8:30pm: End of the day
Play is done for the day, it looks as if Julian Cabello is the overnight chip leader as he bagged up a very impressive 201,600. A full wrap of the day's play is on the way and overnight chip counts will be uploaded to the blog when they become available -- NW
8:15pm: Last three hands
Each table will play three more hands before play concludes for the day.
8:05pm: Keeping an eye on table two
Whilst there's no feature table here at UKIPT Marbella you sense table two would probably get that billing if there was.
Sat side by side at said table are Team PokerStars SportStar Fatime Moreira de Melo at EPT5 Grand Final winner Pieter De Korver. Despite winning his title back in 2009, De Korver is one of those players who's seemingly ageless. He looks the same now as he did back then. He and De Melo are busy chatting away and it's De Korver who's got more chirping chips right now.
Also at that table is Richard Pearson. He's being railed by Dominic Mahoney and the latter told me about a move that Pearson managed to pull off. On a [A][A][6][7] board Pearson's opponent bet, Pearson raised and forced his opponent to fold. As he stacked the chips Pearson showed [9][5].
Sounds like a fun table. --NW
7:50pm: Early bath for...
It's never great to bust a poker tournament, it's even worse to grind for almost an entire day and fail to advance. That's a feeling that: Nuno Capucho, Frederico Volpe, Terry Carter, David Lappin, Daniel Chutrov, Manuel Moreno de Guzman, Alberto Gonzalez, Sergio Esteban, Daniel Merrilees, Roberto Alcalá, Grzegorz Krajeski, Kimmo Heikki, Mathijs Janssen, Martin Darnbrook, Anthony Fox, Tonino Montesanti, Samvel Oganesyan, Pawel Kapczynski, Vu Dung Dao, Danut Talpan, Markus Pohl, Arturo Fernandez, David Clarkson, John Franklin, Jesper Onrust, David Cruas, Luca Pazaglini, Gary Bluston, Keith Christie, Ivan Sebeledi, Morten Mortensen, Jonathan Abdellatif, Maria Duarte de Miranda, Pantazidis Anestis, Michal Kukla, Jari Aaltonen, Jonathan Abdellatif and David Gomez know all too well.
They're all out and just 161 of the 349 Day 1A entrants remain. -- NW
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 600-1,200, 200 ante
7:40pm: Back to back cashes for Seun Oluwole?
Seun Oluwole banked his third UKIPT cash in the recent Nottingham leg with his 107th place finish and, although it's early days, is building a stack that could help him to back to back cashes.
His stack has grown close to 65,000 after he was fortunate to eliminate Juan Evangelista Arana. The Spaniard moved all in from the button with ace-queen for his last 15 big blinds and was called by Oluwole in the big blind who held king-queen. The boar ran king high and Arana took his defeat with a big smile. -- MC
7:20pm: Moreira de Melo can't get a call with kings
Fatima Moreira de Melo's stack had shrunk to the point where she feels it's all in or fold in certain spots.
Joao Carlos Carreira Marcelino limped in from second position before the Team PokerStars SportStar held her stack in one hand so she could have a good look - it was around 21,000 - before she moved all in. Marcelino smiled immediately as he watched all other fold back around to him.
He open folded [7h][7d] and was shown [ks][kh] by Moreira de Melo. -- MC
7:15pm: A few counts
As we approach the final hour of play on Day 1A here are a few counts of some of the notable names left in:
Alexander Stevic - 70,000
Christian Grundtvig - 64,000
Katja Spillum Svendsen - 22,300
Lasse Frost - 48,000
Pieter De Korver - 53,000
Richard Pearson - 28,000
7:05pm: James continues to build
At the start of the previous level Mark James had 110,000, good for third place overall. In the last 45 minutes he's upped his stack to 150,000 and looks like he's the chip leader right now. --NW
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 500-1,000, 100 ante
6:55pm: Margets flips out
She may be a fine runner outside but Leo Margets hasn't raced very well indoors today. The Team PokerStars Pro lost a classic race versus David Tovar.
The latter opened to 1,600 and was called in one spot before the Team PokerStars Pro squeezed to 6,000 from the big blind. Tovar quickly moved in after that, which was enough to oust the flat caller but not Margets who called all in for 24,000.
Tovar: [jc][jd]
Margets: [as][kh]
The board ran [8h][qd][2s][7s][4s] and Tovar got the chips, the scalp and a hug for his efforts. -- MC
6:35pm: Separated at birth?
Not since Joe Sebok was knocked out of a tournament by Joe Serock have we had to do such a double take as we just did in Marbella. That's because Bob Janssens has just been eliminated from this tournament by Bob Jansen!
The latter three-bet to 5,100 over the top of a 1,700 open and Janseens then moved all-in for 9,500 and after the initial raiser folded, Jansen made the call.
Janseens: [Kd][Qs]
Jansen: [Ah][Jd]
The [2h][3s][Th][2d][Td] board favoured Jansen and Janseens was on his way. -- NW
6:20pm: Big stack watch
| Name | Country | Status | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rodrigo Rosales | Spain | PokerStars Qualifier | 120,000 |
| Johnny Soerensen | Denmark | 112,000 | |
| Mark James | UK | 110,000 | |
| Fabien Parisel | France | PokerStars Player | 104,000 |
| Antonio Lopez | Spain | PokerStars Qualifier | 97,000 |
| Manuel Cortada Dominguez | Portugal | 95,000 | |
| Dirk Schweitzer | Germay | PokerStars Qualifier | 95,000 |
| Jose Pedro Da Silva | Portugal | PokerStars Qualifier | 91,000 |
| Josep María Galindo | Spain | 76,000 | |
| Georgi Abuladze | UK | 72,000 |
6:15pm: Pino picked off
From A-Z Andrzej Zakrzewski has got all the poker moves and just before the break he just picked off a river bluff from Cesar Pino to pad what was an already impressive stack.
There was around 15,000 in the pot by the time Zarkrzewski checked on the turn of a [Kd][Qs][9d][9c] board, Pino followed suit and the [7h] completed the board. Once again the Pole checked to Pino and the Spaniard bet 8,500. This sent Zarkrzewski deep into the tank and he sat there constantly puffing on his e-cigarette, blowing vapour in the direction of the table.
After a couple of minutes he made the call and Pino could only claim ace-high, Zarkrzewski showed [Jc][Jh] to claim the pot. -- NW
Blinds up: 400/800, ante 100
5:57pm: Last break of the day
Three levels left to play once the players return from a short break. -- MC
5:55pm: Some say it's the taking part that counts
These players might not agree: Emilio Manuel Molina, Xavier Marcel Detournel, Rubén Velasco, Luis Andre Pinho de Faria, Kirill Panov, Juan Navarrete Azon, Rozanna Jeffry Ketting, Chris Wood, Wouter Quirijn van der Peijl, Francisco Cordero, Thomas Dunwoodie, Ander Sarasua, Floyd Winterberg, Maher Isa Bakir, Georges Yazbeck,
Antonio Viñas, Teresa Ortega y Albareda, Fabio Scepi, David Dancey, Antonio Jesus Diaz, Adrian Eugen Constantin, Sergio Cabrera, Felipe Darsa Boianovsky, Jose Pedro Da Silva, Peter Wilson, Tom Drew, Henrik Matthe Juncker, Ignacio Sole Aparicio, Marcus Theodorus van Opzeeland, Jesus Aragon del Valle, Juan Garcia, Juan Fraile Ortega, Dominic Mahoney, Alfonso Jesus Fernandez, Rapinder Cheema, Jose Manuel Nuñez, Diego Soto, Lukasz Winski, Iago González, Daniel Rodriguez Rivero, Bjorn Nordberg, David Thompson, Carlos Sarria and Eduardo González.
5:42pm: Not that nice for Valle
Martin Vallo has got poker results dating back more than 12 years, making him one of the original Danish grinders on the European circuit. He hasn't been seen as much the past few years but he's back here in Marbella. Well, he was back until his aces were cracked.
He opened to 1,200 from early position and was only called by Fausutus Karl Korn in the big blind. The flop fanned [9c][2c][6h] and the chips went in with Vallo the shorter of the two with around 29,000.
Vallo: [ah][ad] for the over pair
Korn: [2s][2d] for the bottomest of sets
The board ran out [qh][kh] and Vallo said, "Ok, nice game" and made his exit. -- MC
5:35pm: Strike out
It's a tale of going from the penthouse to the outhouse for Neil Strike as the former chip leader has seen his stack reduced to dust over the past four levels. The Brit, who won the High Roller here last year, was pretty upbeat about it all, explaining that there wasn't much he could do about it really.
He was kind enough to explain what happened to the PokerStars Blog and it's hard to argue with his assessment. First Strike lost a 50,000 chip flip with queens against ace-king, his opponent flopped trip kings just for good measure.
That knocked Strike down to around 35,000 and he then lost another big pot with ace-king. "There were two shoves in front of me and I covered both players," he explained. "One had sevens, the other jacks and the jacks held."
Left with around 10,000 that soon went in with king-queen suited and wouldn't you know it he ran into ace-king, which unfortunately for Strike held up. "Ace-king has not been kind to me," he smiled. Strike intimated that he'll be sticking around for the rest of the week so expect him to be back to defend his high roller title. -- NW
Blinds up: 300/600 ante 75
5:20pm: Margets marches on
The PokerStars Blog arrived at the table to see that Leo Margets was all-in. The Spanish Team PokerStars Pro had a bet of 16,875 in front of her and Nikolay Baryshnikov, who had a bet of 2,700 in front of him, was in the tank.
After about 20 seconds he elected to fold his hand and Margets survived. A few minutes later she was stacking more chips having sccoped a pot with [Qh][Jh] on a [9][9][10][J][4] board. She's up to 26,000. -- NW
5:10pm: Pearson eliminates Raine and then gets sucked out on
The first PokerStars qualifier for this event - Neil Raine - has been eliminated at the hands of Richard Pearson; his [jh][qh] couldn't beat his neighbour's [kd][jd] after he committed his last 4,500.
A short while after, Pearson had another player all in and dominated but he couldn't take a second scalp. He opened to 1,200 from early position and called after Joao Carlos Carreira Marcelino ripped all in for 14,975.
Pearson: [as][qh]
Marcelino: [qs][td]
The board ran [9h][8d][tc][8c][4s] with Pearson shaking his head most of the way. He's stack was still at a healthy 40,000. -- MC
4:55pm: Bust outs
Plenty of fallers to tell you about as: Javier Valencia, David Lloyd, Santiago Ramirez, Jose Luis Valdes, Alessio Kullmann, Javier Domingo, Manuel Martin Campos, Halit Sahitaj, Florian Langmann, Artur Zamora, Esteban Martínez, Remigiusz Wyrzykiewicz, Lennart Vallo, Ian Holmes, Faisal Ali Shihabi, Sergio Coutinho, Jose Luís Puente, Krzysztof Idziak, Stephane Said, Manuel Utrera Nuñez, Daniel Herreros, Joao Gonçalves, Scott Franklin and Eduardo Gómez are all out. -- NW
4:50pm: Day 1A numbers are in
As was mentioned earlier in the blog, registration closed at the beginning of level 5. The final number for Day 1A rests at 349 players.
To put that into context, Season 4's Day 1A attracted 293 players so hopes are out there that the total field size could top 800 for the first time in Marbella. -- MC
4:37pm: Nebezhev and his wide under-the-gun range
Khazret Nebezhev seemed a little embarrassed after he was caught playing four-deuce off-suit in hand from first position. A hand that saw his stack drop to around 1,000.
He and Remigiusz Wyrzykiewicz were heads up to a [4s][6s][2s] flop where the latter bet 3,000 when checked to him. Nebezhev check-raised all in and was called.
Wyrzykiewicz: [js][jc] for an over pair with flush draw
Nebezhev: [4c][2s] for two pair and baby flush draw
The board ran out [3c][jh] to make Wyrzykiewicz a set. All Nebezhev could do was laugh about the situation. -- MC
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 250-500, 50 ante
4:25pm: Spillum Svendsen stacking chips
After a near miss last year, when she finished third, Katja Spillum Svendsen is back in Marbella for another tilt at the title.
She's got off to a decent start and was already up to 35,000 before winning a pot against Gunnar Rabe. It was an all Scandinavian battle as Rabe bet 2,600 on a [Ah][5s]Kh] flop with Spillum Svendsen calling from the button.
Both players checked the [Ad] turn and the [6h] completed the river. A quick check from Rabe was followed by a swift bet from Spillum Svendsen and an equally fast fold from the Swede. 1-0 to Norway. -- NW
4:15pm: Rubio wins battle of the kickers
There were a lot of gold 1K chips in the pot as Jose Rubio and Maria Duarte de Miranda went to the river of a [Qs][8s][Th][3d][2d] board. It was Duarte de Miranda who was first to act, she bet 2,500 and Rubio instantly called. The Portuguese lady showed [Qh][7h][ but she was pipped by Rubio who held [Qd][9c].
As a result of that hand Duarte de Mirnada drops to 15,000 whilst Rubio is up to 60,000. -- NW
4:05pm: Stevic feeling the Frost
Alexander Stevic was the original PokerStars champion. More than ten years have passed since he took down the very first European Poker Tour event in Barcelona. Times have moved onto the extent that the buy in for that first tournament is the same as Stevic had to pay to enter here in Marbella.
Stevic is sat over in the corner and is feeling the frost on two counts. He seems to be under an Air-con vent as look very cold wrapped up in a tracksuit top and he has a certain Lasse Frost sat to his left. Stevic's count is around 27,000 whereas Frost has moved up to 42,000.
Frost raised to 900 from under the gun and was only called by Hans Marius Stokkenes in the small blind. Frost bet 1,000 on the [as][8d][5c] flop and 1,700 on the [js] turn. Stokkenes called the first bet but admitted defeat after the turn bet. -- MC
3:45pm: Luck of the Irish
Just before the break David Lappin all but doubled up to climb to 56,000. "I think I played the hand really well," he told the PokerStars Blog, tongue firmly in cheek. "I raised with [5d][3d] from the lojack and got one caller. The flop was [4][6][7] and my opponent had [7][6]. I bet, he check raised, I clicked it back, he shoved and after checking my cards to make sure I didn't have [5][4] I called."
Easy game. -- NW
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 200-400, 50 ante
3:27pm: Break time
The players are on their second break of the day. Registration will be closed when level 5 begins.
3:25pm: Room 101 for Hawes
Richard Hawes narrowly missed out on a seat in last night's live satellite - finishing 25th (with 21 seats) after his kings were cracked - and the Main Event hasn't been any kinder after he busted to an opponent holding pocket kings.
The Brit raised to 700 from the cutoff and called after Andrei Vlassenko three-bet to 1,900 from the big blind. The flop came [6s][7x][ts] and Vlassenko continued for 2,100. Hawes raised to 6,700 and called all in for 22,000 after Vlassenko set him in.
Vlassenko: [kh][kc] for an over pair
Hawes: [as][9s] for a flush draw
The board ran out [jc][3h] and Vlassenko moved up to 57,000. -- MC
3:15pm: Chip counts
Below are the counts of some of the names and notables in today's field. Neil Strike - who won the high roller here last year - looks to be the current chip leader. He's got around 60,000 and told us: "I've just been steadily accumulating, no huge pots. I did have a royal flush draw, which turned into a flush."
Neil Strike - 60,000
David Lappin - 56,000
Katja Spillum Svendsen - 35,000
David Clarkson - 34,500
Morten Mortensen - 31,000
Leo Margets - 30,025
Rapinder Cheema - 26,500
Fatima Moreira de Melo - 26,300
Pieter De Korver - 26,300
Georges Yazbeck - 24,025
Christian Grundtvig - 21,600
Thomas Dunwoodie - 19,500
Sebastian von Toperczer - 17,000
Neil Raine - 12,500
Tomasz Raniszewski - 8,000
3pm: Time for sunbathing
They'll be no Main Event glory for: Dave Masters, Antonio Dascenzo, Enrico Fiorentin, Jose Manuel Gomez, Igor Pihela, Adrian Garcia, Sam MacDonald, Franciso Javier Sánchez, Abraham Serrrano and Konstantinos Nanos. All failed to make the end of the fourth level. -- MC
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 150-300, 25
2:47pm: Rabe's sevens good
Gunnar Rabe's pocket sevens were good in a five-way pot to see his stack approach the 30,000-mark.
He limped in from under the gun and was called in one spot before Katja Spillum Svendsen raised to 800. Her raise was called in two spots behind and by the two limpers. The flop fanned [6d][2c][ts] and all five players checked to the [td] turn. David Leon was in the big blind and led for 2,350. Rabe raised to 5,200 and all folded except Leon who made the call.
Both players checked the [8s] river and Leon opened [ad][7d] for a missed flush draw, losing out to Rabe's [7h][7s]. -- MC
2:35pm: Onrust on the up
Jesper Onrust just took a chunky pot against Stephane Said to boost his chances in this tournament. Four players saw a [Kc][Tc][Ah] flop and Onrust - who was in early positon - bet 2,000 and Said was the only caller. On the [5d] turn Onrust slowed down, he checked the action to Said, the Frenchman bet 4,500 and the Dutchman stuck around.
The [4s] filled out the board and this time Onrust decided to retake the betting lead, he fired out 4,500 and Said all but beat him into the pot. The Dutchman showed [Ad][Kd] and Said gave a little shake of the head before rechecking his cards and sending them face down to the dealer. Despite that bump in the road Said still has 21,000 to his name. --NW
2:20pm: Some in, some gone
Whilst Ulf Hakan Delin, Stephen Lockett, Benjamin Greenberger, Graham Phipps, Roberto Perez have all been eliminated Alejandro Martínez lives to fight another day after winning a pot against Bonifacio Martinez.
On the turn of a [9h][2h][8s][2s] board the latter bet 2,100 but folded when Alejandro moved all-in for around 14,000 total. 313 of 325 runners remain. -- NW
2:10pm: MacDonald flushed by Zurilla
Sam MacDonald had a (deserved) reputation back in the early days of the UKIPT of tearing up day ones often ending said day as chip leader. He hasn't been seen much the last couple of seasons but he's back and not tearing up much as yet.
He's down to around 11,000 after his neighbour, Jose Ruben Zurilla, made a flush against him. Zurilla check-called bets of 1,350 and 2,550 on the flop and turn before the river was checked. The final board read [kh][6h][6c][qh][4c] and MacDonald mucked upon seeing his opponent's [jh][9h]. -- MC
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 100-200, 25 ante
1:43pm: Break time
Two levels have passed and the players are on their first break of the day.
1:40pm: The speedy seven
The following players are known as that due to their hast in busting the Main Event: Miguel Angel Baez, Aquilino López del Rio, Mohamed Mohamed Hadu, Tarjei Forus, Toomas Mandmet, Yinka Taiwo and Joemeiry Brito all went during the first two levels. -- MC
1:30pm: A trio of tournament titans
It seems not all the big names are bracelet hunting in Las Vegas at the moment as we've unearthed another triumvirate of top tournament players who'll be hoping to go home without a sun tan. One man who knows what it's like to pose for a winner's photo in Nevada is Florian Langmann. The German grabbed gold in a Pot limit Omaha Hi/Lo event but will be out to show he's now slouch at two card poker here.
With over $1.3M in lifetime winnings Christian Grundtvig will be a force to be reckoned with. The bulk of those earnings came when he won a WPT title in Paris back in 2006. Last but not least we have Sebastian von Toperczer. The Norwegian final tabled the EPT10 Grand Final a little over 12 months ago. -- NW
1:20pm: Pearson pays for Raine and De Korver company
The jovial Richard Pearson has been sat down next to Neil Raine and across from Pieter De Korver.
Tough company, especially when you have to pay full price for the privilege. Pearson tried to win a seat in last night's live satellite but fell just short, meaning he's had to buy in for a UKIPT for the very first time.
Ruben Pleijster can be found sat a couple of tables along. The Dutchman came fifth at Eureka5 Rozvadov back in February for €53,215 not long after entering the live poker scene for the first time. -- MC
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 75-150
1:05pm: Fatima making friends (not)
Fatima Moreira de Melo is not the favourite person of Pauline Bowden right now.
The two ladies were heads up to the turn of a [7c][js][ah][3d] board where a 600 bet was called (not sure who bet). The board completed with the [tc] and Bowden check-called a 1,300 bet and was shown [ad][th] by Moreira de Melo.
Bowden gasped at the sight of her opponent's hand before slamming down [as][8h] on the table. Moreira de Melo didn't take any notice, as she was too busy stacking chips and chatting away to a neighbour on her left. -- MC
12:50pm: More names
Players continue to trickle in and take their seats, the tournament clock shows that their number currently totals some 250.
Neil Raine, who was runner-up in the UKIPT3 leader board runner-up, was the first player to win a seat to this event via online satellites and he's just sat down. The third placed finisher in the UKIPT4 leader board race is playing today, that'd be Tomasz Raniszewski of course. He finished three spots ahead of David Lappin and the member of The Firm is chasing more leader board points today.
One man who's chasing a second UKIPT Main Event title is Rapinder Cheema, he triumphed in London back in January and is now trying his luck in Spain. As is Chris Wood, he made his mark on the UKIPT in Season 4 when he finished third behind Max Silver and Kevin Killeen at UKIPT4 Dublin. -- NW
12:40pm: Who's about?
The tournament got under way a little late and players are filing in from the beach to take their seats.
Good friends, and fellow Team Pros, Leo Margets and Fatima Moreira de Melo have already taken their seats. Katja Spillum Svendsen was also here from the start and looking to do well again this season. The Norwegian made it all the way to third pace last year for a career-high score of €58,700.
An ever-smiling Pieter de Korver and Morten Mortensen from Denmark have also made their presence known and will be players to keep an eye on. -- MC
12:20pm: Shuffle up and deal
A little late, but cards are in the air here in Marbella. --NW
11:45am: Fun in the sun set to start
Hello from sunny Marbella and welcome to the third event of Season 5 of the UKIPT. Once again the UKIPT and Estrellas poker tours have combined as one to bring you the Marbella Poker Festival.
In 2013 Ludovic Geilich announced himself to the poker world when he outlasted 762 others to take the title and last year Rodrigo Espinosa ploughed through a final table, that included Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody, in under five hours to finish atop a field of 750 players.
So the score then is UK 1-1 Spain, it's possible that someone else will get on the scoreboard this season and we'll find out over the next five days. Follow updates every step of the way right here, via the @UKIPT twitter account and on our Facebook page. If Spanish is your bag then you need to head to the Spanish language PokerStars Blog .
Play is set to get under way at midday.
Key UKIPT5 Marbella Facts:
- 25,000 starting stack
- Blinds starting at 50/100 for 250 big blinds
- Levels are 45 minutes on Day 1 and they'll be ten of them. From Day 2 onwards levels increase to 60 minutes.
- Day 1A is today, Day 1B takes place tomorrow, the field will then combine for the first time on Friday, before (hopefully) playing down to a final table on Saturday and then to a winner on Sunday. Cue mad celebrations and jumping in the pool with the trophy (possibly).
- Full UKIPT5 Marbella schedule here.
- There's a live satellite to the Main Event tonight, it begins at 17.00 CET and the buy-in is €150+€15
- It's not all about the poker here in Marbella. There's some fun stuff too like an official party. That takes place on Saturday June 20th from 22.00 until late at Guey Marbella. Spots are limited and players need to contact info@estrellaspokertourhotels.com to sign up, wristbands are required for entry but the good news is there's an open Bar for the first two hours of the party.
- Players in Marbella will also be able to enjoy a wide-range of off the felt activities, including karting, water sports and more. Contact info@estrellaspokertour.com if you wish to book any activity.
PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at UKIPT5 Marbella: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Mickey May