IPO 2009 Day 1B, 6 - 9:30

21:27 Commentator's Curse

I just had a friend come up to me and ask me how Jason Tompkins, one of the up and coming names in Irish poker, was doing. Literally 15 minutes ago he was sat there with his trademark "grinding" stack but upon telling them that he was doing fine, I look behind only to see him shaking the hand of his executor when his A-K couldn't catch up with his opponent's Pocket Tens. I'll keep my mouth shut in future.

21:15 Putain Donkey Fish!!!

Those were the words spat out at Rob Cooke by the latest French player to fall! A preflop raising war ended with all the chips in the middle Rob sheepishly flipping the to take on his opponents . Fortune favours the brave (sometimes!) and two pair on the flop leaves Ron with the virtual lock on the hand. A big pot leaves him grinning and stacking almost 75k in chips! (by Sam Baneham)

21:07 Rory Liffey has all the chips!

Quite literally! Rory looks to have over 150k with the average at just under 25k! When asked what happened a grinning Liffey explained he came back from dinner with nothing and then BOOM he has won every pot since. I only witnessed one pot, Liffey confidently getting it in with queen high, no pair no draw against Derek "The Clamper" Williams. "Trust me I'm going to win!" he informed the hopeful Williams. A queen on the river made sure he stayed true to his word and Derek gets no reward for a brave call with middle pair! (by Sam Baneham)

21:00 Women at work

While the field is whittling down, a trend is emerging that sees it becomes apparent that the vast majority of those remaining are men. Two women that are still in with a shout though, and who are wearing the Boyle emblazoned Sunderland jerseys as part of the Bounty Promotion are Rebecca McAdam and Cat O'Neill. Both players are quite short in chips but that's nothing a double up won't change. With Cat O'Neill (arguably) being Rob Taylors better half, she's definitely one to watch out for if she can persevere through the day. (by Adam Murphy)

20:50 The Breaker Continues to Fight For His Title

Defending champion, Ruairi 'The Breaker' Coy hasn't had much help from the dealer today but he is hanging on in there. Ruairi has just doubled up on an all-in against Rory Liffey. Coy has grown his stack to 15,000 and if he can find another double up he'll be hard to stop.

20:40 Straight from the horses mouth!

The following is a report by Paul "Macspower" who I had previously failed to spot, perhaps due to the fact that the man has shed an impressive amount of weight in the last 12 months. A tough table draw has not stopped him getting his hands on plenty of chips.

Spent most of the afternoon on starting stack with Rob Taylor to my left. Then Neil Channing came to the table and started to bully once he got a bit of a stack. Lost a big hand to his set which left me with 2300. I managed a double up through Neil and then I shoved over a few of his raises and got all in with AQ vs his Jx I doubled again. Ship!

Then I have AA and Channing raises to 1100 and player in the seat between us makes it 4800 playing 12k. I shove to play HU vs the 12 k stack and Channing calls me with QQ and I stay good for a 65k pot. Serious shipage.

I then get AK in V QQ and I get there giving me around 85k or so now at the break. One time please dealer!

This is the beauty of this tournament. A serious prize pool for an affordable entry fee where you can rub shoulders with some of the Europe's best poker players!

20:25 Remaining Bounty Players Chip Count

There are 310 players laft on Day 1B and here's how some of the friends of Boylepoker are faring

20:15 The Duck!

While loitering beside the tables I spotted an outlandish haircut sporting a respectable chip stack! A dead ringer for that energetic punter from the Prodigy I was informed he is known only as "Duck" in his Donegal poker circle. He had just lost a huge pot which made me a little reluctant to question him on his real identity but I have a feeling I'll be able to spot him before the end of play. Our clandestine hero still had over 20k! (by Sam Baneham)

20:05 John Weafer

John Weafer is the steady Eddie of the Irish tournament circuit,potting along for days until his name appears from nowhere on a list of the chipleaders. He is not quite there at the moment losing running pots where he was a significant favourite but he is still in action which is the name of the game. He has just over 18k. (by Sam Baneham)

19:40 Reggie plays a new game!

The Irish rugby player Reggie Corrigan is occassionally spotted on the Irish tournamnet circuit. He is going well so far having increased his 8k starting stack to just over 34k. Certainly not a man to slowroll!!!

19:20 A bad beat for Taylor

Robert Taylor has been eliminated. Facing an early position raise and an all in for less than that Rob isolated making it 11.5k,leaving 14k behind. His French opponent, who had Rob covered just flatted. A jack high rainbow flop saw Taylor move in for his final 14k. Without pausing the French man made the call to find himself in bad shape against Taylor's pocket Kings. That all changed with an ace on the turn leaving Rob drawing dead as it transpired that the other two remaining Kings had found their way to the muck pre flop. (by Sam Baneham)

19:10 Nice pot

Mark Gillen has just won a nice pot. Gillen called an all in raise pre-flop fro 15,300 with pocket kings, kk v 99. The flop came down , the turn and the river . Mark took the pot of 21,725.

19:00 Bounty bar

Bounty player Dave Masters is off to the bar. Masters went all in with and 7950 on a board of Q75, with the turn coming and the river . David Petiot called with pocket 8s and scalped himself a bounty.

18:45 Bounty player all-in

Paul Leckey has just doubled up when he was fortunate to find Queens in the small blind. The button raises, Paul goes all-in and the button is quick to call with AK. It's a straight race but the pressure is off Paul when the flop comes 8-7-J. There's a 9 on the turn which gives Leckey the bonus gutshot draw and the river is a queen meaning he's all set to double through. He's now sitting on an above average stack of just about 20k. (by Adam Murphy)

18:30 Half time

Half of the remaining 470 players are now on a one hour break. Those who are left at their seats are playing the 300/600 level and the ante is now 50. We'll have a look for any of the big names and big stacks who are still going strong! (by Adam Murphy)

18:13 I'll settle for losing the one pot

I've just been speaking to Liam Flood who has an above average stack of 21k. He hasn't played any big pots but seemed a bit disappointed when telling me about a pot he lost against the table maniac. While he didn't lose many chips in his confrontation, he just seemed annoyed to have lost a pot! The Gentleman did admit that he'd settle for just losing the one pot though. (by Adam Murphy)

18:00 Our outraged Side Event Winner!

Briefne Earley,a well known face on the Dublin poker circuit approached me wondering why news of his win in last night side event had broken on the site! "Bref" pocketed a nice 4.7k for the win,not bad for a 100 euro investment,even more so when he had been campaigning for a chop from 14 players out! (by Sam Baneham)