UKIPT5 Isle of Man Day 1A: Level 6-12 Updates (1,000/2,000, ante 300)

11:10pm: Day 1A is done
That’s all she wrote for Day 1A, 32 of the 111 entries made it through to Day 2, with Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker and Team PokerStars SportStars Fatima Moreira de Melo amongst those who’ll be back for Day 2 on Saturday. It’s Moneymaker who had the better of it on Day 1A as with 188,700 it looks like he’s third in chips overnight.

You can see the counts of all the survivors here and a wrap of the day’s play is on the way. — NW

Hats off to Chris Moneymaker10:45pm: Last five hands
The clock has been paused and they’ll be five more hands until play is done for the day. –NW

10:25pm: Doke’s got over 100k and that’s no joke
Dara O’Kearney’s stack has gotten up to around 120,000 after he eliminated his neighbour, David Nuth. Both were in late position and the chips went in pre-flop.

Nuth: A♦J♦
O’Kearney: A♥K♦

The board ran 9♥9♠K♥8♣2♦ meaning the hand was over by the turn and Nuth was sent to the rail.– MC

10:15pm: Two is the magic number
“My third seat two,” said Fatima Moreira de Melo excitedly as she received her new seat assignment. She was on the move as the tournament is now down to 36 players meaning just four tables remain in play. The Dutch Olympic gold medal winner has moved to the seat that Kelly Saxby was in, according to Dara Daragh the American four-bet jammed with [A][7] but ran into the pocket jacks of Mark Baxter.

News has also reached us that Simon Trumper has been knocked out. — NW

10:05pm: Gone for today, but back tomorrow?
Sad news for followers of Jacob Hicklin, Wai Kwan Yuen, Baard Dahl, Adam Owen, Radoslaw Jedynak, Paul Newey, Antonius Van Ingen, David Wilkes and Gary Trees as they’re all out. Of course this is a re-entry tournament so we may see some of them tomorrow as well. –NW

Newey may well return for Day 1B

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 1,000/2,000, ante 300

 

10pm: This one goes up to 12
Earlier we mentioned that there was a possibility of stopping play after 11 levels rather than 12, but the decision has been made to play the full compliment of 12 levels. — NW

9:50pm: Davey doing what Davey does
Daragh Davey won the UKIPT4 leader board, earning himself free entry to every stop of Season 5, and he’s making the most of it here in the Isle of Man. The Irishman is up to 80,000 and looking good to make Day 2 and from there who knows.

He’s in a far stronger position than Christin Maschmann (19,000) and Adam Owen (22,000) who are both in short stack territory. –NW

9:40pm: Aces hold…twice
Lee Dent has got more lives than a (Manx) cat. He’d survived one all-in showdown against Chris Moneymaker and was just involved in a three-way all-in. He was short stacked again – it looked like the main pot was around the 15,000 mark – but got unlucky and then lucky to survive on a 2♦5♣J♦K♦6♦ board. At showdown he opened A♦A♣ for the rivered flush and he needed to hit as one of his opponent’s had K♥5♠ for a turned two pair and Dent lives to fight another day, although he’s still short on chips.

Meanwhile on an adjacent table Martin Stuart was continuing his rise up the ranks by winning a big pot against Ross Marshall. The PokerStars Blog only caught the river action, but with a full board of 3♣7♣7♦9♥3♦ on the felt Stuart bet 30,000 and Marshall tanked for a couple of minutes before calling. Stuart rolled over A♦A♠ and Marhsall nodded before mucking.

“You have kings?” asked Stuart.
“Queens,” replied Marshall who slips to 53,000 whilst Stuart is up to 120,000. –NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 800/1,600, ante 200

 

9:20pm: Meanwhile in another staff tournament…
As previously mentioned there’s a PokerStars staff tournament playing to a conclusion in the tournament room but staff members are also allowed to enter the Main Event and there’s a mini staff tournament happening on table six as three of the eight players at that table work for PokerStars.

Stephen Clarricoats (50,000), Scott Byron (96,000) and Martin Stuart (94,000) are all at the same table and comfortably stacked or rather they were at the same table as it’s just broken because the Main Event is down to 45 runners here on Day 1A. — NW

Stephen Clarricoat9:10pm: When will it end?
“Big” Nick, the floor man running the Main Event has said he’ll make a decision about the duration of Day 1A at the end of level 11. Originally, 12 levels were scheduled, but that may be cut short by a level.

Basically, he said that if the tables are short-handed he’ll stop play, but if they’re full-ring or near enough, he’ll play the full 12 levels. The thinking behind this is that – with larger field expected on Day 1B – tables will break quicker at the end of the night and play won’t stay short handed for long. That may not happen today with fewer players and that would cause a disadvantage for the Day 1A players. — MC

8:55pm: Dent survives but doesn’t do Moneymaker damage
Chris Moneymaker is back at the felt, having earlier had to leave the tournament for around 90 minutes, and he wasted little time in getting involved in a hand.

He raised to 2,000 from under-the-gun, Senh Ung flat called and Lee Dent then moved all-in for around 4,000 total and when it folded back to Moneymaker he raised to 10,000 which forced Ung to step aside. The American opened Q♠J♣ and Dent was racing for his tournament life as he held pocket fives. The 10♠2♥7♠K♥2♣ board kept the PokerStars qualifier in front and when you take into account Ung’s bet and the blinds and antes he basically tripled up whilst Moneymaker drops to around 150,000 after that small hiccup. –NW

8:50pm: It’s over for now, but let’s not call this the end
The following may be out but they can re-enter tomorrow: Michael Jones, Brian Watterson, Sunil Moti, Ian Drake, Caleb Sheridan, Antonis Poulengeris, Ian Otobo, Johannes de Vries, Finn Zwad, David Longmate, Peter Robinson, James Loudon, David Hill, Jesper Vis, Derek Miller, Luke Staudenmaier, Nick Smith, Colin Lovelock, Carl Harris, Stephen Charlton, Vladislav Donchev, Leslie McMordo, Terence Magee, Adrian McElhinney, Adam Kelly, Craig Sewell and David Lloyd. — MC

8:45pm: Chip counts
Here’s how some of the names and notables in the field are progressing on Day 1A of the UKIPT5 Isle of Man Main Event:

 

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 600/1,200, ante 200

 

8:33pm: Pagano’s got 45 cashes, but the UKIPT aint one
Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano had amassed 45 cashes according to the Hendon Mob, and as mentioned earlier, has cashed more times on the EPT than anyone other being.

Around these parts though, you haven’t made it as a player until you’ve cashed on the UKIPT. Pagano’s quest to do so has ended, for now, after he was eliminated by Daragh Davey (UKIPT4 POY), a man who knows a thing or two about cashing on this tour.

The Italian’s stack has been crippled and his all in move was called by three players, offering main pot of 3,700 for him to win. All his opponents checked down the J♠9♥K♣3♦3♥ board and Pagano opened 10♣2♥. Davey opened A♥9♣ and took the pot and the scalp to move up to 44,000. — MC

“So Kelly, I had Doyle’s hand….”8:20pm: Play resumes
Level 9 has gotten back under way. Here are a couple of pictures from said light show:

Where have the past ten years gone?7:58pm: Unscheduled break
The tournament has been paused to allow all players to venture out into the dark to see the 3D light show that’s been developed to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of PokerStars calling the Isle of Man home. Pictures to come! — MC

7:52pm: Introducing the new Miss Finland (conkers or bonkers?)
We live in a health and safety world where organisations are afraid of getting sued, so do everything they can to prevent any risky activity where they can be held responsible. One of the biggest losers from this thought process (in my opinion) are children of a primary school age, at this time of year.

It’s tough for a kid to deal with a long summer break ending and a new school year starting. The one thing that used to keep this kid going was Autmn starting and, therefore, conkers falling from trees. Conker battles used to dominate school break times at this time of year and distract from a long school year ahead. Then they stopped it for fear of injury and litigation. Sad times.

Double blow for SaraThe scoring system in conkers used to be that you won a point for beating another conker or absorbed their score if that conker has already defeated many conkers, or those with a higher scored. Eg. If a tenner beat a twelver, it would become a twenty-two-er.

David Lappin must’ve played conkers as a child as he’s using that scoring system to try and become the new Miss Finland, after he busted Sara Chafak. Dara O’Kearny tweeted as much and Lappin has been working on his acceptance speech:
— MC

Having knocked Miss Finland out of UKIPT IOM, my sidekick @DKLAPPIN is claiming that means he is now Miss Finland

— Dara O’Kearney (@daraokearney) October 1, 2015

I would like to say that I love the great people of Finland and I promise to represent them with every ounce of my being.

— ♠️ David K Lappin ♠️ (@DKLAPPIN) October 1, 2015

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 500/1,000, ante 100

 

7:40pm: Pole position for Filiczkowski
There’s a new chip leader in this tournament and his name is Adrian Filiczkowski. The Polish player has a frankly ridiculous stack of 230,000 and it’s a fair bet that a stack of that size will be good for the end of day chip lead.

He already had a decent sized stack but just got a big boost by eliminating Marc Hunter in a pot worth around 110,000. The PokerStars Blog only saw the river action but by the time the two players reached the river on a J♥2♠J♦K♥6♣ board there was roughly 35,000 in the pot. Hunter (under-the-gun), checked and Filiczkowski (under-the-gun+1) set Hunter all-in for an effective 40,000 and Hunter went into the tank. He eventually elected to call and showed A♦K♦ but was beat by Filiczkowski’s K♠J♠.

“Nice hand,” said Hunter as he left the table, the UKIPT regular may well be back tomorrow for another shot at this tournament. –NW

Filiczkowski is going to take some catching7:30pm: A numbers game
The total number of entries for UKIPT Isle of Man Day 1A ended up being 111. That number was made up of 100 unique entries and 11 who re-entered. There will be no prize pool details until registration closes on Day 1B (tomorrow). — MC

7:20pm: Debs done for today
Will we see the bubbly Deborah Worley-Roberts tomorrow? We certainly hope so as the tournament room is a duller place already, after she busted.

She was three-way to a turn where the board read 3♦3♥6♦5♠ and bet 3,500 of her 5,000 remaining chips. Ian Otobo was in the next seat and moved all in for 14,800. Adam Owen, the third player in the hand, gave it some consideration before he folded, and Worley-Roberts called off the extra.

At least Debs got a cap out of todayWorley-Roberts: J♦9♦ for a flush draw
Otobo: A♦A♣ for two pair

The river was the A♠ and Worley-Roberts said, “Good luck boys, you’ll miss me!” before making her exit. — MC

7pm: Tournaments, tournaments, tournaments
The tournament room is a hectic place at the moment as there are three tournaments running concurrently. As well as the Main Event, which re-started at about 6:50pm, there’s a £60 satellite to the Main Event and Day 2 of the PokerStars Staff Tournament, which restarted at 7pm.

There are currently 56 players in the satellite, including Diego Gomez who busted Day 1A of the Main Event just a couple of minutes after late registration closed. He was looking to re-enter but was unable to. He’s now looking to get a discount on his second bullet.

In the PokerStars Staff Tournament 23 of 161 runners have just unbagged their chips for the second and final day of their tournament. Rick Dacey, a former PokerStars Blog staff writer who now works as a Corporate Blogger for the company, is one of those with a big stack and there’s £1,000 up top for the winner. –NW

6:50pm: Shuffle up and deal
Cards are back in the air. — NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 400/800, ante 100

 

5:48pm: Dinner Break
The tournament is on a one-hour dinner break.

5:45pm:Chris Moneytaker
Chris Moneymaker has been playing a wide range of hands today, but for his latest trick, he fooled them all by waking up with pocket kings and he used them to bust two opponents.

The Team Pro raised to 1,200 from under the gun and was called by Kenneth Chih-Hung in the next seat before James Loudan moved all in for 11,425. Moneymaker called and called again when Chih-Hung moved all in behind.

Moneymaker: K♦K♠
Chih-Hung: Q♣Q♥
Loudon: A♥Q♠

The board ran 7♥10♣7♣8♣10♥ to send two to the rail and one to a stack of 147,000. — MC

5:35pm: Davey drags a pot
Daragh Davey won the UKIPT4 Player of the Year award, he one for four so far in UKIPT Main Events in Season 5 but is having a decent Day 1 here in the Isle of Man as he breached the 60,000 mark after winning a multi-way pot.

There was a limp in early position from Peter Evans, then Ross Marshall came along from middle position only for Davey to bump it up to 2,400 from the small blind. Brandon Nguyen then cold called from the small blind, Evans folded but Marshall also called.

The three of them saw a 7♠9♦A♥ flop, Dave c-bet 3,000 and Nguyen was the only caller, both players checked the 10♣ turn and the K♥ completed the board. After about 15 seconds thought Davey bet 5,500 and Nguyen took longer than that to come to his decision, which was to fold. –NW

5:20pm: Come back and try again tomorrow, folks
The following made way for empty spaces: Sean O’Connell, Chris Straghalis, Daniel Hall, Jamie Cleaver, Edward Quinn, Joseph Grech, Gregory Humphries, Thomas Ross, Thomas Wiesner, David Clarkson, Johaness de Vries and PokerStars Mind Sports Ambassador Jennifer Shahade. — MC

5:05pm: Local lads
There’s always a strong contingent of local players at this stop and last year David Hill fared best of all, finishing third for £30,200. He’s back again today and he got in on the cheap, winning a live satellite here on the Isle of Man.

It wasn’t just any old satellite though but one held last Thursday as part of #LadsNightIn in aid of Prostate Cancer UK. –NW

David Hill, Isle of Man’s best performer in Season 4

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 300/600, ante 75

 

4:50pm: Frustrations at Table 4, seats 4,5 & 6
The happiness levels in the mid-range seats at Table 4 have hit an all-time low (not really). Sara Chafak was trying to bluff in a three-way pot but it didn’t work out and David Lappin is worried about where his going to eat his tea – something that PokerStars staff member, Christin Maschmann, is trying to sort out, with little success.

Jacob Hicklin raised to 600 from under the gun and was called Rodger Reynolds before Chafak squeezed to 1,200 off the button. Both opponents called to see a 10♦Q♠6♦ flop where Chafak continued for 3,650. Reynolds was the only caller before both checked the 7♠ turn. Reynolds led for 3,650 on the 8♠ river and a glum looking Chafak dwelled before folding.

Lappin still doesn’t know where he’s going to eat his tea:
— MC

@DKLAPPIN & @DavinaDarr caption this? pic.twitter.com/rKOm82cKli

— Danny Maxwell (@MannyDaxwell) October 1, 2015

@MannyDaxwell @DavinaDarr *frustration spills over at the table as Christin fails to get a dinner reservation to yet another restaurant*

— ♠️ David K Lappin ♠️ (@DKLAPPIN) October 1, 2015

4:40pm: More for Moneymaker
Chris Moneymaker’s stack continues to trend upwards and he just won a three-way pot to climb to 47,000.

The PokersStars Pro opened to 1,100 from early position and both David Hill (button) and Vladislav Donchev (big blind) called. On the Q♠4♣A♠ flop Moneymaker fired out a continuation bet of 1,200 and Donchev was the only caller.

Fourth street was the 9♠, neither player bet and the 10♣ was the final community card. Action once again checked to Moneymaker, he reached into his stack, bet 2,000 and was quickly called by Donchev. The American showed A♦K♣ and it was good enough to win the pot. — NW

4:30pm: The Chris’ continue to battle
Chris Straghalis and Chris Moneymaker tangled in another big pot that left one of the Chris’ short.

There was an under the raise to 800 and call from Straghalis before Moneymaker squeezed to 2,575. Straghalis was the only caller to a 6♥2♣J♦ flop where the chips quickly went it. Moneymaker’s 14,600 was only covered by a 1,000 chips and he opened J♥4♥. Straghalis opened 9♣9♠ and failed to improve.

Straghalis went all in the very next hand and Moneymaker raised to 2,000 to isolate. Everyone else folded. Straghalis erupted in delight when he saw his A♠7♣ was dominating Moneymaker’s 7♥6♠.

The board ran out J♣3♦A♣Q♦3♣ and Straghalis survived. — MC

Chris having fun with ChrisUKIPT5 Isle of Man key 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 is today, Day 1B takes place tomorrow, the field will then combine for the first time on Saturday, before (hopefully) playing down to a final table and then to a winner on Sunday. Cue mad celebrations and swigging of champagne from the trophy and jumping in the sea (possibly).
– This is re-entry event with players able to re-enter once per day.
– Full UKIPT5 Isle of Man schedule here.
– There’s a live satellite to the Main Event tonight, it begins at 18.00 BST and the buy-in is £60+£5
– It’s not all about the poker here in the Isle of Man there’s an amazing 3D light show happening at the Villa Marina too.

Fancy playing a UKIPT? There are always plenty of online satellites, click here to get an account.

PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at UKIPT5 Isle of Man: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Mickey May