Dan Stacey wins UKIPT5 Isle of Man and £24,170

Today's UKIPT Isle of Man final table was a tale of two halves. The three-and-a-half hours it took to get from eight to two players and the four-and-a-quarter hours from there to crown a winner. When the dust settled 25-year old Dan Stacey was on top, after making a great comeback to claim the title and £24,170. Paren Arzoomanian represented all staff members well with a top performance, taking home £19,000 for his runner-up finish.

When heads up play began Stacey had a little more than 1.3 million chips (to 7.5 million) but quickly doubled with a set versus two pair. It was at that point that Arzoomanian offered an even chop deal, even though he had more than twice his opponent. They'd both be guaranteed £19,000 and leave £5,170 to play for. It came as no surprise to see Stacey immediately accept the deal.

Arzoomanian stretched further ahead but he couldn't finish off his opponent. Stacey doubled with pocket sixes versus ace-king and the stacks were close to even for the first time. The battle was back and forth for the next couple of hours - neither player could win when they had their opponent all in. Something had to give, and it finally did just before 8pm local time.

The chips went in on the turn during a hand in which Arzoomanian held a straight to Stacey's two-pair. The river made Stacey a full house and he shouted out in delight. The (mainly) Arzoomanian supporting crowd gave both players a big round of applause which was thoroughly deserved. Stacey spoke with the PokerStars blog shortly after his victory.

On being so far behind when heads up play began, "Things turned round and I got more confident."

Stacey came sixth here two seasons ago and is growing fond of the place, "It feels like I should live here!"

This time he managed to finish off the job, "I wanted the trophy dead bad."

Back to the start of the day and Arzoomanian came tearing out of the blocks and extended his lead. Elliott Hayes ran into his full house and that left him in a position with not a lot of wriggle room. He got his chips in with pocket sixes on an eight-high flop but Michael Fletcher was sat with pocket jacks, made the call, and eliminated Hayes.

That exit opened the floodgates. Next to depart, just moments after, was James Walsh. The Irishman came into the final as the shortest stack and had just a few big blinds left when he moved all in with ace-jack. Arzoomanian woke up with pocket eights, called, and sent Walsh on his way after a blank board.

The extra chips gave Arzoomanian the license to open up and he used his stack very effectively, soon gathering half the chips in play. The one player willing to take him on was Stacey. The two tangled in a few pots with honours just about even. After they dominated the table's play for a couple of orbits, there was another elimination before the first break and then three quick ones in a short space of time after the break.

Day 1B chip leader Chris Swinden was the first of the bunch to go. He flopped second pair in a three-bet pot against Stacey and decided to move all in. His timing was off though as Stacey had flopped top pair and made an easy call to send him to the rail. Swinden got a generous round of applause from the local crowd (in to play the day's side events) but it was nothing compared to the reception John Lawson got after he busted.

He three-bet all in with ace-six but, unfortunately for him, Arzoomanian had opened with ace-queen and made the call. He went on to make two pair and Lawson seemed genuinely touched seeing a whole room of players put their hands together for him. He must be a damn good taxi driver round the local roads! A lovely side story is that Lawson has now won enough money to join his partner on her trip back to the Philippines to see her family - a promise he made if he made the final table.

Rodger Reynolds failed to get much going today and the first time he was all in he was all out. Stacey had opened the button with pocket sevens and he called after Reynolds moved all in with ace-three from the next seat. He failed to catch up and left with a five-figure payday for his troubles. Fewer than ten minutes later and the tournament was a heads-up affair after Fletcher was eliminated. He got his chips in with ace-ten in a battle of the blinds with Arzoomanian, who went on to make quads with his pocket sixes!

That's all for the UKIPT's visit to the homeland, the next stop will be the always-popular Edinburgh, taking place from 19-22 November. The UKIPT Super Series will be taking place before that though, once again being hosted by The London Hippodrome from 14-18 October. Satellites are already running online for both events so get involved.

We'll leave with a highlights video that shows some of the fun things that have happened during our time here this week. Also, you'll see who earned what today and a link to today's coverage.

Full payouts and all today's action.

Photos copyright of Mickey May. Steal her pictures and she'll take you up Snaefell and leave you there