2:57pm: Break time
The bubble burst during the last hand of level 16 and the players can celebrate making the money during a 25 minute break. You'll find level 17 updates here. -- NW
2:55pm: Charlie Combes bubbles UKIPT5 London
On the second hand of hand for hand play the bubble burst and Charlie Combes is the unlucky player who's left empty handed.
He shoved for 36,000 from under-the-gun with [6c][6d] and one seat along Guðmundur Gunnarsson called with [As][Js]. The [Ks][7h][Ah][3d][Qc] board meant Combes busted in 112th place and everyone else is now in the money.
One player who'll be very happy at this turn of events is Asaf Turgeman who was down to 7,500 and two hands away from being the big blind. -- NW
2:45pm: Hugging the bubble
Matti De Meulder (45,000), Charlie Combes (37,000) and Chi Hao Tsang (31,000) are just three of the players who're short stacked and hoping to survive the bubble. -- NW
2:38pm: Hand for hand
We're now on the bubble! Play will now be hand for hand until we lose one more player. Mike Wellend was one of those to bust just short of the cash when his Ace-jack lost out to Christopher Nazer's pocket queens. -- NW
2:35pm: The reign in Spain
The two chip leaders at the moment both hail from Spain. Juan Riera has 485,000 whilst Miguel Seoane has 455,000. -- NW
2:32pm: Cody and Gomez apply some pressure
Just four knock-outs away from the money, we couldn't help but notice some of the big names left in the field applying pressure to their tablemates.
PokerStars Team Pro Jake Cody shoved for approximately 80k in the small blind over Lawrence Harvey's 12k mid-position open and got it through, while on another table Diego Gomez shoved his last 11 big blinds on the button, forcing the blinds to both fold. Gomez emphatically turned over his [Ks][7s] and raked in the pot. --JS
2:27pm: Titans collide
A huge pot has played out on the virtual bubble between two big stacks.
Adam Kossew has been an unstoppable force today so far, building up to over 250,000, although the deck conspired to stop him in his tracks moments ago.
Holding pocket kings, he went to war with Miguel Seoane (165,000 or so) preflop only for the cards to reach showdown revealing that Seone had him cruelly beaten with pocket aces.
"Sick," commented a tablemate with several others, including Chaz Chattha shaking their heads at the cruel vagaries of poker.
Any hopes Kossew might be able to turn the equity tables evaporated on the [As][8d][7c] board and two bricks later he was carving his stack up like a christmas turkey and serving it up to Seoane.
Seoane moves to 360,000, Kossew drops to below 100,000 -- RS
2:25pm: Martin plays Sherriff
"Welcome to the table," said JJ Hazan to Tony Martn after the latter had made a hero call against Lawrence Bayley.
There was 65,000 in the pot and a complete board of [As][8c][6c][3s][8h] on the table as the PokerStars Blog picked up the action. Martin bet 30,000 only for Bayley to raise it up to 90,000 total. Back on Martin he tanked for a while before electing to call.
"You're good," said Bayley turning over [Qs][10s] for queen high, Martin showed [Kh][Qc] for the king high hero call, he's up to 325,000 as a result whilst Bayley slips to 250,000. At the same table Brett Angell has 135,000 and David Clarkson has 230,000. -- NW
2:20pm: Just short of the cash
The bubble is fast approaching as 117 players remain and 111 get paid. Those who've fallen just short include: Peter Jaksland, Ross Greig, Fabian Donovan, Attila Farkas, Ben Vinson and Sandiep Khosa. -- NW
2:15pm: Clarke "I need clubs...oh"
Gary Clarke has been grinding a short stack for some time and finally his time to showdown came.
With very few chips he committed the last of them in a three-way pot - and when Nicolas Berry bet and isolated the [Ks][Ts][6c] board to leave the pair heads-up, Clarke announced "I need clubs!" turning up [5c][3c].
As it turned out, that was the last thing he needed as Berry had been betting with [Ac][4c].
Live cards then, the ace on the turn however saw Clarke's hopes perish and he leaves just shy of the money. -- RS
2:05pm: The Dice Man gets caught on the river
With the blinds about to rise to 2,500/5,000, we noticed legendary poker pro Willie 'The Dice Man' Tann involved in a chunky pot with the man sitting to his right, online qualifier Haresh Thaker. The two have been rather talkative since Tann was moved to the table, so it was interesting to see how they would play against each other.
We picked up the action on the turn. with the board reading [Ad][9h][6d] [2c], Thaker checked to Tann who proceeded to bet 15,000. Thaker thought for a few moments before making the call.
The river brought another deuce, the [2s], pairing the board and busting any diamond flush draws. Thaker checked again, leading Tann to lead out for 25k. It didn't take long for Thaker to make the call with [Kd][9d] for second pair, which turned out to be good as Tann threw his hand towards the dealer. -- JS
2pm: Matti at the double
At the start of level 15 Team PokerStars Pro Matti De Meulder was sitting on a stack of just 83,000 but he's now up to 180,000 after getting a double up. "Nines against ace-eight," he told the PokerStars Blog. -- NW
1:55pm: Chip counts
We're just 20 players off the money now, but which players are in position to bully the bubble and who'll be hanging on for dear life?
William Ho - 230,000
Billy Chattaway - 215,000
Piotr Tuczynski - 205,000
Matti De Meulder - 180,000
Kevin Allen - 180,000
Beyzait Zorlu - 140,000
Chaz Chattha - 100,000
Charlie Combes - 91,000
Diego Gomez - 60,000
Paul Febers - 64,000
With 128 players remaining the average stack is currently 143,500. -- NW
1:45pm: Prime stacks
Here is news on how some of the better known players still in contention are proceeding.
Willie Tann - The diceman has been a jovial presence all day. Wrapped up warm in a scarf he sits with a comfortable 180,000.
Jake Cody - It's been a solid day for Jake, chipping up in small increments he has a roughly average stack of 119,000 at present.
Nik Persaud - Nik's been chatty but focused and has 140,000 to his name right now.
Andy Black - A buzz of activity as usual, Black has 122,000 as we approach the money spots. -- RS
Blinds up: 2,500/5,000 ante 500
1:35pm: Gone but not forgotten
It continues to be a maelstrom of activity on the floor. The carpet leading into the poker room is wearing thin with the amount of traffic as players pour out by their droves with their chip stacks depleted.
Here are the most recent eliminations:
John Allison
Ewan Le Marquand
Maurizio Pili
Ryan Barr
Andrey Dimitrov
Dominic Wells
Conall Smyth
Steven Watts
Pratik Ghatge
Nicholas Atkins
Anthony Gray
Stephen Eames
Michał Ozimek
Jabran Zahid
Tai Phuoc Du
Pawan Thaper
Lawrie Inman
Brandon Sheils
Philippe Souki -- RS
1:25pm: Outer-room casualties
As players returned to their seats after the break to continue their quest for the £95,100 first-place prize, many others made their way out the door. Some of the names from the outer rooms that have been knocked out during the first level of play here on Day 2 include:
Richard Milner
Daniel Bland
Samuel Orledge
William Dorey
Guy Taylor
Thien Chung
Conall Smyth
Frank Bastow
- JS
1:23pm: Seat open
Good news for those who like short-handed poker. All tables are now playing eight handed. -- NW
1:20pm: Wellend gets there twice
On the first hand back from the break Mike Wellend moved all-in from the cut-off for 31,500 and Nick Mazur called from the small blind. Wellend was in trouble as his [Kc][Qc] was dominated by Mazur's [As][Ks]. The [7s][Qd][6c] flop saw him take the lead though and just to rub it in he made his flush as the board ran out [3c][7c].
Wellend up to around 70,000 whilst Mazur frops to 32,000. -- NW
1:17pm: Milioto rises
Angelo Milioto has breasted the 200,000 mark, his latest coup seeing him send Michele De Giovanni on his way - jacks holding versus pocket eights.
Also gone is Nick Mazur, whose slim advantage with A-2 failed to hold against an opponent's K-J - a king appearing on the flop to scupper his chances.
"Not my day" he muttered sadly as he left the table.
133 players remain, the money spots starting to come into view... -- RS
1:13pm: Clock ticks down
In the last hand before the break, online qualifier Thomas Hemming from the UK was forced to make a decision for his tournament life. Hemming had opened from the cut off before Fernando Marin shoved his larger stack over the top.
It wasn't a decision Hemming made lightly; in fact, he didn't make it at all. After a few minutes spent in the tank and with the 20 minutes of the first break of the day ticking away, Marin called the clock. The 60 seconds were counted down all the way and Hemming's hand was dead. He flipped over [Ad][10h], before Marin showed his [Qc][Qs]. - JS
1:10pm: The return of Ross Boatman
"This is my first poker tournament since March 2014," says Ross Boatman to the PokerStars Blog during the first break in play. "I've been busy doing my other job," he continues.
Indeed he has, for the past 10 months Boatman has been starring in a National Theatre play called 'Great Britain'. It's a satirical comedy about the phone hacking scandal. "I played a reporter from the gutter press," explains Boatman. "I've been an actor for 30 years and it's the first time I've worked for The National," he explained. "The play transferred to the West End at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. It was fun whilst I did it but I'm glad it's over!" he said.
As for the poker he's up to 300,000 and amongst the chip leaders presently although you might not see Boatman at too many tournaments this year. "I'm currently waiting to hear back about two roles, one's a theatre role and another is a TV part. I've also got a part in a movie, a British independent gangster film." -- NW
1pm: De Meulder looking up
83k at the first break of the day. Next up 2k/4k. Nearing the money ... 95k GBP up top
— Matthias De Meulder (@mattionfire) January 24, 2015
Blinds up: 2,000/4,000 ante 500
12:45pm: End of level 14; Break
Following that incendiary two levels, the players are taking stock with a 15 minute break. We'll be back soon for the resumption of level 15. -- RS
12:40pm: Blood on the carpet
What a blistering opening two levels it has been. There's been wholesale slaughter at the felt, the bodies piling up as the tournament roster has been brutally cut from 216 to less than 130 players remaining.
The lightning culling of the field has meant that the average stack has risen, so this rate of attrition will have to slow. It's been an entertaining ride while it has lasted though!
Here are some of the latest casualties of the bloodshed:
Elisha Cohen
Brett Schuman
Gustav Kock
Milan Stanislav
Noel Broadbent
Jose Aguilera
Daniel Kneafsey
David Tierney
Paul Vas Nunes
Alex Spencer
George Evans
Edgard Cuenca
Robinder Dinsa
Nigel Holliday
Bogdan Jaworski -- RS
12:35pm: Big stacks: featuring Boatman, Bayley and Bounsall
The average stack at the moment is 119,000 which weighs in at just under 40 big blinds. Whilst some struggle with a short stack the big stacks are in prime position to take advantage of the impending bubble.
Ross Boatman is one of those, he's sat in the same seat the Fintan Gavin occupied for some time yesterday. Boatman started the day with just over 190,000 but was busy stacking chips and is up to 260,000. That's a good stack but not as impressive as Alex Bounsall's. He's up to 300,000 from a start of day 200,400. And Lawrence Bayley - who was the Day 1A chip leader - might have dropped a couple of big blinds but he's still chugging along nicely on 250,000.
He's at the same table as defending UKIPT London champion Brett Angell, the 'Boro boy has 90,000. -- NW
12:25pm: Plenty of action
There's just been a nice double up on table 7 for online qualifier Dariusz Paszkiewicz, whose [As][10s] held up against Jay Samani's [Kh][7c]. All the chips went in pre-flop, and Paszkiewicz let out a euphoric "YES!" as he dragged in the much-needed pot. Having started Day 2 with just 15,900, his stack is definitely moving in the right direction.
Meanwhile, a big pot was brewing over on table 12. With the board reading [7h][Ad][3c] [4s] [6d], Milan Stanislav from the Czech Republic led out for 23,100 into what was already a substantial pot, sending France's Vincent Meli deep into the tank. After a couple of minutes, Meli let out a loud sigh and threw his cards in the muck reluctantly.
Players from the outer tables are slowly being moved in as more and more seats become available. It seems like every other hand you'll hear a dealer announce "Seat open!", with bust-outs becoming fast and furious. - JS
12:20pm:Rigali guns down rivals
Patience is an important attribute in poker. If you can show discipline to pick out good spots, it can pay dividends, and Sophie Rigali's patience has just been rewarded. Down to just ten big blinds, she managed to find pocket aces on the button, shoved and found not one but two allins behind her, Hak-Mann Lee and Ryan Barr.
Lee was particularly unfortunate, with pocket kings whilst Barr tabled [Ac][Jd] - his glum face reflecting his lack of optimism at slipping the noose here.
Rigali's aces held sway over the [Jh][9h][2d][3s][9d] board and she triples up to 95,000 whilst Barr's pesimism proved apt as he was stacked and quickly dissolved into the early afternoon sunshine.
Meanwhile a smiling but shell-shocked Lee takes a hit, down to 30,000 himself. -- RS
12:10pm: The numbers are in
Late last night we had confirmation that 742 players had entered the UKIPT5 London Main Event. Given where the tournament is taking place it's no surprise to learn that most of the players who entered were from the UK or Ireland.
A staggering 500 on the entrants are from the UK, which works out at 67% of the field and with 26 Irish men and woman joining the fray they account for a further 4% of the field. The top five is rounded out by Spain (23) Poland (20) and Norway (19). Third and fourth is perhaps not surprising given both countries have strong representation in the UK in terms of poker players who've relocated to make their living here in the UK. But Norway, that's a puzzler!
Lithuania - with 16 entrants - also had strong representation but there were 15 countries for whom there was one lone warrior heading into poker battle for them. If a player from Andorra, Armenia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Finland, Iceland, India, Lebanon, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Nigeria, Oman or Sri Lanka wins it really will be a turn up for the books. All this information is available in a pretty pie chart below. -- NW
12:03pm: Inman falls to Banas
Lawrie Inman was just facing a decision for his tournament life...and he made the wrong one.
Facing a board of [7s][9s][2d][Jd] Inman had led out for 28,000 and Marek Banas had moved all-in for 85,000, sufficient to cover Inman.
With over 50,000 left, Inman could have folded to fight another day, but he clearly had a very low opinion of Banas' range as he vacillated before calling with just [Ks][Qc] for overcards and a gutshot.
His bold approach wasn't rewarded as Banas quietly turned over pocket deuces for a set. Inman announced "I'm dead" before grabbing his coat. He still had four outs to get him out of jail, but they didn't arrive on the full house-completing [9c] river.
Inman out, Banas rises to 175,000... --RS
Blinds up: 1,500/3,000, 400 ante
11.50am: Dropping quickly
It's a poker cliché, but Day 2 always sees carnage in the opening levels as players bust out at a frightening speed. It's been no different here at The Hippodrome Casino as 'seat open' has been the phrase of the opening level.
Another batch of players have felt the hangman's noose tighten around their tournament life as: Shaun Conning, Smit Trivedi, Martynas Vitkauskas, Bouali Saiah, Lee Brooks, Daniel Bland, Michael Lee, Scott Walker, Martyn Frey, Andrew Lees, Danny Toffel, John Cleverly-James, Jack Loraine, Ilana Belsky and Gerry Lillie have all been unceremoniously dispatched. -- NW
11:40am: There's no escaping the shuffle
You'd be hard pressed to escape the sound of chips rustling and shuffling in the Hippodrome Casino today, as we've currently got play spread out across four areas on three different floors. Everywhere you turn there's action, but as more and more people begin to bust they'll eventually come together in the main rooms.
Over on the Hippodrome's Poker Deck you'll find Team PokerStars Pro Matthias De Meulder, online poker beast Ben 'vindog03' Vinson, and Spain's Diego Gomez. Fresh off a deep run at the PCA, Gomez came into day 2 fourth in chips. With only three tables on the deck, it wont' be long before they're moved to join the rest of the action. -- JS
11:36am: Slick Dubai runs into bullets
Dave "Dubai" Shallow came back with high hopes of spinning up his 30BB stack but a harsh cooler has had the opposite effect.
Raising UTG to 6,000 with [Ad][Kh], Shallow saw start of day chipleader Piotr Tuczynski 3-bet from UTG+1 to 12,500 and Clayton Ka Cheuk Koo make a committing 4-bet from the button. Shallow announced all-in, Tuczynski shrugged and did the same - understandable as he had [Qd][Qh] but button Koo made a delighted snap-call as he held [As][Ac] - a beautiful time to find the nuts.
A board of [7h][8s][Jc][5h][2c] held few gremlins for Koo and he punched the air as he trebles up to close to 300,000. Tuczynski drops to 230,000 and Shallow is out.
"Bad luck mate," Shallow was told, but he was upbeat. "It's alright son!" he said with a smile as he departed the tournament arena to go and enjoy the rest of his day. --RS
11:25am: Cody climbs, De Meulder drops
Contrasting fortunes for the two members of Team PokerStars Pro in the opening level of the day. Jake Cody started the day with 78,500 but is up to almost 100,000 after winning a three-way pot. He opened to 5,100 on the button and both Andrew Sweeney and Rumit Somaiya tagged along from the blinds.
The flop was a tasty looking [As][Qh]Kc], it checked to Cody, he bet 8,500 and Sweeney was the only caller. The [6d] fell on the turn and a second barrel of 13,700 from Cody was enough to earn the triple-crown winner the pot.
Unfortunately it's not been a good start for Matti De Meulder, the Belgian has dropped to 40,000 from his start of day 64,200. -- NW
#UKIPTLondon day2 lets do this 👊🇬🇧
— Jake Cody (@JakeCody) January 24, 201511:20am: Brooks overthrown by Koo
Lee Andrew Brooks is the latest man to see his UKIPT hopes dissolve.
He got into a preflop war with Clayton Koo, though his A-5 was severely outgunned by Koo's pocket queens.
He failed to hit across the [6h][4d][Th][3d][Ts] board and was left congratulating his opponent and spilling out of the tournament arena to discover alternate diversions for fun on this bright Saturday in London.
Koo meanwhile moves to 90,000. --RS
11:05am: Fast start causes carnage
It's no fun sitting and grinding a microstack all day. Many of the shorter stacks have taken the aggressive route toward chipping up, looking to spin up or go home trying. This has led to a number of eliminations in the early going, uniquitous shouts of "seat open at x" echoing round the poker room.
Here are some of the players whose bid for glory was shot down:
Oliver Simpson
Jon Warmerdam
Alexander Steblina
Richie Allen
Andrew Lees
John Cleverly-James
Miguel Riera Suarez
Bad luck guys! -- RS
10:45am: The march to the money begins
Over the first three days of the UKIPT the numbers have been steadily going up. Over three starting flights 742 players entered the fray and as Day 2 starts just 216 remain. That number will steadily decrease.
The first milestone, as such, will be the money! Over 50% of the remaining field will get paid as 111 players in total will make the money. A min cash is going to be worth £1,260 whilst the winner of UKIPT5 London will take home £95,100. The full payout structure is as below.
1st. £95,100
2nd. £58,000
3rd. £41,000
4th. £31,000
5th. £24,600
6th. £18,600
7th. £13,300
8th. £9,138
9th. £7,200
10th - 11th. £5,900
12th - 13th. £5,250
14th - 15th. £4,740
16th - 17th. £4,230
18th - 20th. £3,730
21st - 23rd. £3,230
24th - 27th. £2,730
28th - 31st. £2,350
32nd - 39th. £2,070
40th - 55th. £1,815
56th- 71st. £1,590
72nd - 95th. £1,385
96th - 111th. £1,260
The overall chip leader heading into Day 2 is Piotr Tuczynski, the Pole topped the Day 1B chip counts and starts today with 332,100. Other players well placed to make a deep run are: Lawrence Bayley (265,000), Ross Boatman (190,100), Nik Persaud (179,600) and Willie Tann (169,300).
There are still two members of Team PokerStars Pro in contention with Jake Cody (78,500) and Matti De Meulder (64,200) back for Day 2. Play is about to get under way the plan today is to play 10 levels of 50 minutes which should mean play finishes around 8.30pm.
Let's shuffle up and deal.
PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT London: Rod Stirzaker, Nick Wright and Jack Stanton. Photos by Mickey May