7:50pm: Break time
The players are now on a 20 minute break, you'll find level seven updates in a new post shortly.
7:45pm: Sabatini bests Romanello
After Frank Romanello opened from the button, Jarbas Sabatini three-bet and Romanello called to create a pre-flop pot of 11,850. Sabatini had exactly 25,000 behind and bet 5,000 of it on the [Qd][7d][Tc] flop. Call from Romanello. Both players checked the [Jd] turn and Sabatini then casually bet 10,000 on the [4c] river, Romanello swiftly called and showed [Ac][Th] but he was behind to the [As][Kd] of Sabatini. He's up to around 52,000 whilst Romanello drops to 48,000.
7:35pm: Eames out
John Eames is one of the casualties of level six. It's the last level of the day in which you can re-enter but Eames will not be back today. He's joined on the rail by Colin Hotchkiss, Michael Howard, Abdulrahman Alkhanji and Adam Borrer, whilst Richard Harris has opted to re-enter.
7:30pm: Sapiano not flush with chips
On the turn of a [Th][As][Ts][7d] board Kyriacos Dionysiou shoved for what looked like 6,700 and Albert Sapiano looked him up. Dionysiou showed [Ah][5c] whilst Sapiano had [9s][2s]. "Don't worry Jack I never hit the flush," the dealer delivered the [4h] on the river and 'Greek Jack' doubled to 35,000, whilst Sapiano slipped to 65,000. "I've missed about six or seven already today," added Sapiano.
7:15pm: One pair wins
The PokerStars Blog picked up the action on a [6h][9c][Ts][3s] board to see Chris Sly lead out into three other players from the small blind. His bet was 2,800 into a pot of roughly 6,000 and it shook off one player but Harprit Singh Gurnam and Martijn Van Den Assem both called.
The [3h] completed the board and one by one the players checked, Singh Gurnam opened [7d][7s] and it was enough to earn him the pot. He must've taken a hit earlier though as despite winning that pot he has around 48,000.
Blinds up: 250/500 ante 50
7pm: Chip counts
We'll do full counts again on the next break, but here are a few to keep you going until then:
Ben Martin, 63,000
John Eames, 17,200
Chris Sly, 26,000
Martins Adeniya, 18,000
Richard Harris, 29,500
John Woodhouse, 85,000
Niall Murray, 35,000
Albert Sapiano, 25,500
Kyriacos Dionysiou, 19,500
Csaba Sandor, 105,000
6:50pm: Out but some back in
Stephen Grocott, Barkatul Mohammed and Keith Christie have all busted out of the main event and decided not to re-enter so far. We're told that six players - including Martins Adeniya - have re-entered though after busting. That takes today's field to 46, with 40 unique players.
6:40pm: McLellan not planning to re-enter
Duncan McLellan - who won his second UKIPT title the last time the tour was in Nottingham - is here at Dusk Till Dawn, but he's not playing the main event, at least not today. He's actually playing a live satellite to the main event, that begins at 7pm tonight and has 10 seats guaranteed. Win or lose McLellan confirmed he'll play the main event. "I'll come down and play on Wednesday or Thursday," he said before adding. "I'm not planning on re-entering though. One bullet only I hope."
6:35pm: More for Gurnam
Harprit Singh Gurnam was already near the top of the chip charts as he had 56,000 when level four started, and he now has more as he just won a three-way pot.
He, Matthew Davenport and Andrew Berkecz all put in 3,000 on the turn of a [3d][6h][Ad][7c] board and the [4c] completed the board. Action was checked to Singh Gurnam who elected to bet just 2,500. Davenport tanked before folding but Berkecz made a quick call, Singh Gurnam opened [7h][7s] and his set of sevens was good enough to take the pot down. He's up to over 70,000 as a result.
6:25pm: Adeniya re-enters
Martins Adeniya has just taken advantage of the ability to re-enter this tournament having busted his first bullet a short time ago. We didn't see his exit hand, but Albert Sapiano is now sitting on a stack of around 51,000 having previously had just 8,800. Sapiano is prone to wild chip fluctuations and it could well be that the two incidents are connected.
If the two incidents were connected then Adeniya won't be able to get them back immediately as his new seat assignment is at a different table. You can see up to the minute seating here.
Blinds up: 200/400 ante 50
6:20pm: McCluskey takes a hit
Mark McCluskey wasted little time getting into the action as he's just clashed in a pot against Jarbas Sabatini. By the time the two players reached the river of a [6h][8c][3d][Qs][4c] board there was already 12,000 in the pot. Sabatini (cut off) fired out a bet of 5,375 and McCluskey (button) considered his options. He was getting a massage at the time, he scratched his head a couple of times before flicking in the call.
Sabatini turned over [8h][8d] and McCluskey gave a little nod before sliding his cards into the muck, he's down to 14,000 whilst Sabatini is up to 39,000.
6:10pm: McCluskey's in
Mark McCluskey is a familiar face on the UK poker circuit and indeed at Dusk Till Dawn. He's just taken his seat in the main event and will be hoping for another deep run on the UKIPT. He finished 27th at UKIPT4 Isle of Man 2 in October of last year and has also final tabled a UKIPT Series event.
6pm: Chip counts
We've been busy updating the chip count page. We're now tracking everyone who's left in and will update their chip counts as often as possible. Jonathan Burns though is out after having had a rollercoaster of a day. He was the early chip leader after eliminating two players, but started level four with a little over 40 big blinds and has now lost them.
5:50pm: The power of re-entry
We had a quick chat with Chris Sly and Martins Adeniya on the break and both indicated that they wouldn't have played Day 1A if this was a straight freezeout, but given they have the option to re-enter if they bust then they decided to take a shot today although Adeniya did say. "If Day 1B was tomorrow then I might have played today."
5:35pm: Chip counts
Below are the full chip counts from the break, these are 'eyes on' so are not 100% verified but are pretty close. It's Csaba Sandor who leads, he's taken full advantage of his earlier double up with aces against kings and has already built his stack to 73,500.
Table 21:
1. Ben Martin, 27,700
2. Noel Broadbent, 26,800
3. Jarbas Sabatini, 30,375
5. Jeremy Betts, 68,600
6. Denis Stojka, 15,550
7. Adam Borrer, 18,475
8. Ross Mannion, 31,900
9. Keith Christie, 17,000
Table 22:
2. Stephen Grocott, 17,700
3. John Woodhouse, 38,000
4. Barkatul Mohammed, 39,000
5. Albert Sapiano, 8,800
6. Frank Romanello, 11,100
7. Colin Hotchkiss, 17,500
8. Martijn Van Den Assem, 39,200
9. Chris Sly, 35,000
Table 31:
1. Kyriacos Dionysiou, 19,825
2. John Eames, 19,600
3. Richard Iwan Strittmatter, 51,575
4. Jonathan Burns, 13,350
5. Martins Adeniya, 14,800
6. Richard Harris, 23,500
7. Csaba Sandor, 73,500
8. Niall Murray, 34,900
Table 32:
1. Andrew Peters, 23,200
2. Matthew Davenport, 27,000
3. Jordan Theobald, 15,050
4. Craig Borrer, 28,900
5. Adam Pikett, 36,000
7. Sunil Pancholi, 19,300
8. Harprit Singh Gurnam, 56,000
9. Athir Ali, 18,300
Blinds up: 150/300 ante 25
5:15pm: Break Time
The players are now on a 20 minute break. John Engledow was knocked out shortly before the break and is the third player to be eliminated today.
5:05pm: Big pot for Betts
Jeremy Betts now has more than 40,000 after winning a chunky three-way pot. The PokerStars Blog only caught the river action but with around 14,000 in the pot and a full board of [8h][Kh][2c][6h][3c] on the felt Jarbas Sabatini bet 1,625, Betts raised to 4,300, Keith Christie flat called and then after tanking for around two minutes Sabatini also made the call.
Betts: [Kc][Kd]
Christie: [2s][2d]
Sabatini: [Ad][Ac]
Betts set of kings scooped the pot then, Christie did well not to go broke as he also had a very strong hand and Sabatini had his aces cracked in not one but two spots. Christie is down to around 9,000 whilst Sabatini has about 20,000.
4:50pm: Up to 35
The size of the field is slowly growing and now stands at 35. Chris Sly has decided to ante up today, Sam Trickett's 'bestie' had a deep run at UKIPT London in November, before busting in 38th spot. His biggest lifetime cash came at EPT9 Sanremo when he topped a field of 75 to win a €2,000 pot-limit Omaha turbo tournament.
Another recipient of a fresh stack of 25,000 is the legendary Kyriacos Dionysiou aka Greek Jack. He's got cashes going all the way back to 2004 including two victories in Dusk Till Dawn's monthly deepstack tournament. He's racked up almost $500,000 in lifetime earnings.
4:40pm: Albert's here!
Albert Sapiano has just sat down at table 22. He's known for a fearless (and loose) style and is never afraid to play big pots. With this tournament being re-entry it'll be interesting to see how much pressure he puts on his opponents during the early levels of play. We'll be sure to keep an eye on him and see if he plays any crazy pots.
Blinds up: 100/200 ante 25
4:30pm: Murray trying to get minted
Niall Murray is the latest player to enter the fray, he final tabled UKIPT3 Bristol in November 2012, finishing seventh for £11,600. He finds himself at the toughest table in the room, one that contains John Eames and Martins Adeniya.
4:20pm: Cagey stuff
No huge pots to tell you about unfortunately, it's not that the players aren't seeing plenty of flops, it's just when they do most are being won with a flop c-bet.
The closest we had to a significant pot was when Andrew Peters (middle position), Jordan Theobald (cut off) and Martijn Van Den Assem (big blind) all put in 400 pre-flop and went to a [Ac][5s][2d] flop. A bet of 550 from Theobald was only called Van Den Assem. The [2h] turn was checked through and the [Qc] completed the board, Van Den Assem fired out a bet of 2,100 and Theobald released his hand.
4pm: Eames in the house
John Eames has just taken his seat in the Main Event, he's seated at the same table as Martins Adeniya and Ben Martin, who had a deep run at UKIPT1 Brighton, is also playing today as is Harprit Singh Gurnam.
In total there have now been 27 entries today. Late registration is open until the start of level seven, roughly 8.10pm.
Blinds up: 75/150
3:40pm: Jonathan Burns takes two out
It's been a good start to the day for Jonathan Burns who has eliminated two players in the opening level.
First man out was Shaun Pierrepont, he flopped a straight on the [Ax][Kx][Qx] flop and Burns flopped a set of kings. The majority of the chips went in on the [9x] turn and another nine on the river gave Burns a full house and sent Pierrepont to the rail.
Burns didn't play the main role in the second elimination though, that was taken by Csaba Sandor. After Richard Harris opened to 225 on the button, Sandor three-bet to 850 from the small blind, Billy Jones flat called and when it got back to Harris he re-raised to 1,475. Sandor then put in a five bet of around 5,000, Jones six-bet shoved for about 28,000, Harris folded and Sandor tanked for about 10 seconds before calling.
Jones: [Ks][Kh]
Sandor: [As][Ad]
When the hands were turned over the rest of the table were a little surprised to see that Sandor had aces, given that he'd tanked a bit before calling it off. The board came [3c][7s][7h][8d][Qd]. Jones was left with around 2,000 chips as Sandor was all-in for 26,375, Jones was out soon after with Burns getting the rest of his chips with pocket jacks against [Qd][Td].
3:20pm: Who are ya?
So apart from the name of Martins Adeniya it's fair to say that none of the other players are household names but is that fair? Let's find out a little more about some of the 19 playing today.
Noel Broadbent has form at Dusk Till Dawn, he won a £1,000 event here in November and followed that up with a third place finish in a £300 event in January. Combined they were good for over £40,000.
John Engledow is a regular at Dusk Till Dawn, most of his $27,528 in career earnings have been won here. His biggest single cash came in November of last year when he finished second in a £125 side event which earned him £3,300.
Frank Romanello is the father of well known poker player Roberto Romanello but is no slouch himself having won just over $19,000 in live tournaments.
Shaun Pierrepont is another to have had success in the past here at Dusk Till Dawn, he took third place in a £150 event in February 2012 cashing for £7,165.
Last, but not least, Matthew Davenport has just sat down. He's got over $450,000 in lifetime earnings and finished fourth in the UKIPT High Roller here in Season 4.
3:10pm: Welcome to the UKIPT Main Event sit and go edition
There are currently just 19 players in action in the Maim Event, split over two tables with poor Andrew Peters waiting for two more players to show before he can get into the action. Everyone who's playing is listed below, but it's worth noting that Martins Adeniya is on the list but not yet in his seat:
Table 21:
1 Adam Pikett
2 Noel Broadbent
3 Jarbas Sabatini
4 John Engledow
5 Jeremy Betts
6 Denis Stojka
7 Frank Romanello
8 Ross Mannion
9 Stephen Grocott
Table 22:
1 Colin Hotchkiss
2 Martijn Van Den Assem
3 Richard Iwan Strittmatter
4 Jonathan Burns
5 Martins Adeniya
6 Richard Harris
7 Csaba Sandor
8 Billy Jones
9 Shaun Pierrepont
Table 32:
1 Andrew Peters
3pm: Action is under way
They always start on time here at Dusk Till Dawn and today is no different. Cards are in the air.
2:50pm: The Main Event starts here
Hello and welcome to coverage of the £1,000,000 guaranteed UKIPT5 Nottingham Main Event at Dusk Till Dawn. We're trying something new today on the UKIPT - although it's not new for Dusk Till Dawn - and having a start day on a Sunday and what's more then leaving a gap before Day 1B takes place on Wednesday.
So why are we doing that you may ask and the answer lies in the very roots of the UKIPT. When this tour began in December of 2009 it was as a grass roots poker tour aimed mostly at recreational players. So with that in mind, adding a starting day on a Sunday means that if you work Monday to Friday you can now play this UKIPT Main Event without taking a day off work. Get through today and you won't have to put another chip into a pot until Saturday when Day 2 starts and the third and final day is Sunday 19th April.
In between then and now they'll be Day 1B (Wednesday), Day 1C (Thursday) and Day 1D (Friday) and given that this is a re-entry tournament, in which it's possible to re-enter once on the same day should you bust in the opening six levels, then it's theoretically possible to fire eight bullets in this event. That and the fact that there are four start days means that we could certainly see some interesting play in the final level tonight.
To get that far players will have to have successfully negotiated their way through 11 prior levels as the plan today is to play 12 levels which are each 45 minutes in length. They'll be a 20 minute break every three levels meaning action should wrap up around 1am.
Last time we were here Duncan McLellan defeated a field of 1,223 to win his second UKIPT title, one thing you can guarantee this week is that it's going to be big and it all starts today. Cards are in the air at 3pm.
Key UKIPT5 Nottingham Facts:
- 25,000 starting stack
- Blinds starting at 50/100 for 250 big blinds
- Day 1A is today, Days 1B-1D take place Wednesday to Friday, the field will then combine for the first time on Saturday before playing down to a winner on Sunday.
-The UKIPT structure has been tweaked for Season 5. Levels on Day 1 are now 45 minutes, on Day 2 that increases to 60 minutes.
- Full UKIPT5 Nottingham schedule here
- Satellites to this event are still running. You can qualify online at PokerStars or in live satellites here at Dusk Till Dawn. The live satellites take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday starting at 7pm and are all £100+£10 re-buys.
PokerStars Blog reporting team at UKIPT5 Nottingham: Nick Wright. Photos by Mickey May