Today UKIPT Newcastle had it all: a mass of eliminations, huge coolers, and a long bubble period to finish the day off with pure tension. Play resumed at midday with 273 players, and from the off players were flying out of the door. Day 2 is often seen as moving day as players try to build a stack and move up through the counts. The player who moved most successfully to end the day as chip leader was David Reed, who more than doubled up on the last hand of the night. Reed had [A][K] and got involved in a three-way all-in. His opponents held pocket jacks and [K][6] respectively, a king on the flop saw him eliminate both players and scoop a pot that propelled him to the top of the standings with 363,500.
Chasing his tail tomorrow will be the likes of Barry McMahon (348,500), Brett Angell (336,000), Jude Ainsworth (237,500), Sam Holden (207,000), Keith Hawkins (119,500), Alex Jobling (320,000), Miles McKenzie (313,000) and Cathal Shine (310,500).
For these players to get the chips they have, players have to bust. Jesse May, Alun Bowden, Alex Ferguson, Jack Ellwood and Dara O'Kearney were early causalities while other players like Holden and Hawkins reversed their fortunes of Day 1 and started to make comebacks.
By the time we got to the last level of the day we had reached the bubble. It was an extremely tense period as all players at risk, for a while, managed to hang around - much to the disappointment of all the remaining short stacks. Ainsworth had two different flights booked to go home tonight, just in case he didn't make it through the day. The Team PokerStars Pro was 1/5 shot to make the second flight after he found himself all in with [qd][qs] versus an Stephen Lovatt's [7d][7c]. The board ran out [2h][jc][3s][ks][9c] meaning he'll have to book a third flight now!
The last level of the day was nearing its end and the tournament was at risk of playing on through another level to ensure the bubble burst. Unfortunately for Paul McTaggart, he became the bubble boy and no extra level was needed. He three-bet all in with [6d][6s] over an opening raise from Holden, who made an easy call with [ah][ad]. The board didn't come to his rescue and the other 72 players in the room were happy at being guaranteed an £1,100 payday.
There was still time for a few more bust outs before play ended for today (see where they finished here). The remaining 62 players will return at 12pm local time tomorrow where play will resume, and continue, until out final table of eight is reached. The Day 3 seat draw can be viewed by clicking here. It's time for us to hit the official PokerStars party and make sure a certain Mr. McTaggart has a pint in his hand.
Missed today's play? Click below to see what happened:
Level 9 - 12 updates
Level 13 - 16 updates
Photos are copyright of Mickey May. She'll have her camera on her all night tonight and is not afraid to use it as a weapon.