8.10pm: Break time
The players are now on a 15 minute break whilst tournament staff colour up and race off the 1k chips. You'll find level 25 updates in a new post.
8pm: Jake Cody wins a million chip pot
I joined the action to see a sizeable amount of chips already in the pot and Jake Cody (mid position) betting 150,000 on the turn of a [5h][4h][Jh][10h] board, Terry Jordan announced call. The [2s] completed the board, Cody took his time before sliding out a bet of 250,000.
In reaction to this Jordan let out an audible sigh before announcing call, Cody showed [Ah][Js], "I should've known," said Jordan as he showed [Qh][Tc] to the table. That pot was over a million and as a result Cody is up to about 1,500,000 whilst Jordan is down to roughly 550,000.
Cody is also playing online at the moment as he's playing a VIP one table tournament on PokerStars, his good friend Toby Lewis is doing his best to take the $350 bounty that's on Jake's head.
Lost the headsup, bubbled the bounty tournament but chipleader with 6 left at the #ukiptseries and playing another bounty tournament onstars
— Jake Cody (@JakeCody) April 14, 2013
7.45pm: Stacked
The chip leader is still Tim Wong, he's accumulated more during the opening hands of the final table and is up to around 1,900,000, there's then four players bunched 100,000 either side of the million chip mark as there's little to choose between Terry Jordan, Lydia Cugudda, Jake Cody and Uzzol Miah. Whilst Enzo Gomez is the short stack with around 650,000.
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 15,000-30,000 ante 4,000
7.35pm: Kaloyan Kirov eliminated in seventh place (£2,700)
The last PokerStars qualifier has just been eliminated and Kaloyan Kirov was very unlucky not to get a much needed double up.
After Uzzol Miah opened to 52,000 with [As][8c], Kirov moved all-in for 217,000 with [Ad][Qh] and Miah tank called. A [4d][8h][Js] flop put Miah into the lead and he stayed there on the [7c] turn and [9d] river.
Six left.
7.25pm: Shantanu Banerji eliminated in eighth place (£1,977)
The shortest stack at the start of the final table belonged to Shantanu Banerji and he couldn't ladder his way up the pay scale.
Jake Cody opened to 48,000 from the cut-off, Banerji moved in for around 275,000 from the button and Cody made the call.
Banerji: [As][Qs]
Cody: [Kd][Ks]
The [2s][Th][7c][9h][4h] board kept Cody in front and just seven players remain.
7.15pm: Final table is go
The final table is off, it's Tim Wong who leads the way with 1,760,000.
6.35pm: Final table chip counts and seat draw
Seat One: Kaloyan Kirov, Bulgaria, PokerStars qualifier, 315,000
Seat Two: Terry Jordan, 1,041,000
Seat Three: Enzo Gomez, United Kingdom, 607,000
Seat Four: Lydia Cugudda, United Kingdom, 1,099,000
Seat Five: Uzzol Miah, United Kingdom, 740,000
Seat Six: Jake Cody, Team PokerStars Pro, United Kingdom, 762,000
Seat Seven: Shantanu Banerji, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, 284,000
Seat Eight: Tim Wong, 1,760,000
6.15pm: Marius Lietuvninkas eliminated in 9th place (£1,450)
The final table of the first ever UKIPT Series is set and Marius Lietuvninkas, a man who knows what it's like to final table a UKIPT main event is the unlucky bubbler.
There's been an insane amount of big pairs running into each other in the last 30 minutes and that's what happened again in this hand. The action was opened by Uzzol Miah with pocket kings, Lietuvninkas shoved with pocket jacks and Miah made the call.
An [Ah][7c][9d][Ts][7h] board later and the final table of eight was set. The players are now on a one hour dinner break, I'll bring you the seat draw and chip counts during it.
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 12,000-24,000 ante 3,000
6.10pm: Pat Simcoe eliminated in 11th place (£1,250)
Pat Simcoe has just missed out on making back to back UKIPT final tables as he's just been eliminated in 11th place.
He shoved all-in on a [8c][9h][7c] flop with [9c][8s] and Terry Jordan called with [8d][6h]. He hit his draw on the [5c] turn and Simcoe didn't suck out on the [Ah] river.
We're now down to nine players and they'll be a re-draw for the unofficial final table, when one more player is eliminated the final table will be set.
6.05pm: Wong wins massive pot, Henderson out in 10th
Wow! A huge near two million chip pot has just gone the way of Tim Wong, he's taken a big chunk out of Lydia Cugudda, eliminated Rafael Henderson and claimed the chip lead.
The action was opened by Cugudda, she raised to 45,000 from under-the-gun, Wong then three-bet out of the small blind, Henderson jammed all-in for around 350,000, Cugudda thought for ages and announced she was all-in and Wong snap called, he was all-in for 719,000.
Cugudda: [Js][Jc]
Henderson: [Qd][Qs]
Wong: [Kh][Kc]
The board ran [7s][10h][3h][10d][2s], Wong won the pot, Cugudda is down to around 900,000 and Henderson was out in 10th. Because at the same time on the other table there was another all-in and call.
6pm: Cody eliminates another one
Faisal Khokhar was down to just 95,000 and moved all-in from under-the-gun with [Ks][6d], next to act Jake Cody flat called with [Ac][3s] and everyone else folded. The board ran [Jc][Qd][2d][9d][7s] and Khokhar is out in 12th.
5.55pm: Double double and one closer to final table bubble
Two doubles up and one exit to tell you about:
The first double up saw Uzzol Miah double up through Terry Jordan, Miah holding pocket jacks was all-in for 250,000, Jordan up against it with [Ad][Th]. A [2h][Qs][9h][7d][3d] safe enough for the pair and reducing Jordan to around 600,000.
The second double involved Kaloyan Kirov doubling up his micro stack to a short stack his [As][Td] getting there against Shantanu Banerji's pocket eights on a [Jd][Jc][Th][7s][3h] board.
And... Charles Akadiri is out, he shoved with [Ah][Ts] but ran into the chip fortress that is Lydia Cugudda and pocket queens. He flopped a ten but got no help on the turn or river and we're down to a dozen here at the Hippodrome.
5.50pm: Cody coolers Maengual
A big pot for Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody, who just eliminated Juan Angel Maengual. The Brit raised it up to 40,000 and called Maengual's 250,000 shove very quickly. On their backs:
Maengual: [Ad][Qc]
Cody: [Ad][As]
The board came [6d][Js][3d][7h][Ac] and Cody eliminated Maengual and we're down to 13 players.
5.40pm: Cugudda accumulates Burn units
"Super cooler man," were the words Shantanu Banerji used to describe the following hand and the man has a point.
It folded to Lydia Cugudda in the small blind, she opened to 46,000, Dominic Burn three-bet to 147,000, Cugudda shoved and Burn, who had around 475,000 snap called.
Cugudda: [Kh][Ks]
Burn: [As][Ad]
The [4s][Kd][6d] flop gave Cugudda the lead and she made a face that was one almost of embarrassment at the outdraw she'd just inflicted. The turn and river were both blanks and she's now up to 1,560,000. "It was never going to play out any other way," she said after the hand was over.
5.30pm: Starting stack
The big blind is now 20,000, which is equivalent to the stack with which the players started with 22 levels ago.
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 10,000-20,000 ante 3,000
5.15pm: Re-draw news
Table One:
Dominic Burn
Marius Lietuvninkas
Shantanu Banerji
Kaloyan Kirov
Tim Wong
Charles Akadiri
Rafael Henderson
Lydia Cugudda
As well as Cugudda, Tim Wong and Dominic Burn are chipped up, whilst Shantanu Banerji has lost some since the break.
Table two:
Pat Simcoe
Terry Jordan
Uzzol Miah
Enzo Gomez
Faisal Khokhar
Jake Cody
Juan Angel Maengual
Since the re-draw Vincent Meli has been eliminated in 15th place, Jake Cody is in shove mode and has done once already. Terry Jordan has around 850,000, Enzo Gomez is on 600,000 and Pat Simcoe has 420,000.
5pm: Chip counts
Below are the chip counts from the last break (although we've accounted for Tim Wong's increase). It's still Lydia Cugudda who leads, she's the only player to have breached the one million chip mark so far.
Lydia Cugudda United Kingdom 1027000
Terry Jordan United Kingdom 780000
Tim Wong United Kingdom 600,000
Enzo Gomez United Kingdom 540000
Dominic Burn United Kingdom 535000
Marius Lietuvninkas Lithuania 450000
Pat Simcoe United Kingdom 420000
Juan Angel Maengual United Kingdom 370000
Shantanu Banerji United Kingdom 303000
Charles Akadiri United Kingdom 300000
Rafael Henderson United Kingdom 270000
Jake Cody United Kingdom 240000
Faisal Khokhar United Kingdom 210000
Kaloyan Kirov Bulgaria 205000
Uzzol Miah United Kingdom 130000
Vincent Meli France 110000
5pm: Tamer Kamel eliminated in 17th place (£665)
It didn't take long to lose a player once play resumed and it's EPT9 London finalist Tamer Kamel who's gone out. He three-bet all-in from the big blind for around 150,000 with pocket queens but Tim Wong, who had raised on the button, had a genuine hand, aces.
An ace in the window gave Wong a near lock on the hand and he's up to 650,000. There's now a short break in play whilst they re-draw to two tables.
4.55pm: Back from the break
The 17 remaining players are now back in their seats and level 21 is underway, when one more player is eliminated there will be a complete re-draw for the final two tables. The average stack is 403,000.
Below is a list of the in the money finishers so far.
18th. Ernestas Lisauskas, Ireland, £665
19th. Andrew Hogwood, United Kingdom, £665
20th. Michael Panteli, United Kingdom, £665
21st. Mitchell Cooper, United Kingdom, £665
22nd. Flavio Xausa, Italy, £665
23rd. John Law, United Kingdom, £665
24th. Robert Lee, United Kingdom, £665
25th. David Dean, United Kingdom, £585
26th. Kashif Shirazi, United Kingdom, £585
27th. Amit Karia, United Kingdom, £585
28th. Toan Nguyen, Australia, £585
29th. John Harnett, United Kingdom, £585
30th. Christopher Gordon, United Kingdom, £585
31st. Christophe Love, United Kingdom, £585
32nd. Marco Vasconcelos, Portugal, £585
33rd. Darren Hand, United Kingdom, £520
34th. Noel Broadbent, United Kingdom, £520
35th. Simon Griffin, United Kingdom, £520
36th. Richard Stanley, United Kingdom, £520
37th. Stanley Sanders, France, £520
38th. Nikolay Ponomarev, Russia, £520
39th. Neil Kilgour, United Kingdom, £520
40th. Darren Fuller, United Kingdom, £520
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 8,000-16,000 ante 2,000
4.40pm: Break time
The remaining players are now on a 15 minute break.
4.35pm: More for Jordan
Terry Jordan now has a stack of roughly 675,000 after eliminating Ernestas Lisauskasi in 18th place. It was all-in pre-flop with Lisauskas holding [Kh][7h] and Jordan a dominating [Ks][Js].
The [Jd][7d][8c][2h][Kc] board gave them both two pair, but Jordan's was better. Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody, who's slipped to 260,000, has been moved to that table for balancing purposes. They'll be a re-draw after the next elimination though.
4.20pm: The ups and downs of Shantanu Banerji
Two big pots in succession for Shantanu Banerji, one going for him and one against him.
In the first Mike Panteli raised to 30,000 from under-the-gun with pocket nines (the best hand he'd seen all day), Banerji was in the big blind, he looked down at pocket jacks and raised enough to set Panteli all-in. The latter called off his remaining 120,000 but missed on the [8s][3h][5h][Ac][2h] board.
Onto the next hand, it folded to Banerji in the small blind, but after requesting a count from Rafael Henderson (it was 101,000), Henderson simply shoved blind and after getting a count Banerji made the call.
Henderson: [Qc][Qs] - he was genuinely blind though
Banerji: [Kc][4h]
The [Jh][10d][Qh] flop was an interesting one, especially given that the [Qh] was the window card. But the straight didn't get there as the board ran [5d][Jc] and Henderson survived, Banerji meanwhile turned a small profit over the two hands.
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 6,000-12,000 ante 2,000
4.05pm: Mitchell's miracle comes to an end
In the end Mitchell Cooper couldn't turn his short stack into something tangible and make a run at this. He shoved from the small blind for 37,000 with [4h][2h] and Rafael Henderson made the call with [Jh][6h]. The [10s][9c][Ah][9d][7c] board gave Cooper some chops outs to go with his pair outs but he missed them all on the river.
3.55pm: Re-draw done
The re-draw is complete and here's what it's thrown up:
- Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody has run pretty good with his table draw, he's got 400,000 and is the chip leader on his table. EPT9 London 7th place finisher Tamer Kamel is a couple of spots to Cody's left, but he's got just 120,000.
- Lydia Cugudda has got a couple of dangerous players on her table, sitting two to her left is Marius Lietuvninkas (350,000) he final tabled UKIPT Coventry in season one and has a number of results to his name. And a chipped up Terry Jordan (550,000) is three seats to her right.
- On the third and final table it's Shantanu Banerji (400,000) and Enzo Gomes (480,000) who have the biggest stacks.
3.45pm: Dean done in by Cody
A great start to the level for Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody as he just eliminated David Dean in 25th place. The triple-crown winner opened to 20,000 from the cut-off with [As][Js], Dean shoved from the button for roughly 140,000 with [Kh][9d] and Cody made the call.
The board came [6s][7h][2h][7s][6h] and Cody is now up to around 400,000. With just 24 players remaining there's now a complete re-draw taking place and a quick pause in the action.
3.35pm: Cugudda crushing
Just 26 players remain as we enter the 19th level of this tournament. Top of the pile right now is Lydia Cugudda, she's been on quite the rush and is up to around 900,000. She's absolutely running over her table and meeting very little resistance. But she does have one of the other big stacks to her direct left, Shantanu Banerji has about 490,000 and is probably third overall. Enzo Gomez has about 530,000.
In short, she's leaving everyone else in her wake, including Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody. He's still right in the mix though and currently has a stack of 230,000, which is just below the average of 264,000.
PokerStars Blog reporting team in London:Nick Wright. Photos by Neil Stoddart.