6:02pm: Prizepool Information
The numbers are in! 160 players have contributed to a prizepool of £38,800.
18 places will be paid and the first prize will be a juicy £12,210.
A link to the full prizepool can be found here
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 400-800-100
5:51pm: A Waterfall of Eliminations
What was once a thin trickle is gaining momentum and there is now a cascade of players hitting the rail at regular intervals. The blinds are really starting to bite.
Here are the latest victims of ill luck. Good games!
Camille Abram
Mike Lee
Benjamin Rogers
Conor Smyth
Ali Zihni
Haoran Cai
John Crouchley
Thomas Postlethwaite
Daisuke Mishima
5:30pm: Slick Zihni turfed out by cowboys
Ali Zihni's tournament has drawn to a close. Facing three-way action, Zihni saw his raise with big slick three-bet by an aggressive player, and flatted in one spot.
He felt like this was a great opportunity to make some chips and four-bet to 8,000, the aggressive player laying it down before the flat-caller made a surprising move, shoving for an additional 12,000.
Suspicious action, but Zihni was priced in to call and did so, only to discover his foe had pocket kings. The flop was no help and that was that for Zihni.
"I may have played that hand badly," he mused after his exit, although either way, it was a tough spot to escape from.
Good game sir.
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 300-600-75
5:25pm: Gone, but not forgotten
The following players have seen their hopes of further progression halted by the steel curtain of variance. Enjoy your future Saturday endeavours people!
James Edgington
Dennis Sandmark
Dimitrios Patroklou
Chung Hoang
Roman Sokolovskij
Austin Gontier
Daisuke Mishima
5:15pm: Man of Steele plays the hero
The problem with tying on your cape and pulling off a big call is that once in a while it will blow up in your face and you may feel a tad embarrassed.
Richard Steele was the latest man to risk humiliation by making a brave but ultimately futile call with [Ks][9s] on a [Kh][5c][7d][As][4d] board.
Facing an 11,500 shove from Sameer Singh on the river, he had a long think about this before finally dropping his chips over the line.
Singh turned up pocket sevens for a set and Steel tabled his second pair sheepishly, his ballsy call going unrewarded on this occasion.
Singh rises to 23,500 and Steele is left with under 15,000.
5:03pm: Fun Lovin' Criminal Dempsey
After a slow start James Dempsey has started putting a stack together, up to 28,000 now.
He's doing a good impression of scooby doo right now, gobbling cookies that look suspiciously like scooby snacks. "I just made a flush to win a few chips" he said happily.
"Was it a big one?" we asked.
"Raggy" barked Scooby/Dempsey.
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 200-400-50
4:41pm: The Alpha Bets
Here are the players heading the chip counts at the first break. Congratulations on your early successes, people.
Christopher Yong Malaysia 42000
Ruslanas Rudycevas Lithuania 42000
Amirreza Davoudzadeh Iran 36925
Nicholas Stylianou United Kingdom 34500
Michelle Bricknell United Kingdom PokerStars Player 37000
Jonathan Santos France 30300
Jan-Joost Van Den Bogert Netherlands 38500
Luca Gavazzi Italy 41800
Matthew Shiels United Kingdom 32000
Gary Pearce United Kingdom 35000
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 150-300-25
4:20pm: Back in effect
Rested and back for more are the remaining 72 players or so. Battle is taken up once more as we continue the next four levels of the day.
4:00pm: Break Time!
Just two hours into the day, we have already seen a whirlwind of action. Four levels have played out and we have had close to ten players already sent packing to the rail.
The remaining players will have twenty minutes to refresh, re-organise, go have a recuperative coffee, cigarette etc.
We'll be back shortly.
3:59pm: Say my name, say my name
...because I am busted.
GONE...Albert Sapiano
GONE...Huy Thanh Nguyen
GONE...Ali Nisar
Good game fellas, catch you later.
3:50pm: Worley-Roberts in the house
One of the more effusive characters on the UK poker scene, Deborah Worley-Roberts is a colourful and engaging presence whenever she graces the felt.
We inquired as to her health and although her reply was slightly muffled by a large silk scarf keeping her warm, we believe she answered... "oh you know, older and wiser!"
It's been a quietish start for Worley-Roberts, her stack just a touch below its starting point.
3:40pm: Ante Up
The introduction of antes will no doubt serve to foster action as the pots become just that teensy bit more juicy whilst the cost per round for every player has a small but potentially increase also.
War is on the verge of breaking out we feel.
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 100-200-25
3:25pm: Over and Out
20,000 chips sounds like a lot, but it is no insurance against elimination if events and cards conspire against you - especially in today's aggressive games.
Richard Steele, Danilo Oppo and David Stonehouse are the latest men to sup from the acrid chalice of bitter defeat.
3:04pm: Berry Crushed
Ouch. A painful moment for Nicholas Berry saw a flurry of raises resulting in Amirreza Mogh moving all-in with [Ac][Jc] before Berry made a happy call with [Kd][Kh].
A healthy advantage remained in placed for Berry right up to the painful river of the [Ts][8c][6h][Jd][As] board - Mogh spiking to sweep up a big pot and jump close to the chip lead in the tournament.
Berry meanwhile took a huge hit to his stack and hopes and in fact has been unable to mount a comeback, leaving his table moments ago.
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 75-150
2:50pm: Zihni takes hit
With 20,000 stacks, the players can afford to take a hit or two, but it's not something you want to make a habit of.
Moments ago, we saw Ali Zihni call a bet on a [Jc][Qc][8h] board, before checking back when checked to him on the [8d] turn card.
On the straight and flush-completing [Kc] river, his opponent quickly fired out a bet, and though Zihni didn't look happy about it he made the call, only to get the bad news that his opponent's K-Q for top two pair was good.
"I had A-Q," he lamented, his stack damaged but not yet in the danger zone.
2:35pm: Hippodrome Heroes
Allan Pike has some pedigree here at The Hippodrome Casino, having won the Spring Classic last year, defeating JJ Hazan heads-up for the title.
Other players dotted around the playing arena who have impressive local chops include Mike Lee (Autumn Classic Winner 2014) and Tim Wong (2nd in 2014 Winter Classic>)
Wong's run to 2nd place was particularly memorable, given he returned for the day with just 6BBs and performed an incredible spin-up. Whilst he will no doubt hope he doesn't have to repeat those unlikely heroics, it will doubtless be of some comfort to him knowing that if he gets short, things can always turn around for him.
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 50-100
2:25pm: Garrulous Zhini quiet for once
Al Zhini is a fun, bubbly character but his usual loquacious manner was stunned into silence as he sparred with Dave Curtis in a bit of light hearted banter.
Filling the air with chatter, Dave responded to one of his comments with "I look forward to hearing your bad beat story later," which elicited gales of laughter from the surrounding rail.
Zhini grinned, taking the jibe in the jovial manner it was intended but for once was stumped for a pithy comeback.
2:12pm: Dempsey takes day off from golf
James "Flushy" Dempsey may have a WSOP bracelet and WPT title in his locker room but he has been spotted more often on golf greens than at the poker table in recent times.
"It's raining today," he said explaining his decision to stay out of the clubhouse for once. "The last few events I've played, I've been knocked out by Willie Tann and bashed up by Barney Boatman. The old school are coming after me!" he revealed with a grin.
2:00pm: Cards are in the air
The players have filled in their paperwork, dotted their i's crossed their t's and are strapped in for the long haul. The prizepool is constantly rising and we'll be able to give you the full and final total around 5:00pm once all the late registrants have been tallied.
For now though the room is resounding with the sounds of chips being clicked back and forth. Day 1B is in effect!
Welcome back to The Hippodrome where Day 1B of the UKIPT Season 5 is on the cusp of bursting into life.
Yesterday's Day 1A saw a compact field of 78 runners whittled down to 21 by the close of play, Joseph Pateman racking up a sizeable 165,000 come the close to see him top the chip rankings.
Close behind was Romanian Gabrile Gusetoiu with 154,500. These are the men today's entrants can lock their sights on. Being a Saturday, we anticipate a larger and more chaotic field today. The weekend brings with it feelings of freedom and exuberance for many, liberated from their day job for several precious days and this should translate into some fresh, exciting action at the felt.
A quick note on the structure. Each player gets around 20,000 in chips, the blinds will rise every 30 minutes, till all 12 levels of the day have been played out and late registration will be available until the start of level 5 (around 4:15pm.)
We're just gathering up all the information about today's plucky entrants and will be relating all the action from the start of the tournament at 2:00pm. Later on, with all the numbers in, we can take a look at the prizepool and start to identify the larger stacks as the day progresses but for now, we wish everyone the best of luck.
PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT5 Series 1 brought to you by Rod Stirzaker. Photos courtesy of Mickey May.