* CLICK TO REFRESH FOR UP TO DATE UPDATES* Day 1A includes twelve 45 minute levels - currently playing level 8* 144 of 214 players remain* Late registration is closed* That is an archive of earlier updates, current Day 1A updates are available here

4:55pm: Wheeler can't spikeLevel 8: Blinds 400-800, 100 ante

Down to only 6,000 Jason Wheeler moved all in from early position, Ross Loggie isolated all in from late position and everybody else folded.

Loggie: A♦A♣Wheeler: 3♦3♠

The 8♦Q♦T♦T♠K♦ board brought no help for Wheeler and he was on his feet even before the river card arrived. --NW

Ross Loggie, 25,300

4:50pm: Big stack battleThe big stacks at Table 19, Vahid Karimkhanezand and Matt Davenport, just went to war in a four-bet pot, and on the end of it, the stacks had evened out a lot.

A couple of tablemates said that Davenport had cold four-bet preflop from the small blind. By the river, where a 4♦4♠9♦8♥3♠ board rested, around 46,000 had made it into the center. Davenport moved all in for 35,600 and went into statue mode as Karimkhanezand talked to him, "Show if I fold, no? Sick fold if I do it!" He ended up folding and lost of the table immediately entered into discussions about what each player can have had. --MC

Davenport stacking up nicely

Matt Davenport, 82,000Vahid Karimkhanezand , 90,000

4:30pm: Chip leadersLevel 8: Blinds 400-800, 100 ante

Back within the day level eight was the overall level on Day 1 of UKIPT Main Events, however the chip leaders heading into this level have five more levels to play before they - and everybody else - bags and tags.

Vahid Karimkhanezand is the one player to breach the 100,000 chip mark so far, he leads with 1110,000.

Name Country Status Chips

Vahid Karimkhanezand	Iran		110,000
David Pollock	Ireland	PokerStars qualifier	99,100
Kalidou Sow	France		93,000
Joao Simao	Brazil	PokerStars qualifier	90,100
Andras Korodi	Hungary	PokerStars qualifier	87,000
Wei Li	Ireland		81,000
Mahmood Rasheed	Ireland	PokerStars qualifier	80,200
Felix Schlott	Germany		79,000
Nikolay Tsanev	Bulgaria		78,000
Jose Lopez Tapia	Spain		78,000
Henry McGrath	Ireland		77,000
Anders Mattias Overland	Sweden		77,000
Stephen Malone	Ireland	PokerStars qualifier	72,300
Vladas Burneikis	Lithuania	PokerStars qualifier	67,000
Luiz Duarte Ferreira Filho	USA	PokerStars player	65,000
Michael Ferrari	USA		65,000
Vladimir Velikov	Bulgaria		64,700
Paul Romain	UK		61,000
Matthew Davenport	UK		57,000

4:20pm: MacDonnell talks good, showdowns badLevel 8: Blinds 400-800, 100 ante

Marc MacDonnell, in line with former tablemates Chris Dowling and Emmett Davis, lost with aces to an opponent's pocket queens within the last level but talked an ideal game in doing so.

MacDonnell three-bet his opponent after which called the four-bet while verbally indicating it was probably a foul call. The flop fell ten high and MacDonnell led with more verbal and got his opponent to shove. Unfortunately for MacDonnell, his powers stopped there as a queen appeared at the river to send him to the rail. -- MC

How'd those aces figure out for you, Marc?

3:58pm: Risk takes one as break comesLevel 7: Blinds 300-600, 75 ante

It seems as though Nick Abou Risk and Chris Dowling was tangling in an excellent few pots today. The most recent one went the way in which of Abou Risk.

He called a Dowling raise and a 1,500 c-bet on an A♦4♣J♠ flop. The 2♣ turn was checked through before Abou Risk led for just 600 at the 2♦ river. Dowling smiled and his opponent said, "Let me take this one, you'll be able to take the following one."

Dowling (still smiling) pointed at Abou Risk while folding and said to the dealer, "That's binding!"

The players are on their third break of the day. --MC

3:55pm: At the railLevel 7: Blinds 300-600, 75 ante

There's no easy approach to say this but, in case you are keen on any of the next it's bad news as: Richard Dubini, Joseph Lalor, Xiaoyang Luo, Ovidiu Balaj, Robert Finlay, Alexandre Viard, Gearld Haslauer, Kelvin Kerber, Michael Jurik, John Daly, Marc Macdonnell, James Foley, Aaron Gustavson, Rodrgio Perez, Mark Jones, Florian Bussmann, Frank Knight, Paul Leckey, Jared Jaffee and Nick Slade. -- NW

3:50pm: Pollock flush with chipsLevel 7: Blinds 300-600, 75 ante

Earlier we reported that David Pollock had a stack of around 85,000, probably good for the chip lead, and he's now as much as about 94,000 after winning a hand against Jack Sambrook.

It was button versus small blind and Pollock checked at the turn of a 6♦6♥A♦4♦ board, Sambrook bet 3,500 and Pollock then check-raised to 7,000 total. Call from Sambrook.

The 7♣ completed the board and Pollock bet 7,000 and Sambrook quickly called. Pollock showed Q♦2♦ and Sambrook opened T♦9♦ before mucking. -NW

David Pollock, 94,000Jack Sambrook, 27,000

3:47pm: Classic Andy BlackLevel 7: Blinds 300-600, 75 ante

Back within the olden days of poker (when online players were still regarded as the worth within the game) there have been much more characters about. Unfortunately, as any game/sport gets more professional, a large number of those characters disappear. Andy Black is a type of characters and his personality dominated many tournaments just as his skills at the baize did.

He hasn't been seen as much lately but he's back on old form today. He was busy chatting to floor person Nick when he peaked at his holding and immediately moved in from middle position for 11,800. The action folded around to the large blind and he looked down after which up at Black, saying, "It's close."

You better fold!!

That's when Black, sat with pocket threes (later shown) went into verbal overdrive seeking to get his opponent to fold. After a few minutes where barely a breath was had, the large blind folded. Black showed his hand and the massive blind admitted he folded pocket fives.

Standing as much as consult the blog, Black said he had a good suggestion he was potentially behind when he heard his opponent's opening line so used the entire old verbal tips to get him off it. He added he would've taken a race on but there has been a great opportunity he had fours-through-sevens. -- MC

3:35pm: Doing it for IranLevel 7: Blinds 300-600, 75 ante

There aren't too many Iranian players who enter the UKIPT but there are two of them within the field today. One of the vital two, Vahid Karimkhanezand, is doing rather well as he's as much as 60,000 after winning a three-way pot.

He and two opponents all installed 2,700 pre-flop and the flop fell K♥7♣3♠. A 3,800 c-bet from Karimkhanezand got the job done. --NW

3:20pm: The €5,000 event isn't getting any easierLevel 6: Blinds 250-500, 50 ante

The €5,000 event is now as much as 15 runners however the field's only got tougher. That's since the seven additional players who've entered include: Adrian Mateos, Steve O'Dwyer, Mike McDonald, Ivan Luca, Connor Drinan and Nick Petrangelo. --NW

3:12pm: Want a Hand finding the venue, champ?Level 6: Blinds 250-500, 50 ante

Fintan Hand was losing a small pot to Zoltan Gal but still had the time to tell the blog that his friend and a reigning UKIPT Dublin champ Kevin Killeen, who was recently sat on an adjacent table, had a little bit difficulty find his option to the venue today.

Apparently he got so far as the nearby Aviva sports stadium after which got his strategy to the back of the venue before finally finding his way in. Need to be hard to seek out your way around your own home city! A minimum of he knows his way around a poker table. Killeen is sat alongside another UKIPT champ within the shape of Josh Hart, who has 48,000. -- MC

Want to start out your individual UKIPT campaign? Join PokerStars and begin your journey. Click here to get an account.

3pm: November Niner Neuville takes his seatLevel 6: Blinds 250-500, 50 ante

Pierre Neuville is a contemporary entry into the tournament. The Belgian had a fairytale run to the WSOP Main Event final table in 2015, where he eventually finished seventh for over $1,200,000. He's usually seen at the EPT, but because the UKIPT event leads into the EPT he's arrived early. He's as much as 27,000 in this day and age. --NW

2:50pm: Those we were just attending to know...Level 6: Blinds 250-500, 50 ante

Don't worry guys, the festival is long: Dietrich Fast, Romain Lewis, David Lappin, Erini Kavvou, Brian Reinert, Marko Simic, Riccardo D'Urso, Horst Christ, Andres Viola, Jacob Bazeley, Patrick Brooks, Gareth Smith, Dan James, Peter Johnston, David Benington, Guillaume Diaz and Wei Jie have all busted. -- MC

2:38pm: Cody chopped in halfLevel 5: Blinds 200-400, 50 ante

Jake Cody's dropped to around 11,600 chips after his two pair was no good against Sean Prendiville's rivered straight.

The action was three-way to a K♣A♥2♥ flop and Cody check-called a big gamble from Prendiville with the third party folding. The 8♠ turn was checked through before Cody checked over the Q♠ river to his opponent. Prendiville had 8,750 remaining and into the center they went. Cody called with A♦8♦ however it was no good against his opponent's J♠T♠. -- MC

Cody's got work to do

2:28pm: Carter and chipsLevel 5: Blinds 200-400, 50 ante

Dan Carter's looking a bit of smug and why not. He's as much as around 55,000 after you have a river bet paid off holding queen-ten, good for a whole house on a 6♠6♣T♥4♦T♣ board.

A few other counts:

David Pollock, 85,000Rasmus Agerskov, 12,000Joao Simao, 37,000Dermot Blain, 26,000Aaron Gustavson, 24,500-- MC

2:10pm: Beware the Greek with chipsLevel 5: Blinds 200-400, 50 ante

Georgios Zisimopoulos has managed to succeed in something that at the face of it may be impossible. He's been on a heater over the past year but has mostly flown under the radar whilst riding the wave.

It began for him at EPT11 Malta were he took down the IPT Main Event, winning €142,205. Since then he's gone directly to win two €5,000 side events at the EPT, made an additional nine side event final tables at the EPT and finish second within the Amsterdam Masters Classic. In total he's racked up over $850,000 in winnings for the reason that start of 2015.

He's off to an excellent start here in Dublin too as he's already as much as 46,000. He's got UKIPT4 Isle of Man runner-up Ciaran Heaney at his table and Paul Leckey. -NW

Georgios Zisimopoulos - 46,000Ciaran Heaney - 27,075Paul Leckey - 8,400

2pm: Ung empties the clipLevel 5: Blinds 200-400, 50 anteGareth Jennings believed Seng Ung had a hand but it surely took a river shove for him to finally believe.

Ung raised to 900 from middle position and was called in three spots, including Jennings within the next seat. Ung continued for 1,800 on a 5♦7♥3♦ flop and was only called by Jennings. He called another 3,500 at the 2♣ turn but snap folded after Ung shoved for around 10,000 at the T♥ river.

That put Ung as much as around 25,000. Other notables on the table:

Steven van Zadelhoff - 17,000Matt Davenport - 42,000--MC

1:45pm: Play resumesLevel 5: Blinds 200-400, 50 antePlayers are back of their seats for the second one third of the day's play.

1:26pm: Break timeLevel 4: Blinds 150-300, 25 ante

That's the top of level four and players at the moment are on a 20 minute break. --NW

1:25pm: GoneLevel 4: Blinds 150-300, 25 ante

A total of 193 players have entered the tournament to this point - late registration is open until the beginning of level seven - and the speed of departures has gone up a notch in level four because the blinds and antes begin to eat into the starting stack.

Among those who've exited to this point today are: Yew Kan, Choukri Chergui, Vytautas Aganauskas, Steven Campbell, David Chaussouant, Dimitri Miuccio and David Brady. --NW

1:20pm: Oi, come again to work you!Level 4: Blinds 150-300, 25 ante

PokerStars' Christin Maschmann, who's soon to relocate to Dublin from the Isle of Man office, has seen her UKIPT adventure come to a premature end. It was clear she was in trouble from the next tweet:

Then the blog bumped into her at the sidelines and her face said all of it. She informed us that she was all the way down to five big blinds and within the big blind when she picked up ace-ten. She moved all in after a raise but her opponent had her dominated with ace-king and there has been no hope for the German native. Maschmann can be back for the women event on Saturday, but until then, she'll be working on the information desk in her role as Ideation Manager. So if in case you have any great poker ideas, pop by and spot her! -- MC

1:10pm: Sick sit and goLevel 4: Blinds 150-300, 25 ante

There are nine events at the EPT Dublin Festival schedule today, the largest of that is a €5,000 hold'em event. To this point there are only eight entrants in that event but what an eight! How's this for a line-up:

Andrew LichtenbergerCharlie CarrelBen HeathChance KornuthJoao VieiraPaul NeweyAndrew LeathemKyle Frey

Tough crowd!

One player who wouldn't look misplaced in that field is Jason Wheeler, the yankee qualified for the UKIPT Main Event and has recently taken his seat in that. --NW

Tough table!

1:05pm: Good turn for WenzelburgerLevel 4: Blinds 150-300, 25 ante

With a Q♠5♣2♠T♥ board at the felt Philipp Wenzelburger moved all in for 10,950 right into a pot roughly 14,000. It was a heads-up pot against Chris Simpson and the latter asked for a count before making the call.

Simpson: K♣K♦Wenzelburger: Q♥T♠

The German had turned two-pair to take the lead and he held onto it at the 4♦ river. After that hand Simpson is right down to 11,500 whilst Wenzelburger is as much as 36,000. --NW

12:55pm: Dowling assesses the RiskLevel 4: Blinds 150-300, 25 ante

"He said he was fearful of you, now he plays every pot with you!" commented Marc MacDonnell after Chris Dowling took Nick Abou Risk off a hand at the river.

Burak Kavas had limped in from second position before Dowling raised from the following seat. Abou Risk called within the big blind and Kavas called to make it a three-way affair heading to the flop. It spread 9♦T♦7♦ and all three checked to the J♥ river where Abou-Risk led for 1,400. Kavas folded to go away Dowling make a considered call to peer the board complete with the 9♠. Abou-Risk checked, after which folded, to Dowling who bet 3,200.

Emmett Davis may also be found sat at this table to make it the trickiest within the room, so far as we will be able to tell/judge. -- MC

12:45pm: Chips!Level 4: Blinds 150-300, 25 ante

Plenty of giant names amongst the 177 players who've entered up to now on Day 1A. A round-up of a few of the names and notables within the field may also be seen below.

Name Country Status Chips

Jack Sambrook	UK		33,900
Sean Prendiville	Ireland	PokerStars player	33,800
Nick Abou Risk	Canada	PokerStars player	29,200
Dermot Blain	Ireland	PokerStars player	26,300
Ronan Gilligan	Ireland	PokerStars qualifier	26,050
Josh Hart	UK	PokerStars player	25,800
Chris Dowling	Ireland		25,500
Rasmus Agerskov	Denmark		25,400
Jake Cody	UK	Team PokerStars Pro	25,000
David Lappin	Ireland	PokerStars qualifier	24,800
Joseph Lalor	Ireland	PokerStars qualifier	24,000
Matthew Davenport	UK		23,600
Daniel Carter	UK		22,400
Marc Macdonnell	Ireland	PokerStars player	19,400
Andy Black	Ireland		15,600

Josh Hart - UKIPT4 Isle of Man 2 champion

12:35pm: Blain hoping for a greater craic of it in DublinLevel 4: Blinds 150-300, 25 ante

Dermot Blain is a household name in poker and a standard at the EPT, it wasn't always that way though. Actually the last time the EPT was on the town - October 2007 - was the primary time Blain had played at an EPT festival. "I played it but I DID NOT play the primary Event because I busted my bankroll," he told the PokerStars Blog.

"I was playing 2/5 and 5/10 cash games and a Swedish guy flopped three kings against my flush draws thrice and wiped me out. I HOPE for some redemption," he said with a grin. He's on the same table as Jake Cody and currently has around 26,300. --NW

12:30pm: All in regards to the antesLevel 3: Blinds 100-200, 25 ante

When the antes kick right into a tournament, the action normally spikes as there's more chips on offer to be won. That "extra" action may end up in the velocity of eliminations going up per level. Four players have departed in level 3 and they're: Padraigh Cody-Lally, Shakhabiddin Muradov, Noel Murphy and Evangelos Tsairis. -- MC

12:15pm: Smith sends Yamauti to the railLevel 3: Blinds 100-200, 25 ante

"All in on table two," was the decision from the dealer. This type of action this early in a tournament is rare, so I wandered over to the table to get the low down on what was happening.

Gareth Smith was the player who was all in, he'd shoved at the river for roughly 12,600 right into a pot of approximately 8,500. His opponent, Laercio Yamauti, was eyeing up the K♦A♣2♦4♦T♠ board and debating what to do. He actually had not up to Smith - it gave the look to be right around 10,000 - and after a couple of minute he called.

Smith showed A♦9♦ for the nuts and Yamauti tapped the table, because it was an all in he needed to turn his give up and he revealed A♠7♠ as he left the table. --NW

12:05pm: The UKIPT has arrivedLevel 3: Blinds 100-200, 25 ante

If one needed to define the UKIPT using only player names, three of the primary names of most people's lips could be Jake Cody along side serial qualifiers Dara O'Kearney and David Lappin.

The Team PokerStars Pro and the local lads were seen looking ahead to their seat allocation together with former UKIPT champion Josh Hart and three-time UKIPT finalist Chris Dowling. They are late but no less than they may be able to brag that they made the antes! -- MC

11:30am: Day 1A as much as 160 entries as first break hitsLevel 2: Blinds 75-150

Players continued to trickle in from the fresh winter air outside, commencing scarves and jackets, readying themselves for battle.

Peter Eichhardt, who narrowly missed out (10th) at the EPT12 Barcelona final table has taken his seat a few tables along from Marc MacDonnell, who felt similar joy/disappointment at EPT12 Prague Main Event(14th). Other players in before the primary 20-minute break included Dermot Blain, Matt Davenport and Zoltan Gal. The only and only player to bust before the break was Andrea Gilligan. -- MC

11:10am: Don't judge a poker player by his appearanceLevel 2: Blinds 75-150

When online poker first started becoming popular online qualifiers were looked down on by their live poker playing counterparts. Online qualifier was just differently to mention 'fish' or 'fun player'. Over the years that changed, with the reputation doing a whole 360. Online players then started to look down on live players as dinosaurs of the game.

Now I FEEL there's one element of poker players who're still looked upon as being generally bad, I'm talking about 'old' players. Five years ago the overall consensus was that if a player at your table had grey hair he was likely passive, tight and usually easy to play against.

Increasingly I DO NOT BELIEVE that is the case anymore. Older players - especially those who're retired, self-employed or semi-employed - have quite a lot of time to devote to the game, a variety of resources to be informed from and are increasingly using that point to install hours grinding online.

Joseph Lalor

Take Joseph Lalor as an example. He's a 55-year-old software program writer who lives in Dublin, he's playing today and he's busy doing a crossword between hands. You'd think he was probably a recreational poker player who's taking his shot at a UKIPT as it's in his home town. You would be wrong.

He got into poker in school although back then it was draw and stud poker. However, he started playing online intermittently about ten years ago and started taking it more seriously about five years later. Since then he's had much success (his largest online score is $130,000) and he's made the overall table of the Sunday Million twice - once when it was a WCOOP event.

We know all this because Lalor final tabled UKIPT5 Bristol in August, where he finished fifth winning £16,000.

Old guys, and gals, can play too. -- NW

10:55am: Get in cheapLevel 2: Blinds 75-150

The €1,100 buy in for this UKIPT may look small when you think about the degrees of a few of the tournament buy ins inside the EPT Dublin Poker Festival, but it's still a substantial about of cash to many. When money was tight as a student, many people compared the price of everything to a pint of beer ("I AM NOT paying that, I'LL drink four beers for that!". Apparently, a pint of Guinness in Temple Bar will set you back €5.50, this means that you'll want to drink 200 pints for the price of an entry ticket.

Never fear though as you'll always qualify via a live satellite here on the RDS in Dublin. As written below they're scheduled for today at 16.00 GMT and 21.30 GMT. The similar tournaments yesterday generated 27 seats between them but today's are expected to generate many more. Get entangled and are available and join the joys at the cheap. -- MC

10:40am: Taking the chance of turning up earlyLevel 1: Blinds 50-100

One of the 110 players who've taken their seats throughout the opening level is two-time UKIPT champion Nick Abou Risk. He used to work for Full Tilt and is seated on the same table as PokerStars Staff Member Christin Maschmann.

"I don't have up this early in forever," said Abou Risk after we glided by his table. -- NW

10:20am: Well done to 90 of you!Level 1: Blinds 50-100

As was mentioned within the opening post, the UKIPT has a pre-dawn start time today. Okay, maybe that is not quite true but us poker folk barely know that 10am exists, or if we do, it is only witnessed with our own eyes when creating a mad dash to make a hotel breakfast on tour.

Therefore, congratulations to the 90-odd players that truly made it to the RDS for the beginning of play today. Specifically (because we recognise who they're) well done to PokerStars staff member Christin Maschmann; local Irish poker star Andy Black; former EPT player of the year Fernando Brito; former UKIPT London finalist Rasmus Agerskov and Dan Carter. -- MC

Andy Black - already trying to the Poker Gods for answers

09:50am: Top o' the mornin' to yaGood morning! It is a brisk sunny winter's day here in Dublin and an earlier start than usual at the UKIPT. For many folk 10am can be considered a late start but on the planet of poker 10am is positively the crack of dawn.

The UKIPT Main Event is the primary of the massive events within the 67 tournament schedule that makes up the UKIPT/EPT Dublin festival that runs until the 20 th February. Whilst the EPT last touched down in Dublin in October 2007, the UKIPT have been heading to Dublin at the regular and was last here on the end of February 2015.

There was some memorable final tables in Dublin, Max Silver obliterated the general table competition in four hours, Joeri Zandvliet won his second UKIPT title here and last year we had, perhaps, probably the most memorable UKIPT final table of all time.

In the red corner was Max Silver, he just loves playing in Dublin at the UKIPT, one win and a fourth previous to last year and he was chasing his second UKIPT title in his home city, a win that will put him in exalted company.

Killeen's friends carried him to victory

In the blue corner was Kevin Killeen, probably the most bright young things of Irish poker and a tour regular who'd not had a large result at the UKIPT...yet. Backed by a vociferous rail, who were all wearing onesies, they sung their man to victory: "WE DO NOT take silver we only take gold," was the mantra that lives long within the memory.

Over the following six days we're hopeful this edition of UKIPT Dublin will greater than match those who have gone before.

Key UKIPT5 Dublin Facts:

- 25,000 starting stack- Blinds starting at 50/100 for 250 big blinds- Levels are 45 minutes on Day 1 and they will be 12 of them. From Day 2 onwards levels increase to 60 minutes.- Day 1A is today, Day 1B occurs tomorrow, the sector will then combine for the primary time on Friday. We'll reach the cash throughout the 10 levels of play on Day 2 after which play right down to a last table on Saturday. Sunday is a rest day, after which on Monday the general table will play out at the TV table on EPTLive with cards-up coverage and convey Season 5 of the UKIPT to a detailed. Cue mad celebrations and swigging of champagne from the trophy (possibly).- Full UKIPT5 Dublin schedule here.- There is a boat load of alternative events today including a €5,000 (!) Hold'em event and two live satellites to the principle Event tonight. Those satellites start at 16.00 GMT and 21.30 GMT.- It is not all in regards to the poker here in Dublin. There are many #StarsFun activities including Dodgeball Trampolining. Yes, you read that right Dodgeball Trampolining.

PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at UKIPT5 Dublin: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Mickey May. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: UKIPT]