11:30pm: Benito leads at play's close
That's all from Nottingham for today. Play will resume at 12pm BST tomorrow where play will continue until a final table of eight is reached. Juan Benito leads the way with 1,473,000 but there is a long way to go yet. A full recap, chip counts and the Day 3 seat draw will be up on the blog shortly. -- MC
10:53pm: Last four hands
Each table will play four more hands before play ends for Day 2.
10:50pm: Middy busts to Vinson
Tom Middleton will be off to drown his sorrows at the party after he was eliminated by Ben Vinson.
Vinson raised with ace-queen and called after Middleton three-bet all in for 220,000 with jack-ten. The board offered no help for the EPT London champion. -- MC
10:40pm: Meet Scott Kateian - all the way from Seattle
"I love the diversity of poker in Europe," drawled Scott Kateian with a smile, whilst simultaneously winning the award for the happiest man ever to have busted a poker tournament. The American, who flew all the way from Seattle to play this tournament, has just busted out in 67th place but had a beer in hand and smile on face.
And it's to do with his refreshing attitude to poker. "There's no business about this trip, I do this because I love poker. I'm conscious of being profitable but to me it's an adventure."
And he's been on quite an adventure recently, having finished 18th in the Irish Open, before flying back to Seattle and then here to Nottingham this week to play. He's also played in Macau and Lithuania recently. "Even with no English spoken at the tables you can understand the language of poker," he told the PokerStars Blog. As to his next adventure, well he hasn't decided yet. -- NW
10:35pm: Zandvliet gets some back by busting Baxter
Joeri Zandvliet's stack has moved back up to 680,000 after he eliminated the super short-stacked Mark Baxter.
Zandvliet opened to 21,000 and called after Baxter shoved for 60,000.
Zandvliet: [ad][7d]
Baxter: [ks][js]
The board ran [2d][7h][th][4d][6d] to make the Dutchman a pair of sevens. -- MC
10.20pm: Watts wobbles then recovers
Poker can really mess with your mind, Steve Watts was close to winning a 600,000 pot one moment and then on the precipice of being eliminated soon after.
First he lost a 600,000 chip pot blind on blind with [A][J] against Terry Carter's [A][10] when Carter spiked a 10. Then he shoved all-in for his remaining 140,000 over the top of Joe Greenfield's 20,000 chip open. Greenfield tanked for an age before deciding to call off about half his stack.
Greenfield: [8s][8h]
Watts: [Ad][8d]
"Any diamonds about," said Chaz Chattha who was railing his friend. Indeed there were as the board ran [Jd][9d][6d][9h][7h] board to double Watts to around 300,000 whilst Greenfield was left with 100,000. -- NW
10.10pm: Elliot closing in on a million
William Elliot has almost a million chips after winning a pot against another big stack in the shape of Joeri Zandvliet.
The Dutchman opened to 21,000 and called when Elliot three-bet to 45,000 from the big blind. On the [9s][3d][8s] flop Elliot c-bet 45,000 and Zandvliet made the call. The [Ac] fell on the turn, Elliot slowed down check-calling a bet of 78,000 from Zandvliet. On the [Kh] river Elliot fired out a bet of 201,000 and Zandvliet mucked without too much hesitation. As he did Elliot showed pocket aces for top set. -- NW
10:05pm: Champ watch
It's impressive that four UKIPT champions are still in the field with 62 players remaining. More impressive is that three of those players are winners from this season and the fourth - Joeri Zandvliet - is a two-time champion and made the Dublin leg final table as well this season.
As they enter level 19 here are their counts:
Duncan McLellan - (UKIPT4 Isle of Man)-105,000
Dean Hutchison - (UKIPT4 Edinburgh) 455,000
Ben Mayhew - (UKIPT4 Nottingham1) 180,000
Joeri Zandvliet - (Mr. two-time) 860,000
--MC
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 5,000/10,000, ante 1,000
9.50pm: What time is it? Break time
The end of level 18 has arrived and the players can take a small, relaxing hiatus in which to chat, smoke, re-organise and plan their strategy.
We'll be back in 15 minutes for level 19. -- RS
9:45pm:Who's out in front? Just William
William Elliott is the man who has galloped out in front of the field - his stack an impressive 880,000.
His thunderous ascent to the top of the rankings came in a big hand where he opened the button with pocket fives and was three-bet by the small blind.
He made the call - only for the flop to come a set-tastic [9s][5h][2h].
His opponent led for 50,000 and Elliott gave a speech about finding out where he was with his overpair before raising to 100,000.
His opponent moved all-in for around 380,000 and Elliott called.
His opponent had more outs than Elliott might have liked, holding [Ah][3h] for a straight flush draw however most of the shivers that might have been running down Elliott's spine were squashed on the full-house-completing [9c] on the turn.
With just one out standing between him and the chip lead, the river bricked and a happy Elliott was left beaming with his newly-won mountain of chips.
The twinkle in his eye suggests he may be nursing some embryonic hopes of taking this title down. --RS
9.35pm: Brutal rivers for Buchanan and Maudlin
They say your poker dreams can drown in the river and that prophecy came true for Algernon Buchanan and David Maudlin in quick succession.
Buchanan open shoved for 89,000 with [As][Qs] and got a call from Ashfaaq Taus, who also had [Ad][Qc]. But two flush draws proved better than one as the board ran [2c][9c][6h][3c][6c] to give Taus a flush.
Then Maudlin got his last 160,000 in with pocket eights against Sebastian Saffari's [Ac][Ks]. It was looking good for him until fifth street but the [6d][6s][10d][Jc][Kc] board favoured Saffari in the end. -- NW
9:25pm: Ryan spits Gordon out of the tournament
Talented Londoner Chris Gordon, who came 13th at UKIPT Edinburgh in January, has been eliminated by the equally talented Ryan Spittles.
Gordon was down to his last 150,000 when he shoved from the button with [kh][th], after the action folded around to him. Spittles was in the big blind and made the call (out of a 500k stack) with [ah][7h] and held. -- MC
9:10pm:Mayhew misfires as he unloads the clip
Ben Mayhew was flying high not so long ago, but has lost a chunk of his stack running a bluff that didn't quite work.
Holding K-Q he was three-bet preflop by Richard Horton, making the call.
The flop fell [Ad][2d][2s] and Mayhew led out with a small bet which was called.
The turn was the [7s] and Mayhew once more fired - this time for 38,000.
Call.
The river was the [6d] and Mayhew fired once more - his third barrel a meaty 64,000.
Horton was less keen on calling this, tanking for some time about whether to call what was 60% of his remaining stack.
Eventually he did call though, Mayhew tapped the table to signify defeat and Horton showed him pocket kings.
"I like my thinking in the hand," said Mayhew. "I think his call was a curious one rather than a "Yes, i think I'm good here" one. I wish I'd bet a bit bigger on the river."
Mayhew down to 230,000, Horton up to 260,000. --RS
Blinds up: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
8.50pm: Ward cashes again
As mentioned below Thomas Ward has just been eliminated from the main event and he was kind enough to tell the PokerStars Blog what happened. "I'd just doubled up the hand before and I've now got 22 big blinds. The cut-off (Lewis Swift), who was new to the table, opened to 14,000 I three-bet to 36,000 from the button with pocket kings and he called. The flop was [6][4][2] I c-bet 37,000, he made it 40,000 on top and I moved all-in for 102,000. He called and he's got pocket sixes.
Not the result Ward was looking for but he'd been short stacked for much of the day and grinded his way into the money for a record 11th UKIPT Main Event cash. -- NW
8:45pm: Big names starting to tumble
The ever consuming jaws of variance care not for your reputation or standing.
The following notable players have fallen into their indiscriminate clutches in recent times.
Gone are erstwhile chip leader Jude Ainsworth, record-breaking UKIPT casher Thomas Ward, Canadian wonderkid Andrew Chen and the man who led the Day 1A chip counts Mauricio Baez.
Just 77 remain now and the atmosphere is coming to a boil. --RS
8:40pm: Pastor scuppered in huge pot
Daniel Pastor has been steadily building a giant stack all day, but his stack and hopes just went ablaze moments ago.
Ramey Shaio was the happy recipient. It looked as though the chips all went in on a [9][8][4] board - Pastor holding [K][J] and Shiao [9][8] for top two.
The board was efficiently swept away and we were unable to see whether Pastor had some additional equity in the form of a flush draw - but the net result was defeat for Pastor and a giant 600,000 stack for Shaio who will rank amongst the chip leaders at this stage.
Blake also going well at this table - now up to 320,000... --RS
8.30pm: Arvin accumulates Ainsworth's stack
Arvin Ravindran is the new chip leader because he's just busted Jude Ainsworth in a 600,000 chip pot. It all went in pre-flop with Ravindran opening on the button, Ainsworth three-betting from the small blind, Ravindran four-betting to 70,000, Ainsworth shoving for 300,000 and Ravindran calling his shove.
Ainsworth: [A][Q]
Ravindran: [A][K]
The board ran 10 high to eliminate Ainsworth and give Ravindran a stack of roughly 700,000. -- NW
8:22pm: Royal Adebayo
Adebayo Odetoyinbo is an interesting character that many London-based players know all about him. He's fearless and willing to take on any calibre of opponent. Jude Ainsworth is beginning to find that out.
Odetoyinbo raised to 12,000 from mid position and Ainsworth peeled from the big blind to see a [5d][3d][9h] flop. The Irishman led out for 14,000 and witnessed Odetoyinbo snap-shove for around 220,000. Ainsworth looked confused, gave a wry smile and released his hand.
A few hands before that Odetoyinbo had a lot less chips but he made a royal flush to his great joy. "I didn't think they existed!" commented Odetoyinbo. -- MC
8:20pm: Blake and Roche battle
Tim Blake may count himself a little fortunate to still be in proceedings following a battle with Peter Roche.
The hand saw Blake raise [Kd][Qd] and Roche re-raise him ["again!"].
He flat called to see a king high flop. Blake was happy to get his chips in on this beneficial flop - only for Roche to call with ace-king.
We'll leave it up to Tim Blake to finish off the story.
"I hit a queen on the turn!" he giggled. "He went ****** mental!"
One couldn't help but be swept up in the infectious delivery from Blake, though Roche was clearly somewhat hard done by here poker-wise.
"He's not talking to me now. I usually end up sending people home talking to themselves!"
Blake up to 150,000, Roche down to 200,000. --RS
8.15pm: Exits. So many exits
Almost 100 players have busted since the money bubble burst, you can see the entire list of prizewinners here. But here are the finishing positions of some of the well-known players: Fatima Moreira de Melo (96th), Kevin Allen (105th), Martins Adeniya (111th), Dave Ulliott (112th), Royston Drenthe (126th), David Lappin (134th), Dara Davey (138th), Paul Foltyn (148th), Lawrie Sanchez (169th), Paul Zimbler (177th), Jeff Kimber (179th) Jake Cody (181st) and Richard Evans (183rd). -- NW
8.05pm: Kellett looking good once again
It's been an up and down day for Richard Kellett and as far as he's concerned right now he's heading in the right direction. He'd been as low as 80,000 earlier but is now up to 440,000. Elsewhere Lewis Swift has 425,000 and Jonathan Slater has 90,000. -- NW
8pm: Double up for Dominic
Down to just 43,000, Dominic Mahoney shoved from middle position and Jack Allen looked him up from the big blind. Mahoney rolle over [Ad][As] and was a dominating favourite against Allen's pocket tens. The [Qd][8c][5h][6d][6h] rolled off safely for Mahoney and he got a much needed double up. -- NW
7:50pm: Back to a different kind of chips
Cards are back in the air and level 17 is under way. -- NW
Blinds up: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
6:50pm: Winner, winner chicken dinner!
Well the end of level 16 means we are six levels into the day. That means the remaining 98 players get a 60 minute break to eat, digest and refresh.
We'll do likewise. See you in sixty minutes for the final four levels of the day. -- RS
6:48pm: Moreira de Melo struck down by the ladies
As described Fatima has been on somewhat of a rollercoaster. This continued as she got it in with [Js][Jd] versus the [Ad][Ks] of Tim Blake.
Both likeable characters and both holding roughly 50% equity in the pot, it was perhaps justice that the board came [7s][5d][4h][3s][6c] to chop the pot between the pair.
This proved to be a temporary reprieve as a few hands later she pushed her 70,000 into the middle, only for David Green to call her with pocket queens.
She failed to spike over the [Ks][7h][3c][6c][2s] board and that meant she was left to gather her belongings and leave.
"Good luck all," the genial PokerStars SportStar said as she departed.
Green rises to 220,000...--RS
6:40pm: Double Dutch; Royston out, Fatima yo-yoing
The fortunes have been mixed post bubble for the two Dutch sports stars, Royston Drenthe and Fatima Moreira de Melo.
Drenthe busted in 125th place after his ace-eight was sucked out on by an opponent's ace-deuce that made a straight on the river.
Moreira De Melo has a tad over 70,000 after an up-and-down level. Her aces were cracked by an opponent's queen-ten after they got all in on a queen-high flop. She was annoyed as her opponent accidently raised to 12,000 after she had already opened the pot to 10,000. He didn't announce it though so it went as a call. He went on to turn two-pair and she dropped down to 40,000.
Her level ended on a high though when she doubled back up with ace-king versus fours, getting there on the river. -- MC
6.30pm: Chip counts
Joeri Zandvliet leads with 620,000 but how's your favourite player in the field doing?
Here are a selection of chip counts:
Fatima Moreira de Melo - 92,000
Chris Gordon - 175,000
Dean Hutchison - 205,000
Kevin Allen - 40,000
Ryan Spittles - 185,000
Tim Blake - 130,000
Sebastian Saffari - 420,000
Andrew Chen - 340,000
Mike Thomas - 400,000
Duncan McLellan - 255,000
Tom Ambler - 190,000
Mike Panteli - 370,000
Ben Vinson - 520,000
Thomas Ward - 90,000
Jude Ainsworth - 400,000
Arvin Ravindran - 540,000
Jonas Lauck - 420,000
Steve Watts - 80,000
Matthew Barnett - 380,000
Joeri Zandvliet - 620,000
Neil Raine - 435,000
Martins Adeniya - 135,000
Tom Middleton - 120,000
Mitch Johnson - 350,000
Mauricio Baez - 108,000
6:25pm: 110 and falling...
Just 110 players remain now, a frenzy of eliminations since the money spots were breached shearing a third of the field away in quick smart fashion.
Shortstacks are dangling by a thread - their hopes of survival resting on winning some key showdowns.
Richard Dawson wasn't able to survive his sweaty moment - a desperation lunge with [Kh][5s] running into Mike Thomas' [As][Ah].
A board of [9h][6h][8s][Jd][6h] saw him heading to the rail.
Better news for fellow shortstack Richard Horton, who fired his remaining 45,000 into the middle with [As][Jh] only for the big-stacked Ben Mayhew to find [As][Ks] and look ready to deliver the death blow.
Horton ran good though, a board of [9h][6h][8s][Jd][6h] containing the requisite spiked-jack and he could breathe a sigh of relief - up to 105,000.
6.05pm: Fish fried
"Good luck boys, you'll need it," said Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliott as he took his leave from the tournament after busting to Mitch Johnson.
In the hand in question Johnson raised to 10,500 on the button and Devilfish peeled from a stack of roughly 60,000. On the [8c][Qh][10d] flop he said: "You got me kid," before moving his chips over the line, albeit three stacks of chips one at a time. The dealer went to call the floor but Devilfish stopped him: "He (Johnson) knows what I mean, ask him if he wants a ruling."
Before the dispute could escalate Johnson put enough chips over the line to call and it was time for showdown.
Devilfish: [9d][8h]
Johnson: [Ad][10s]
The [5d] turn and [6c] river kept Johnson in front to boost him to 350,000 whilst Ulliott headed for the door. -- NW
Blinds up: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
5:55pm: Mayhew and Ainsworth the kingpins
Ben Mayhew and Jude Ainsworth are having a personal battle to accumulate chips. At present it's Ainsworth with the slight edge - his stack over 600,000 - but Mayhew is rapidly making ground, stepping on the accelerator and moving over 550,000.
The battle for UKIPT domination is on...-- RS
5:50pm: Roche still in the joint
Peter Roche remains a potential UKIPT Nottingham champ as we push through the money spot.
He just sent one of the table shortstacks to the rail, his [Jd][9d] holding versus the desperation shove with [9c][Tc] of his opponent.
The board of [Jd][2s][5c][6s][9d] moves Roche to 140,000. --RS
5.40pm: Williams wamboozled - but gets monkey off his back
Dan Williams is a familiar presence on both the UKIPT and Eureka tours, which doesn't mean much until you consider that he lives in Canada. Despite success in side events he's never cashed in a main event on either tour until now.
And he's feeling a little bitter as he had his aces cracked by an opponent's ace-king which four flushed in a pot worth 200,000. -- NW
5:30pm: Cody canned
Jake Cody got fortunate to make it into the money but didn't last that long once the bubble burst.
The Team PokerStars Pro told the blog that he's won a couple of pots to chip up to 70,000 before he three-bet all in from the button with ace-king after an under-the-gun open. The small blind woke up with pocket tens, made the call, and navigated a safe board. -- MC
5.20pm: Evans first out in the money
Richard Evans is the UKIPT Champion of Champions which means he's completely freerolling the fourth season of the UKIPT. He's just got his first return on that freeroll as he's first out in the money here in Nottingham. He shoved his remaining 11,000 in with [6d][4c] from the small blind and David Lappin called with [Kc][4d]. Evans was out of his seat before the [10c][9s][9d][Kh][2s] board had completed. -- NW
5.10pm: Edward Clark bubbles UKIPT4 Nottingham2
The bubble has burst and Edward Clark is out in 184th place. He had 4,000 of his 4,500 chips in the middle as the big blind and after Richard Gryko raised to 8,000 from middle position and everyone else had folded he tossed his singular chip into the middle to signify a call.
There was then a wait whilst the rest of the hands played to their conclusion, hand for hand rules dictate that if there's an all-in cards stay face down until all other hands have concluded. This took some 10-15 minutes as Neil Raine was playing a big pot and there was also the Patrice Brendt hand in progress. During this time a swell of players gathered around Clark's table. "It's like torture, said Clark," to those watching. Martins Adeniya, Alex Spencer and Jake Cody were just three of the watching players who were debating whether you should fold, leaving yourself just 500 and hope another player busted.
After Brendt had doubled up, the hands were turned over, [Jh][4d] for Clark and [5d][5h] for Gryko. The [8s][9h][6c][4c][5s] board kept Gryko in front and burst the UKIPT bubble. Everyone else is now in the money. -- NW
5:05pm: Adebayo ruffling feathers
Adebayo Odetoyinbo is a familiar name to patrons of the london poker scene. Outspoken and brash, he never shies away from a confrontation and has a habit of courting controversy as a result.
He got all up in the grill of one of his tablemates moments ago, raising to 12,000 from middle position. His opponent started thinking in the big blind, only for Adebayo to suddenly move all-in!
This caused consternation from the tanking player and the tournament director was called.
He ruled that Odetoyinbo had to receive a warning but that the other player's only choice was to call or fold.
Eventually he decided to fold, though he wasn't happy at Odetoyinbo's antics. The pair argued furiously for several minutes.
"You must be the most hated man since Nigel Farage."
"Wah wah wah, everyone's a cry baby when Ade's doing better than them," countered Odetoyinbo.
Tempers rising whilst the bubble plays out. -- RS
4:55pm: Brandt survives big scare to double on the bubble
Patrice Brandt was one of two players all in on the bubble and his hand was called out over the PA system first.
He had three-bet all in for 32,000 from the cut-off after Ben Mayhew had opened from early position. Call.
Mayhew: [kc][jd]
Brandt: [9d][9s]
The board ran [8d][qs][3d][ks][9c].
Mayhew took the lead on the turn but the river offered up a late Dallas-esque twist on the river. It caused some cheers and clapping, including Mayhew who pumped fists with Brandt. -- MC
4.45pm: The bubble has burst
Details coming shortly. -- NW
4.30pm: Ainsworth leads on the bubble
The atmosphere in the poker room is tense, you could cut it with a playing card. The reason? It's bubble time. 186 players are left in and 183 make the money.
It's leading to pained folds all round and this was evident in a hand between Jude Ainsworth and Adebayo Odetoyinbo. Ainsworth, who has a mountain of chips worth roughly 580,000 in front of him, raised to 6,000, Odetoyinbo three-bet to 16,000 from a stack of 92,000 only for Ainsworth to four-bet to 41,500 total.
Back on Odetoyinbo he went into the tank, he tanked for the last four minutes of the level and then continued into the break. Eventually Ainsworth had enough and called the clock. As time ticked down Odetoyinbo folded saying: "I'm 90% sure I'm ahead but as it's the bubble I'll fold." To which Ainsworth responded: "I'd never usually call the clock there, but I want a break!"
With that Ainsworth breaks the 600,000 chip mark, he's the man to catch as we head into level 15. -- NW
PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT Nottingham2: Marc Convey, Rod Stirzaker and Nick Wright. Photos by Danny Maxwell.