Welcome back to the Full Tilt Poker UKIPT Galway Main Event. What started with 860 players is now down to 51, each looking to survive today and earn a coveted spot at the final table. The man best positioned to make it is our chip leader, Tim Michels, a German who qualified for this tournament through PokerStars. His stack of 835,000 is best, though it's barely ahead of Andrew Dwyer (813,000) and Dino Sabatini (755,000).
Those three men are the big stacks with the next closest competitor, Tony Martin, sitting with a more modest 583,000. Others still in contention are Jonathan Slater (578,000), Daniel Wilson (533,000), Barry Donovan (520,000), Jack Salter (520,000), Raul Paez (514,000), Max Silver (435,000), Ido Aboudi (415,000), Padraig Parkinson (397,000), Daniel Tighe (359,000), Simon Brooks (321,000) and Richard Owens (321,000).
Day 3 will kick off at Noon local time, which is less than an hour from now. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be there to bring you all the action, so stay tuned. Until then, check out the following video on an embarrassing controversy that happened midway through Day 2.
In the last minutes of Level 19, two more players hit the rail in William Colin and Padraig Parkinson.
The former fell when he got his last 85,000 all in preflop holding the and was flipping against the of Dino Sabatini. Colin seemed confident with his two overs, but that confidence dwindled street by street as the board ran out . Sabatini made a wheel to run over Colin, who exited in 39th place.
A few moments later the dealer at the feature table called, "All in and a call." We arrived to find well-known pro and fan favorite Padraig Parkinson all in for his last 90,000 holding the and in dire straits against Christopher Morkan, who held the . The flop gave both players a pair of aces, but Morkan's kicker had him well out in front. Neither the turn nor river helped Parkinson and he left the stage in 38th place.
Euan Cameron has caught fire here at the tail end of Level 20. Part of that was eliminating Team PokerStars Pro Dale "Daleroxxu" Philip.
It happened when action folded to Cameron in the small blind and he simply shoved all in to put the pressure on a short-stacked Philip in the big. The latter called off and no doubt regretted it.
Philip:
Cameron:
Philip was crushed and it only got worse as the flop left him in need of either running straight cards or four to stay alive. Any hope of that happening disappeared when the turn gave Cameron a flush and left Philip drawing dead.
The meaningless was run out on the river for good measure and then Philip made his way to the payout desk in 30th place to collect €4,850. Meanwhile, Alexander Tikhoniouk was eliminated at another table in 29th place for the same amount of prize money.
Dino Sabatini opened with a raise and Jonathan Slater flatted. When action reached a short-stacked Tony Martin in the big blind, he shoved all in and Sabatini came along. Slater got out of the way and Martin was in a bad spot.
Martin:
Sabatini:
Martin had a big hand, but Sabatini's was better. The board ran out an uneventful and Martin made a beeline out of the feature table area.
Christopher Morkan opened for 50,000 and was raised by Daniel Wilson. This was met by an all-in shove from Stephen Ng. Morkan folded but Wilson made the call.
Ng’s was up against Wilson’s . The board ran out and Ng was eliminated
After being moved to the feature table, Raul Paez moved all in after action folded to him in the small blind. He was putting the pressure on Paul Parker, who was in the big with around 300,000. Parker looked at his cards and hesitated. It was the kind of hesitation that suggested he just might called, which he did.
Parker:
Paez:
Paez looked as if he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but he was drawing to two live cards. Wouldn't you know it, the flop brought one of them.
"That's not good," Parker said. The turn gave him a gutshot straight draw to go with his pair of nines, but the river failed to help him. Paez ended with two pair and sent Parker to the rail in 20th place.
"Unlucky," a few players offered Parker, who didn't seem too upset all things considered.
It appeared action folded to Christy Morkan in the small blind and that he shoved to put the pressure on Euan Cameron in the big. We think Cameron called off for 240,000 or so, but either way he was all in and at risk.
Cameron:
Morkan:
Thanks to his kicker, Cameron was a big favorite. In fact, according to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, Cameron had a 72.31% chance of doubling on the hand. The flop paired his queen and brought his chances up to 81.92%, but it also gave Morkan a gutshot straight draw to Broadway, which he'd hit 16.97% of the time.
Much to Cameron's dismay, the on the turn gave Morkan the said flush and a 75% chance of winning. Cameron was none too pleased, but the good news was that it was a club, meaning he had picked up a flush draw. He could also chop with a jack on the river. The dealer burned one last time and put out the , the last card Cameron would see before taking his leave in 16th place.
Over at the feature table, action folded to local player Christy Morkan on the button and he raised to 55,000. Barry Donovan was in the small blind and thought for a few moments before announcing that he was all in. The big blind folded and then Morkan snap-called.
Morkan:
Donovan:
Donovan realized he had picked a bad spot even before the cards were turned over. That said, he could still win with a king or some hearts. The flop contained only one of the latter, while the turn took away that possibility altogether. In order to stay alive in the Full Tilt Poker UKIPT Galway Main Event Donovan would need a king on the river, but he was left wanting as the useless peeled off.
Mark Spelman moved all-in and was called by Benjamin Spragg. Spelman had but Spragg was ahead with . The final board of gave a timely boost to Spragg’s stack and sent valiant Spelman to the rail.
Could it be that Spragg now has some tormenting of his own to do? Stay tuned to find out.
and was flipping against the 
of Dino Sabatini. Colin seemed confident with his two overs, but that confidence dwindled street by street as the board ran out 
. Sabatini made a wheel to run over Colin, who exited in 39th place.
and in dire straits against Christopher Morkan, who held the 
. The 
flop gave both players a pair of aces, but Morkan's kicker had him well out in front. Neither the 
turn nor 
flop left him in need of either running straight cards or four to stay alive. Any hope of that happening disappeared when the 
turn gave Cameron a flush and left Philip drawing dead.
was run out on the river for good measure and then Philip made his way to the payout desk in 30th place to collect €4,850. Meanwhile, Alexander Tikhoniouk was eliminated at another table in 29th place for the same amount of prize money.
and Martin made a beeline out of the feature table area.
was up against Wilson’s 
. The board ran out 
and Ng was eliminated
river failed to help him. Paez ended with two pair and sent Parker to the rail in 20th place.
on the turn gave Morkan the said flush and a 75% chance of winning. Cameron was none too pleased, but the good news was that it was a club, meaning he had picked up a flush draw. He could also chop with a jack on the river. The dealer burned one last time and put out the 
and Febers became a big favourite. The 
turn took away that possibility altogether. In order to stay alive in the 
