8:55pm: End of Day 1B - Jonathan Bridges Snatches Chip Lead!
The last three hands played out with the same levels of aggression we saw all day.
There was time for Ryan Reece to make a late three-bet shove with [Jh][Qd], only to get a call from a dubious-looking Cristian Iuga.
"That's not too bad," an excited Reece yelled as he saw he was in a flip versus Iuga's snowmen.
It looked significantly worse however when the board fell [8s][3d][9s] to give Iuga a set.
"Still got a ten!" Reece continued yelling and though the turn was the [As] - a miraculous [Tc] appeared on the river - huge fistpump from Reece as he was back up to 67,000 or so.
"Thanks for that" said Iuga to the dealer - a tad glum.
While this drama was taking place Dahe Liu was busy losing some of his monster stack and Jonathan Bridges was busy chipping up. We're just checking but we expect Bridges to be confirmed as the overall chip leader with 251,300 shortly. Liu should be in second place with 199,600 and Sean Murphy will be in third with 193,700.
Here are the end of day 1B chip counts and the combined chip counts for Day 2.
And just for your perusal enjoyment and general merriment, here is the seat draw for Day 2
Thanks for following today's play here on the PokerStars blog.
The day's been full of twists, turns and drama and we're looking forward to seeing how the final day plays out.
We'll be back tomorrow at 12:00pm this time (don't snooze through the first few levels!)
See you here for the resumption as we play through to crown our 2nd UKIPT Series champ of the season. Bye for now - enjoy your evening folks!
8:33pm: Kerr flipped out
Short and desperate - Marc Kerr found an ace to shove with but Naith Hanchard was happy to take him on with deuces and did so successfully - flipping up the counts to reach 75,000 or so.
Kerr however shook hands and hit the rail. Good game. 31 remain...
8:25pm: Liu moves into the lead
We're seeing some major swings out there on the felt right now - Dahe Liu has amassed an enormous stack of chips, including the first full twenty-strong stack of blue 5k chips.
He has 250,000 right now, meaning he's scorched ahead of his rivals Darren Murphy and Jonathan Bridges for the chip lead.
What an exciting finish to the day!
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 1,000-2,000-300
8:22pm: New Chip Leader - Murphy top of the tree
Darren Murphy is currently the man all else are looking up to - his 175,000 good for the chip lead as we approach the final level.
8:16pm: Nothing to show for their hard day
It's a harsh, unforgiving world the poker jungle.
These players have found this out, grinding their way through the best part of the day only to bust just prior to its end. Good game to all the following:
Benjamin Rathjen, Shvan Frost, Tautvydas Tukaciauskas, Andrew Craig, David Barnes, Tomasz Kozaczuk, Daniel Doyle, Michael Taynton, Taka Masa Endo, Anthony Fernandez,Daniel Brock, Heinz Frye, Istvan Karikas, Russell Tarbox, Alessandro Marega and Ramzi Pekhazis.
8:03pm: That's just the way it is
The home stretch is in sight and it remains Jonathan Bridges heading this field - his stack a fulsome 118,000. Given the smaller field yesterday generated a 180,000+ chip leader though, he is unlikely to remain at the head of the counts if he stays still.
Use your strength young padawan!
There are now 47 players left from the 131 who started the day.
7:55pm: The Art of War
Adhering to the principles laid out by the infamous general Sun Tzu in his much-lauded philosophical treatise will serve these players well as they enter this difficult part of the tournament.
"Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder and crush him... Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance"- Sun Tzu , The Art of War.
Draw your opponents into mistakes, mislead them about your hand strength, make them play to your tune. Battle is engaged now - each hand of blind and antes is significant to nearly every player.
Who can display the skills and serendipity to finish the day atop the chip counts?
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 800-1600-200
7:48pm: Prizepool
A quick reminder of the prizepool. The 250 total entrants will be playing for a combined total of £60,625, with a first prize payout of £12,820.
Click here to view the full payout spots.
7:30pm: The plot thickens as the field thins
More eliminations I'm afraid. There has been a steady stream of players heading to the growing throng at the bar over the last six levels or so and this looks unlikely to abate anytime soon.
Well played the following but your day is done:
Ferenc Nadori, Peter Ali, Denis O'Mahony, John Crossan, Phillip Fetzer, James Thomson, Sebastien Jung, Peter Upton, Mats Rosen Pihl, James Edward Hall, Gary Brown, Benjamin Meyer, Donghong Yu, Antoine Erwan, Andreea Raluca Ciobanu, Robert Malvasi, Kwok Wau Li, Jill Scott and Ramzi Pekhazis.
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 600-1200-200
7:20pm: Leading Lights
Here are some of the stacks heading the action at the moment, Jonathan Bridges looking like he's clear of the field as we speak::
Jonathan Bridges120,000
Darren Murphy 80,000
Cristian Iuga 65,000
Matthew Buckland60,000
James Conteh 58,000
Paul Damian 50,000
Dalius Balciunas50,000
Leah Reeman 50,000
Dahe Liu 45,000
Andrew Craig 40,000
Naith Hanchard 35,000
7.05pm: Missing in action
Goodbye mes amis. Your arduous, hard-fought day is done. You have performed with grace and dignity and brought great honour to your prestigious houses.
Enjoy your break brave warriors, for it is well earned:
Ilana Belsky, Jesse Chambers, Thomas Drew, Georgios Kyriacou, Tal Mirezki, Benjamin Swans, Mario Trattou,Stephen Bridges, Christopher Yong, Mohammed Himedan, James Morris and Ramzi Pekhazis.
6:55pm: Back for the final countdown
What a day it's been so far. We barely had the chance to mention Chris Wong - the defending UKIPT Series champ - having sat down and busted, unable to continue his recent successes here at The Hippodrome Casino.
There have been myriad exciting hands played out today and we expect the action to ramp up another notch as the chunky blinds take another hefty rise.
Good luck to the remaining 62 players as we play out the final four levels of the day.
To read updates from levels 5-8, click here.
PokerStars Blog reporting team at UKIPT5 Series 2 - London: Rod Stirzaker. Photos by Micky May.