4.20pm: Break time
The remaining 73 players are off on a 15-minute break. Updates of level 13 and beyond can be found here. -- MC
4.15pm: O'Kearney the pre flop master
Dara O'Kearney is having a great day after a couple of pre flop showdowns have helped him up to 92,000 chips.
First he Tweeted: "Aces to the rescue. Double up thru Eoin Olin ak. 88 left. 62k. Average 64k."
The news got better for him as he took to Twitter again: "At > k8o blind on blind. 92k. Plan is to just keep getting it all in pre at #ukiptcork 80 left. Average 70k." -- MC
4.10pm: Nealon on the up
The up and down day of Fergal Nealon continues, this time the trend is upwards. "Up to 37k after getting a cold 4 bet thru with 15bbs! 77 left/48 paid #ukiptcork," he tweeted. -- NW
4.05pm: We enjoyed having you
The following are not part of the 77 remaining players: Kevin Killeen, Antonis Poulengeris, Finnur Hrafnsson, Zac Sloper, Peter Evans, Joe O'Toole, Wes Farrell, Alek Nazareet, Derek Cunningham, Tony Collins, Vijay Ramanand, Nikita Novikovs, Mick McCloskey, Damian Robertson, Hauke Frass and Daniel Ward. -- MC
3.55pm: Gavin getting them back
More chips for Fintan Gavin now as he eliminated a short stacked Vijay Ramanand, the latter shoved with [Ac][4s] and Gavin made the call with pocket nines. "You're well ahead," said Ramanand, "I hope you hit your four," responded Gavin. And Gavin's words proved prophetic as Ramanand did indeed river a four, but it wasn't enough to save him. Gavin's now up to 95,000. -- NW
3.52pm: Hall moved Olin, busts
Thomas Hall won't be adding any more points to aid his quest to win the UKIPT Season 3 Leaderboard after he busted to Eoin Olin.
Olin opened to 3,200 and made a considered call when Hall shoved for 25,200 from the big blind.
Olin: [ad][jd]
Hall: [qh][td]
The board ran a roller-coaster [7c][ad][kc][jh][jc] to make Olin a full house. -- MC
3.45pm: Philip takes a hit
Mini-setback for PokerStars Team Online's Dale Philip just now as he made a good call, but lost the pot.
He opened to 3,600 with [2s][2h], Michał Ozimek moved all-in for 24,000 with [As][7h] and after tanking Philip called it off.
The [8s][5s][9d][4s][9s] board meant that they both went runner-runner flush but Ozimek had the better flush to win the pot. After that hand Philip is down to 72,000. -- NW
3.40pm: Newport flush with chips
Nick Newport, a very dangerous player indeed, is up to 210,000 after winning a huge pot against Sameer Singh.
I only caught the flop action but on a [Qh][9s][4h] flop Newport bet 6,900, Singh made it 16,000, Newport made it 29,100, Singh shoved for an effective 90,000 and Newport made the call.
Singh: [4c][4s]
Newport: [Kh][9h]
The [10h] pinged off on the turn to give Newport the lead and he stayed there on the [Ks] river. After that hand Singh is down to around 15,000. -- NW
3.35pm: Gavin Rebounds in lucky fashion
Fintan Gavin has doubled back up and was very lucky to do so.
He had 40,000 chips and with ace-king again he went to war. Alistar Carins was his opponent in the hand and he also had ace-king. What happened next left Carins furious and Gavin extremely sympathetic and apologetic.
Gavin opened [ah][kd] to Carins' [ad][kc] and the pot was odds-on to be chopped. Not so as the board ran out [qh][th][qs][7h][2h] to make Gavin a flush. The only saving grace for Carins was that he still had 80,000 chips left after the hand. -- MC
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 800-1,600 ante 200
3.20pm: Irish setbacks
Setbacks for three of Ireland's most talented players left in this tournament to tell you about.
Fintan Gavin is now down to roughly 34,000 he lost a monster 95,000 chip pot with ace-king against Rob Lyons's pocket queens, all-in pre-flop.
Dara O'Kearney has taken a hit, "First major setback after letting Noel Magner get there. 31500. 92 left. 48 paid. Average 61k," he tweeted.
And Fergal Nealon is going to have to show more bouncebackability, "Down to 21k :( #comebackno.2please," he tweeted minutes ago. -- NW
3.15pm: Blain busts out
The dangerous Dermot Blain is another faller here in Cork. The APPT Macau winner was down to just 7,700 and moved all-in with [Qc][Jd], Patrick Humphreys was lying in wait with [Kh][Qd] and his dominating hand held up on the [2s][4c][4s][5h][10c] board. -- NW
3.10pm: Let's go Philip, let's go
PokerStars Team Online's Dale Philip has enjoyed this level so far. He Tweeted:
"Won a preflop all in AQ > A8 for 53k pot. Up to 79k. 96 players left, avg is 59k. Let's go. #UKIPT."
edit: Philip now has six figures, "Just cracked the 100k mark. Just. 100,400." - -- MC
3.05pm: Roman has less numerals
A curious hand just played out between Aurel Claudio Roman and Nikita Novikovs, one which ended with Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree calling the clock on Roman.
The Romanian opened for 6,600 (5.5 big blinds) from the cut-off from a total stack of roughly 20,000 (16.66 big blinds), next to act Novikovs moved all-in for 30,500, Boeree passed what she later said were pocket eights and then the tanking began.
The Romanian, who already had a fair amount of his stack invested, took his time so much so that after more than five minutes in the tank Boeree and right hand neighbour Dennis Smit discussed calling the clock and after more time elapsed Boeree did indeed do just that.
As time ticked down on the allotted minute Roman showed the [Ad] and folded his hand.
Edit: A few hands later he did take a stand, Johan Modschidler shoved with [Qc][10c], Roman called with pocket eights but was out the door when Modschilder flopped a ten and turned another. -- NW
2.55pm: See you at the party later
Those who might/should be drowning their sorrows later are: Emlyn Long, Seth Webber, Richard Pearson, Diarmaid Kennedy, Pim Gieles, Marinos Mina, Alan Sexton, Nima Saken Shaft, Craig Burke, Niall Henderson, Ryan Smith, Diarmuid Ryan and Niamh Peters. -- MC
2.50pm: Sinclair C.60(k)
Jovial Irishman Fintan Gavin isn't the only former UKIPT champion left in the field here in Cork, Richard Sinclair who won UKIPT2 Newcastle is also still in.
He's got roughly 60,000 now after eliminating Richard Pearson, the latter was all-in for around 14,000 with [Kd][Qh] and Sinclair was ahead with [Qs][Qd]. A dry [7s][2h][8c][4h][9d] board gave Sinclair the pot and reduced the field to the last 100 runners. -- NW
2.45pm: Two doubles and a bust out for Clarke
Three players were all in at almost the same time on three different tables; all three were racing but all three couldn't win.
Gavin Stevens moved all in for 16,500 with [ad][qs] and was called by Kieran Furey who woke up with [jd][jh] in the big blind. The board ran [4c][7d][ts][qh][4s] to pair Stevens' queen. Furey dropped to 57,000 after the loss.
Robbie Renehan was down to 15,500 when he shoved with [qs][th] from the button. David Croke was in the small blind and tank called with [3h][3s] but failed to hold through the [qs][9s][4d][5h][5d] board.
The one player who was all in and failed to win his race was Gary Clarke. He shoved with ace-queen and was called by Conrad Schormann who held jacks. The jacks stayed ahead to help the German rise to 115,000 chips. -- MC
2.35pm: Boeree busts one
First hand back from the break Liv Boeree got an almost double up and eliminated John Scott in the process.
The latter opened from under-the-gun Boeree defended from the big blind, on the [8d][Qc][Ah] flop Scott c-bet, Boeree check min-raised, Scott shoved and Boeree made the call, Scott's all-In bet on the flop was 28,900.
Scott: [Ad][Kd]
Boeree: [As][Qc]
The [7h] turn and [9h] river were blank as far as the hand was concerned and Boeree now has a stack of around 65,000. -- NW
2.25pm: Chip daddies
With 112 players remaining the below list shows the players who are in the top two stacks at their table:
Andrew Grimason -- 165,000
John Keown -- 161,800
Pascal Töngi -- 145,000
Chris Derrick -- 142,000
Patrick Humphreys -- 112,000
Sameer Singh -- 110,000
Fintan Gavin -- 109,000
Liam Chevalier -- 103,000
Kevin Smith -- 97,000
Kevin Callebaut -- 95,000
Mick McCloskey -- 95,000
Cahal Heapes -- 94,700
Aparicio De Campos Sanchez -- 94,500
Julian Thew -- 92,000
David Connors -- 90,000
Alek Nazareet -- 90,000
Conrad Schormann -- 86,000
Fergal Nealon -- 78,000
Aidan Connolly -- 76,600
Johnny Kivits -- 70,000
Stephen Freeman -- 66,000
Kevin Finnie -- 65,000
David Clarkson -- 64,000
Kieran Furey -- 62,800
Noel Magner -- 60,000
Nicholas Newport -- 56,000
Karl Thompson -- 49,000
Seamus Birt -- 45,500
-- MC
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 600-1,200, ante 100
2.03pm: Break down and give me 20
The players are on their first 20-minute break of the day. -- MC
2.01pm: Bull booted
Robbie Bull was eliminated just before the break after running into a big hand behind him.
He was down to less than 10,000 chips when he shoved with [qh][tc] from the button. Hasmukh Khodiyara was in the big blind and shoved as well, with [ah][ks].
The board ran a blank [jh][4c][4s][9d][3s]. -- MC
2pm: Tongi hanging tough at the top
Over the first two levels start of day chip leader Pascal Töngi has increased his stack of 124,500 to around 160,000 and so is likely still one of, if not the chip leader. We'll be getting counts of the big stacks on the first break so will now who's top of the chip charts for sure then. -- NW
1.55pm: Cochrane crushed by Hall
"I like his play," said Tom Hall to me after he eliminated Glen Cochrane from this tournament to boost his stack to around 55,000.
In the hand in question Cochrane limped the button with [Qh][10h], Hall made it 3,200 from the big blind with ace-queen and then called all-in when Cochrane crammed for 23,000. The flop came ace high and although it also contained a ten, Cochrane didn't hit his two outer. -- NW
1.45pm: Boeree gets a boost
I'd noticed that Liv Boeree's stack had gone from just under 13,000 to almost 30,000, I smelt a double up had occurred and indeed it had. "I had A-7 blind on blind against his (Dennis Smit's) A-6 and doubled up," she told me. -- NW
1.35pm: The down's and up's of Fergal Nealon
It's been a rollercoaster of a first 90 minutes for Fergal Nealon here on Day 2 in Cork.
The Irishman is looking for his first cash in the UKIPT main event and came back with an above average stack of 69,100. However, it then went a bit wrong. "Just lost ak Paulius Mikaliunas opened from the hijack and Gavin defended his big blind. The board ran out [9d][9s][tc][ts][4h] and Gavin bet 2,000, 2,800 and 5,800 on each street. Mikaliunas called all way and opened [ac][ad] after Gavin announced he had ace high at showdown. Gavin down to around 95,000. -- MC 1.25pm: Straight up chop Bull: [Qc][7c] The board ran [7h][5c][6d][8d][9d] and the straight on board meant the two players chopped the pot. -- NW 1.15pm: Dale dented He was heads up with Niall Henderson to the turn of a [2s][6c][2d][jh] board and saw a 2,900 bet called. It was a relatively small bet as 8,500 had already made it into the middle; his 13,500 river bet, after a [9c] had dropped, was anything but. Henderson made the call and Derriick showed him the bad news as he opened [jc][jd] for a full house. Henderson mucked. -- MC 1pm: Boeree's stack dwindling She could therefore only look on with envy as two players at the table played a pot bigger than her stack. There was a bet of what looked like 3,800 in front of John Keown (button) which suggested he'd three bet over an open from Dennis Smit (middle position). Back on Smit he elected to re-raise, making it 8,100 in total, after some deliberation Keown made the call. The flop fell [7s][Ad][3h] and a c-bet of 6,200 from Smit was enough for him to win the pot. --NW 12.52pm: Good day for Daragh 12.47pm: Talking of tough tables... That hasn't happened so far, and in fact it's Hall who's been busy knocking players out. There was a limp before Hall raised to 2,000 and Trevor Dineen shoved for 12,700. The limper folded and Hall called. Hall: [4d][4h] The board ran [jh][3h][2s][4c][kd] to make Hall a set. He's up to 56,000 chips. A short while after Hall was given a one orbit penalty for some exposed card controversy. He took the punishment very well. -- MC 12.40pm: Tough tables And those drawn at Table 10 along with Hasmukh Khodiyara, Richard Sinclair and Robbie Bull may be inwardly cursing their luck. -- NW 12.30pm: League of Nations As for those players literally carrying a nations hopes on their shoulders a big hello to: Seth Webber (South Africa), Khristolyubov Arseny Ginadwicz (Tajikistan), Lapan Ginadij Stepanowicz (Ukraine), Dhanesh Chainani (Singapore), Takayuki Watanabe (Japan), Bongard Samuel (Israel), Zsolt Nemes (Hungary), George Efthimiadis (Greece), Kasper Kiisler (Estonia), Kim Andreasen (Denmark), Roman Dohnal (Czech Republic), Gary Johnson (Canada) and Nicholas Galtos (Australia). Ireland - 174 12.20pm: Kozikowski runs into a Wall Andrzej Kozikowski (big blind) and Derrick Wall (cut-off) were heads-up to a [Js][7c][6h] flop, it checked to Wall who c-bet, Kozikowski made it 3,800, Wall re-raised to 6,700, Kozikowski came over the top to 12,800, Wall moved all-in for jut over 28,000 and before his chips were across the line Kozikowski had called. Wall: [Kh][Kd] Turn: [Ks] The stacks were counted down,Wall just had Kozikowski covered and eliminated the Pole. -- NW 12.10pm: McTaggart can go back to bed The action folded around to Aurel Claudio Roman on the button and he raised to 2,400 before McTaggart shoved for 8,800 from the big blind. Roman seemed a little surprised by the move and didn't make a quick call or fold; he sat there for five minutes, stroked his beard, asked for a count twice, and generally procrastinated a lot. Finally he elected to call with [5c][5s]. McTaggart opened [ah][7h] and managed to pick up a flush draw on the [5h][8c][th] flop but failed to get there as the board ran out [qs][7s]. McTaggart left quickly as Roman sat there and pumped both fists and stared at each table mate with a big smile across his face. All he got back from Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree was a jaw-dropped expression. -- MC One man who could have as significant impact on that number is Fintan Gavin, he bagged up 107,000 last night to claim the Day 1B chiplead and sits second overall behind Day 1A chip leader Pascal Tongi. The Irishman has been a thorn in the side of plenty of players over the years and his unpredictable style has led to many a mistake by his opponents. He's looking for his second UKIPT title having won back in Edinburgh in Season 2. He won't have it all his own way though today, there's plenty of Irish Cream and talent from elsewhere left in the mix. Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree (20,900), PokerStars Team Online's Dale Philip (50,200), Julian Thew (59,300), Fergal Nealon (69,100) and Seth Webber (65,300) are just a few of those left in. The full Day 2 seat draw can be seen here. Cards are in the air now, let the carnage begin.
1.30pm: Gavin gives back
Fintan Gavin is back below the 100k-mark after he tried, and failed, to get an opponent off pocket aces.
It folded to Robbie Bull in the small blind and the third placed finisher at UKIPT Bristol moved all-in for around 15 big blinds, from the big blind Hasmukh Khodiyara, fifth place finisher at UKIPT3 Nottingham took a look at his cards then made the call.
Khodiyara: [Ac][Js]
A dent somewhere between scratch and flesh wound just now for PokerStars Team Online's Dale Philip. "Lost allin pre to shorter stack. AT < 77. Flopped the T, opponent was halfway out the door but went runner-runner flush. Down to 45k," he tweeted from @Daleroxxu. -- NW
1.10pm: Derrick continues Day 1 trend
Chris Derrick had a very strong finish to his day yesterday and he's carried that form into today as he's already up to 130,000 chips. LEVEL UP: BLINDS 500-1,000 ante 100
Coming into Day 2 Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree had a stack of 20,900, sadly for her the opening level has seen it dwindle downwards, she's now got just 12,600.
12.55pm: Show me the way to go home
For moving day to work a lot of players have to bust and a flurry have already made their exit. Those to go so far include: John Mackey, Robert Molloy, David Maudlin, Liam O'Donoghue, Michal Plichta, Szymon Gajda, Jason Kemp, Alberto Mejias, Rory Hogan, Ciaran Heaney, Patrick Kelleher, Olli Vahala, Dave Path, Dawid Paczka, Dan Rankin, John Percival and John McGrath. -- MC
It's been a good start to the day for Daragh Davey, "I've gone from 14k to 56k in 20 mins without being allin and called," he tweeted. Impressive stuff. -- NW
Julian Thew has now been moved to the same table as PokerStars Team Online's Dale Philip and Mick Graydon. And Thew and Graydon have already clashed in a big pot. The latter told me he held pocket kings, Thew had ace-queen and it all went in pre. The cowboys held to boost Graydon to 64,500 and cut Thew's stack down to roughly 30,000. -- NW
12.42pm: Hall starts strong in leaderboard quest
Neil Raine is leading the UKIPT Season 3 Leaderboard but is closely followed in the race by Thomas Hall. The former popped by the latter's table before play started and jokingly asked Dara O'Kearney to do him a favour and knock Hall out.
Dinned: [as][kc]
There's a couple of tough tables in the random seat draw today, table 11 in particular jumps out at us. Seated there at the start of play were: Dermot Blain, John O'Shea (since knocked out), Neil Rawnsley, Ollie Schaffmann, Pascal Tongi and Dave Maudlin. Not many spots there.
We've just received the nationality breakdown of the 387 entrants in the main event of UKIPT Cork, below's the top five, no surprise to see Ireland and then the UK at the top of the charts.
United Kingdom - 120
Germany -13
Poland -13
Netherlands -12
The old suck and re-suck, providing entertainment for those not in the hand since day dot...
Kozikowski: [Jc][6c]
River: [10h]
Paul McTaggart was the first player to be eliminated today in hand that played out a little odd.
12pm: Gavin looking for double trouble
Welcome back to Day 2 of UKIPT Cork for what is commonly referred to as moving day here on media row. We'll start with 158 players today our guess is that the final number, after what we suspect will be eight levels of play, will be somewhere around 36.
PokerStars Blog reporting team in Cork: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Mickey May.