11:25pm: Done for the day
Day 1A of the £1,000,000 GTD UKIPT5 Nottingham Main Event is over and 15 players from the 50 who entered (40 uniques, 10 re-entries) have survived. They'll be back on Saturday for Day 1B. Before then we have the small matter of the £3,000 High Roller, which begins on Tuesday and three more start days in the main event, which we'll pick up again on Wednesday.
Stay tuned for a full wrap of today's play.
11:15pm: Harris bombs out
"I've only looked at one," said Richard Harris who was all-in for around 24,000 and had been called by Adam Pikett. The Welshman asked Pikett to show first and he obliged, opening [Ac][Kd], Harris had the [Qs] and squeezed his second card to reveal the [9c]. "Live cards," he said and it was looking good for him on the [Ts][5h][Qc][10h] board but the [Ks] river gave the pot to Pikett.
16 left.
11:10pm: Last five hands
The plan was to play 12 levels today but as we're down to the final two tables the decision has been made to stop play at the end of this level.
11pm: Sapiano swings downwards
Oh my! We said Albert Sapiano was having a swingy day but we didn't expect this. Our thanks to Stuart Kinghorn who relayed the information to us.
It seems Sapiano flopped a straight holding [4x][3x] against Richard Iwan Strittmatter, however the turn gave Strittmatter a better straight. On the turn Strittmatter moved all-in and Sapiano sighed and called.
That left Sapiano with around 50,000 and on the very next hand he shoved blind with what turned out to be [Kx][Qx] and was looked up by Sunil Pancholi who had [Ax][Qx]. The board stayed low and just like that Sapiano was out. Meanwhile with around 160,000 Pancholi is the chip leader.
10:50pm: Sapiano swinging
Albert Sapiano is enjoying a typically swingy day. At the start of this level he looked a little annoyed with the way things were going buy he's spun his stack back up to around 95,000 in short order.
He reached that high point by all but eliminating Colin Hotchkiss. We only caught the denouement of the hand but Sapiano had [Td][9s] on a [4s][2c][Ts][7h][7d] board, as we arrived Hotchkiss's hand was being scooped into the muck so we saw just the [As]. The chips were being counted down as the stacks were close and Hotchkiss only had 400 left at the end of the hand and was out on the very next hand.
He finishes 18th today as we earlier lost Matthew Bonham in 19th place.
10:40pm: Chip counts
As the tenth level of the day gets under way here's how the remaining 19 players stack up:
Table 21:
1. Adam Pikett, 24,900
2. Martijn Van Den Assem, 129,000
4. Mark Mccluskey, 54,000
5. Jeremy Betts, 75,000
7. Richard Harris, 26,000
9. Frank Romanello, 32,500
Table 31
1. Kyriacos Dionysiou, 105,000
3. Richard Iwan Strittmatter, 44,000
4. Colin Hotchkiss, 73,000
6. Ben Martin, 85,000
8. Niall Murray, 97,000
9. Albert Sapiano, 24,000
Table 32
3. Jordan Theobald, 43,000
4. Craig Borrer, 55,000
5. Harprit Gurnam, 85,000
6. Sandor Csaba, 96,000
7. Sunil Pancholi, 109,000
8. Matthew Bonham, 8,500
9. Athir Ali, 20,000
Blinds up: 600/1,200, ante 200
10:20pm: Break time
The 19 remaining players are now on a break. Denis Stojka, Jarbas Sabatini and Ross Mannion are the latest casualties on Day 1A.
10:15pm: Pikett passes jacks
"I wouldn't have passed jacks there," said Frank Romanello. "I passed king-queen but no way I'm passing jacks," said Richard Harris. They were both in shock at what had just happened, let's back up.
It was Harris who got the action in this pot started, raising to 2,500, Romanello smooth called as did Adam Pikett, who was on the button. From the small blind Martijn Van Den Assem, who has taken the chip lead, pushed forward a tower of blue 5k chips totalling 40,000 from his stack of around 120,000.
Harris tanked before folding, Romanello let his hand go instantly and Pikett thought it over before folding [Jc][Js] face-up, leaving himself with around 24,000 (24 big blinds).
10pm: Chip leaders
As things stand these are the guys contesting the chip lead:
Sandor Csaba, 96,000
Harprit Gurnam, 95,000
Albert Sapiano, 90,000
Ben Martin, 85,000
Kyriacos Dionysiou 80,000
Sunil Pancholi, 80,000
9:50pm: Exits
Just 22 players are left in, the latest trio to exit the tournament are: John Woodhouse, Martins Adeniya and Andrew Peters.
Blinds up: 500/1,000, ante 100
9:30pm: Two big pots for Betts
Jeremy Betts is mounting a comeback as he just won decent sized pots in a row. In the first he reached the river of a [Qc][Jd][8d][8c][7c] board and shoved for 10,350. There was roughly 22,000 in the middle and Frank Romanello got a count before calling the shove, Betts showed [Kc][Jc] for a flush and Romanello mucked.
That pot took him to around 45,000 and he then took a pot against Ross Mannion. There was unknown action to the turn but on the turn of a [Tc][Qd][9d][4c] board Betts bet 12,000 and Mannion called. The [7d] completed the board and it went check check. Mannion rolled over [As][Qh] but he was behind to the [Th][Td] of Betts.
9:15pm: Sly sent home
A huge pot between Chris Sly and Kyriacos Dionysiou left Sly all but out and Dionysiou with a 100,000+ stack. Pre-flop Sly raised from middle position, Albert Sapiano flat called from the button and Dionysiou flat called from the small blind.
On the [3s][Ts][Ah] flop it was checked to Sly he bet 3,500, Sapiano called only for Dionysiou to raise to 10,000, Sly then moved all-in for 37,700, Sapiano folded and after getting a count of the shove Dionysiou made the call.
Dionysiou: [Ad][Td]
Sly: [Ks][Js]
Dionysiou was in front with top two but Sly had a huge draw, the [Tc] turn killed his hand dead though and the [6s] completed the board. Sly actually had Dionusiou covered by 4,100 and they went in the very next hand with [Jh][8c] but he couldn't improve against the [As][Kd] of Colin Hotchkiss.
8:55pm: Berkecz bounced
We caught the action with Andrew Berkecz already all-in and a [Th][Kh][2c] flop on the felt. There were two would be executioners for Berkecz and one of them, Sunil Pancholi, moved all-in for about 24,000 into a pot of around 6,000 (well that was what was in front of Berkecz) the other active player released their hand and it was time for showdown.
Berkecz: [9c][8c]
Pancholi: [Ks][Ts]
The [Kc] turn meant Berkecz was drawing dead and he was out of his seat before the meaningless [5d] completed the board.
Blinds up: 400/800, ante 100
8:35pm: The 'you show first' game
There was a bit of a stand off over who should show first in a hand between Kyriacos Dionysiou and Adam Pickett which looked for a moment as if it might escalate.
Pre-flop it was Dionysiou who opened the action, making it 1,500 from under-the-gun, Pickett three-bet to 3,000 from under-the-gun+1 and when it folded round to Dionysiou he called. As he did so he ribbed Albert Sapiano for folding his big blind, "I'm eating," replied Sapiano. "I'm taking five minutes off," he added alluding to the fact that he's in more pots than most.
On the [5h][2h][8c] flop Pickett c-bet 3,000 and Dionysiou called, Pickett has a strange way of putting chips into the pot, taking them over the line in one movement and then almost dropping them individually. It's not a sting bet as such as he's not angling but it looks a little strange.
Anyway, the [Kc] turn was checked through and the [Js] completed the board another check from Dionysiou was followed by a bet of 3,000 from Pickett and a call from Dionysiou and the stand off then began. Pickett wanted Dionysiou to show but the latter was insistent that Pickett should show first. "I called you," he said. He had a point and eventually Pickett showed [Ks][Qh] and it was good enough to win the pot.
8:15pm: Late registration is closed
Late registration has now closed. There were 50 entries in total today, with 40 unique entries and 10 re-entries. There are currently 27 players remaining as Colin Hotchkiss has elected to re-enter.
8pm: Half-time chip counts
As level seven gets under way here's how the remaining players stack up:
Table 21
3. Jarbas Sabatini, 48,750
4. Mark McCluskey, 32,000
5. Jeremy Betts, 46,500
6. Denis Stojka 10,200
7. Richard Harris, 25,000
8. Ross Mannion, 69,000
9. Frank Romanello, 47,000
Table 22
1. Matthew Bonham, 15,300
2. Harprit Singh Gurnam, 94,600
3. John Woodhouse 52,400
4. Ben Martin, 94,500
6. Martins Adeniya, 24,875
8. Martijn Van Den Assem, 83,000
9. Chris Sly, 26,000
Table 31
1. Kyriacos Dionysiou, 30,200
2. Adam Pikett, 50,500
3. Richard Iwan Strittmatter, 45,400
7. Sandor Csaba, 94,000
8. Niall Murray, 50,000
9. Albert Sapiano, 106,000
Table 32
1. Andrew Peters, 19,175
3. Jordan Theobald, 32,300
4. Craig Borrer, 17,875
6. Andrew Berkecz, 56,300
7. Sunil Pancholi, 49,375
9. Athir Ali, 10,075
