* Read a full report of Day 1C here
* Day 2 starts tomorrow at 11am
* 176 players will return
10.05pm: It's over
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000-2,000 (200 ante)
Read a full report of Day 1C here. --JS
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9.50pm: Four more hands
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000-2,000 (200 ante)
We'll play four more hands tonight before the chips are bagged. --JS
9.48pm: So many big stacks
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000-2,000 (200 ante)
More players means more chips, which in turn mean way more big stacks. It's hard to determine right now who exactly is the chip leader, and even harder to predict who will end up the Day 1C chip boss when all is said and done. Don't go anywhere, the clock's about to be paused and then we'll be back with official counts. --JS
9.40pm: McLean out
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000-2,000 (200 ante)
And just like that, we've lost Leo McLean from the Main Event. He got it in with [qs][ts] against another player's pocket jacks and couldn't hit anything. --JS
9.32pm: McLean approaching the danger zone
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000-2,000 (200 ante)
We hadn't checked in with Leo McLean for a while so we popped over to his table and caught him in a hand.
During the last level McLean had opened to 3,500 and it got one caller - Stephen O'Keefe out of the big blind. The flop showed the [4h][3d][qc] and O'Keefe checked, allowing McLean to c-bet for 4,400. It was called once more.
An identical pattern happened again on the [jh] turn, but this time the bet was 9,200. The betting lead switched after the [2d] river, as O'Keefe then shoved all-in, putting McLean's entire stack at risk. McLean gave his hand up and is left with 39,000, good for 24 big blinds. --JS
9.20pm: Last level of the day
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000-2,000 (200 ante)
9.18pm: Charalambous survives three-way all in
Level 11 - Blinds 800-1,600 (200 ante)
Peter Charalambous flopped big but had to fade a flush draw before he could relax in the knowledge that he had more than tripled up.
He opened to 3,500 from under the gun and was called in four spots before an [as][8h][7h] flop was dealt. Charalambous checked before Lucas Reeves bet and Geir Havard Hanssen moved all in for 50,600. Charalambous called all in for 42,500 and Reeves, who had both players covered by around 50,000 called as well.
Charalambous: [ah][ad] for top set.
Hanssen: [7d][7s] for bottom set.
Reeves: [kh][th] for a flush draw.
Charalambous was happy to see Hanssen's hand but not so much Reeves'. The board ran out [3c][6d] to see Charalambous scoop the lot. Hanssen had 8,100 left after he paid Charalambous and that was doubled by Reeves. -- MC
9.09pm: The lowdown on how Xiaoyang Luo took the chip lead
Level 11 - Blinds 800-1,600 (200 ante)
Well, I didn't see the action as it happened, but I did catch the aftermath - that being Xiaoyang Luo stacking mountains of chips.
The guys at his table - including the man who was chip leader just a few minutes ago, Antonio German - just ran me through the action.
Luo kicked off the pot with an open to 3,300, which German bumped up to 8,500. Antoine Saout then got involved with a cold 4-bet to 23,500, which was nothing compared to former chip leader Abalsteinn Karlsson's cold 5-bet jam for 75,000. It folded back to Lou who apparently tanked for some time before making the call. Everyone else folded and the cards were revealed.
Karlsson had pocket jacks, while Lou had ace-king. The flop came ace-high, and a king on the turn and blank on the river gave the huge pot to Lou, while Karlsson headed for the exit. German didn't reveal his hand, but he did say that he would have flopped a set had he called.
Luo is now our big chip leader with 285,000. --JS
9pm: Late casualties
Level 11 - Blinds 800-1,600, 200 (100 ante)
Day 1C, after more than ten levels of play, has almost shrunk enough to fit in one room. The exits of the following has helped that cause: Jack O'Neill, Gerhard Robert Lillie, Morgan Sorfleet, Viktor Einarsson, Wai Kiat Lae, Ravi Sharda, Mark Oliver, Jordan Conroy, Ben Smith, Craig Newton, Renee Xie, Robert Davies, Juan Gozalo, Logi Laxdal, James Huggins, Peter Rolstad Haugnaess, Jack Sambrook, Anotnios Onoufriou, Sung Hee Yun, David Welch, Jose Godin, Paul Campbell, Salvador Avid Htdaico Martine, Erasmo Marco Crespo and Darren Oldaker. -- MC
8.44pm: November Niners go to battle
Level 11 - Blinds 800-1,600 (200 ante)
Antoine Saout (2009 WSOP Main Event 3rd place finisher) and Felix Stephensen (2014 WSOP Main Event runner up) have been going head to head quite a few times since they were both moved on to the OTD (original table of death).
One hand I just caught involved a 3,000 open from Saout, which Stephensen 3-bet to 8,000. When the action was back on Saout he put in a 4-bet for 22,500, only to see Stephensen jam for around 50,000. Saout gave it up and still has a healthy 120,000 stack, while Stephensen moves up to just over 80,000. --JS
8.36pm: Level up
Level 11 - Blinds 800-1,600, 200 (100 ante)
8.30pm: Last level (street), boss v boss
Level 10 - Blinds 600-1,200 (200 ante)
Rainer Kempe, as we wrote earlier, had had an amazing breakout year and Tom Hall has been bossing for a few years now and is a one-time winner and one-time runner up in the UKIPT Player of the Season race. The two tangled in a pot and Hall, seeing as this is more his turf, won the boss battle.
An [ah][6d][jh][9s][5h] board rested between the two players and around 35,000 chips had to be claimed. Kempe only had 23,000 left, a few thousand less than Hall. It was the latter who struck the final blow, moving all in from the small blind. Kempe was in the cutoff and tanked for several minutes before admitting defeat with a fold.
Talking of bosses: While Kempe was tanking, Vicente Delagado had time to eliminate an opponent on an adjacent table. He held [as][kh] to Gavin Keane's [ah][qh] and the two got their stacks in preflop. The board ran [9c][kd][2h][3s][qc] to send Keane to the rail and Delgado's stack grew to 130,000. -- MC
8.10pm: Notable chip stacks
Level 10 - Blinds 600-1,200 (200 ante)
Antonio German - 199,000
Usman Siddique - 169,000
Martin Bader - 142,000
Antoine Saout - 135,000
Joe Grech - 130,000
Frank Bastow - 125,000
Craig Sweden - 94,000
Diego Gomez - 92,000
Felix Stephensen - 83,000
Soren Jensen - 82,000
Abalsteinn Karlsson - 74,000
Paul Vas Nunes - 56,000
Joe Grech - 47,000
Tom Hall - 47,000
Rainer Kempe - 34,000
Patrick Clarke - 24,000 --JS.
7.50pm: We're back
Level 10 - Blinds 600-1,200 (200 ante)
Players are back from break - three more levels for day the day. --JS
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7.35pm: Last break of the night
The players are on a 15-minute break. They'll play three more levels when they return.
7.34pm: News from the OTD
Level 9 - Blinds 500-1,000 (100 ante)
It's all change from today's original table of death. Richard Milner has gone, Antoine Saout is crushing on 170,000, and former chips leader Abalsteinn Karlsson has dropped even further - down to 37,000 after folding on the river.
Jack Sambrook opened from the cutoff and Karlsson defended his big blind to see an [ah][7s][3s] flop appear. Sambrook continued for 2,300 and Jack Karlsson check-called to the [qs] turn where he called another 8,000. The board completed with the [9c] and Karlsson checked again then shook his head ever so slightly when he saw Sambrook look down and reach for chips. Sambrook barely had his 17,000 bet in contention and Karlsson's cards hit the muck. -- MC
7.25pm: This hand had it all
Level 9 - Blinds 500-1,000 (100 ante)
A double elimination, a clock being called, a last second decision...this hand had everything.
It started with an open from Neil Slade to 2,300, which Carlo Citrone called. It folded around to Lawrence Bayley who shoved from the small blind for 23,000, only for Slade to move all-in himself for 49,300. That had Citrone covered (who only had 35,600 behind) and here's where the tanking started.
Citrone was thinking for at least five minutes before the clock was called, standing up in his chair and staring constantly at Slade's chips. When he had one minute to make up his mind he apologised to the table. "It's OK," said Bayley. "You're in pain!"
"I'm in real pain!" replied Citrone, as the clock counted down. At one point, with about 30 seconds left, he picked his cards up - giving his next door neighbours a clear peek. One player squirmed as he saw them, prompting Bayley to point out that even if he now folded Citrone's hand would have to be revealed to the whole table.
"5,4, 3..." went the floor, and when the clock hit '1' Citrone splashed his chips in the middle, KGB-style. It was not the right decision.
Slade - [ad][ah]
Bayley - [ac][kc]
Citrone - [qd][qs]
Both Bayley and Citrone needed help, but the [3s][2c][8s][3d][2d] meant the pocket rockets held up. Both were eliminated, and Slade now sits with an impressive 112,000 stack. --JS
7.12pm: When a bad board run out is a good board run out
Level 9 - Blinds 500-1,000 (100 ante)
Sometimes, when in the middle of a hand, you can curse the way a board develops over the streets as you think your chances of winning the hand are diminishing. What if you were always behind though? That's when a bad run out can save you a bunch of chips.
A pile of chips sat in the middle of the table and three players were still in the hand. The flop read [5d][4d][9d] and John Linton was the first to bet, for 8,200. Sebastian Malec was sat behind in position and called, whereas the third player check-folded from under the gun. The board ran out [5h][3d] and both players checked it down.
Linton opened [tc][ts] and lost out to Malec's [jh][jd]. A couple of low non diamond cards could've cost Linton even more than he lost. -- MC
7pm: Bust-out bonanza
Level 9 - Blinds 500-1,000 (100 ante)
Here's just some of the dozens of bust-outs we've had over the past few levels:
Martins Adeniya, Richard Milner, Munaaf Ghumra, Oscar Antonio Romero Rodriguez, Barry Laen, Florin Calin, Danny Blair, Peter Petrov, Geoffrey Dartford, William Kassouf, Alin Rapoport, Carl Nordin, Alan Gurdeep S Dhillon, Steven Game, Raymond Caabay, David Penly, Adel Kabbani, Chuc Gia Khuu, Lars Isaksen, Dinh Doat Le, Peter Jaksland, Jeffrey Michael Kimber, Lucian Tartan, Alexandru Tibulca, Jerome Patrick O'Shea, Stefan Jansson, and Mark Oliver. --JS
6.56pm: Level up
Level 9 - Blinds 500-1,000, 100 (100 ante)
6.55pm: Karlsson drops back but still has a Fortune
Level 8 - Blinds 400-800 (100 ante)
Abalsteinn Karlsson's stack has dropped to 103,000 after he doubled up Andrew Fortune.
The Icelander raised to 2,000 from early position and was called in two spots before Fortune squeezed to 5,200 from the cutoff. All three opponents called to the [jc][th][4d] flop where Karlsson led out for 11,000. Two folds came before Fortune raised all in for 16,600. Karlsson called off the extra with [qs][js] for top pair but he was crushed by Fortune's [tc][ts] for a set. The board ran out [3s][qc]. -- MC
6.50pm: Felix Stephensen - great for the game
Level 8 - Blinds 400-800 (100 ante)
Felix Stephensen is a Norwegian poker legend. Not just because he finished 2nd in the 2014 WSOP Main Event for $5,147,911; not just because he's number one on the all-time Norway money list; but also because in November last year he won the first ever legal poker tournament on Norwegian soil.
The Norwegian Championships of poker was a very big deal indeed, boosting the game and promoting the skill element which is so often overlooked. By topping the massive 1,974-player field, Stephensen proved that it's no coincidence the big names rise to the top so often.
Adding $161,842 to his career winnings was good for Stephensen, but him winning the event was invaluable for Norwegian poker.
I just caught a hand between him and the current chip leader, Iceland's Adalsteinn Karlsson. Stephensen opened to 1,800 and it folded around to Karlsson in the big blind, who made the call. The first three community cards were the [ts][kd][8h], and it was checked to the raiser. Stephensen continued for 2,200 and Karlsson called once more. When the [3d] fell on the turn, the same thing happened again but this time Stephensen's 5,000 bet was enough to take down the pot. He's currently sitting with 57,000. --JS
6.30pm: Punsri up to his old tricks
Level 8 - Blinds 400-800 (100 ante)
Back in Level 1, Punnat Punsri eliminated the first player of the day (Chris Da Silva), and he's been at it again to see his stack rise to 120,000.
Around 5,500 lay in the middle of the table as an [as][5s][kc] flop appeared; Punsri was heads up with Alex Bounsall and led for 5,000 from the small blind. Punsri raised to 11,100 and Bounsall called to the [9c] river where he shoved for 31,200. Punsri called and the cards were flipped up.
Bounsall: [6s][8s] for a flush and straight draw.
Punsri: [ks][4s] for a better flush draw and a pair.
Bounsall thought he was drawing dead until a tablemate pointed out a non-spade seven would do the job. The [3d] river wasn't it and he hit the rail. -- MC
6.16pm: Cody looking forward to a big weekend of sport
Level 8 - Blinds 400-800 (100 ante)
Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody stopped by during dinner. He was very disappointed to bust, especially after just doubling up, but put it behind him and is looking forward to taking in all the football, golf and boxing that's going on over the weekend.
His exit hand saw him raise to 1,300 with ace-king and he picked up two callers before a third player squeezed to 7,200. Cody jammed for 22,000 and his opponent called with pocket tens that held up. --MC
6.11pm: Biggest stacks in the tournament right now
Level 8 - Blinds 400-800 (100 ante)
Here's a run-down of the current big Day 1C stacks:
Adalsteinn Karlsson - 157,000
Antoine Saout - 112,000
Mian Wei - 110,000
Antonio German - 106,000
Paul Campbell - 95,000
Byynjar Bjarkason - 92,000
Diego Gomez - 85,000
Erasmo Marco Crespo - 80,000 --JS
6.05pm: After-dinner play begins
Level 8 - Blinds 400-800 (100 ante)
Players are back from dinner break and Level 8 is about to kick off. --JS
4.55pm: Dinner time
Level 7 - Blinds 300-600 (75 ante)
The players are on a 70-minute dinner break. -- MC
4.50pm: From high to low
Level 7 - Blinds 300-600 (75 ante)
The PokerStars Live @Hippodrome room, situated on the top deck of the casino, only has a couple of tables left and they'll soon be broken into the other room.
Some of the players, apart from Kelly Saxby, to bust from up there include: JP Kelly, Davide Magnan, Stephen Miles, Graham Murray, Kfir Ivgi, Erik Hemminghytt, Qixiang Jing, Douglas James Henshall, Dennis Henn, Vegard Andreassen, Nicholas Maimone, Miltiadis Kontis, Michael Doyle, Steffen Sontheimer, Rudoslaw Zajdel, Braz Borges and Ankit Ahuja. -- MC
4.33pm: Bad beat corner claims McCulloch
Level 7 - Blinds 300-600 (75 ante)
If you've suffered a bad beat today or just want to moan about luck, the universe, or whatever, there's a place for you. Just head to the Cocktail Bar on the first floor of the casino and sense the table with the darkest mood.
Neil McCulloch (right of picture) was latest to join the wake and his story was pretty brutal. His exit happened on the very last hand of Level 6.
He raised the 400 big blind up to 1,025 and was called in two spots before the villain in this story clicks it to 1,650. McCulloch comes back with a four-bet to 4,000 and only said villain calls. The fanned [9s][9d][3c] and McCulloch led for 5,000. His opponent tanked and then moved all in. McCulloch snap called all in.
McCulloch opened pocket kings, way ahead of his opponent's [ts][3s] but the board came with running spades to crush him, only leaving him with a story to tell. -- MC
4.30pm: Double up for Cody
Level 7 - Blinds 300-600 (75 ante)
We haven't been able to catch Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody in a hand for most of the day, but what we could see is that his stack was dwindling. However, he's just secured himself a much needed double to climb out of the immediate danger zone and back up to 30 big blinds.
Marc Hunter min-opened on the button to 1,200 and Cody called out of the big blind, taking us to the [2s][9s][tc] flop. Cody checked it, allowing Hunter to put out a c-bet of 1,800. Jake then stacked up his remaining chips and moved them all over the line, and Hunter quickly called the 7,000 or so more.
Cody had the flush draw with the [5s][6s], and would need to hit to survive against Hunter's [ts][2c] - a flopped two-pair with the Doyle Brunson. The turn was the [3s] giving Cody the flush and the lead, which he'd hold onto when the [ad] completed the board.
Looks like Jake's going to be sticking around a while longer, as he now has 18,000. --JS
4.17pm: Talented table
Level 7 - Blinds 300-600 (75 ante)
We have a new contender for the 'table of death' title, and it's currently hosting Rainer Kempe (45,000), Diego Gomez (50,000), and latecomer here today Tom Hall (25,000). --JS
4.10pm: Blinds up - registration closed
Level 7 - Blinds 300-600 (75 ante)
We've moved into Level 7, and that means registration is official closed for the Main Event. Right now it looks like we've had 642 total entrants over the three starting days, creating a prize pool of £449,400. We'll have the official word on that soon though. --JS
4.07pm: The big stacks
Level 6 - Blinds 250-500 (50 ante)
We've got a lot of players in action right now (260 of 335 at the time of writing) and the biggest stack of them all right now belongs to Iceland's Adalsteinn Karlsson, sitting with 133,000. You might remember Karlsson from his 4th place finish at UKIPT5 Dublin in February, where he took home €56,470 for his efforts.
"I hope I can make another deep run!" he told the PokerStars Blog at the beginning of the day. Well, he's certainly on course so far.
Other big stacks right now include Aaron Lincoln with 89,000 and Chuc Gia Khuu with 85,000. There are dozens of players with 60,000 - 70,000 stacks, so it's only a matter of time before more players break through the 100,000 mark. --JS
4pm: A cruel way to go
Level 6 - Blinds 250-500 (50 ante)
Gavin Keane and Matthias Mordhorst both had around 20,000 when they ended up all in preflop and the former knew he was in terrible shape. His [as][ks] was a serious dog to Keane's pocket aces and the Irishman was out of his seat and preparing to leave after a [6c][qc][5d] flop appeared in from of them. Poker can be a cruel game at times though and the [td][jc] proved that. It's brought in the back door straight for Keane and it was Mordhorst's turn to rise (permanently) from his seat. -- MC
3.48pm: They gone
Level 6 - Blinds 250-500 (50 ante)
More than 40 players have busted already here on Day 1C. Included in the unfortunate are: Brett Angell, Jerome Bradpiece, Brian Ryan, Gladys Long, Angel Perez De Petinto Imedia, George Hughes, Javier Zapatero, Eldad Korn, Asaf Turgeman, Jose Godin, Christopher Brown, Alexandros Papadopoulos, Sacha Brookes, Peter Flynn, Ben Winsor, Neophytos Neophytou, Jordan King, Gary Blackwood, Ovidiu Bara, Daks Kevin R Davis, Yue Tu, Anthony Marks, Rajesh Verma, Ian Otobo, Nick Bell, Marc Daubach, Christopher England, Najib Tahiri Hassani, Jorn Solem, Vamshi Vandanapu, Jim Van Hal, Mohammed Suhail and Fahir Han. -- MC
3.27pm: More on Saxby's exit
Level 6 - Blinds 250-500 (50 ante)
We ran into Kelly Saxby on the break and she filled the blog in some of the gaps on her bust out.
Before her exit hand she (annoyingly) got her stack in from the button with pocket aces, only for the small blind to have aces as well! Shortly after, she did manage to get her stack in with ace-jack and was called by an opponent holding pocket nines. Saxby managed to flop top two pair but unfortunately for her the third card was a nine, making her opponent a set and she was drawing dead by the turn.
Saxby will be hanging about all weekend to play the side events. -- MC
2.25pm: Level up
Level 6 - Blinds 250-500 (50 ante)
The players are back in their seats for another two levels and then they'll be a 60-minute dinner break.
3.05pm: Take a break
Level 5 - Blinds 200-400 (50 ante)
Players and dealers have gone on a 20-minute break. --JS
2.53pm: Wow
Level 5 - Blinds 200-400 (50 ante)
We've had 321 entries here on Day 1C - more than Day 1A and Day 1B's fields combined! There's still one more level before registration is closed for the day, and then we'll be able to get some official numbers for you. --JS
2.50pm: O'Kearney and Saxby are gone
Level 5 - Blinds 200-400 (50 ante)
Both Dara O'Kearney and PokerStars Live at the Hippodrome ambassador Kelly Saxby suddenly have free afternoons to fill, as they've both been eliminated from the Main Event.
O'Kearney open shoved for 5,650 before John Watkin made the call on the button. Antoine Saout then jammed over the top for 8,625, Watkin called and the cards were on their backs.
O'Kearney - [4s][4c]
Watkin - [ah][ts]
Saout - [kc][kd]
O'Kearney needed help but couldn't find any on the [js][6c][7d][3s][6h] run-out, which saw Saout just about treble up to around 21,000. Watkin had a decent stack prior to this hand, so remains relatively unscathed.
Meanwhile, I didn't catch Saxby's bust-out, but I did see her come to say goodbye to the Hippodrome team before making her exit. Good game to both. --JS
2.40pm: Reeve Mcleaned up
Level 5 - Blinds 200-400 (50 ante)
It really sucks when you're short stacked, find a pair to make a move with, only for an opponent to wake up with aces behind. Daniel Reeve felt that pain just before.
He was in early position and slid his last 5,000 (or so) over the line with [6s][6h]. Leo McLean was in the cutoff with [ah][ac] and went into overkill by hitting quads on a [ac][3d][9d][ad][9c] board. He ,oved up to 39,000. -- MC
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2.25pm: O'Kearney on the gurney
Level 5 - Blinds 200-400 (50 ante)
It's been a rough start to the day for Dara O'Kearney, as you can see:
Down to 5k. AA < kt on a AQ9 flop #UKIPTLondon
— Dara O'Kearney (@daraokearney) April 8, 2016
We just caught him pick up some chips though after he shoved over Antoine Saout's open. He's now sitting with around 7,000. --JS
2.20pm: Blinds and antes increase
Level 5 - Blinds 200-400 (50 ante)
It's all gone up - we're now playing 200-400 with a running 50 ante. --JS
2.18pm: Sunar rather than later
Level 4 - Blinds 150-300 (25 ante)
UK poker legend Surindar Sunar has wasted no time in building his stack, having just picked up yet another healthy pot.
It started with a hijack min-open to 600 from Adel Kabbani, before Sunar min-raised to 1,200 from the button. It folded back around to Kabbani and he made the call.
The dealer put out the [7s][td][8s] flop and Kabbani checked, allowing Sunar to continue for 1,400. Kabbani went nowhere, so we saw the [3c] hit the turn. Once again Kabbani checked, and this time the bet from Sunar was 2,500. There was a nice pot in the middle now after Kabbani called again, and the action didn't change on the [5s] river. Another check, and a bet of 6,900 from Sunar was then good enough to get Kabbani to fold.
Sunar is up to around 40,000 now. --JS
2.12pm: Saxby pays Bader
Level 4 - Blinds 150-300 (25 ante)
Kelly Saxby, who recently returned from a trip home to the States, is having difficulty in gaining traction today.
"Why didn't you come up here when I had chips?" she asked.
She had less by the time we left.
Martin Bader opened from the hijack and was called by Saxby (small blind) and the big blind. The flop fanned [qh][3d][6c] and Bader continued for 650. Saxby check-called and commented, "This is it Martin!"
Both players checked the [7c] turn before the board completed with the [ah]. "I got there," said Bader before he bet 500.
"I know you did but I'll call anyway," replied Saxby. Bader wasn't lying as he opened [as][2d]. Saxby mucked and dropped to around 7,000. -- MC
2pm: Splitting at the seams
Level 4 - Blinds 150-300 (25 ante)
It's working out to be tricky to fit everyone in here on Day 1C at London's Hippodrome Casino. The clock says there are 270 entrants but we suspect that figure has passed the 300-mark by now. The players were spread across four different areas but a fifth is being utilised now - the Poker Deck where cash games can normally be found.
Up on the deck you'll find PokerStars Live at the Hippodrome's Ambassador Kelly Saxby; double WSOP bracelet winner JP Kelly; two-time UKIPT Champion Duncan McLellan; Spanish star Vicente Delgado; poker legend Surinder Sunar and former UKIPT London champion Brett Angell. -- MC
1.45pm: McLean takes a few hits
Level 4 - Blinds 150-300 (25 ante)
Leo McLean's stack has taken a slight knock so far today. In a hand I just caught, a player had opened to 700, which got callers in Leo and one more opponent. The flop came all hearts - the [qh][6h][4h], and the original raiser continued for 700 again, which only Leo would call. That took us to the [8c] turn, and now it was checked to Leo who bet 2,200. It turned out to be a minimum check-raise to 4,400 though, and McLean quickly let his hand go. He's slipped to 15,000, but with 50 big blinds he's in no rush. --JS
1.35pm: Play resumes
Level 4 - Blinds 150-300 (25 ante)
1.15pm: Break time
It's the first break of the day, so we'll be back in 20 minutes. --JS
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1.12pm: A couple of new arrivals
Level 3 - Blinds 100-200 (25 ante)
Former 2009 November Niner and all-around live crusher Antoine Saout has taken a seat on the 'table of death' alongside Dara O'Kearney, Richard Milner and Adalsteinn Karlsson. The Frenchman has just shy of $4.4 million in live earnings, and currently sits 6th on France's all-time money list.
Elsewhere, Dan Stacey is now in the field. Stacey took down the UKIPT5 stop in the Isle of Man for £24,170, and will be looking to pick up his second title this weekend. --JS
1.07pm: Massive Day 1C field
Level 3 - Blinds 100-200 (25 ante)
The queue to grab a seat in this tournament was just snaking out of the tournament room and into the bar, so as expected we've got a jumbo-field here on Day 1C.
Although the tournament boards are currently showing 143 players, the total amount of players in the field right is 290 according to Tournament Director Luca Vivaldi.
Players have until the end of the Level 6 to register, so if you're thinking of playing get down to the Hippodrome now! --JS
1:03pm: The king is dead, long live the king
Level 3 - Blinds 100-200 (25 ante)
A new UKIPT London champion will be crowned after Rapinder Sheema, the Season 5 winner, bluffed off his stack in a battle of the blinds versus Wai Kiat Lae.
Lae led for 3,000 on the river of a [3h][4c][6h][6c][ah] board before Sheema raised all in for around 8,000. Lae called with [jh][7h] for a flush beating out Sheema's [qh][5s]. The flop offered a lot of potential for Sheema's hand but the draws failed to come in and his bluff was a case of bad timing. -- MC
12.57pm: Van Nunes in the mix
Level 3 - Blinds 100-200 (25 ante)
After a brisk stroll over to one of the other tournament rooms I clocked Paul Vas Nunes amongst the action. If you're not familiar with the talented pro, here's a run down of some of his biggest accomplishments:
- 1st in the SCOOP $2,100 8-Max for $403,617
- 2nd in the Estrellas Barcelona Main Event for $273,676
- 1st in the Sunday Million for $233,944
- 2nd in the $530 WCOOP for $218,732
- 1st in the Sunday Warm Up for $116,370
- 1st in the Sunday 500 for $71,010
- A total of $3,539,369 in live and online winnings
Quite a sick resume, I'm sure you'll agree. We'll keep a close eye on his progress today. --JS
12.48pm: Doke's going to win UKIPT6 London!
Level 3 - Blinds 100-200 (ante 25)
Sometimes flattery will get you everything you want in life:
--MCDay 1c updates from the scandalously talented Stars blogging crew at https://t.co/2j6Zb70a8L pic.twitter.com/bCsl0c4yjG
— Dara O'Kearney (@daraokearney) April 8, 2016
12.44pm: Spencer hits the rail early
Level 3 - Blinds 100-200 (ante 25)
Alex Spencer is a well-respected UK tournament grinder with $364,190 in live tournament cashes but he's failed to make the first break today.
He was short and made his move with [ks][2s] and found a customer in Johannes De Hond and his [th][ts]. Spencer actually took the lead on the [kh][6s][as] flop but De Hond made a set as the board ran out [tc][3h]. -- MC
12.35pm: A near-muck experience
Level 3 - Blinds 100-200 (ante 25)
I just caught an interesting hand on the 'table of death' between Adalsteinn Karlsson and Rimantas Rusys that I thought was worth mentioning. There had been an open before Rusys put out a 3-bet, only for Karlsson to 4-bet to 2,200. The original raiser folded, and Rusys almost did too as he hadn't spotted Karlsson's raise and went to give the dealer his cards. When he realised, he pulled his hand back after almost mucking it, and everyone at the table agreed it was an honest mistake. He then completed the bet and we went to a flop.
It came the [4s][6s][2s] and Rusys led for 3,500 which got Karlsson to fold. To show he wasn't angle-shooting, Rusys flipped over pocket kings before raking in the pot. --JS
12.29pm: Level up
Level 3 - Blinds 100-200 (25 ante)
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12.22pm: Not lucky to get drawn at Table 7
Level 2 - Blinds 75-150
Table 7 has put itself forward to be nominated as an early contender for the "Table of Death" title.
The second player to bust today - Anthony Marks - used to call it home and passing by you'll also notice UK starlet Richard Milner; UKIPT5 fourth-place finisher Adalsteinn Karlsson and ultra runner/boss Dara O'Kearney.
Marks busted to George Hughes after calling all in on the river of a [4c][8d][4s][9d][6h] board. Hughes opened [kh][kc] and Marks mucked before leaving the room in a haste. -- MC
12.10pm: First player out news
Level 2 - Blinds 75-150
The first player to bust on Day 1C happened back in Level 1 and news has reached us of how that happened.
Apparently, Chris Da Silva and Punnat Punsri tangled in a preflop raising war that saw Da Silver three-bet and then five-bet all in with ace-ten suited from the small blind. Punsri had opened from early position, four-bet and then called the shove holding a dominating ace-jack that held up. Some hand for the first level of a deep-stacked tournament! -- MC
12.05pm: Cody returns to his lucky building
Level 2 - Blinds 75-150
There was a period of time when Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody couldn't lose in this building. The man with more than $4 million in live tournament winnings took down the very first UKIPT Series event in this very room at the Hippodrome back in 2013, as well as winning the coveted PokerStars media event here during the EPT that year. He even cashed in both the UKIPT5 London Main Event and last year's UKIPT Series event too.
Well, he's back in the room here on Day 1C and we'll be following his progress closely throughout the day, so stick around to find out how he gets on. --JS
11.55am: Remembering Femi Fakinle
As well as being busy and exciting, today the UKIPT is also a little sad and reflective as we remember one of our own, Femi Fakinle.
Femi, who would have turned 32 today, was one of the early stars on the tour and took down UKIPT Killarney in Season 1. His journey on this earth came to a tragic end last year and everyone involved on the UKIPT has him, his young family and friends in our minds and our hearts today.
Fakinle showed a huge amount of skill and heart as a player and by all accounts, the day he won in Killarney was a fabulous day. The Wexford man took home €63,400 for his win and out-lasted tour regulars Mike Hill and Peter Barrable from that final table en route to victory.
Read all about his win that day by clicking here. -- MC
11.45am: Blinds up
Level 2 - Blinds 75-150
That's one level in the books already! Eleven more to go. --JS
11.40am: A few of the notables
Level 1 - Blinds 50-100
Players are arriving all the time, but here are a few of the faces we can see in the field right now.
Leo McLean is here, without his famous yellow hoody covering his face. The Brit, who finished 3rd at EPT10 London for just shy of £250,000, is fresh off a big £83,500 live tournament score in February, and will be looking to ride that wave of good form to a result in this event.
McLean's friend and UKIPT regular Richard Milner has cards in front of him right now, as do other stalwarts on this tour including Jerome Bradpiece, Dave Stonehouse and Ali Zihni.
Daiva 'BalticBlonde' Barauskaite, another UKIPT regular who has a scattering of cashes from stops-gone-by, will be looking to continue the trend set by the ladies here on Day 1B, who dominated the chip lead all day long. You can read more about 'ladies day' in our wrap up of Day 1B's action here. --JS
11.20am: Where am I sitting?
Level 1 - Blinds 50-100
This is a question being asked a lot this morning. As we alluded to in the opening post, today is a busy day. So busy, in fact, that four different rooms/areas are packed with tables in anticipation of the busiest starting flight.
One of the areas - the first to break thankfully - is all the way over the other side of the casino, and up the stairs that transcend through the middle of the amazing Helliot Steak House. The walk is not a problem, getting back without stopping for a steak is! -- MC
11am: Shuffle up and deal
Level 1 - Blinds 50-100
Cards are in the air!
10.45am It's busy busy busy on Day 1C
Morning all! Entering the glorious Hippodrome Casino in London's Leicester Square this morning, there's a hustle and bustle about the place which we haven't seen so far. We're poised for a big field here on Day 1C of UKIPT6 London, and there's going to be some big names in there too.
Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody will be amongst the action today, as will last year's London winner Rapinder Cheema, tour regular Angelo Milioto, PokerStars Live at the Hippodrome's ambassador Kelly Saxby, and European Poker Awards nominee Rainer Kempe.
Dara O'Kearney and Patrick Clarke will be repping the Irish contingent, while Diego Gomez is flying the Spanish flag (via the UK). Lawrence Bayley, who finished 3rd in the High Roller on Wednesday night, will also be taking his Main Event seat today.
All will be trying to build a big stack that they can take with them into tomorrow's Day 2 - which is currently led by Xizhe Yuan (286,400) and Irina Nikolaidi (277,900), our Day 1A and Day 1B end-of-play chip leaders.
It's sure to be a great day of action, so make sure you keep hitting the refresh button for all the latest . --JS
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Key UKIPT6 London 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 12 of them. From Day 2 onwards levels increase to 60 minutes.
- Day 1A and Day 1B are over. The field will then combine for the first time on Saturday for Day 2. We'll reach the money during the 10 levels of play on Day 2 and then play down to a final table, which will take place on Sunday.
- Full UKIPT6 London schedule here.
- Other tournaments today include a £210 NL Holdem Turbo at 8.15pm.
PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at UKIPT6 London: Marc Convey and Jack Stanton. Photos by Mickey May. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog