Welcome to Day 1b of the UKIPT Isle of Man Main Event
Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening. Whatever time it is where you are in the world reading these updates, welcome to Day 1b of Season 5's UKIPT Isle of Man Main Event where at 12:00pm local time Day 1b, the final starting flight, kicks off at the Villa Marina.
It's a beautiful day today; the wind is non-existent, the birds are singing in the trees and the sun is high in the sky, but it is the tournament floor of the Villa Marina where things are really hotting up as we prepare to bring you live coverage of this £400+£40 buy-in Main Event.
Thursday was Day 1a, which attracted 111 entries in total, a figure reduced to a more manageable 32 over the course of 12 45-minute levels. Poland's Adrian Filiczkowski was the name at the top of the chip counts when play ended for the night, thanks to him turning his 25,000 starting stack into a most impressive 247,600.
Others who joined Filiczkowski in progressing to Saturday's Day 2 include Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker, Team PokerStars Sport Star Fatima Moriera de Melo, Irish trio Dara O'Kearney, Daragh Davey and David Lappin and a whole host of top poker talent.
Day 1b should be even larger than Day 1a as those who bust on the opening flight are permitted to reenter and take another two shots at progressing to Day 2. The likes of Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano is almost certainly going to reenter after falling short on Day 1a and he'll be joined by fellow Red Spade wearing Jake Cody and Liv Boeree plus dozens of qualifiers who won their way to this tournament online at PokerStars.
The schedule for today mirrors that of Day 1a, with a dinner break at around 5:45pm and play ended around 11:00pm. Stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all of the action, as it happens, from the UKIPT Isle of Man Main Event.