie" Koh just hit one of the thinnest possible the fabled "one-outer"- though in his defence, the money went in with him in much better shape.
Short, but holding queens, he fired all his chips in the middle, only to be called by ace-king with the [Kd].
That became relevant when the board rained down diamonds and came ace-high.
Frankie looked dead and buried with two black queens, but incredibly the [Qh] on the river appeared - Frankie's only clean out.
"I've used up my one time now! I think I'll win the tournament!" -- RS
3:40pm: Some Notable chip counts
Gordon Huntly - 19,600
Jack Ellwood - 23,000
Ben Jenkins - 18,700
Richard Milner - 31,000
Leo McClean - 17,800
Dara O'Kearney - 17,000
David Lappin - 24,000
Alli Mallu - 15,000
Sam Grafton - 28,000
Royston Drenthe - 12,000
Steven Watts - 30,000
Richie Allen - 22,000
James Williams - 34,000
Alex Goulder - 17,500
Kevin Willaims - 28,000
James Morris - 8,000
Dean Lyall - 33,000
Paul McTaggert - 2,700
James Tomlin - 16,000
Paul Zimler - 25,000
Sam Holden - 18,000
Brett Angel - 9,000
-- MC
3:30pm: Level 3 exits
The following players have perished before the antes have kicked in.
371 Thomas Postlethwaite
372 Bobbie Brummitt
373 Thomas Horton
374 Paul Febers
375 Alan Kenny
376 James Clarke
377 Mark Chantler
378 Arron Woodcock
379 Florian Isufaj
380 Norbert Berent
381 Andy Subir
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 100/200, ante 25
3:25pm: A catch up with Ben Jenkins
Full Tilt Poker Ambassador Ben Jenkins has taken a month off from poker, he discusses that, UKIPT events and shoving ranges in this talk with PokerStars.tv.
3:20pm: Ding Ding - Round 2 for Ashraf
Waheed Ashraf was a hive of activity when he played his first buy-in yesterday, engaging in regular dialogue with his tableand showcasing some sophisticated hand reading skills in the process.
It was almost a successful day as he'd negotiated his way through to the final level with 75,000, before a last minute blitzkrieg saw all his chips dissolve in a wave of intemperate variance.
He's availed himself of his opportunity to buy in once more today though and is keen to turn his fortunes round.
"As long as you get the chips across the line in your favour, eventually it will work out well," he told us - taking a philosophical approach to his strategy. Wise words indeed. -- RS
3:15pm: Man avoids setup
Chun Hao Man was just posed a tricky question by tablemate Christian Solvang.
Having led out in position on a flop of [Qs][9s][6d] for 3,200, Solvang had check-raised all-in for around 15,000.
Man looked puzzled over the action. He wrinkled his brow, he shuffled his chips, he pondered and deliberated and finally folded.
If he had any doubts about whether he'd made the right fold or not, they were about to be answered.
Solvang hit the table, shouting, "Damn! I was sure you had aces or kings and would call. I had a set of nines!"
Somewhat distraught, despite having won the pot, Solvang swept up the pot that moved him back to close to his starting stack; Man looking on impassively must felt a small glow of pride inside at having made the right decision. --RS
3.10pm: Mason-brown takes one down
Ryunosuke Mason-brown isn't exactly a name that slips of the tongue but he just took down a big pot against Guy Taylor. The two of them and Albert Sapiano all put in 900 pre-flop and a [Ks][6s][10c] flop hit the felt. Taylor c-bet 1,800 and Mason-brown was the only caller.
The [Qh] turn checked through and the [Qs] hit the river. Mason-brown took the lead firing out a bet of 3,600, Taylor tank-called but mucked when Mason-brown showed him [Qc][6c] for the full house. -- NW
3pm: Table open
New tables continue to be filled with fresh bums on seats here at UKIPT4 Nottingham2. UKIPT4 Isle of Man champion Duncan McLellan is one of the latest to take his seat at a freshly opened tabled. Rick Trigg and Peter Charalambous are also at that new table. Elsewhere I've spotted UKIPT4 London champion Robbie Bull and James Mitchell whilst Nick Hicks and Team PokerStars Pro Matti De Meulder are at the same table. It really is a high class field today. - NW
2:50pm: Drenthe scores injury time winner
Royston Drenthe was a very happy chap after a river came to his rescue to double him up in a hand versus Ray Caabay.
Caabay raised from the hijack and Drenthe called in the cut-off en route to a [ts][3s][7d] flop. Caabay continued for 525 and the former Dutch international footballer called.
On the [5h] turn Caabay fired again, for 1,200, and called when Drenthe shoved for his remaining 4,150. Call.
Cabaay opened [5c][3c] for two-pair, ahead of his opponent's [js][jd]. The river came as the [7s] and Drenthe went, "Wow, just wow!" -- MC
2:35pm: Lose some, win some for Moneymaker
Chris Moneymaker is usually a chatty presence at the tables and today is no different. The PokerStars Blog joined the table to see a [6c][10s][Jc][Ah] flop on the felt and 8,150 in the middle. Action was on Team PokerStars Online's Vicente Delgado, he fired out a bet of 3,250 and Moneymaker let out a rueful smile. "That's the worst board for my hand," he said as he folded [Qs][Qh] face up.
"You've either got ace-king or a set, was I beat on the flop or the turn?" he asked. "The flop," replied Delgado. "A set of tens or jacks then," Delagado shook his head. "Nice hand either way," said Moneymaker.
The 2003 WSOP Main Event Champion got involved in the next hand. He called bets of 400 pre-flop and 500 on the flop from Thomas Zhang before both the players checked the turn. The river completed a [10s][Qd][5s][As][4s] board, Moneymaker bet 1,200 and he took the pot. He's back up to around 17,000. -- NW
2:20pm: Brooks busto
Simon Brooks' day was shorter than he would've liked. He was crippled in one hand and busted the very next one.
John Hedley took most of his chips in a flush-over-flush set up. They were heads-up to the turn of a [qs][ks][6s][jh] board when most of the chips went flying in. Brooks opened [4s][5s] but was crushed by Hedley's [9s][8s].
Brooks tried to leave but he was forced to stay and watch the [qd] river and he had 575 chips left.
Those chips went in the next hand with ten-eight and he was eliminated by Kevin Williams who made a full house with pocket sixes.
Ben Sakal, Nigel Hannan, Blazej Przygorzewski, Nader Sarhan and Mark Reed have all been eliminated so far today as well. -- MC
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 75/150
2:00pm: Break it up!
Two levels have played out in brisk fashion here at Dusk till Dawn. The players are taking a quick hiatus to refresh their batteries with coffee, cigarettes, conversation and maybe a quick game of roulette.
Back in ten minutes. -- RS
1:58pm: Van Oort is Van Out-en
We caught the tail end of a hand being contested between Paul Van Oort, Sam Grafton and Tom Kuglestadt.
With the board reading [Jd][6s][8d] it looked as though Van Oort had bet, Grafton called and Kuglestadt raised the flop. Van Oort now went all-in, Grafton laid his hand down and Kugelstadt called quickly.
Pocket kings for Van Oort, but he'd run headfirst into Kugelstadt's piledriver of a hand - a set of sixes.
With hope dwindling, there was to be no succour for Van Oort on the [As][Qd] turn and river. "Can i buy back in at the same table?" he asked optimistically before we informed him he'd have to play tomorrow if he wanted to buy back in.
He sloped off a little disappointed.
Kugelstadt meanwhile rises to 31,200. --RS
1:57pm: Drenthe getting short, again
Royston Drenthe sure loves poker. He played and busted the Main Event yesterday before playing cash games all night. He grabbed a quick nap on the sofa in Trickett's VIP room and he's back in for Day 1B.
He might be back in the cash games sooner than he'd hoped for today as he's already down to 4,000.
A big three-way pot had made it to the river with a board resting as [9h][js][9s][th][ah]. Chris Forde bet 3,000 and the Dutchman was the only caller. Forde opened [9s][ts] for a full house and Drenthe mucked. -- MC
1.55pm: The toughest table of them all?
With so many talented players in the room there are plenty of tough tables dotted around. Table 57 might trump the lot of them though.
1.Hamish Morjaria
2.Dean Clay
3.Jamie Sykes
4.Andrew Lewis
5.Bart Besselink
6.Danny Laming
7.Glyn Cooke
8.David Gent
9.Martins Adeniya
That's some line-up; there's Jamie Sykes who's won the Sunday Million, finished sixth at UKIPT3 Edinburgh and 11th here at the UKIPT4 Nottingham 6-max. Full Tilt Poker Ambassador Martins Adeniya has just shy of $500,000 in lifetime live earnings and final tabled EPT8 London. David 'sexygee' Gent is one of the best British players that you may not know. He was best known for playing high stakes cash games, that was until he finished second in the 7th Anniversary Sunday Million in 2013 and won $836,321.83.
Throw in Bart Besselink who has a good reputation amongst Dutch players and circuit grinders Dean Clay and Daniel Laming, who've both had big scores in the last year, and you've got a tough crowd. -- NW
1:50pm: Postlethwaite looking for the double
Thomas Postlethwaite has arrived in Nottingham relatively fresh from his recent win at the UKIPT series 4 London.
During the event, he pledged he would make the trip to Nottingham if he did win, and true to his word here he is. He's not been fazed by the bigger field and buy-in either, playing a host of pots in the early stages and winning most of them according to tablemate and well-known UK player Tom "Red Dog" McCready.
Unfortunately, our arrival signalled the end of Postlethwaite's dominance as he lost two pots in a row. "I had to lose one sometime!" he added with a smile.
He's just above his starting stack but enjoying getting stuck into the table, --RS
1.40pm: Zhang lets it go
Thomas Zhang is down to around 5,000 after bet-folding the river against Mathew Miners. There was 8,000 in the pot by the time the river of a [8h][Qs][5s][8c][Ks] board hit the felt. Zhang bet out for 3,300 but tank folded after Miners raised to 7,750.
Both those players are at the same table as Chris Moneymaker, the Team PokerStars Pro has slipped to around 12,000 and to his immediate right, Simon Hemsworth is down to 15,500. -- NW
1:30pm: He's just a Moneymaker
The UKIPT is very proud and happy to have 2003 World Champion Chris Moneymaker playing today.
The Team PokerStars Pro has Simon Hemsworth as a neighbour and PokerStars Team Online's Vicente Delgado across the table. He won a pot of Hemsworth to rise to 22,000.
The action was four-way to a [2d][6h][jd] flop but only Hemsworth (small blind) and Moneymaker (big blind) were left by the time the [kd] rolled out on the turn. Moneymaker bet 1,000 and Hemsworth check-called.
The board completed with the [kd] and both players checked. Hemsworth opened [qs][js] and lost out to Moneymaker's [ah][jh]. -- MC
1:17pm: Allen flush with chips
Kevin Allen has gotten back above his starting stack after he rivered a flush in a three-way pot.
He, Zoltan Szabo and Terry Jordan all took to a [ad][jh][4h] flop. The action was checked to Szabo on the button who fired 1,400. Jordan (big blind) and Allen (cut-off) both called to the [ac] turn where all three checked.
The river fell as the [6h] and Jordan led out for 3,000. Allen was the only caller with [kh][qh] for a flush. Jordan mucked. -- MC
1.10pm: Man down
The first exit of the day took less time than yesterday and Mark Reed is the unfortunate player to exit. The players at the table he was at told me that he was down to 6,000 on his exit hand and flopped the nut flush draw on a [10][J][Q] flop. Unfortunately for him Alan Stearn had ace-king for the flopped straight and it held on the turn and river. -- NW
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 50-100
1:00pm: Allen applies pressure down the streets
Richie Allen has already done a little damage to his stack.
We joined the hand in question on the river of a [2h][2d][3c][5s][5d] board - Allen having fired out a chunky 5,500 bet.
His opponent in the hand (Daniel Gagne) clearly had a tough decision. Given the size of the pot by the river, we assume there had been some pressure applied down the streets.
A period of thought was followed by a call from Gagne. Allen went to muck as did Gagne - however Allen reconsidered.
"If I show, does he have to?"
The dealer confirmed this, so Allen tabled [Ad][8c] to Gagne's winning pair of eights. Gagne up to 27,000, Allen down to 15,000. -- RS
12.55pm: Best of British (Ireland and Holland)
The big names continue to arrive at UKIPT4 Nottingham2 and if anything it now looks like those players who chose to play Day 1A may have made a smart move. Some of the latest players to take their seats in this tournament include: John Eames, Richard Kellett, Jamie Sykes, Joeri Zandvliet, Sunny Chattha, Dara O'Kearney, David Lappin, Steve Watts, Dean Lyall, David Gent, Gordon Huntly, Iqbal Ahmed, Kevin Allen and Paul Zimbler. Keep an eye on the chip counts page where we'll be updating the names, notables and chip leaders throughout the day. -- NW
12:45pm: A chat with Jenkins and Ellwood
Season 4 of the UKIPT has seen PokerStars try out new things. There is the variable buy in levels for different stops and this event marks the first time a re-entry system has been used.
Ben Jenkins is Full Tilt Poker Tour Ambassador and his good friend, and fellow pro, Jack Ellwood has been a supporter of the tour since its birth. The blog bent their ears before play started to find out what they think of the trials/changes:
BJ on his re-entries: I'm probably going to treat it pretty normally, maybe go for the marginal spots a bit more. If I'm thinking I'm flipping, normally I might pass, but I'll probably take those gambles today.
JE on re-entries: It's tough to say; I think there is a place for them. I don't think every tournament should be a re-entry but there is a time and a place. For the UKIPT, maybe one or two spots - if they boost the guarantee - can work. In theory, I'm against them but there are a lot of pros as well in terms of travelling, costs and getting to play the tournament twice. Online I'm against them though.
I like that fact it's only one re-entry per day rather than players firing multiple bullets in a day. To do it the other way, the structure should be shorter and the prize pool boosted by a smaller buy in. Definitely not right for a 1k.
BJ on the variable buy in levels this season: I think both buy in levels have a place. I think there are a lot of people that want to play a thousand, and a lot of people that want to play smaller ones but they're accommodating both markets. There may well be a place for re-entry tournaments as well, one thousand re-entries, seven hundred re-entries to help accommodate more people, which is a good thing.
Having a mix-bag of options give players the chance to vote with their feet, go to the tournament they want to see work.
-- MC
12.30pm: Snapshot from the felt
Even at this early stage of the tournament, the casino is awash with noise and activity. There's a palpable buzz permeating the cardroom and there are a host of reasons why.
Huge one million pound guarantee? Check.
Array of marquee names in the field? Check.
Decadent, well-run cardroom with attentive, well-trained staff? Check.
Scanning the field, we saw the following:
- Full Tilt Poker Ambassador Ben Jenkins decked out with his usual sartorially well-chosen raiment playing a host of small pots in the early stages
- The effusive Sam Grafton sporting the kind of beard that makes lumberjacks rub their chin in jealousy. (Yesterday's High Roller winner Dave "Dubai" Shallow explained that Grafton had been trapped on a desert island for some time.)
- Kevin Williams laughing and joking with his table as he sets out to write his own tale of glory at the UKIPT.
- UKIPT Marbella 2013 winner Ludovic Geilich gleefully swapping tales of his online exploits with fellow online players.
The scene is set for an outstanding day of poker. Hold tight! --RS
1215pm: Lucky we like queuing
If there were such a thing as Countries Top Trumps (turns out there is) then one of Britain's highest scoring categories or special skills would be the ability to queue. And that skill is being tested right now in two distinct types of queue.
There's one around the centre of the room - where there's a central command pod of sorts, players are queuing here to get seat assignments, Canadian grinder Dan Williams was one such player I spotted there, when in the UK and all that. Then there's another larger gathering at the front of the Dusk Till Dawn poker club, they include the De Meulder brothers and they - among with many others - are looking up at a big screen which depicts the table layout here at Dusk Till Dawn. Perhaps they have their seats and are working out where to go.
There's also a third subset, those who are patiently waiting for more tables to open to get their seats but see an alternative to queuing. Amongst them are Full Tilt Poker Ambassadors Dermot Blain and Martins Adeniya. They've got the look of two people who've seen this before so they're sat down having a chat whilst the hullabaloo carries on around them.
278 people are currently registered for Day 1B. -- NW
12pm: B is for bigger
At most, but not all, UKIPT stops Day 1B has easily surpassed Day 1A in terms of number of entrants. Today we expect it to be no different but what will change is that Day 1B is going to be the middle sibling this time out as Day 1C will dwarf both. We had 175 runners yesterday and that number could well be doubled today. Whilst Day 1C is still open for registration but there are only a handful of seats left.
However many players we get though I suspect the table containing one Chris Moneymaker will be a beehive for us honey gatherers and spectators alike. The 2003 WSOP Main Event champion is playing today, as is felllow Team Pro Christophe De Meulder. Other big names confirmed for some felt time today are: Full Tilt Poker Ambassador Ben Jenkins, Sam Holden (back from retirement) and UKIPT Marbella champion Ludovic Geilich.
And with this being a single re-entry tournament plenty of players who busted yesterday will be back for more today: Simon Deadman, Royston Drenthe and Ali Mallu are a triumvirate of terrors with a chance to wreak havoc once more.
As always at Dusk Till Dawn play will start bang on time at midday.
Key UKIPT Nottingham Facts:
- 20,000 starting stack
- Blinds starting at 25/50 for 400 big blinds
- One hour levels and we'll play ten today.
- For the first time ever players can re-enter a UKIPT Main Event. It's a single re-entry only and it must be used on a different starting day than the one the player busted from.
- This is the second Day 1, Day 1C is tomorrow then on Saturday survivors will merge for Days 2, 3 and 4 until a winner is crowned (cue winner's photo, trophy swinging around, celebrations in the bar).
- There's a live satellite at 20.00 BST here at the Dusk Till Dawn Club with 20 seats guaranteed.
- Full UKIPT schedule here
PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Nottingham2: Marc Convey, Rod Stirzaker and Nick Wright. Photos by Danny Maxwell.