4.27pm: Break time
That's the end of level four, players are now on a 20 minute break. You'll find level five updates in a new post. -- NW
4.25pm: Jarvis gets thin value
I joined the action to see a complete board of [6d][6h][10s][8c][2h] on the felt. The action was on Alex Ferguson, he checked to Ross Jarvis who fired out a bet of 1,400 into a pot of 2,800. After five seconds thought Ferguson made the call, Jarvis showed [10c][7c] and Ferguson intimated it was good before mucking his hand. -- NW
4.20pm: Racks in the dungeon
There's still a few tables in use in the 'dungeon' (the nickname we've given to the tables on the lower ground floor). One table down there is tougher than the rest. Perched round one corner of table 33 are: Dara O'Kearney (seat one: 21,800), David Docherty (seat three: 13,000) and Brett Angell (seat four: 17,000). -- NW
4.10pm: Coren and Perrins
Vicky Coren and Matt Perrins are at tables next to each other and both played out hands at the same time.
Coren opened to 425 whilst saying she felt she had some new found luck, only to be called by George Dixon in the small blind. The [4h][kc][7d] flop came out and Dixon check-called the Team PokerStars Pro's 600 c-bet.
Both players checked the [ts] turn before Coren folded when faced with an 800 bet on the [qc] river.
Perrins, meanwhile, was having much more luck. His stack had dropped in the hour or so he'd been playing so far, but he rectified that by eliminating Chris Howden.
Howden opened to 600 and Perrins called to see a [qc][td][8h] flop where the chips went in. Howden opened [as][qh], in big trouble versus Perrins' [ac][ah]. The board ran out [4d][6h]. -- MC
4pm: Boeree busts
It's not been a pleasant day for Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree, a slow dwindle until her exit. "I missed a gazillion draws," she told me. "Then ran A-Q into aces for my last four thousand." -- NW
3.55pm: News in brief
Small snippets from around the room:
• Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren is down to 9,500, she's currently working on building her stack and a crossword
• Eureka Poker Tour Prague winner Keith Johnson is up 13,800 he'd been as low as 2,000 apparently
• Matt Perrins has taken the 10 seat at Johnson's table
3.48pm: A couple of relevant Tweets
Alex "@AlexFergielive" Ferguson: "Back up to just over 30k. Flopped a set v AK turn&river AA"
Liv "Liv_Boeree" Boeree: "Down to 4k after a failed bluff and a bunch of missed draws. Run up time pls." -- MC
3.40pm: Wealthall not as wealthy as before
One way or another Nick Wealthall will be at the final table this Monday. He's the host of the UKIPT, but is also playing in this event. However, it looks like it'll be purely MC duties he has to perform come Monday as he's down to 10,500 at the moment.
I just saw him three-bet to 2,100, but fold to four-bet of 4,600 from Oleksandr Sharappv, no tanking though, just a fast fold. -- NW
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 100-200
3.35pm: Gavin it back
Fintan Gavin's great start has been clipped back by Rene Xie. He opened to 325 from under the gun and was only called by Xie in the next seat en route to a [jh][jc][7c] flop.
Gavin continued for 600 and called when raised up to 1,600. He also called a 2,100 bet on the [5h] turn after he checked to Xie. The river came down [qs] and Xie bet 4,000 (with 4,125 behind) when she was checked to again. Gavin took his time before making the call.
Xie opened [ks][kc] and took the pot as Gavin mucked whilst saying, "Well played, you got the maximum there. I had pocket nines." -- MC
3.20pm: Cutting it fine
British poker stars Jake Cody, Matt Perrins and James Mitchell have turned up with seconds to spare before registration closed. Pretty standard behaviour for those high rollers. -- MC
3.10pm: Irish update
This update is sponsored by the Emerald Isle: Team PokerStars Pro Jude Ainsworth is grinding away on 16,000, David Lappin is off to a good start, he's up to 27,000. Chris 'Had plenty of deep runs in UKIPTs' Dowling is on 11,700 and Fergal 'wins a bunch of seats to every UKIPT' Nealon has dropped to 10,000. -- NW
3pm: Abou Risk and Williams out
Two high profile bust outs to tell you about as Nick Abou Risk and Kevin Williams are both out.
Abou Risk told me about his exit: "I was down to 3,500. There was an open from early position to 375 and three callers in front of me. I look down at [6h][5h] and decide to call. The flop was [A][Q][4] with two hearts, it checks to the guy who's last to act and he bets 850. I moved all-in for 3,200, he called with [A][4] and I didn't hit."
Williams (@Kevish47) tweeted his exit: "Ran pretty bad to bust #UKIPTNewcastle early. A boring AK Dan Edler took his seat later than most (luckily to make time for a +EV shower), and is in the black after going for some thin value in a hand versus Martin Stausholm. Both players checked the turn to leave a [kc][6c][3h][9d][2d] board by the river. Edler bet 1,375 in a pot of around 3,000 and was called. He opened [td][6d] for a pair of sixes and took the pot as Stausholm mucked. Priyan de Mel has joined Liv Boree's table and has 14,900 to her lowly 6,000. David Docherty is sat one table along, smiling a lot, and on 13,000. -- MC 2.35pm: Five-betting for fun 2.28pm: Back we go 2.08pm: Break it up in there 1.55pm: Chipping Norton His, grimaced, looked back at his cards and then went into the tank. He stayed there for a not inconsiderable amount of time - I felt sure someone was going to call the clock - eventually he emerged and said to Norton: "Will you show if I fold or what?" Norton remained silent, eventually his opponent folded, showing the [10s] as he did so, Norton quietly slid his cards towards the muck as he claimed the pot. *We've got a paper copy of a player list but it doesn't include all the players, as it covers just seats 1-6 at each table. We're hoping to get a complete player list with seat order once late registration closes. -- NW There is a one player gap between them, and the player who's the filling to their sandwich, was having a rules of poker lesson from the Team PokerStars Pro. He had intended to raise to 500 but threw out one 500 chip, deeming it a call only. Coren explained the rule to him, and play continued with three players calling. The flop came down king high and the action checked to our friend who threw out another 500 chips whilst saying, "Raise." Lesson number two was quick in coming from Coren. All his opponents folded and he opened pocket kings for top set! -- MC 1.30pm: Chip counts Jones raised from under the gun and Keys defended his big blind to see a [9d][6h][2d] flop fall down. Jones continued for 500 and called when Keys check-raised up 1,100. Keys stayed aggressive on the [5s] turn by betting 2,025, and took the pot as his bet had too much heat for Jones to handle. Keys moved up to 16,100, whilst Jones dropped to 14,750. -- MC 1.10pm: Chip counts
2.48pm: Dungeon News
It's a long way down to the bunch of tables on the bottom floor, but the walk is good for the heart.
I've seen my first five-bet of the day... from under-the-gun+1 Daniel Haw min-raised to 300, next to act Andrew Grayson bumped it to 725 before the button cold four-bet to 1,525. Back on Haw he thought it out for a while, before five-betting to 4,000 total. Some tank time was needed by Grayson, but he folded and the button followed suit. -- NW
Players are filtering back to their seats. Level three is about to start. -- NWLEVEL UP: BLINDS 75-150
We're 25% of the way through the day, time for a break. Patrick Clarke and David Wilkes are 100% through their day as they've already busted. -- MC
With a complete board of [7s][9h][Jc][4c][8d] on the felt, Ray Norton led for 1,800 into a pot of 2,550. His opponent* bumped it to 3,600 and Norton wasted little time in moving all-in for 9,650 total.
1.45pm: Coren holds class
We're having similar problems as yesterday getting over to the far corner of the main tournament room, but it was worth squeezing through the tables as we found out that Nick Wealthall and Vicky Coren have each other for company.
A samttering of chip counts from across the floors: Phil Baker (17,000), Emmett Mullin (24,000), Nick Wealthall (17,900), Vicky Coren (16,600), Jesse May (17,600), Fintan Gavin (23,000), Max Silver (9,500), Raj Verma (13,300), Dara O'Kearney (18,300), Brett Angell (18,000), David Docherty (15,875) and Sam Razavi (14,600). -- NW
1.20pm: Keeping up with the Joneses
James Keys and Rhys Jones have found themselves sat together and were busy chatting until silence fell while they played out a hand.
Ok so we're only a level in but there's been some chip movement: Nick Abou Risk (7,000), Lee Atherton (15,600), Rupinder Bedi (14,900), Ross Jarvis (16,500) and Richard Evans (16,300). -- NW
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 50-100
1.04pm: Propping up the rest
There's upwards of ten tables set up on the bottom floor of the casino. Some of the tables are normally used for cash games, and some are in an adjacent room that has a red-coloured Asian theme.
We cast our eyes upon Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree, David Docherty, Corey Desmond and David Rawnsley - all on separate tables. These tables will be the first to break. -- MC
12.55pm: Every level he's doubling
Alex Ferguson - who often leads the dancing to Everyday I'm Shuffling when the levels go up - has been busy doubling. He tweeted (@AlexFergielive): "UKIPT Newcastle. Played 1 hand in level & doubled. AJhh v QQ on xhhxh board. Let the run good continue!! #TeamGo0oT"
12.50pm: Some queuing, some wishing they still were
The players continue to form a queue at the registration desk as the stream of late entrants shows no sign of abating, 14 deep by my last count. Meanwhile I spotted Fintan Gavin taking his seat at Table 17 to be greeted by UKIPT winner Jamie Burland.
Gavin had stopped off on his way to his seat to chat to his friend James Walsh who's sat to the right of Sam Razavi, those three love a natter. As they were conversing poker journalist Alun Bowden turned to me and said: "I've done well with this draw haven't I!" He's not wrong. James Tomlin adds to the shark coefficient of that table. -- NW
12.41pm: Bad start for the double champ
Nick Abou Risk always comes into a UKIPT with confidence, and why wouldn't he? That confidence must have been knocked after a hand he tweeted about:
"Started #UKIPTGeordieShore w @chihaotsang at the table. Lost half my stack on 873ssTK w 33 v J9o already." -- MC
12.35pm: High Rollers
Not in that sense, more in the sense that the following people are in the upper tournament room and are therefore rolling, placing or throwing their chips over the betting line from a greater height: UKIPT3 Dublin winner Richard Evans is playing, he's hoping to go back to back and join the exclusive club of double UKIPT winners. One of only two men in that club - Nick Abou Risk - is also in the upper room as are: Ross Jarvis, Eb Razavi, George Clyde-Smith, Dave Maudlin, James Morris, David Lappin and Lee Atherton. -- NW
12.25pm: Step workout for us today!
The size of today's field means we're spreading to all corners of the casino. Tables have been set up over three floors, so no need for us to hit the gym this week (not like we do that anyway!).
There is still a queue at the registration desk meaning that many tables are playing short-handed for now. -- MC
12.15pm: Who's here
Ok so we haven't necessarily spotted these people yet - it's a bit of a throng down there - but there's talent from both sides of the pond here today. Players who are assumed playing today due to the player list include: Rupinder Bedi, Fintan Gavin, Kevin Williams, Fergal Nealon, Lee Atherton, Fergal Nealon, last year's runner-up Raj Verma, Dara O'Kearney and the legendary voice of poker Jesse May. Shut up and deal. -- NW
12.05pm: Cards are in the air
There is a still a queue of players waiting to get in the tournament, but this hasn't stopped our efficient Tournament Director starting today's proceedings. -- MC
11.40am: Tyne to go again
Welcome back for Day 1B of the UKIPT Newcastle leg, brought to you from Aspers casino. Yesterday 246 players got us warmed up for the busy day ahead of us today. We're expecting anywhere up to 450 players to turn up to begin a poker journey that they hope will end in individual glory come Monday.
Team PokerStars Pro are in the house today! Liv Boeree, Vicky Coren, and Jude Ainsworth will join former champions Sam Razavi, Max Silver, Jamie Burland, and Nick Abou Risk in a field that promises to be packed with talent.
The plan is the same as yesterday; eight one-hour levels, no dinner break, and in the pub by nine (if you like that sort of thing). Join us back here at 12pm when the cards will be in the air.
PokerStars Blog reporting team in Newcastle and their panic levels this morning Marc Convey (Huge panic - laptop issues, now resolved) and Nick Wright (chilled- slept in). Photos by Mickey May (mild anxiety - Jesse is playing the Main Event).