A week or so back, the folks listening to the live PCA webcast started begging for a piece of information that had nothing to do with the PCA. They wanted to know where PokerStars VIP Club Live was going to host its next parties.

Lee Jones, ever the diplomat, promised the news would be out soon.

Well, folks, soon is now. We've just gotten our hands on the locations and dates for the four big VIP Club Live parties. Here they are.

• Amsterdam, Netherlands - March 7
• Sofia, Bulgaria - May 23
• Athens, Greece - September 5
• Florianopolis, Brazil - November 14

Last year, the VIP Club hosted parties all over the world. In all, more than 1,300 VIPs showed up to parties around the globe.

As always, this year's four events will be open to PokerStars SilverStar VIPs and higher, as well as their guests. All guests will enjoy an open bar, food, entertainment, activities, and opportunities to meet members of Team PokerStars.

This year, the VIP Club will be doing something in addition to the parties. Throughout the year, you'll have the chance to pick up tickets to major sporting events, including VIP seating to see the biggest English football clubs and exclusive tickets to major tennis events.

The VIP Club will also be running several Team PokerStars-hosted activities. VIPs will get up close and personal with members of Team PokerStars. The first of this series of events will be February 19th in the UK with a private dinner hosted by Jake Cody and Team Pro Online's Alex 'Kanu7' Millar in Birmingham. These private get-togethers will span the globe and will be announced throughout the year.

Players can RSVP to all of the above depending on their VIP status by purchasing a ticket in the PokerStars VIP Store. Tickets go on sale about five weeks ahead of each event.

Want more information? Visit the PokerStars VIP Club web page.

8:10pm: Done for the day
Day 1A has come to an end and it's Lawrence Bayley who leads the way with a stack of 265,000. A full wrap of the day's play is on the way. -- NW

7:50pm: The final furlong
It's been a busy day replete with incident but with the end of level 12 in sight, the TD has called for the final three hands to be played out. We'll have news of how the end of day chipcounts have shaped up, along with who has snatched the chiplead shortly.

Hold tight for news! -- RS

7:45pm: There's still time to qualify!
If you fancy a crack at the UKIPT London Main Event yourself then there's still time to qualify.

Whilst a live satellite is playing out here at The Hippodrome Casino, the final two online satellites take place online on PokerStars. A £33 2R1A satellite gets under way at 20,00 GMT and a £82 Hyper-Turbo satellite begins at 22.00 GMT. In PS7 you'll find these satellites (and feeders to them) under Live Events>Europe>UKIPT London. -- NW

7:40pm: Cody the comeback kid
Jake Cody has been below starting stack for pretty much the entire day but has staged a late night rally to get his head above water finally. He's up to 50,000 and is in the relative comfort of 25 big blind territory. -- NW

7:25pm: Chip leaders
There's less than 30 minutes to go in the day and these players are the ones vying for the title of overnight chip leader:

Lawrence Bayley, 217,000
William Dunlop, 207,000
Adam Kossew, 175,000
David Clarkson, 170,000
Stuart Green, 160,000

7:10pm: More exits
As the last level of the day gets under way just 48 of the 143 starters remain. Those who've recently been left potless inlclude: Markos Georgiou, Robert Deacon, Stuart Easton, Callum Malcolm, Daniel Efeturk, Krzysztof Michalik, Peter Blow and Iman Chamazkati. -- NW

7pm: Shuffled off this mortal coil
Perhaps we overplay it sometimes. Poker is after all just a game. No one really suffers mortal consequences as a result of losing their chips and you can always go and play a new game at one of the multitude of online or live facilities available online and around London.

It still hurts losing your chips however. Bad luck to the following folks:

Peter Dibben
Richard Lord
Dalius Balciunas
Gavin Manley

--RS

6:55pm: Owain Carey wins UKIPT High Roller and £44,550
Whilst the UKIPT Main Event is just getting started the UKIPT High Roller has just finished. When the 11 remaining players returned today Owain Carey was the chip leader and he's gone wire to wire to win. He takes home £45,550 for defeating field of 49 players (46 unique entries and three re-buys) whilst runner-up Victor Ilyukhin earns £32,070.

The final hand was a good old race with all the chips going in pre-flop. Carey had pocket tens to Ilyukhin's [K][J], neither player connected with the board and Carey's pocket pair held to give the Irishman the title.

A full list of the in the money finishers is below:

1st. Owain Carey, £44,550
2nd. Victor Ilyukhin, £32,070
3rd. Christos Kyprianou, £20,350
4th. Morten Klein, £15,350
5th. Gareth Teatum, £11,750
6th. Sergio Marti Aguilar, £8,940
7th. Vasile Stancu, £7,130.
8th. Jonathan Wong, £2,450

Congratulations to Carey and well played to all those who cashed. -- NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 800-1,600-200

6:45pm: Bowl stopped play
Last time Jake Cody played an event in London his popular 'Play With Jake' competition earned James Raddon over £1,200. But, Cody's been unable to break out that particular competition today.

Unfortunately have been grinding a bowl stack most of the day so no #PlaywithJake opportunities but still alive! So hopefully later #UKIPT

— Jake Cody (@JakeCody) January 21, 2015

6:35pm: Three-way all-in madness
The PokerStars Blog arrived on the scene to see a three-way all-in progress between Joakim Sorensen (hijack), Richard Lord (cut-off) and Yucel 'Mad Turk' Eminoglu (button).

Sorensen had both players covered but Eminoglu only had around 10,000 to Lord's 40,000 so the side pot was bigger than the main pot. The hands were as follows:

Eminoglu: [9d][9s]
Lord: [Qs][Qd]
Sorensen: [Ah][Jh]

"Let me know when the nine comes," said Eminoglu to the player across the table from him and he didn't have to wait long as the flop fell [Kd][9h][Ac]. The [Jc] turn gave Sorensen outs to scoop the lot but the [2c] river kept Eminoglu in front. He tripled up to around 30,000, Sorensen is up to 110,000 and Lord was left with nothing. "The best hand came last," said Eminoglu as he stacked his chips.

Jake Cody, who is at the same table was a keen observer of the hand and will be hoping to perform his own Lazarus like comeback as he's currently got just 12,700. -- NW

6:25pm: Not so Lucky Nguyen
The ever-rising blinds continue to encroach upon the players stacks, Meaty blinds and increasingly dwindling blind to stack ratio mean the players are being forced to fight tooth and nail fot the pots, and this is taking its toll.

The inaptly but appealingly-named Lucky Nguyen is the latest to succumb, leaving around 57 players remaining as we move through the antepenultimate level of the day. -- RS

6:20pm: Fewster's millions evaporate
Henry Fewster won't have enjoyed his short stay in the new environ greatly, as he has busted just 10 minutes or so into the move.

He was already showing a few signs of strain,bemoaning the superior conditions of an adjacent table, albeit with a smile on his face.

"Look at those guys, they have a chandelier, a beautiful view next to the window. Meanwhile we can barely see our cards!"

His torture was to be short-lived. Moving all-in with [Ad][Qs], he was called by pocket jacks and failed to spike any required cards over the [8h][2h][7c][Kd][3s] board, leaving him off to better-lit pastures new. --RS

6:10pm: Carey still in charge
We're still heads-up in the High Roller and the two protagonists have just taken a break at the end of level 17.

When they return to blinds of 4,000/8,000 ante 1,000 Owain Carey will be playing a stack of 593,000 whilst Victor Ilyukhin has 387,000. -- NW

6pm: Exits
These players have all failed to make level 10: Daniel Rohrbasser, Jordan Bamford, Christopher Deacon, Charles Coates, Nicholas Galtos, Ricky Farbrother, Pablo Gordillo, Antonio German, John Eames, Rory Liffey, Kevin Parkes, Dost Mohammad Ghrabie, Ralph Baylor, Lee Atherton and Oliver Price.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 600-1,200 ante 200

5:45pm: End of level 9
That's all for level 9 folks, meaning the players are once more relieved of poker duty for 15 minutes. They have also had their chips scooped off them, deposited into plastic bags ready to be re-assigned to the relevant player in their new venue - an adjoining room.

We'll be back shortly for level 10 at the new locale. See you then! -- RS

5:40pm: Roberts hit by ladies
Jamie Roberts has had a fruitful day, up over 60,000 following a very auspicious start, although he was relieved of a few of those by WIlliam Dunlop a few moments ago.

After Roberts had raised pre-flop, Dunlop made the call and check-called two barrels (the 2nd a chunky 6,500 on the turn) from Roberts over the [9d][6h][4h][Kd] board.

The [As] river saw Roberts finally check to showdown pocket queens, only to get the bad news that Dunlop's flopped flush draw with [Kh][Jh] had connected on the turn.

A minor setback for Roberts then who drops to 58,000 whilst Dunlop is running good, could be the sole survivor, is doing it just for the kicks, [insert myriad shoe puns in this space] etc etc.

Well done is basically what we are saying. He has 50,000 or so as we speak. --RS

5:20pm: Heads-up in the High Roller
And then there were two...

We've just gone heads-up in the £3,000 High Roller here at The Hippodrome Casino and it's Owain Carey versus Victor Ilyukhin for the title. As play gets under way Carey has the lead with 543,000 to Ilykhin's 437,000. With blinds at 3,000/6,000 ante 1,000 it could take a while to determine the winner and who gets the first prize of £44,550 and who picks up the runners-up cheque of £32,070.

What we do know is that Morten Klein finished fourth taking £15,350 and Christos Kyprianou was out in third earning a £20,350 payday. -- NW

5:10pm: Gone, gone, gone
There has been virtual slaughter at the felt, with the following all succumbing beneath the unrelenting waves of variance. No one is safe, as evidenced by the rise and fall of Soren Kongsgaard, riding high so recently, even he could not manage to make it through the day.

Well played and farewell brave folk.

Joel Ettedgi
Boutros Pierre Naim
Matas Cimbolas
Marc Church
Soren Kongsgaard
Matthew Frankland
Jareth East
Gary David Pearce

David Gassian
Angelo Karunakaran
Matt Rickard
Iacopo Palla
Marios Andreas
Randolph Reese
Louise Duffy
Zahari Petrov.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 500-1,000-100

4:48pm: Field strength at 66%, cap'n
With just 90 players remaining of the adventurous 143 who arrived to contend the title in the first place, we have already schythed down 1/3 of the field as we approach the completion of the eighth level.

A quick look at a couple of interesting stacks from the tables sees John Eames with 37,000, Jake Cody continuing to struggle onward with 18,000 Gillingham winger Antonio German up to 25,000 and Dominic Wells, a recent UKIPT Series finalist, doing a good job with 67,000 total. -- RS

4:40pm: Chip leaders
As we approach the end of level eight these are the top dogs:

Adam Kossew, 145,000
Stuart Easton, 99,000
Stuart Green, 89,000
Jonas Christensen, 88,000
Christopher Nazer, 78,000
Alex Bounsall, 77,000
Miguel Riera Suarez, 69,300
Richard Steele, 67,000
Rhys Jones, 65,000

Blinds are about to go to 500/1,000 ante 100. -- NW

4:25pm: Oppong pinged out
Lawrence Bayley just dusted off Sidney Oppong, though he was somewhat fortunate to do so.

The hand involved some early confusion, Oppong quietly moving all-in for his shortstack before a blissfully ignorant Bayley tried to raise from the small blind and pick up the big blind's chips.

"Oh I didn't see you were all-in!" Bayley suddenly realised in shock. "I have to call now do I?"

The TD was called and confirmed that he did have to call the raise, which he did so with a laugh. "Well, I have 8-high, are you worried?" he joked with Oppong.

"In that case I have you dominated!" Oppong countered, pleased as punch to be facing a potential double up, holding [Ks][8h] to Bayley's [8d][6d].

He was even more cheered as the flop fell king high, though
his face dropped as he realised the [Kd][7d][7c] board gave Bayley a flush draw.

BINK POTENTIAL: MEDIUM

The [5h] on the turn was accompanied with "ooooooohs" from the table as Bayley picked up an open-ended straight draw to go with his flush draw.

BINK POTENTIAL: HIGH

Finally Oppong was put out of his misery - the [9s] spiking on the river to send him to the rail.

BINK POTENTIAL: BINK.

Bayley could not have been more apologetic. "I'm so so sorry. I'm not a live player," he effused energetically as he picked up the chips, moving to 35,000.

Oppong took the beat with good grace, laughing as he left the arena. "Well you had enough outs," he bantered as he departed the felt. -- RS

4:10pm: The fallen
Not surprisingly there's been a increase in the volume of exits during level seven and the following players have all seen their Main Event hopes extinguished: Jonathan Clark, Ian Hastie, Sidney Oppong, Jimmy Kebe, Thomas Langley, Jen-Yue Chiang, Craig Sweden, Mark McShane, Steven Fatt Fai Ly, Daniel Tersigni, Luke Bindon, Daniel Gaina
, Timothy Dearing, Milcho Angelov, Dimitri Joubert and Neil McCulloch. -- NW

Blinds up: 400/800 ante 100

3:50pm: Down to four in the High Roller
Whilst the main event plays out on in the Matcham Room a hop skip and a jump away the final table of the £3,000 High Roller is playing to its conclusion.

When we last checked in there were eight players remaining and after a deal took £350 off the prizes for 1st-7th they were all in the money. Fast forward to now and Gareth Teatum has just been eliminated in fifth place and this is how it happened. He moved all-in from under-the-gun for 26,500 (5.3 big blinds), Victor Ilyukhin asked for a count before splashing in the call and Christos Kyprianou called from the big blind.

The two active players checked it all the way down on a [8d][9d][8h][10c][4d] board and Teatum announced 'ace-king' and showed [Ad][Ks], it was ahead of Ilyukhin's [Ah][6c] but behind Kyprianou's [Kh][9c] and he wished the table good luck as he left the table.

With blinds at 2,500/5,000 ante 500 the final four stack up like this:

Seat two: Morten Klein, 72,000
Seat three: Christos Kyprianou, 225,000
Seat six: Owain Carey, 450,000
Seat eight: Victor Ilyukhin, 180,000

Whilst the in the money finishers and what's still up for grabs is as below:

1st. £44,550
2nd. £32,070
3rd. £20,350
4th. £15,350
5th. Gareth Teatum, £11,750
6th. Sergio Marti Aguilar, £8,940
7th. Vasile Stancu, £7,130.
8th. Jonathan Wong, £2,450

3:40pm: Cody battles to recover poise
Jake Cody has been struggling to build a stack today, but he hasn't thrown in the towel yet, most recently picking up chips following an UTG raise from William Dunlop to 1,600, Cody shoved all-in for his 13,000 or so.

Dunlop laid his hand down and Cody moves up to 15,500. --RS

3:35pm: Halfway home
Half a dozen levels are in the can but the players have another six levels to negotiate if they wish to be back here on Saturday for Day 2.

Currently 115 of the 143 Day 1A entrants have chips and a chair but that number will decline sharply before play is done for the day. Blinds are now 300/600 ante 75 and the average stack is 31,086 so just over 50 big blinds. Action is back under way. -- NW

PokerStars Blog reporting team at UKIPT5 London: Nick Wright and Rod Stirzaker. Photos by Mickey May

It's always so tempting to create a narrative to explain a tournament performance, especially a live tournament. You are so immersed in this one tournament, and it takes so long to play a relatively small number of hands that it's easy to forget that you've barely played any poker and that how you did is mostly down to variance. People ask you how it went, and you want to say something to explain why it went so much better on Day 1 than Day 2 or 3. Perhaps Day 1 went so well because I'm much better deep-stacked than all the tournament players and then I'm not used to short-stacked tournament play, so it went downhill from there.

In reality, though, I just hit well most hands I played in Day 1 and could barely seem to lose a hand. I was still deep-stacked in Day 2, but it was pretty much the opposite. Day 3 I was short-stacked and probably played unspectacularly but generally fine, lost AQo vs 98s all-in pre-flop to lose almost all my chips and went out shortly afterwards. Overall I won a lot of big blinds but lost all my chips. Playing cash online, it would be a decent upswing followed by a small downswing. Playing a live tournament, it's going from leading the tournament to losing my $10k entry. I guess this is why a lot of people find live tournaments much more exciting to watch and read about than online cash!

Anyway, I enjoyed most of it. Day 2 wasn't much fun watching my stack dwindle away, but Day 1 was fun, and Day 3 was okay as well. I was on the TV table with Daniel Negreanu on Day 3 which was a new experience. I like him from our few encounters over the years, and he definitely makes the table more fun to play at. But it was quite a weird feeling playing 20bb poker on a TV table. For a lot of people, the chance to play on a TV table in a live tournament is an opportunity for them to show their skills in the pinnacle of the games they play, to have their friends and family see them doing well on TV at the game they love.

I think this is especially true of recreational players. If you just play poker for fun, especially if you have qualified for the tournament, then being on the feature table of a $10k event is a really cool achievement that you'll want people to see. For me though, I play deepstacked online cash against the best players in the world for a living. Going on TV playing a live tournament with 20bbs is about as bad an opportunity to showcase how I make my living as it's possible to get. My 20bb game is probably worse than most good tournament players. So, I spend my days playing and winning versus world class players in the toughest games in the world and then go on TV playing pretty averagely versus much weaker opposition.

Oh well, it's not something I am particularly upset about, but it is an oddity of the way poker is. I'm sure my friends will get a good laugh out of me getting knocked out on TV if it ends up making the coverage at least.

The rest of the trip was fantastic. I barely know anyone well on the tournament circuit. but with almost the whole of Team Online there, it was a great opportunity to catch up with people I don't see often and to get to know my teammates a bit better. I bought a house at the end of last year and have been renovating it since, which has stopped me playing as much poker as I'd like. It has been fairly stressful. The trip came at a good time, as I needed some time to get away and relax. It was really nice to head out for dinner every evening, spend some time in the water park and on the beach, and generally recharge my batteries after a stressful few months.

After a solid but unspectacular year money-wise in 2014, I now feel much more ready to get back to playing more poker in 2015, and hopefully it'll end up being a good year!

TCOOP is here. It's almost as if a siren should go off or something.

There's no great cause for alarm, but TCOOP brings with it an unavoidable sense of urgency. For this is a turbo series, no hanging about, no second days, no long first days, just a few hours of high tempo poker and a big payday at the end -- poker for the modern generation.

It all kicks off tomorrow with the first of 50 events, spread out over 11 days, combining for a guaranteed prize pool of $15 million. Event #1, one of four tournaments tomorrow, is a $27 no-limit hold'em 6-max re-entry, which begins at 17:20 ET. It has a $500,000 guarantee, a share of which will set you up nicely for the rest of the Championship.

It's not all about hold'em, and while things may move fast TCOOP features all the poker variants and buy-ins you would expect from either SCOOP or WCOOP. It's just a little quicker. So you can expect to find Omaha, Stud, Razz and even an 8-game in the schedule somewhere, which you can see for yourself on the TCOOP homepage.

It'll be a time for great stories, and maybe even a little history. Some 56 players -- among them names like Shaun Deeb, George Danzer, Jason Mercier, Stephen Chidwick and ElkY - are just a TCOOP win away form a "Triple Coop".

What's more five players -- David "Gunslinger3" Bach, Andrey "Kroko-dill" Zaichenko, Shawn "buck21" Buchanan, Paul "paulgees81" Volpe and James "Andy McLEOD" Obst need only a TCOOP title ("only") to become the first Stars Slam winner, an honour which requires a player to win one of each 'COOP Championship as well as a Sunday Million.

But then, even with the kind of talent those players possess; it remains devilishly hard to win one. For poof look no further than Alex "AlexKP" Petersen, of Denmark, who remains the only player to have won two TCOOP titles. But then records are there to be broken.

If you fancy breaking a few records, or maybe even setting a few, then the TCOOP homepage will give you all the details you need. There are also satellites running for the entire series, offering you the opportunity to win your seat for as little as $0.11, or even a single FPP if you're the type who likes good stories.

For now, stock up on food and drink, keep it within arm's length of your monitor at all times and start getting familiar with power naps. TCOOP is here. Blinking is for wimps.

Season 5 of the UKIPT opened today at The Hippodrome Casino, London with a brutal first day where reputations were shredded and previous poker acumen counted for little.

Combat proved fierce and fast-paced and come the close of play it was Lawrence Bayley who had slewn sufficient competitors to find himself atop the chip counts, his 265,000 leaving him top of the pile.

SuperNova Elite Bayley, who plays at PokerStars under the moniker "bigstealer" was self-effacing about his coruscating rise to the chiplead, modestly commenting "I found a lot of good spots and ran really well."

Close behind him at bag and tag time, were Miguel Seoane and David Clarkson with 241,100 and 234,500 respectively - the pair well placed to put together a deep run when they reconvene on Saturday for Day 2.

Day 1A of the London UKIPT saw a broad spectrum of players escape from the frosty inclemency waiting on the doorstep and pour into the vastly warmer and luxuriant environ within The Hippodrome Casino. As well as warmth, food and shelter, they were provided with the opportunity to test their luck and skills at the felt - one they seized with relish.

Glancing down the list of registrants at the beginning of play, a number of illustrious marquee names leapt out as likely contenders for the title. Triple crown winner Jake Cody, 2012 WSOPE final tablist Chris Brammer and double UKIPT winner Duncan Mclellan all brought deep reserves of talent and experience to proceedings.

It is testament to the growing quality of the tour however that out of these three only Cody was able to fend off the vagaries of misfortune - McLellan and Brammer consigned to the wintery cold without, whilst Cody ground the day out with admirable resolve, making a late charge up the leaderboard to finish up with 78,500.

Cody admitted he owed his survival to a benevolent hand from the poker gods.

"Basically I got really lucky near the end," he explained. "The hi-jack raised, the cut-off called and I jammed with ace-jack. The hi-jack called with jacks, the cut-off folded an ace but we still flopped an ace. Then I moved tables and got dealt kings, got it in against ace-jack and held."

Other notable attendees - Scandinavian superstar Soren Konsgaard, Team Pro Online Mickey Petersen and online whiz John Eames - may boast proficient poker chops but their ducks would not line up today, early finishes all round the order of the day.

When all twelve levels had been played out, just 30 remained standing, ready to take their stacks through to Saturday's Day 2. Bayley's ascent to the summit of the day may surprise some, though his lack of poker celebrity owes more to his limited exposure to live poker than any paucity of poker skill.

"I don't play live poker a lot because I need to maintain SuperNova Elite, but I like live poker when it's like today," Bayley explained.

"It'd be nice to win a tournament but the sample size is so small I don't expect to! I'm aware of the variance in tournaments."

The full end of day chipcounts can be found here.

To read updates from levels 1-6, click here.

To read updates from levels 7-12, click here.

Playing out simultaneously with Day 1A of the Main Event was the High Roller final table.

Owain Carey had entered the day holding the chip lead and, after seeing off Victor Illyukhin heads-up, he had parlayed this enviable position into a win, picking up the title, £44,500 and the trophy.

Congratulations to Carey, here are the full payouts from the High Roller:

1st. Owain Carey, £44,550
2nd. Victor Ilyukhin, £32,070
3rd. Christos Kyprianou, £20,350
4th. Morten Klein, £15,350
5th. Gareth Teatum, £11,750
6th. Sergio Marti Aguilar, £8,940
7th. Vasile Stancu, £7,130.
8th. Jonathan Wong, £2,450

That brings you up to date with the day's proceedings then. We'll return for the resumption of the Main Event tomorrow at 11am sharp.

Join us then as we continue the march on the title.

PokerStars Blog reporting team at UKIPT5 London: Nick Wright and Rod Stirzaker. Photos by Mickey May

Blinds up: 75/150

11:30am: Spotted
A quick glance around the room has revealed a number of familiar faces, many of whom have had success in the past on the UKIPT. Where else to start but with Thomas Ward? With a total of 12 he's the all-time leading casher in UKIPT Main Events and someway clear of Dara O'Kearney, Tom Hall and Rupinder Bedi who all have eight.

Of course it's not just cashes that Ward can boast but final tables too. He came second to Sergio Aido at UKIPT3 London, earning £ 116,845, fourth in Edinburgh in Season 2 and seventh at UKIPT Isle of Man in Season 4. Perhaps London will be the stop where he makes his token final table of the season?

Another player who made the UKIPT3 London final table is playing today and that man is Philippe Souki. The London based cash game pro finished fourth that day and for someone who spends the majority of their time playing cash he's had some impressive results since then. He went deep at EPT100 in Barcelona before busting in 41st place and will hope to have another deep run this week.

There's another UKIPT final tablist in the field too, back in Marbella in Season 4 Katja Spillum Svendsen almost became the first ever female UKIPT Main Event champion before busting in third place. The Norwegian, who lives in the South of England, is a woman of many talents as she's also a world-class backgammon player.

We've also spotted JJ Hazan - who was one of over 20 players to win his seat in a live satellite on Tuesday night - and Mark McCluskey. It's early days of course - an 11am start time in poker is somewhat unheard of - so the field will likely increase considerably before late registration closes at 1.55pm. -- NW

11:15am: Number crunching
With 128 players in already and new registrants continuing over the first four levels, it looks as though Day 1B's attendance is likely to trump the bumper field of 143 on Day 1A.

It's a good sign for poker that there appears to be this ravenous hunger for the game especially given the 11am start that will have been a shock to the system for many players.

Long may it continue! --RS

11am: Day one, take two
Welcome to the second of three starting flights at UKIPT5 London which is taking place at in London's west end at The Hippodrome Casino.

We'll be hoping this flight isn't the awkward middle sibling of the three and it passes smoothly and serenely like Day 1A did yesterday. In case you missed any of the action yesterday 143 players took to the felt and after a dozen 40 minute levels just 30 still had chips in front of them, meaning just under 21% of the field advanced to Day 2.

Those who have a fresh set of chips in front of them today will be hoping to emulate SuperNova Elite Lawrence 'bigstealer' Bayley who ended Day 1A as chip leader with a massive 265,000. Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody (78,500) also made it through.

Players are starting to file in to The Matcham Room now as play looks set to start bang on time. Stay right here for coverage of Day 1B of UKIPT5 London we'll be updating selected chip counts throughout the day here.

Key UKIPT5 London Facts:

- 25,000 starting stack
- Blinds starting at 50/100 for 250 big blinds
- Day 1B is today, Day 1C is Friday, the field will then combine for the first time on Saturday before playing down to a winner on Sunday.
-The UKIPT structure has been tweaked for Season 5. Levels on Day 1 are now 40 minutes, on Day 2 that increases to 50 minutes and then further to one hour levels on the final day.
- Full UKIPT5 Lodnon schedule here.

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT London: Rod Stirzaker and Nick Wright. Photos by Mickey May

You get the impression when you talk to Joao "jricardosc" Fernandes that he's a sensible type, grounded by a job, ambitions, his Fiancée, a close family and great friends, who are there for him when he needs them; for the downtimes, but also the good times. Like when you win a Super Tuesday title. That's when the 24-year-old decided to let his hair down a little, and jumped in the pool.

But then what are you supposed to do when you record your biggest ever poker win?

"It was amazing experience to make a final table and finish as well," said Fernandes, who lives in Tubarao, Brazil, and played the entire Super Tuesday event on his iPhone. "I think that it was everything a poker player expects."

It's a spirit that many successful players share, a sense that whenever they sit down they believe they can win.

Joao Fernandes

It was certainly an attitude that has been working for him. While he is not a professional player -- working for a transportation company while he studies for a degree in law - Fernandes plays mainly cash, but in 2014 found his tournament record improving and recorded his first live cash in the Brazilian Series of Poker event in Sao Paulo, turning it into something of a breakthrough year.

Fernandes taught himself to play poker in the typically modern way, reading books, using the internet and discussing the game with friends. It's the type of foundation that most modern poker success stories emerge, and one that this week led to a $112,455 payday, and that brief swim.

"It was easy going into a final table because I'm usually calm and focused in my routine," said Fernandes, who uses that same analytical brain to study law when not working or at the poker table. "I'm always trying to innovate my style of play, and balance my range."

It's a result that puts him in good stead ahead of the Turbo Championship of Online Poker, which gets under way later today (full details here). So if you want to take on "jricardosc" yourself, you'll find him in the high stakes no-limit events, as well the pot-limit Omaha.

But for now it's about drying off and appreciating what he has and what made it all possible.

"I would like to thank my Fiancée Ariany, my parents, especially my friends Arthur Damiani, Dieguinho da Bayuka, Gabriel Campos , Kalango, MaikonTel, my brother Nuninho_fla and everyone supported me."

For the record, they didn't jump in the pool with him.

Congratulations on a great win.

7:55pm: End of Day 1B
A fascinating day of poker has crashed to a standstill and the final freeze frame sees Warsaw-based Pole Piotr Tuczynski cutting the pose of a champion - his gargantuan 332,100 chips good for the chip lead. Some other notable stacks at the close of play include James Dorrance - who finished up with a enviable 247,000 in chips and Dave "Dubai" Shallow managed to winkle out some extra leverage for his stack when he returns for Day 2 on Saturday, recovering from a bowl of rice to finish up with 62,900.

That's it then. We'll be posting a final wrap of the day's proceedings shortly but for now thanks for following.

We hope you've enjoyed the coverage and we'll see you back here at 11am sharp with cappuccinos and croissants in hand to follow all the twists, turns, follies and surprises day 1C can throw at us. Good night one and all. --RS

7:40pm: Last three hands...
The tournament clock has been paused, the end of the day looming large in the close distance.

Piotr Tuczynski has managed to snatch the lead back off James Dorrance for now in what has been a very tit for tat battle.

W'll be bringing you news of the end of day counts shortly. Hold tight! -- RS

7:28pm: Chaos reigns as we play through level 12
The last level sees plentiful shortstacks, large blinds and short fuses as players look to chip up a bowl of a stack into something meaningful or clear their plans on Saturday rather than come back and have to do their gambling then,

It's a shove-fest out there, the player roster already reduced to 79 players out of the 244 who started and that number looking set to be significantly trimmed before these final 25 minutes are played out.

Here are some of the latest casualties:

Lin Junsheng
Kestutis Burba
Mark Southwood
Jorge Sevillano Rosa
Mark McCluskey
Adrian Espinosa
Stavros Tsourou
Sameer Singh
Guillermo Sanchez Otero
Tamer Kamel -- RS

7:15pm: Shallow fried by Dorrance
We only caught the very tail-end of a hand played out between Dave Shallow and James Dorrance - more details when we get the chance to speak to either.

The upshot however is that James Dorrance picked up most of Dubai's stack to move to 280,000 - good for the chip lead.

Soon after, he knocked out a tablemate for good measure, consolidating that chip lead by winning a classic flip - jacks versus ace-king - meaning with well over 320,000 - he is head and shoulders clear of his nearest adversary.

Dubai meanwhile is down to around ten big blinds, perhaps a touch more...--RS

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 1,000-2,000-300

6:58pm: UKIPT London's leading men
Here are the players currently contending the chip lead.

Piotr Tuczynski Poland 190,000
James Dorrance United Kingdom 160,000
David Antelo Gomez Spain 150,000
Christopher Yong United Kingdom 150,000
Carl Croucher United Kingdom 120,000
Kazimieras Piečius Lithuania 115,000
Lee Andrew Brooks United Kingdom 110,000

This can certainly all change over what is likely to be a very fast final level however!-- RS

6:40pm: Toffell topples Hussein
Talk about an action flop! Mudasser Hussain and Danny Toffel got it all-in on a [Ks][2d][Jd] flop and it soon became clear why.

Hussain: [Kh][Jh]
Toffel: [Qd][10d]

It was top two against an open-ended straight flush draw and although Toffel didn't hit his gin card on the turn, the [7d] gave him the lead and he held onto it on the [7h] river. He's up to 80,000 whilst Hussain joins a growing list of Level 11 casualties. -- NW

Blinds up: 800/1,600 ante 200

6:30pm: Chip counts
A few counts from around the room:

Dave Shallow - 105,000
Angelo Milioto - 90,000
JJ Hazan - 88,000
Charlie Combes - 63,000
Rumit Somaiya - 58,000
Kevin Allen - 56,000
Marc McCluskey - 28,300
Philippe Souki - 11,000

6:20pm: Body-bagged
Some big names are amongst the lists of recently-departed. The poker gods show no mercy, regardless of your poker standing.

None of these guys are potential London 2015 UKIPT champions I'm afraid. Well played all.

Aleksandar Spadijer
Neil Mahamdi
Vytenis Salickas
Joann Martin
Bradley Amico
Jerome Bradpiece
Michal Gorlej
Edmund Catt
Christopher Ferguson --RS

6:10pm: Crab unloads the clip
Dave"Crabmaki" Shallow is a lot of fun to watch. He has boundless reserves of aggression and plays so many pots that his poker really is a pure spectator sport.

Most recently he raised in early position to 2,600, called by big stack Thales Filho and the button.

A big pot was brewing and Dubai didn't take his foot off the accelerator, leading out for 3,700 on the [Qh] [4s][4c] board, Filho the sole caller.

The turned [5h] saw Dubai fire a second bullet of 7,700. Filho eyed him up carefully but it seemed unlikely he could penetrate the wooly-hatted sanctuary Dubai had hunkered down in. He made the call.

The river was the [Jd].

Would Dubai fire a third barrel (or fourth depending on how you look at it)?

He didn't let us down. A big chunk of chips were laid out - 20,800 the bet, leaving Filho looking a bit uncomfortable. He tried the old "reach for chips as if you are going to call" move, but Dubai was giving nothing away.

Save those tricks for someone with less poker miles on the clock!

Eventually Filho laid down his hand under this brutal assault from Shallow. More chips to add to the rickety piles Dubai is building. He rises back up to 95,000...

Thales Filho takes a hit but is still well-stacked with 85/90,000. -- RS

5:55pm: All under one roof
The rate of eliminations has quickened and with just 120 players remaining all the players are now in the same room. The average stack right now is 50, 800 (42.3 big blinds) but the following players are all out: Bjoernar Kvamme, Gareth Teatum, Martin Carty, Scott Adams, Ben Jordan, Nadil Abdien, Kevin Walshe, Eleftherios Sinnos, William Martin, Stuart Mcdonald, Duncan Riches, Daiva Barauskaite, Mark Hester, Adam Owen, Gerald Candy, Mir Mousavianpour and Andrew Hulme. -- NW

Blinds up: 600/1,200 ante 200

5:45pm: Break it up
Another three levels have been ploughed through, players falling with increasing regularity during that last two hours. After that whirlwind of action, the remaining warriors are due a break and that is just what they have - 15 minutes of peace and quiet before rejoining the fight.

We'll see you soon for levels 10-12 as we play to a finish. -- RS

5:40pm: Zero Sum game
For every winner, there must be a loser and Richard Blacklock just played the role of the latter after seeing his tournament hopes dissolve in unfortunate fashion.

Following a raise to 2,200 from early position called in the hijack by Sum Yip, Blacklock found the perfect spot to shove his 17,000 into the middle with [Ah][Kd].

The initial raiser melted like snow in front of a blowtorch but Yip took more dissuading, shrugging before making the call off his bigstack with [Ts][Js].

Live but behind, Yip managed to spike a card on the [Qc][6h][Jh] board and although Blacklock had nine clean outs to hit, he avoided them all on the [Qd] turn and [9h] river.

He took the beat in good grace, congratulating his opponent before leaving the arena quicksmart.

Yip meanwhile rises to 80,000, standing amongst the chip leaders as we speak. -- RS

5:25pm: It's lonely in Tournament Room B
There's only one table still in use in Tournament Room B but it contains two of the biggest stacks in the tournament. David Gomez has 111,000 but Thales Filho can trump that as he's got 116,000. He climbed to that dizzying height in a hand against Renee Xie in which Filho flopped quad twos, got two streets before Xie folded to a bet on the river.

As he took the pot Filho showed his four of a kind. "You've got to show quads," said Tamer Kamel, who's to Filho's immediate right, the British pro isn't doing too badly either as with 83,000 he's got nearly double the average. -- NW

5:15pm: Victims of the poker war
It's the nature of the beast. The blinds rise, players are forced into confrontation with each other and often only one comes out alive. It's basically the script of gladiators with cards.

These are the men whose demise has been hastened in the wake of the increased blind pressure:

Paul Romain
Jesus Espinosa Fernandez
Andrew Dickinson
Rajiv Sakaria
Oliver Horne
Spyridon Dimotsantos
Diego Soto Benitez
Andrew Purser
Ludovic Geilich
Rokas Asipauskas
Corrie Johannes Romate
Lurie Cudrinschi
Gary Whipp
Thomas Alexander High
Joseph Crampsie
Mariano Martiradonna
Milorad Dobrijevic --RS

5pm: B is for bust
Roughly a quarter of the field has been eliminated thus far on Day 1B. Among those who've been given a one way ticket to the rail are: Michael Kossov, Pedro Miguel Carvalhas Faustino, Dinh Tuan Nguyen, Christos Kyprianou, Pal Zsibrita, Keith Christie, Nicholas Mingoia, Adrian Soriano Aleman, Charles Carrel, Honglin Jiang, Jose Rubio Garnito...

And: Leon Louis, Max Winberg, Andrey Veselov, Abdulkadir Ahmed, Lasse Aspen Melby, Philip Butt, Mikko Väisänen, Stephen Woodhead, Ken James, Paul Skipper, Benjamin Greenberg, Ali Zihni, Benjamin Raven, Chuc Gia Khuu, Andrius Janca, Darren Hand, James Parker, David Zermon, Matteo Mutti, Enzo Gomez, Simon Fuller and Nimisha Rattan. -- NW

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

4:48pm: Silence reigns
The players had already reined in their table chatter as we pointed out earlier but one of the tournaments most garrulous combatants Michael Kossov has just departed. Love him or loathe him, you can definitely always hear him!

Also gone is Bernhard Svaeren, a victim of poor fortune.

Well played both on surviving most of the day. --RS

4:30pm: Tang turns up the heat
Chi Hang Tang just won a sizeable pot to hurtle up the chip standings. The hand opened with William Davies raising to 1,600 from early position, only for Tang to make it 3,800 from the button.

Davies was unperturbed by this action, popping the price to pay up to 6,200 and after Tang had made a survey of his opponent's remaining stack (around 24,000) he made the call.

The flop fell [Jc][Jh] [3d] and Davies led for 6,200. Tang called.

The turbed [7d] changed little and this time Davies quietly tapped the table- checking to Tang, who thought about it before cutting out 8,400. which after a protracted think was enough to leave Davies abandoning ship and Tang chipping up to an impressive 58,000.

Davies drops to 18,500. -- RS

4:15pm: The chasing pack
Whilst Dave Shallow is the chip leader there's a bunch of players vying to take his mantle. His closest challenger is Vincent Meli as he's got 89,000. Christopher Yong is also well placed with a stack of 70,000 and Kevin Allen has 64,000. -- NW

Blinds up: 400/800 ante 100

4:10pm: Shallow Stacked
Dave "Dubai" Shallow has an impressive poker pedigree, his exploits as "crabmaki" online coupled with some explosive live highlights including winning the 2012 WPT Dublin for just shy of $300,000.

He's quietly rampaging over his table right now, raising regularly and winning more than his fair share of those pots.

He was winning plenty of pots without showdown so it made a change when a shortstacked tablemate (Abdulkadir Ahmed we beleive) moved all-in for around 15 big blinds and Dubai made the call. We were about to see his cards for once, how nice.

It turned out to be a great spot for Shallow, his pocket tens a significant favourite over Ahmed's fives.

Ahmed stood up, anticipating elimination, although the board of [3c][2c][5d] saw him re-take his seat - a set spiked - and his hopes of glory reignited.

Unfortunately for Ahmed the [Jc] turn and [8c] river saw an impassive Dubai make a flush and send another opponent to the rail.

Dubai up to 90,000, he's beginning to look more and more like a credible threat for the title with every pot he scoops. -- RS

3:55pm: Adios to Aido
UKIPT3 London champion Sergio Aido is out, in fact he's been out for a while according to former table mate Andrew Hulme. He told the PokerStars Blog. "He lost with kings against the ace-king of seat nine." Seat nine is Rumit Somaiya, the PokerStars Qualifier has a number of big scores to his name, including an 11th place finish at EPT7 London ,and is up to 60,000. -- NW

3:46pm: Upping the ante
This blind rise has seen a small but perceptible shift amongst the players left vying for supremacy. The earlier bantering that was fairly common has quietened down as the players knuckle down to become pure chip accumulating machines.

The wiggle room has been encroached on by the larger blinds. A small mistake earlier will be a much bigger one now with larger percentages of everyone's stacks in every pot.

The concentration levels are rising with the stakes and everyone is strapping in for the long hail. -- RS

3.35pm: Strap in for six more levels
There players are back in their seats and play has restarted. The board says that 200 of 244 runners remain. However, Michael Bartov, Pelayo Gil Carnero, Benjamin Dixon, Richard Sheils, Harrison Beattie, Thomas Rowland, Peter Kvisthammar, Stephen Kirk, Vadim Cojocaru, Manuel Soares Ruivo, Nicos Nicolaoum, Javier Rodriguez Gonzalez, Caleb Sheridan and Kevin Steward are not amongst them.

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT London: Rod Stirzaker and Nick Wright. Photos by Mickey May

Food, or poker? Depending on what time of day it is, and maybe the size of your stack, it's sometimes hard to work out which is the more pleasurable. So we're happy to announce we've discovered a way to bypass this universal quandary, with an innovative pop-up restaurant.

This week PokerStars and Jones & Sons teamed up to celebrate the new season of the UK and Ireland Poker Tour. Uniting poker with gourmet food, the "All-In Kitchen" was created, the world's first pay-by-poker restaurant.

It sounds like something out of a daydream between hands, but it's exactly as it sounds -- you play poker to determine how much you pay for your meal.

The first All-In Kitchen proved a huge success this week, and there are now plans to roll out the experience nationwide across all the UKIPT stops this season.

Here's how you put your money* where your mouth is, whether you're a poker rookie, or regularly frequent the world of Super High Rollers (free stuff is free stuff after all).
First you play three hands of poker. Then, what you pay is based on how many chips you have at the end of those three hands. That could be £10, £5 or absolutely nothing, all complements of PokerStars.

And the thing is, even if you bust out in the first hand with a gloriously ill-considered hero call, you're still only paying £10 for a great three course meal, normally worth about £50 a head, with a cocktail to wash it down with of course.

As Andy Jones, Founder of Jones & Sons, put it: "I love food and never shy away from the tables when I get the chance, so having the opportunity to create a menu that combines two of my favourite things was something I jumped at. Embracing Poker within the dishes was a lot of fun and some of the dishes that hit the cutting room floor were a bit out there, but I can't wait to see the results and serve up some Aces."

One look at the menu, curated by Jones & Sons, and you get an immediately idea why, when it comes to the All-In Kitchen, you can't really lose.

The gourmet offering will feature a 'Royal Flush of King Crab Thermidor', 'Queen Scallops accompanied by Salt Baked Swede and Bacon Marmalade, '4 Of A Kind of Lamb Chops, Rump, Kidney and Shoulder With A Rosemary Jus' and even a '2 Pair of Pear Tarte Tatin, Pear Caramel and Ice Cream'.

So let's see: £10 at most for a £50 three course gourmet meal? That's £40 added to the prize pool right there.

The All-In Kitchen has already packed up its London operation but plans are already afoot for it to re-appear at future stops. Watch out for details of how you can book a seat as the Tour continues.

For now, shuffle up and eat.

* The event is meant for customers to have fun. Poker at this event is optional and no money is wagered during the poker element of the experience. You can rock up and soak up the atmosphere and pay full price for you meal, or you have the option of playing a few hands and winning your meal for less or completely FREE.

When a tournament has two starting days, in the absence of some natural disaster you can basically bet your house on the second starting day attracting a larger field than the opening flight. But what about when there are three start days as there are here at UKIPT5 London, is this bet still such a banker?

If today's evidence is anything to go on then the answer to that question is a big fat resounding yes! In total 244 players chose Day 1B as their start day of choice, which surpassed the Day 1A field size of 143 by over a 100 players. That takes the total number of runners so far to 387 and (here comes the maths bit) represented a 70% increase for Day 1B from Day 1A. If we get a similar day on day increase tomorrow then the total field size will just creep over the 800 mark.
.

Of the players who started today only 73 (29%) made it through and the player who fared best of all over the first dozen levels was Piotr Tuczynski. The Pole finished with 332,100 to eclipse the 265,000 the Lawrence Bayley accumulated on Day 1A. Like Bayley though this tournament marks a rare foray into the live arena for the Warsaw based player: "I used to play a lot of poker not as much these days. Most of the poker I play is online. I am not a live player!" he told the PokerStars Blog after play was over.

If he were to cash in this tournament it'd significantly increase the $167 of live earnings he currently has and he was in bullish mood at the end of play when asked about his day at the felt. "It was good, I was pretty lucky but there were no big pots, I won a lot of hands without showdown. I am confident for the rest of the tournament."

Other players who'll take big stacks into Day 2 are James Dorrance (247,000) Gabriel Carter (206,100), Angelo Milioto (183,100) and Pratik Ghatge (168,900) as they all enjoyed profitable days at the felt.

For much of the day Dave Shallow was amongst the top stacks in the room. A talented player, Shallow has almost $500,000 in lifetime earnings in the live arena but has won more than that in a single tournament on PokerStars and has two WCOOP bracelets to his name.

As anyone who's played against Shallow will attest to he plays an expansive fly-by-the -seat-of-your-pants style of poker and sometimes what goes up must go down. He ended the day with 62,900, which may be below average, but at least he's here to fight another day as are: Kevin Allen (132,200) and JJ Hazan (91,300). They'll both be back for Day 2 at 11am on Saturday.

Whilst there were no players representing the Red Spade today there were plenty with previous on the UKIPT. Not all of those found further success though. Thomas Ward - who with 12 - holds the record for the most cashes on the UKIPT couldn't stay in the hunt for cash number 13 and he exited towards the end of the day.

He lasted longer than the man who beat him to the UKIPT3 London title though as an early accident with kings, against Rumit Somaiya's ace-king, left Sergio Aido short on chips (and luck) and he exited during level five.

The Spaniard wasn't the only UKIPT champion to bust on Day 1B though as UKIPT3 Newcastle winner Chris Ferguson (not that one) couldn't get anything going. And the Ludovic Geilich show was cancelled after eight levels, but not before he'd managed to double his starting stack. The Scotsman's in good company on the rail though as: Leon Louis, Charles Carrel, Jerome Bradpiece, Gareth Teatum, Andrew Hulme, Tamer Kamel and Daiva Barauskaite were among those who were sent packing.

To catch up on all today's action and for overnight chip counts click on the links below. We'll be back for the third and final starting flight at 11am GMT. It's going to be busy.

Levels 1 - 6
Levels 7 - 12
End of Day 1B chip counts
End of Day 1A chip counts

All photos are copyright of Mickey May.

The first event of this year's Turbo Championship of Online Poker brought quick, shorthanded action.

It only took five-and-a-half hours for frauwutz to blitzkrieg through a field of 13,776 entrants --in addition 6,556 re-entries-- to win the opening event along with $46,252.50.

frauwutz also managed to reach victory with no re-entries, giving the German player an hourly rate of about $8,400/hr.

In addition to being fast, the action was unrelenting and furious, with thousands of players falling every hour.

Things didn't slow down until the final six players reached the final table. Even then, the action was quick and frauwutz faced a roller coaster ride to victory.

Seat 1: PKAnoitecer -- 29,838,653
Seat 2: frauwutz -- 20,434,643
Seat 3: jawong2000 -- 23,261,376
Seat 4: thygz -- 5,833,225
Seat 5: MoscowNo1 -- 6,295,988
Seat 6: fournn -- 15,996,115

Our two short stacks took similar paths but had very different results when the final table started.

MoscowNo1 was down to 4.42 million and moved all-in from the button with [8h][5d] and PKAnoitecer called from the big blind with [ah][qh].

MoscowNo1 was in need of some help and got it on the [9c][5h][10d] flop. Then MoscowNo1 got even more help when the [5s] fell on the river.

MoscowNo1's trip fives doubled the short stack up to 10.09 million.

thygz on the other chipped down to 2.11 million before moving all-in from the hijack. frauwutz called from the big blind but this time the short stack had the better hand.

thygyz showed [ad][jc] and had frauwutz's [ac][2c] dominated.

That's until the board ran [8s][5d][5h][2d][qc]. frauwutz paired the deuce and the final table lost its first player.

thygz won $5,705 for finishing 6th while frauwutz chipped up to 28.47 million.

Russian Roller coaster

MoscowNo1 went from short stack to chip leader by the time the final four players struck a deal, but it wasn't a steady ascent.

It resembled more of a wild, shorthanded turbo roller coaster.

Two hands after thygz's elimination, jawong2000 moved all-in from the small blind and MoscowNo1 called from the big blind.

MoscowNo1s [ac][2d] held up against jawong2000's [kc][8s] and MoscowNo1 doubled up to 20.03 million.

It wasn't enough for the lead but MoscowNo1 was getting closer.

Then the Russian player doubled up fournn.

MoscowNo1 raised to 1.4 million from middle position and fournn moved all-in for 8.37 million.

MoscowNo1 had fournn's [ah][10h] dominated with [ac][kc] but a [10c] came on the flop to give fournn the double.

Then fournn returned the favor the very next hand.

fournn raised from under-the-gun, MoscowNo1 shoved from the big blind and fournn called.

fournn was in the lead with [as][5d] to MoscowNo1's [qc][7d], but MoscowNo1 connected on the river of a [kd][3d][2d][10s][7h] board.

fournn was down 5.3 million and moved all-in the next hand. frauwutz, who raised from under-the-gun, called and showed [ah][ks] to fournn's [as][10d].

There was an ace on the flop and frauwutz kicker came into play.

fournn won $9,050 for finishing 5th and frauwutz took the lead with 32.10 million.

Deal

Play went four-handed, MoscowNo1 won a pot to take the lead and the final four decided to cut a deal.

At the time of the deal, the counts were:

MoscowNo1 -- 30,000,674
PKAnoitecer -- 28,717,665
frauwutz -- 25,802,861
jawong2000 -- 17,138,800

The PokerStars supercomputer digested the millions of chips with its ICM juice and spit out the following numbers.

MoscowNo1 -- $38,117.61
PKAnoitecer -- $37,583.29
frauwutz -- $36,252.50
jawong2000 -- $31,041.60

Players agreed and this left $10,000 for first along with the first TCOOP title of the year.

Shortly after the deal was made, jawong2000 from Hong Kong hit the rail.

jawong2000 open-shoved for 21.34 million from the small blind and MoscowNo1 called from the big.

jawong2000: [qd][Jc]
MoscowNo1: [ah][3c]

The [8d][4s][10h][5s][ks] board missed both players and MoscowNo1's ace-high took the pot. jawong2000 won the agreed-upon $31,041.60 while MoscowNo1's lead grew to 43.94 million.

Return of the short stack

When three-handed play started, PKAnoitecer and frauwutz were nearly even in chips but frauwutz dropped to 16.50 million in a few hands.

Blinds were 1M/2M and MoscowNo1 raised to 4 million from under-the-gun. frauwutz called from the big blind and MoscowNo1 moved all-in on the [8h][2s][9d] flop.

frauwutz called and had the lead with [8d][4d] to MoscowNo1's [ac][7h].

frauwutz doubled up and then brought the tournament down to its final two players.
PKAnoitecer moved all-in for 32.93 million from the small blind and frauwutz called.

PKAnoitecer showed [ad][2c] and was dominated by frauwutz's [as][9s].

The board ran [10h][8h][4d][kd][9c] and PKAnoitecer was out in 3rd, earning $37,583.29.

Heads up

frauwutz -- 69,399,274
MoscowNo1 -- 32,260,726

frauwutz started out by slowly extending the lead but then MoscowNo1 doubled up with a full house.

MoscowNo1 moved all-in for 21.95 million with [qd][7d] and frauwutz called with a dominating [qs][jc].

Then the [7c][qc][kd][7h][8h] board fell heavily in MoscowNo1's favor.

MoscowNo1 doubled up but was quickly chipped down again and couldn't survive the second all-in.

In the final hand, MoscowNo1 moved all-in for 22.15 million with [ks][5h] and frauwutz called with [ac][9c].

The board ran [2h][8c][7h][4d][10d] and the tournament came to an end.

MoscowNo1 won $38,117.61 for the runner-up finish while frauwutz became the first TCOOP champion of the year, a title worth $46,252.50 and unlimited bragging rights.

TCOOP 2015: Event #1 ($27 No-Limit Hold'em, 6-Max, Turbo, Re-Entry)
Entries: 13,776
Re-entries: 6,556
Prize Pool: $500,000

frauwutz (Germany) -- *$46,252.50
MoscowNo1 (Russia) -- *$38,117.61
PKAnoitecer (Portugal) -- *37,583.29
jawong2000 (Hong Kong) --*$31,041.60
fournn (Canada) -- $9,050.00
thygz (Estonia) -- $5,705.60

* Denotes a four-way deal.

That's it for the opening TCOOP event. There's still plenty of turbo action to go though, so check out the TCOOP homepage for all your Turbo Championship of Online poker needs.

Alexander Villegas is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars blog.

This year's Turbo Championship of Online Poker is off to a fast start. It will be a fast middle and fast finish, too, because, well, that's what the TCOOP is all about, satisfying tournament players' need for speed with rapid structures featuring a variety of stakes and games. Event #2, the $55 no-limit Omaha Hi/Lo event, was part of today's opening slate, and it only took a little over four hours for Poland's cladarth to earn the title and a $17,783.12 first prize.

There were 2,258 players in this one, together building a prize pool of $112,900 that exceeded the event's $100K guarantee. No-limit Omaha Hi/Lo is already an action-filled game, and with the tournament's five-minute levels it didn't take long to get the preliminaries out of the way and for the dividing up of that prize pool to begin.

They were only about two hours into the event when the field had been cut down to 288 players and the money bubble burst, at which point TIETYMM had catapulted to lead by a wide margin. But there would be much movement at the top of the leaderboard as the field was further winnowed.

First satoshi2104 surged out in front, then former Super Tuesday winner karakrud took a turn at the top as the field shrunk to less than 100. 10jacker next hijacked the lead for a time before trading it back and forth with karakrud through the tourney's three-hour mark.

satoshi2014 (26th) and TIETYMM (25th) both saw their tourney runs ending shortly thereafter, each cashing for $474.18. And Sam "SamSquid" Grafton was also among those still around for the final few tables before getting knocked out in 21st for $609.66.

A little later kfasdfa was getting knocked out in 12th when karakrud's stack became depleted and soon karakrud was out as well in 11th. They were joined by 10th-place finisher Al Magellan, with all three picking up $1,016.10 for their efforts. tipp2000 (ninth), bialy331 (eighth), and Sweety2007 (seventh) soon followed them to the rail -- each earning $1,580.60 -- and just about three-and-a-half hours after the tournament had started the final table was already underway.

Seat 1: 10jacker (Iceland) -- 2,353,324
Seat 2: alexandrapau (Canada) -- 2,606,431
Seat 3: cladarth (Poland) -- 2,916,803
Seat 4: DarthJules (Russia) -- 1,305,872
Seat 5: aabas (Lebanon) -- 687,474
Seat 6: fleim333 (Russia) -- 1,420,096

Both cladarth and alexandrapau had pushed ahead of 10jacker, then about 10 minutes after the final table began it was alexandrapau adding more chips after knocking aabas out in sixth.

aabas's demise came after committing a stack of about 610,000 (just over 10 big blinds) with [Ad][9c][5s][4s] versus alexandrapau's [Ac][8d][6d][4h], then watching a flop come all diamonds to give alexandraupau what became a scoop-worthy flush with no possible low.

Play continued, then fleim333 earned a huge double-up through alexandrapau to take over the chip lead. But alexandrapau -- a one-time SCOOP winner who took down a $1,050 PLO 1R+1A turbo event in 2011 -- soon bounced back, earning a second final-table knockout by ending DarthJules's tournament in fifth place.

Down to less than 12 big blinds, DarthJules had shoved with [Ah][8c][6h][3s] and got called by alexandrapau holding [Ad][8h][7s][2d]. A [9d][Jh][Ks][Td][9s] board then gave alexandrapau a straight to send DarthJules railward.

Amid fleeting chatbox references to a possible deal, play pushed onward toward the four-hour mark with both 10jacker and cladarth surviving all-ins by winning split pots.

But then alexandrapau become short-stacked, and after pushing a sub-6 BB stack with [Kh][Kc][Qs][6s] and getting reraise-isolated by cladarth who held [Ah][Qh][Td][5d], a board containing three hearts gave cladarth a winner to knock out alexandrapau in fourth.

Just a few minutes later fleim333 was raising the minimum to 280,000 from the button, 10jacker was shoving all in for just over 1.7 million from the small blind, and fleim333 was there with a call. 10jacker held [As][Tc][8c][2d] and would make a straight after the board came [Ts][Qd][Kh][Jd][Qc]. But that board-pairing river queen made a full house for fleim333 who held [Ac][Qh][Td][3h], and they were down to two.

Heads-up began with cladarth in front with about 6.1 million versus fleim333's nearly 5.2 million. They'd stay close to one another over the next couple of dozen hands, then cladarth began to put some distance between them, chipping up over 8.5 million as fleim333 fell back under 2.7 million.

Then with the blinds at 100,000/200,000, fleim333 open-shoved all in from the button and cladarth made the call.

cladarth: [Ad][Kd][Jd][Jc]
fleim333: [8h][7s][4c][2c]

cladarth was looking for big cards while fleim333 had ideas of scooping should the next five stay small. The [7h][8s][Ks] flop was promising for fleim333, good for two pair plus that low draw. But the turn was the [Ts] and river the [Js], that final card making a set for cladarth and stopping fleim333 one spot shy of the win.

Congratulations to cladarth who in four hours and 11 minutes managed to top a field of 2,258 to turn a $55 buy-in into a nice $17,783.12 first prize.

TCOOP-02 ($55 No-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo) results
Entrants: 2,258
Prize pool: $112,900.00
Places paid: 288

1. cladarth (Poland) -- $17,783.12
2. fleim333 (Russia) -- $13,265.75
3. 10jacker (Iceland) -- $9,878.75
4. alexandrapau (Canada) -- $6,491.75
5. DarthJules (Russia) -- $4,233.75
6. aabas (Lebanon) -- $2,368.64

Things are only getting started in the 50-event Turbo Championship of Online Poker. Check the TCOOP page for the full schedule.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

Life is busy. Who really has time to sit there for 14+ hours grinding a poker tournament? That's why the PokerStars Turbo Championships of Online Poker (TCOOP) is one of the most popular series of the year. Big fields, huge prize pools and it's all over in a matter of hours.

The opening day of the series kicked off with some fantastic offerings, the third of which was the $215 No Limit Holdem Turbo Progressive Super-Knockout Event. It attracted an enormous field of 4,952 players to swell the prize pool to just shy of $1 million to surpass the advertised guarantee.

Half of that prize pool would be shared among the top 630 players, while the other half would be offered as progressive bounties on each of the players, with that bounty accumulating value as the tournament progressed.

Some of the Team PokerStars Pros in the field included Stavros Kalfas, Tyler Frost, Martin Hrubý, George Lind, Caio Pessagno, Marcin Horecki and Johnathan Duhamel who all fell short of the money.

Matthias de Meulder (537th - $188.17+$637.50) finished in profit while the two red spades that lasted the longest were actually the two newest additions to the PokerStars Team Pro stable with Indian Aditya Agarwal (263rd - $282.26+$787.50) and Japanese player Kosei Ichinose (223rd - $307.02+$212.50) both running deep in a solid performance.

After a little over four hours of play, puffinmypurp would bubble the final table when shoving with [kh][9d] into shiyueudzhan's [as][ts]. shiyueudzhan paired up the ten to collect the pot to see our final table set:

Final Table Line Up
Seat 1: Papszi17 (1,605,828 in chips)
Seat 2: rounder3989 (2,411,605 in chips)
Seat 3: Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver (2,204,630 in chips)
Seat 4: woody1234321 (4,954,923 in chips)
Seat 5: DrinDasDing (2,092,688 in chips)
Seat 6: aroustamian (4,504,840 in chips)
Seat 7: shiyueudzhan (2,560,909 in chips)
Seat 8: viivi87 (930,032 in chips)
Seat 9: jamani69 (3,494,545 in chips)

jamani69 was quick out of the blocks, winning the first two pots including the elimination of Papszi17. It was a battle of the blinds when jamani69 opened with a min-raise before Papszi17 moved all in. jamani69 made the call with [ac][2c] for a slight advantage over Papszi17's [kc][qs]. The board ran out [2d][9s][2h][5s][Ts] to give jamani69 trip deuces and the bounty as Papszi17 departed in ninth place for $3,961.60 plus $1,146.86 in bounties.

Next hand, Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver would also join the rail after getting pretty unlucky. Action folded around to rounder3989 in the small blind who moved all in with an ambitious [9c][4c] hoping to take down the blinds, but ImDaNuts made the call for tournament life with [ad][8h]. The board would run out [Kh][7c][Tc][8d][Js] to see rounder3989 make a straight to land the knockout. ImDaNuts picked up $6,190 along with $1,663.27 in bounties for eighth place.

The third elimination in three hands would see viivi87 crash in seventh place. The short-stacked viivi87 was all in preflop from early position with [ks][qh] with woody1234321 making the call with a dominant [as][qd]. The board of [6h][5d][9c][8c][Ac] put the exclamation point on the hand with an ace on the river to see viivi87 eliminated for $11,142 plus $2,861.71 in bounties.

A few hands of relative quiet was interrupted when DrinDasDing called off from the big blind with [ad][4d] after the big-stacked jamani69 had shoved from the cutoff position with [6h][6d]. DrinDasDing caught a pair but it was the wrong one as the board landed [4s][Tc][Qd][2h][2d]. The sixes held for jamani69, leaving DrinDasDing to exit in sixth place. That was worth $16,094 plus a healthy $5,476.13 in bounties.

One of the key hands of the tournament would result in a big double up for rounder3989 with pocket kings collecting a pot worth in excess of six million chips against woody1234321's pocket jacks. That would jump rounder3989 into contention, but jamani69 still held the chip lead with five players left.

The action would slow five-handed with several orbits of play before the next elimination. Again it was rounder3989 who took down the pot, but this time it required a bit of help from the river. aroustamian three-bet jammed with [qh][qs] and rounder3989 made the call with [qc][ad]. With just three outs to hit, the board of [Kh][Ts][2s][5c][Ac] would spring an ace from space on the river to end aroustamian's tournament in fifth place for $21,046 along with a generous helping of bounties worth another $8,559.33.

China's shiyueudzhan would be next to fall as woody1234321 started to rise to the top of the chip counts. With play folding to woody1234321 in the small blind, an all-in shove was called by shiyueudzhan with a rather strong [ac][jh], but woody1234321 had that notched with a dominating [as][qh]. The board bricked out [7h][2s][5d][2d][6c] leaving shiyueudzhan to pick up $27,978.80 plus $2,084.46 in bounties for fourth place.

A few hands were played three-handed before the idea of a deal was suggested.

rounder3989 said, "numbers anyone?"
woody1234321 said, "sure"

The players requested deal numbers based on a chip chop, which was quickly agreed to, leaving $16,000 in bounties in the middle and the title to play for.

With the numbers signed and sealed, play continued with the short-stacked jamani69 the next to go. With the blinds so high, jamani69 had just four big blinds when woody1234321 shoved from the small blind. jamani69 called with an above-average [kh][6h] but that would need to improve against woody1234321's [td][ts]. The board would run out [8h][As][8d][Jd][9h] with no help for jamani69 who was busted in third place for a post-deal $48,563.08 plus another $10,625.10 in bounties.

Heads-up chip counts
Seat 2: rounder3989 (9,481,570 in chips)
Seat 4: woody1234321 (15,278,430 in chips)

woody1234321 would take a small lead into heads-up play and extended that slightly before the first big clash between the two players would also be their last.

The hand started off innocently enough, with rounder3989 limping the small blind and woody1234321 checking the option in the big blind to see a flop of [js][5c][ts]. woody1234321 check-raised the flop before rounder3989 moved all in. woody1234321 was happy to call with the [jh][5s] flopping well with two pair, but it wasn't over just yet as rounder3989 tabled [9s][4s] for a flush draw. rounder3989 paired up on the [9h] turn but the [8d] river left woody1234321 to capture the pot and the victory!

It was a great run by rounder3989 who picked up $54,671.32 plus $11,311.83 in bounties for second place as the TCOOP title goes to the United Kingdom with woody1234321 pocketing $72,999.14 plus a massive $22,222.15 in bounties. Congratulations!

TCOOP-03: $215 NLHE Turbo Progressive Super KO - $800K Guaranteed
Entrants: 4,952
Regular Prize Pool: $495,200
Bounty Prize Pool: $492,200
Places Paid: 630

1. woody1234321 (United Kingdom) $72,999.14* + $22,222.15
2. rounder3989 (Germany) $54,671.32* + $11,311.83
3. jamani69 (Crotia) $48,563.08* + $10,625.10
4. shiyueudzhan (China) $27,978.80 + $2,084.46
5. aroustamian (Russia) $21,046.00 + $8,559.33
6. DrinDasDing (Germany) $16,094.00 + $5,476.13
7. viivi87 (Finland) $11,142.00 + $2,861.71
8. Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver (Costa Rica) $6,190.00 + $1,663.27
9. Papszi17 (Hungary) $3,961.60 + $1,146.86

The 2015 Turbo Championship of Online Poker runs right through until February 1st with a guaranteed $15,000,000 in tournament prize pools across 50 fantastic events. The highlight of the series is the TCOOP Main Event on February 1st which offers a $2,000,000 prize pool guarantee and a top prize of at least $300,000.

Check out the TCOOP home page for the full schedule, satellite information, results, series leaderboard and more.

Heath "TassieDevil" Chick is a Freelance Contributor for the PokerStars Blog.

In a little more than four hours and for the price of a round of drinks for your friends at the pub, you could walk away with almost a year's worth of wages. That's the beauty of TCOOP, where the final table lasts shorter than an episode of The Simpsons.

Canada's AJacejackAJ advanced to the final table with an ultra-rare Triple COOP championship within grasp. AJacejackAJ binked a SCOOP in 2012 and won a WCOOP bracelet in 2014. Alas, AJacejackAJ fell short of a prestigious Triple COOP after busting in fifth place. Two Dutchies -- Masta_shadow and Criptoon -- were left standing at a final table in TCOOP Event #4 that whizzed by in only 21 minutes and featured two bizarre instances when two players were eliminated in the same hand. Heads-up battle of the Netherlands went so fast, you could have sneezed and missed all seven hands. Criptoon overcame nearly a 3-1 disadvantage to emerge as one of the champions on the first day of the 2015 Turbo Championship of Online Poker.

On the opening day of TCOOP, Event #4 $55 NL Hold'em attracted a healthy field of 6,204 runners. They collectively created a prize pool worth $310,2000. Only the top 810 places paid out, but $48,517.98 was originally set aside to the eventual champion.

The money bubble popped in only two hours and thirteen minutes. Within 2.5 hours, 90% of the entire field was liquidated. By the third hour of play, fewer than 99 players remained in the hunt for a TCOOP crown. With 60 players remaining, a trio of 1M chip stacks emerged with pistons87 (Canada) leading the way. With 30 to go, jaggaRbomb (Canada) seized the lead with 3M. By the time 18 players were left on the final two tables, Masta_shadow (Netherlands) surged to over 4.4M and took over the top spot. With 11 remaining, Criptoon and jaggaRbomb fought neck-and-neck for the lead with 7M each. With action hand-for-hand on the final table bubble, two-time COOP winner AJacejackAJ won a race with [5h][5c] against reeda205's [Qh][Th], to send the Czech Republic's reeda205 home in tenth place. With nine remaining, the final table was set.

2015 TCOOP Event #4 Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: Pe3aK84 (2,186,104)
Seat 2: jaggaRbomb (6,706,422)
Seat 3: Masta_shadow (4,475,988)
Seat 4: AJacejackAJ (4,283,739)
Seat 5: damourinio (1,874,338)
Seat 6: Criptoon (7,140,215)
Seat 7: thenickh (1,607,930)
Seat 8: haof11 (1,475,368)
Seat 9: Jesusisback0 (1,269,896)

The final table commenced during Level 45 with blinds at 80K/160K and a 20K ante. The front runner was Criptoon (Netherlands) with 7.1M, meanwhile, Jesusisback0 was bringing up the rear as the shortest stack at 1.2M. Jesusisback0 won a SCOOP in 2014 and was seeking a second COOP crown. AJacejackAJ was no stranger to a final table. The Canadian had two COOP victories with wins in the 2012 SCOOP and 2014 WCOOP, and was seeking a TCOOP win to fill in an elusive Triple COOP.

The Long Run: Jesusisback0 eliminated in 9th place

Nine hands. One full orbit. That's how long it took before two players rumbled at the final table. Short-stacked Jesusisback0 was seeking a double up and open-shoved 789,896 with [Ah][8c]. Alas, jaggaRbomb accepted the challenge with a formidable [Tc][Td]. Although Jesusisback0 flopped an Ace and turned trips, that was no match for jaggaRbomb, who flopped a set and turned a full house. The board finished up [As][Jh][Th][Ad][Qd] and jaggaRbomb won the pot to chip up to second overall. Poland's Jesusisback0 became the first player to exit the final table. Ninth place paid out $2,481.60.

The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks: damourinio eliminated in 8th place and haof11 eliminated in 7th place

You probably want to go shopping with Masta_shadow, because Masta knows how to find a sick deal. You can't beat a two-for-one deal, right? Three-way action. Short-stacked damourinio made a final stand and moved all-in for 1,279,338, but haof11 re-shoved for 2,400,736. Alas, Masta_shadow called from the big blind after waking up with Big Slick.

damourinio: [3h][3d]
Masta_shadow: [Ad][Ks]
haof11: [Ah][Qc]

A king on the flop sunk damourinio's hopes. The board finished up [Kc][8d][4s][Js][8h]. damourinio's two pair was inferior to Masta_shadow's Kings and eights. Masta_shadow won the main pot and the side pot. Greece's damourinio busted in eighth place, which paid out $3,877.50. Israel's haof11 also failed to improve and was knocked out in seventh place, which paid out $6,979.50.

Those Shoes: Pe3aK84 eliminated in 6th place

Fireworks ensued on the next hand. Pe3aK84 shoved for 1,934,854 with [As][9s] and jaggaRbomb called with [Ac][Jc]. jaggaRbomb hit the flop with a pair of Jacks and finished up with two pair -- Jacks and sixes. Russia's Pe3aK84 hit the virtual rail in sixth place, which paid out $10,081.50.

With five to go, Criptoon stood atop of the heap with 9M, followed by jaggaRBomb's 8.2M. The shortest stack was AJacejackAJ struggling with 1.8M.

King of Hollywood: AJacejackAJ eliminated in 5th

Ah, the limp-call with Kings trick! Masta_shadow limped, AJacejackAJ moved all-in for 2,594,489 with [Kh][2s], and Masta_shadow called with [Kc][Kd]. The board ran out [Qd][Th][4h][8d][9h]. AJacejackAJ never improved and Masta_shadow's pocket cowboys held up. For a fifth-place performance, AJacejackAJ collected $13,183.50.

With four remaining, Masta_shadow seized the lead with 11.2M, while thenickh was treading water with a 3.8M short stack.

Heartache Tonight: thenickh eliminated in 4th and jaggaRbomb eliminated in 3rd

Another two-for-one special. This one was a heck of a cooler. The good old Big Slick versus Queens and Jacks. jaggaRbomb bombed it all-in for 4,190,964, Masta_shadow re-bombed for 10,343,997, and shorty thenickh called all-in for 3,457,110.

thenickh: [Qc][Qh]
Masta_shadow: [Jc][Jd]
jaggaRbomb: [Ad][Kc]

jaggaRbomb flopped an Ace, but Masta_shadow flopped a set of Jacks. No one else improved when the board ran out [Ac][Jh][6d][3d][Ts]. Masta_shadow dragged the main pot and side pot. Going into this hand, thenickh held fewer chips so thenickh was knocked out in fourth place, which paid out $17,526.30. One-time chipleader jaggaRbomb busted in third place and earned $25,544.97.

HEADS-UP: Masta_shadow (Netherlands) vs. Criptoon (Netherlands)
Seat 3: Masta_shadow (22,783,035)
Seat 6: Criptoon (8,236,965)

The battle of the Netherlands. Criptoon trailed by nearly 3-1.

QUICK DEAL

Action was paused to discuss a deal, especially with these five-minute turbo blinds. The final two combatants had to leave $6,000 on the table to the eventual champion, but they agreed on a deal that guaranteed Masta_shadow $40,754.53 and Criptoon locked up $37,901.75.

The Disco Strangler: Masta_shadow eliminated in 2nd; Criptoon wins Event #4!

Heads-up action lasted a mere seven hands with Criptoon coming from behind to win six out of the final seven hands. On the third hand, Criptoon doubled up with [Js][Jh] to avoid elimination and pull almost within even.

Going into the final hand Criptoon picked up a narrow lead. Criptoon min-raised to 800K, Masta_shadow bumped it up to 1,950,000, Criptoon four-bet to 3.6M, Masta_shadow five-bet shoved for 13,787,345, and Criptoon called. Another cooler, eh? Criptoon tabled [Kh][Ks] while Masta_shadow was hoping [Ah][Kc] can stave off elimination. The board finished up [Td][Tc][4c][2d][8s] and Masta_shadow never got that Ace to improve. Criptoon dragged the pot and won the tournament. For a runner-up performance, Masta_shadow earned $40,754.53.

Congrats to the Netherlands' Criptoon for winning TCOOP Event #4 and a first-place prize worth $43,901.75.

TCOOP-04 $55 NL Hold'em (Turbo)
Entrants: 6,204
Prize Pool: $310,200
Places Paid: 810

1. Criptoon (Netherlands) $43,901.75 **
2. Masta_shadow (Netherlands) $40,754.53 **
3. jaggaRbomb (Canada) $25,544.97
4. thenickh (United Kingdom) $17,526.30
5. AJacejackAJ (Canada) $13,183.50
6. Pe3aK84 (Russia) $10,081.50
7. haof11 (Israel) $6,979.50
8. damourinio (Greece) $3,877.50
9. Jesusisback0 (Poland) $2,481.60

** Denotes a deal among the final two players

Visit the TCCOP homepage for sattelite information, a full list of remianing events, and find out who is currently in the lead for Player of the Series.

Pauly McGuire is an author and freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.

12:10pm: News from Tournament Room B
Way back on the first day of the festival, well Tuesday to be precise, the High Roller got this festival started. That tournament took place in what we now call Tournament Room B. Today there are seven tables in there and they're all packed.

Fintan Gavin is going to liven up table 14, he arrived a short time ago and immediately raised the decibel level at his table. One table over you'll find tour regulars Kelly Saxby and Dean Clay sat side by side. Saxby was runner-up in a tournament here at The Hippodrome Casino in November of last year and won the woman's event at EPT London in 2013. She'll be hoping she's too busy in the main event to be playing the UKIPT ladies event which takes place Sunday at 3pm.

As for Clay, most of his $111,000 of live earning have come on tours other than the UKIPT where his best finish to date is 67th at UKIPT3 Galway, he'll be hoping to put that right this week.

Sat in adjoining seats at another table in the room are John Duthie and Brett Angell. Duthie of course was a driving force behind the EPT for many years but we're fairly certain this is his first time playing a UKIPT main event. That of course is not the case for Angell, he's looking for back to back victories on the UKIPT having won UKIPT4 London back in October.

A little further into the room you'll find Chris Straghalis and Vicente Delgado sharing the same felt. It's harder not to spot Straghalis than it is to spot him, although he's toned it down today as he's decked out in a black shirt adorned with poker cards and a hat to match. Whilst Team Pro Online's Delgado has come dressed for dinner as he's wearing a smart button down shirt. -- NW

12:00pm: Flush with success
James "RoyalFlush" Dempsey has had an auspicious start to the day, chipping up to 35,000. He was reticent about the details of the hand that sprung him up the leaderboard, though the words "backdoor draw" were heard in mumbled whispers suggesting fortune had smiled upon him.

Tablemate Julian Thew is also on the up, his stack also above the 35,000 mark.

"I join the table and there's Julian Thew with top set versus two pair. Nothing's changed in poker over the last 10 years!" Dempsey commented. -- RS

Blinds up: 75/150

11:40am: In the main room
Play is spread over three separate areas here at The Hippodrome Casino and there's 12 tables in the main room, known as the Matcham Room. There's plenty of familiar faces around those dozen tables including: WSOP bracelet winner James Dempsey, EPT winner Julian Thew, UKIPT champion Emmett Mullin, UKIPT runner-up Ciaran Heaney, Jonathan Weekes, Gary Clarke, Chihao Tsang and Andrew Ferguson.

Thew and Dempsey are actually at the same table in the six and nine seats respectively. -- NW

11:30am: Capped!
The field cap is around the 280 number, although alternates will likely boost this through to the 320 mark perhaps even beyond. It's a slight struggle cramming all these keen players into the facilities but the organisers have done a good job of allocating table space to fulfill the almost insatiable demand for UKIPT poker.

Despite this there is a little bit of elbowing going on right now as everyone fights for their bit of space. Our talented photographer Mickey May was on the receiving end of one of these elbows moments ago, but her resilient Scandinavian roots shone through and she laughed it off and continued getting a good shot. --RS

11:20am: De Meulder on his way
Team PokerStars Pro Matti De Meulder is one of many poker players who've relocated to London and he's taking advantage of this to play his local friendly neighbourhood tour. -- NW

About to head over to @PSLive_Hippo for day 1c of the #UKIPTLondon Main Event. Heard it's packed. Should make for a great event

— Matthias De Meulder (@mattionfire) January 23, 2015

Welcome back to the Hippodrome Casino for London UKIPT Part three.

It's the third of the starting days and the first two have proved compulsive affairs. Day three could be the most explosive of the trilogy however. The starting numbers will be at max capacity with a full complement of players champing at the bit at the gates of the card room.

There will be alternates waiting to boost these numbers so the final tally should be impressive.

Amongst the throngs of hopefuls taking their place at the felt will be a host of familiar faces. Fatima Moreira de Melo has that elusive combination of brains and beauty and will be looking to go one pip better than her 2nd place finish at the Isle of Man UKIPT in 2013.

John Duthie is a man who made a huge contribution to the poker boom with his work on the EPT. As well as helping the future of poker out, he has found time to notch up nearly $3 million worth of tournament results. He'll likely be a force to be reckoned with,

We could spend all day pointing out the celebrated players in the field, but the players are about to begin following a short delay to iron out a few logistical gremlins, but they have been dealt with and we are now ready to begin.

Good luck one and all!

TCOOP hardly needs to be sold. The action and the prize pools take care of that. So when we tweeted that "Frauwutz was ahead" last night (with an exclamation mark), as if he'd seized pole position in an unlikely and decisive coup - albeit 20 minutes after play started -- we were having a little fun. We didn't realise he'd then go on to win the thing.

frauwutz off to a good start

But when the lights were turned on at Blog HQ this morning we discovered that in fact he had. In a rare instance of a player getting to the front early on and staying there, frauwutz captured the title, a first prize of $46,252.50 and an improbable story of coincidence. Regardless, we're delighted for him.

And a good finish (hat-tip to the eagle-eyed @L0zrlok for spotting this)

Frauwutz's win, which you can read about here, was the first of this year's TCOOP series, with four of what will be 50 events completed on opening day. Each of them was won by a player recording their first COOP win.

In Event #2 there was a near miss for EPT regular Sam "SamSquid" Grafton, but it was cladarth who emerged with the title, richer to the tune of $17,783.12 after a no-limit Omaha contest that, as Martin Harris reported, lasted a mere four hours and 11 minutes.

Meanwhile in Event #3 the game was no-limit hold'em, but of the progressive super knockout kind, with bounties paid on every player eliminated. It meant woody1234321, from the United Kingdom, would win in more ways than one, collecting the first prize of $72,999.14 (after a three-way deal), but also the most bounties, which added up to an additional $22,222.15, more than any other player in the event (he would dismiss four players from the final table alone). Read < href="http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/en/blog/online/tcoop/2015_1/2015/tcoop-2015-woody1234321-wins-event-3-215-nlhe-turbo-pro-153566.shtml"> Heath Chick's report on the event here.

That left Event #4 to round off the day, a straight forward no-limit hold'em vanilla tournament, that boasted a field of more than 6,200 players and a prize pool of more than $300,000. It was won by Criptoon from the Netherlands, in what proved a wire-to-wire final table performance. As Pauly Maguire reported, it was a typical TCOOP event, with a final table completed in a mere 21 minutes, or as he put it, quicker than an episode of The Simpsons. Read his report here.

Scroll down for the full results from the opening day of TCOOP.

So with four events played there are now just 46 to go, which should give you plenty of time to get involved. And remember, if the buy-ins are a little steep for your bankroll there is always the option of a satellite, with qualifiers running throughout the Championship, with entry fees ranging from a few FPPs to a few cents. Check out the tournament lobby, or the TCOOP homepage, for details.

Looking ahead to the weekend there is plenty of action in store, dominated of course by events in TCOOP.

There are four more events today, starting soon with Event #5 at 08:00 ET, a PL Omaha 6-Max (2R1A), before hold'em takes center stage once more. There are 11 events scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, with action available almost throughout every waking hour. The pick of those will be Event #16 on Sunday, the $320 NL hold'em Progressive Super Knockout with $1 million guaranteed. It should make for an interesting addition to the usual range of Sunday Majors. They of course continue uninterrupted.

For the full run down of everything you need to know about TCOOP, as well as the schedule, guaranteed, and how to qualify, visit the TCOOP homepage.

That's your weekend on PokerStars. Congratulations to all our winners so far, and good luck to everyone taking part in TCOOP, and the Sunday Majors, this weekend. You too frauwutz.

TCOOP results so far:

TCOOP 2015: Event #1 ($27 No-Limit Hold'em, 6-Max, Turbo, Re-Entry)
Entries: 13,776 (6,556 re-entries)
Prize Pool: $500,000
Places paid: 2,700

1. frauwutz (Germany) *$46,252.50
2. MoscowNo1 (Russia) *$38,117.61
3. PKAnoitecer (Portugal) *37,583.29
4. jawong2000 (Hong Kong) *$31,041.60
5. fournn (Canada) $9,050.00
6. thygz (Estonia) $5,705.60
* Denotes a four-way deal

TCOOP-02 ($55 No-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo)
Entrants: 2,258
Prize pool: $112,900.00
Places paid: 288

1. cladarth (Poland) $17,783.12
2. fleim333 (Russia) $13,265.75
3. 10jacker (Iceland) $9,878.75
4. alexandrapau (Canada) $6,491.75
5. DarthJules (Russia) $4,233.75
6. aabas (Lebanon) $2,368.64

TCOOP-03: $215 NLHE Turbo Progressive Super KO - $800K Guaranteed
Entrants: 4,952
Prize Pool: $495,200
Bounty Prize Pool: $492,200
Places Paid: 630

1. woody1234321 (United Kingdom) $72,999.14* + $22,222.15
2. rounder3989 (Germany) $54,671.32* + $11,311.83
3. jamani69 (Crotia) $48,563.08* + $10,625.10
4. shiyueudzhan (China) $27,978.80 + $2,084.46
5. aroustamian (Russia) $21,046.00 + $8,559.33
6. DrinDasDing (Germany) $16,094.00 + $5,476.13
7. viivi87 (Finland) $11,142.00 + $2,861.71
8. Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver (Costa Rica) $6,190.00 + $1,663.27
9. Papszi17 (Hungary) $3,961.60 + $1,146.86

TCOOP-04 $55 NL Hold'em
Entrants: 6,204
Prize Pool: $310,200
Places Paid: 810

1. Criptoon (Netherlands) $43,901.75 *
2. Masta_shadow (Netherlands) $40,754.53 *
3. jaggaRbomb (Canada) $25,544.97
4. thenickh (United Kingdom) $17,526.30
5. AJacejackAJ (Canada) $13,183.50
6. Pe3aK84 (Russia) $10,081.50
7. haof11 (Israel) $6,979.50
8. damourinio (Greece) $3,877.50
9. Jesusisback0 (Poland) $2,481.60
* Denotes a deal among the final two players

The Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) today unveiled the Season 9 schedule for APPT Seoul which takes place at the Paradise Walkerhill Casino from April 6-12, 2015.
The seven-day schedule includes six Official Asia Player of the Year events and features the ₩3,000,000 (USD $2,800) buy-in Main Event.

"Our team is always excited to return to Seoul," said APPT President Danny McDonagh. "Paradise Walkerhill provides a fantastic player experience every year and we're expecting continued growth for tournament poker in the region."

Last year's APPT Seoul Main Event winner, Thailand's Chane Kampanatsanyakorn beat a 256-player field which earned him a ₩150,000,000 share of the ₩685,000,000 prize pool. The Season 8 poker festival set a new record for attendance with a total of 817 players and ₩1,068,140,250 in prize money across all events.

"Seoul is one the most modern cities in the world. The bars, nightclubs and roadside food offerings welcome you to a great nightlife experience," said recently signed Team PokerStars Pro Kosei Ichinose.

In addition to Ichinose, several other notables have already confirmed their attendance including fellow Team PokerStars Pros Celina Lin, Bryan Huang, and Aditya Argawal; and 2014 Asia Player of the Year Pete Chen.

Online satellites to the APPT Seoul Main Event are running now.

SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS
(All figures in KRW)

April 6 @ 6:00 PM: ₩350,000 Deepstack
April 7 @ 6:00 PM: ₩700,000 APPT Seoul Warm-up
April 8 @ 2:00 PM: ₩1,100,000 Pot Limit Omaha
April 8 @ 7:00 PM: ₩500,000 Main Event Mega Satellite (5 Seat Guarantee)
April 9 @ 12:00 PM: ₩3,000,000 MAIN EVENT - Day 1A
April 10 @ 12:00 PM: ₩3,000,000 MAIN EVENT - Day 1B
April 11 @ 9:00 PM: ₩6,000,000 High Roller (1 re-entry)
April 12 @ 12:30 PM: ₩500,000 Turbo Bounty - Flight 1 (80 max)
April 12 @ 4:00 PM: ₩500,000 Turbo Bounty - Flight 2 (80 max)

The full APPT Seoul schedule is available here: http://www.appt.com/tournaments/seoul/

The 'PokerStars LIVE Manila' poker room completed its first special event with the inaugural Manila Megastack which took place from January 14-18.

Over the five-day schedule, the six tournaments drew totals of 235 players and nearly PHP 3 million in prize money.

"It's great to see some of our Macau regulars come to Manila to celebrate the new poker room." said Poker Room Manager Gerardo "Hill" Alim. "The numbers this week are a good start and we're excited about the future growth of the Manila Megastack as a significant series in the Philippines."

Korean Joon-han Lee defeated Hong Kong's Raiden Kan during heads up play to win the Main Event. Lee earned PHP 439,300 for his victory as well as the distinction as the first ever winner.

Joon-Han Lee

Lee was making his second final table of the early Asia Player of the Year season and currents sits at No. 5. Meanwhile, Kan's runner-up finish gives him 12,732 points on the all-time list in Official Asia Player of the Year events to leapfrog Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin (12,434) for the top spot. Kan and Lin are also tied for most ever final tables at 26 each.

For complete results from the Manila Megastack please click here.

For 2015 Asia Player of the Year rankings please click here.

8.30pm: Day one is done
The third and final starting flight is in the books and from now on the number of entrants can only go down! It looks like roughly 123 players made it through today meaning the Day 2 field is going to be around 125 players strong.

Leading the way at the end of play today was UK poker stalwart Ross Boatman, he narrowly pipped another UK poker veteran - Nik Persaud - to that honour. Another UK verteran - Willie Tann - finished with 169,300 and is right up there too. A full wrap of the day's play is on the way. Day 2 starts tomorrow at 11am. -- NW

8pm: Last six hands
The tournament clock has been paused and players will play six more hands before they are done for the day. -- NW

7:55pm: Vying for the chip lead
There are a number of players in contention for the chip lead as play enters the final 15 minutes. Here are the contenders:

Nik Persaud - 190,000
Beyazit Zorlu - 165,000
William Ho - 155,000
Chuck Clark - 150,000
Diego Gomez - 143,000
Willie Tann - 140,000
Ross Boatman - 140,000

7:42pm: Gone
The following players have fallen one level short in their quest to make Day 2: Jakub Gora, Paul Simpkins, Elisabeth Hille, Katie Swift, Robert Hagevik, Andrew Hawksby, Craig Sewell, Michal Janczarski, Feng Tian, Grzegorz Reczko, Kane Power Owain Carey, and William Kassouf. -- NW

7:32pm: Last level of the night
Level 12 has just started and it's the final level of the day. Currently 140 of 347 players still have chips and the average stack is 62,000. -- NW

Blinds up: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante

7:22pm: Chattha: "Back to square one"
Chaz Chattha has worked hard to build his stack up and managed to reach the lofty heights of 60,000 before getting in a huge 70,000 pot.

Having peeled a raise with [Jh][4h], he saw a delicious flop with a 4 and two hearts on it appear and decided he was happy to gamble.

"I wasn't going anywhere. I kind of expected him to show me kings but it turned out he had [Ah][6h] so I was actually ahead!"

Chattha ended up losing the hand dropping him into the push shove danger zone with 20 big blinds (35k).

"Back to square one," he said with a sigh. --RS

7:20pm: More chip counts
Just four tables remain in use in Tournament Room B and here are the counts of some of the names, notables and big stacks from that room:

Beyazit Zorlu - 167,000
Matti De Meulder - 70,000
Andy Black - 55,000
Owain Carey - 42,000
Brett Angell - 50,300
Will Kassouf - 18,000

7:10pm: Saxby suffers exit
From under-the-gun Fernando Marin Diaz raised to 3,400 and he picked up three callers including Kelly Saxby, who was in the big blind. So there was roughly 18,800 in the pot as the flop came [Qh][10d][6h].

Saxby was first to act, she moved all-in for 14,900, Diaz asked for a count and then called and the other two players folded their hands. Saxby was first to show, she turned over [Kh][10h] for middle pair and the flush draw but she was behind Diaz's [Ah][Qs]. The [5c] turn and [Qc] river bought no help for the American though and she wished the table good luck before leaving. -- NW

7:01pm: Bust-a-roo
The bucking donkey of variance has sent these hapless players flailing from the saddle - their tournament hopes crash landing on the dusty road.

On the plus side, London's multitude of social hotspots are now available for their delectation. Enjoy!

Chen Wenbin
Chao Xia
Gregory Neal
Lee Taylor
Timothy Farrelly
Neil Bernardout
Slawomir Andrzej Grzechowiak
Rohan Marwaha
Johnny Franse
Philip John Marcu
Adam Kelly
Adam Forsyth
Lee Ball
Yoeri Van Erp
Stefan Belgasmi Blendulf
Frode Oesterboe Fmid
Bartosz Piesiewicz
Robert Cowen
Rapinder Cheema
Matz Åke Lindman
Nicholas Green
Michael Hawkins
Mark Wates
Guy Beiruty
Anthony Georgiou
Dara Davey
Niall James Duffy
Dimitrios Patroklou
Ruben Tack
Vicente Delgado
Lee Hanlon -- RS

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 800-1,600-200

6:45pm: Chip counts
Willie Tann got in as the 72nd alternate earlier today but it's not done 'the diceman' any harm as he's boosted his stack to 60,000 since he's been at the felt. He's at the same table as James Dempsey, the Brit has completed two legs of the triple crown and just needs an EPT win to complete the set. He's dropped to around 53,000 from a high point of 90,000. Other stacks of names and notables in Tournament Room A are:

Diego Gomez - 135,000
Jamie O'Connor - 108,000
Nik Persaud - 92,000
James Tomlin - 70,000
Fraser Macintyre - 57,000
Andrew Sweeney - 48,000
Steve Watts - 46,000
Ross Boatman - 45,000
Jonathan Weekes - 27,500
Ciaran Heaney - 20,000
Gary Clarke 17,400
Mark Wagstaff - 12,000

6:38pm: Lindman ship sunk
Matz Lindman had been working a smallish stack for much of the day and his tournament hopes finally fizzled out when a 14BB squeeze shove with [Kh][Qs] was reluctantly called by Thomas Hemming holding [Ah][6c].

Hemming's slim equity advantage held over the [Th][3d][2d][5s][7s] board.

"I had the right stack to do it," Lindman consoled himself with before thanking his tablemates graciously and taking leave of the arena. --RS

6:30pm: Not five alive
Coming into this event Team PokerStars SportStar had four cashes from four UKIPT Main Events. Not just cashes either she'd finished: 2nd, 96th, 38th and 59th on those four occasions.

So, hope was that she could make it five from five here in London but it's not to be as she's out. She intimated earlier that she may well play the ladies event though which takes place on Sunday at 3pm. -- NW

6:20pm: Come on down
As we're down to just 210 players the tables that were in use upstairs on The Poker Deck are no longer needed. Ross Boatman was one of the players to be moved downstairs during the last break. The former London's Burning star is chugging along on 37,000.

That's 37,000 more than a lot of players including this bunch who've all been eliminated: Gleb Krochmalis, Timothy Wright, John Bradley, Cosimo Sabatini, Rhys Ellis, Dirk Thijssen, Graham Farbrace, Sam Miller, Terence Owens, Marius Wolmarans, Alex Wharton, Angelos Megas, Nicholas Crozer, Mohammed Himedan, Paul Campbell, David Weir, Cathal Shine, Richard Lawlor, David Greene, Mateuisz Malinowski, Narinder Gill and Paul Mallett. -- NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 600-1,200

6:10pm: Back for the final furlong!
Three levels remain and with the blinds at a hefty 600/1,200/200 we can expect the going to be fast and furious from here on out.

Wars are going to be fought over the chunky preflop additions to the pots and the casualty list will be rising exponentially. Watch this space... -- RS

5:55pm: Level 9 is caput
Time for another break as level 9 has drawn to a close. The players are 3/4 of the way through the day although some of the alternates have only just joined the felt so should be feeling a lot fresher than others.

Can they take advantage of those extra energy levels when they return? We'll be back in 15 minutes -- RS

5:45pm: "I'm doing chunks!"
James Dempsey was complaining about his bad luck, but it wasn't at the poker table. Chinese poker on his phone was costing him dear, although the compensatory factor of this is his chip stack continues to rise in the tournament, up to 90k. -- RS

5:35pm: Watts on the comeback trail
There are still two tables out on the first floor balcony area here at The Hippodrome Casino. Former Leyton Orient striker Steve Watts, who is now a professional poker player, is one of those and 'Watto' as is he is known is making a good comeback.

Earlier he dipped as low as 11,000 but the experienced live player has grinded his way out of the malaise and is now up to 40,000 which is above the average stack of 37,700. -- NW

5:25pm: Kerplunk!
Remember that 80's board game involving sticks and balls?

Well the following players have pulled their showdown sticks out of the poker tube only to find all their run-good balls sent crashing to earth: (Apologies for that tortured metaphor.)

Wuyong Xu
Ellie Biessek
Ross Elliott
Frank Matthijs Van Der Geest
Kjetil Håland
Charles Denton
Samuel Pye
Sergio Lazaro
Ruizi Lin
Jack Loraine
Raymond Caabay
Guerman Vladimirov
George Achillea
Thomas Gallagher
Lawrence Penfold
Tomasz Pięta
Neil Barron
Massimo Derico Sculco
Ganapathy Samiappan
Julian Thew

Bad luck to any of their supporters, and our special commiserations to Julian Thew who remains one of the politest and friendliest guys you'll meet on or off the felt. -- RS

5:15pm: Fallers everywhere
Almost 100 players have been eliminated so far on Day 1C and these unlucky cardsmiths were amongst them: Andrew Abernethy, Asif Rajah, Conor Smyth, Shahid Hussain, Ryan Straub, Andrew Hedley, Andrew Ferguson, Achim Prinzing, Jonathan Proudfoot, Knut Berntsen, Joshua Green, Henry Wride, Samuel Newman, Andrew Newson, Richard Pullen, William Alexander, Andrew Young, Tomasz Graczyk, Andreas Corneliusson, Tai Tran and Alan Stearn. -- NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 500-1,000-100

5:05pm: Quick stack snapshot
Here's a quick look at some of the haves and have nots in the tournament right now.

Bayazit Zorlu - 100,000
Diego Gomez - 62,000
Chaz Chattha - 16,000
Fatima Moreira de Melo - 10,000 --RS

5:00pm: Surfeit of riches for Kassouf
"The rich get richer."

That has been the phrase oft-used at William Kassouf's table today, his inexorable rise to the top of the chip counts causing maybe a touch of green-eyed envy from some of his tablemates.

The latest coup that swung in his favour saw Ellie Biessek commit the last of her chips on a [5c][Ad][8c][8d][4c] board with [Tc][7c] for a flush, only to get the bad news that Mr Wonderful had [Kc][Qc] for a superior flush.

"Come on," laughed tablemate Pablo Rojas, still battling gamely on with a short-stack.

"Hey I was winning anyway with king-high!" pointed out Kassouf, defending himself verbally, though with his neatly ordered towers of chips continuing their growth, the mild ribbing he's getting will be water off a well-stacked duck's back.

Biessek out then and Kassouf is up to 140,000. -- RS

4:55pm: Chattha chatter
Chaz Chattha hasn't been able to get his tournament going today but he isn't letting his paucity of cards spoil his mood. "I've only got twenty bigs now, it's all about shoving ranges at this point. I know my ranges pretty well."

Even if it doesn't work out for him, he's upbeat about his prospects. "If I get knocked out, well it's Friday night in London isn't it!" -- RS

4:55pm: Matti on fire!
It's been a good Day 1 for Team PokerStars Pro Matti De Meulder, by the looks of this photo he's up to around 50,000 (click on image to see entire tweet). -- NW

Made two casualties already ... Building slowly. Yellow is good, blue is the nuts! #UKIPTLondon #poker pic.twitter.com/jSD00Oty1R

— Matthias De Meulder (@mattionfire) January 23, 2015

4:50pm: Hemming gets lucky
Yet again the floor was called to table one and this time it was to put the clock on Gleb Krochmalis. The Lithuanian was involved in a hand against Thomas Hemming that had reached the flop. On the [3d][10c][2c] flop Krochmalis had bet 4,700, Hemming had check-raised all-in for 15,000 more and Krochmalis was in the tank.

He needed only around 15 seconds of his allotted minute before he elected to call the all-in bet and it was time for showdown:

Krochmalis: [Kh][10d]
Hemming: [10h][9s]

The turn was the [As] and the river the [2s] Hemming got out of his seat to leave but the dealer pointed out it was a split pot and Hemming survived. -- NW

4:40pm: Floor!
At the very end of level seven a curious hand just played out at table one and it's one that needed the floor to provide a ruling. The action was started by Antonis Poulengeris, he raised to 1,200 from middle position, one seat along Neil Bernardout three-bet to 3,200 and action passed to Matz Åke Lindman who was on the button. He evidently hadn't seen Bernardout's raise as he said. "Raise to 2,500."

Initially, through table discussion only, it was ruled by the players more than anyone else that Lindman should raise the minimum so he put out a bet of 5,200. Robert Cowen, who was the big blind then said: "Shouldn't it have to be 5,700 and he said 'raise 2,500?'

At this point the floor was called and the dealer explained what had happened. Crucially the dealer explained to the floor staff that the exact words that Lindman had used were: 'raise to 2,500.' So the floor ruled that Lindman must put 2,500 into the pot and he then had the option to call the 3,200 or surrender his chips. Unsurprisingly he elected to call and Poulengeris said: "You've priced me in," before he too made the call. "You might have saved yourself 2,000," quipped Mark Lane to Lindman.

So it was three-way to a [6d][8s][Kh] flop, action was checked to Berandout, he bet 6,500 and it was enough to win the pot. "I can't work it out," said Poulengeris as he folded. "If you can't work it out then it's probably best to fold," said Bernadout. -- NW

4:30pm: Mullin mauled
UKIPT3 Galway champion Emmett Mullin is one of the players who've been eliminated during level seven. Others to have hit the rail include: Atilla Efeturk, Hicham Anbry, Kim-Erik Pedersen, Terence Cotter, Mike Panteli, Nuno Duarte, Patrick Thompson, Philip Petersen, Raz Alon, Adrian Constantin and Jack Stovell. -- NW

Blinds up: 400/800 ante 100

4:20pm: Angell gets aces
UKIPT4 London champion Brett Angell is going for back to back UKIPT wins and he just found aces and played a bit pot. He opened from early position to 600, Christopher McCall three-bet to 1,300, Tomasz Wrobel flat called the 1,300 and action was back on Angell. He asked McCall for a count of his stack - the lighting is not the best at that table - and then four-bet to 4,100 total. Mcall swiftly got out the way but Wrobel jammed for 17,000 and Angell - who was playing around 27,000 - made the call.

Angell: [Ad][Ah]
Wrobel: [As][Ac]

Both players had the bullets but it was Angell who was freerolling as the flop fell [6d][Jd][3s] the [2s] turn extinguished any hope of a bad beat and the [6c] completed the board. "That's pretty unlucky," said Angell to Wrobel as the next hand started. -- NW

4:20pm: Abernethy gets regal dismissal
Neil Bernardout has had a good day and it's just got a smidgin better as his pocket kings got the better of Andrew Abernethy's sixes after a preflop struggle.

Bernardout rises to around 60,000 and Abernethy is off to enjoy the rest of his Friday elsewhere. -- RS

4:10pm: In Black
Andy Black can stop disturbing players already playing the tournament now as the Irish poker legend has finally got his own seat in the UKIPT Main Event. He's got his own fresh 40 big blind+ stack. Although those getting it during level seven have missed over half of the action and not had the chance to chip up yet, the average stack is only 28,400 so they aren't at that much of a disadvantage chips wise. -- NW

4:00pm: Field of broken dreams
Not everyone can be a winner and the following players have seen their chances burn away:

Dean Clay, James Elliot, Sung Hee Yun, Georg Anton Giæver Beiske, Simon Hemsworth, Ylva Thorsrud, Terence Thomas Schofield, Neophytos Neophytou, Fintan Gavin, Jerome O'Shea, Jack Germaine and Philip Petersen are all gone. Good game all! -- RS

3:45pm: It's kick off!

The half time oranges have all been sucked, boots relaced and team talks given and we're back for the second half of the final of the three Day 1's.

Confused? Don't be, all you need to know is that we've had some great poker played out in levels 1-6, which you can find here and we anticipate more drama as the huge numbers that have descended on London's Hippodrome Casino to do battle are whittled down by ill-fortune, great play, variance and rising blinds.

The players are just returning from their post level 6 break to resume level 7. Good luck all!

PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars UKIPT London: Rod Stirzaker and Nick Wright. Photos by Mickey May

Do you have a couple pieces of favorite fancy clothing you like to wear for special occasions, meetings or more specifically poker events? I do! Sometimes I even activate the laundromat for a single run just to wash and be able to bring along my beloved shirts or hoodies. Whether it's for reasons of confidence, vanity, nostalgia or even a little bit of superstition I don't mind. It's just something that makes me feel good on any given day - hence it can only be a positive freeroll, right?

Last year was my very first year on Team Online, and my very first PCA experience came with it. Needless to say I brought my favorite shirts that year and sported them on different occasions. One of them was my first visit to the Atlantis water park which is a huge and fun place. Upon returning home and opening my bag I realized I was missing a fancy shirt of mine which got me wondering how that could have happened. It occurred to me the same night that the explanation was very simple: I must have left it on one of the countless beach chairs after undressing for water park action.

"No biggie," I told myself, "won't happen again!"

Boy, was I wrong. Fast forward one year. It's my second year on Team Online and my second trip to the Bahamas for PCA 2015. After wrapping up on business, poker and Team Online meetings. I joined the 2015 Team Online water park crew consisting of DaWarsaw, Frosty, Ladymace86, CoreySteel and his girlfriend for some fun times at the lazy river and slides.

When I got to my room afterwards, I received a tweet from Frosty asking me if I was missing a patched up white shirt.

He was nice enough to pick it up from the beach chairs, and I told him I would come over to his room to get it back. We happened to meet up for dinner, went to a bar, and chilled out on the patio the entire night - so we basically both forgot about my shirt.

I left the Bahamas the next morning heading towards Miami where 30 minutes of free wifi surprised me with another tweet from Frosty:

So it happened again. I may have officially created a tradition leaving my fancy shirts behind in the Bahamas. This time my teammate picked it up, but I wouldn't be too surprised to see it go up on ebay anytime soon - after all that would make up for a well deserved troll!

What I learned from this? Always buy at least a second copy of your favorite shirts!