Updates from day 1, level 1&2 of UKIPT Galway, brought to you by Rick Dacey.

After a brief announcement to mark the beginning of the UKIPT the players have made their way to the seats filling up some 23 tables so far. Late registration is running for two hours and from a quick perusal of the tables an early runner for the table of death has jumped out featuring EPT Baden winner Julian Thew, tournament regular Woody Deck and previous Irish Poker Championship winner Kieran Walsh. Blinds are starting at 25/50 with a deep 20,000 starting stack so early knockouts should be minimal. Should be...

The mercurial Andy Black is holding court and I would say as normal but it's not. The World Series of Poker final table finisher has a young spectator watching and learning over his shoulder. It turns out it's his son. Odds of Black junior winning the Main Event within 20 years? Anyone?

5.08pm: The first to hit the deck
My predictative qualities are astounding. The table of death has had the first faller of the tournament and it's Woody Deck who made a check-raise bluff on the turn and an even bigger all-in bluff on the river. By the way, the table of death also has Jerome Bradpiece on it who was previously hidden from my sight by the dealer and his cap.

The pot had been multi-way limped to Jimmy Wan who pumped it up to 375 and was called in 3 spots by none other than Bradpiece and Woody Deck. On a [4h] [7s] [Tc] board Wan makes it 1020 over the top of Bradpiece's powder shot of 20! Only Deck calls.

The Js on the turn doesn't slow Wan down who now makes it 1250. Deck check-raises to 2500 and is called before the [Kc] on the river sees Deck ship in the rest of his stack, which is somewhere in the region of 15,000. Wan has a short think before calling with a set of jacks while Deck shows [5c] [7h]. Bluff or misread hand? It doesn't matter. Deck is out and Wan has an early double up.

blinds:
Level 2: 50/100

5.25pm: Kelly meets Smyth
Team PokerStars Pro JP Kelly is sat directly to the left of WSOP bracelet holder and Poker Million winner Marty Smyth. They've engaged in a couple of small pots but nothing major as of yet. Kelly has swiped Smyth's big blind with an under the gun raise and Smyth has taken it back and a 100 more showing pocket 6's on a dry board. On the table next to them Andy Black is coasting along having lost some and won other in early skirmishes. Always a favourite to go deep in any tournament, Black is one to watch.

And the table of death, which with this many mentions is going to get its own acronym: TOD, has just got worse. When Deck was KO'd he was swiftly replaced by the 7ft tall (or close to) Karl Marenholz who has some $742,000 tournament winnings to his name. He quickly flops a set of deuces to score a small pot.

6.06pm: The Pros get grinding
Irish Team PokerStars Pro Jude Ainsworth aka j.thaddeus is up to some 39,000 despite having British grinder Jeff Kimber to his left. Kimber is looking unexcited which is no surprise as he hasn't moved from his original starting stack. Meanwhile fellow Team PokersStars pro John Duthie is strolling along on around 17,000 and seems happy to play most pots if he can get in cheaply enough. He clips away a small pot on a [ks] [8s] [8d] [qd] board after firing the flop and turn before turning back to an on looking Neil Channing who is jokingly bemoaning his treatment at the hands of the Irish, 'I've limped one pot under the gun and check-folded the flop.'

Updates from day 1a levels five and six of EPT Prague, brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc "The Conv" Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Level five blinds: 150-300 (25 ante)
Level six blinds: 200-400 (50 ante)

6.40pm: Break
That's the end of level six, and the players are on their last 15-minute break of the day. Just two more levels to go today, folks.

6.35pm: The Gork show
Marc Gork opened proceeding with a 1,025 from first position and was called in two spots before a player in the small blind moved all in for 42,125. Gork had him covered by just 400 chips and went in to a little act as people gathered around the rail.

"I've been waiting for a situation like this all day and now it's the last hand of this table" Gork said in reference to his situation and the fact the table was just about to be broken. A few German expletives followed as well as Gork hiding his face in his Ushanka hat. He eventually made the call which prompted quick folds from the other two players still involved.

Gork opened [ts][th] to his opponent's [ah][qc] and the board ran [jc][4h][3c][kc][5s] to double Gork up to 86,000. His opponent meanwhile heads for the exit

6.20pm: Kelly doubles
Team PokerStars Pro JP Kelly doubled up when his K-K outlasted an opponent's A-2. The two of them got into something of a pre-flop raising war before all the chips went in the middle, much to Kelly's delight. He's now up to 65,000.

6.10pm: Kang you believe it?
Nothing has gone right for Ben Kang today. Losing races, hands being counterfeited has been the name of the game and he's just exited in a race after hitting an ace on the flop.
Antonin Teisseire limped from under-the-gun temping two more limpers in before Ben Kang moved all in for his last 3,575 from the button. Teisseire was the only caller with [7s][7c] and he was racing Kang's [ah][9c]. As mentioned Kang flopped an ace but the river ended his tournament. The board was [qc][5h][ad][5s][7h].

5.50pm: Efficiently winning pots
German Team PokerStars Pros Katja Thater and Florian Langmann have recently won pots without having to show down.

Thater led for 5,000 with the board showing [9h][qs][8d][js] and around 4,500 in the pot. Her opponent slowly called but mucked to her all in push on the [8c] river. She's up to 26,000 as a result.

Langmann, sat on the next table, also took down a pot in with no need to show. Konstantinos Alexiou opened proceedings with a min raise to 600 from the hijack before Langmann three-bet to 1,600. Both Alexiou and Manole on the button called to see the [4d][ts][4h] flop. Langmann continued his aggression with a 3,000 bet only to be called by the Greek. He folded to Langmann's 7,000 though after the turn came [jc]. Langmann going along nicely on 72,000.

5.40pm: Too high for Mihai
More punishment for Mihai Manole, a set-back in his recent comeback. On a flop of [kd][2s][td] he made it 4,000 which Konstantinos Alexiou called for a [7c] on the turn. Now Manole checked. Alexiou made it 8,000 now, wasting no time with his bets. Manole went into the tank but it wasn't long before Alexiou called the clock, signalling to the dealer like a football
coach calling a time out. Manole folded before the clock ran down. Manole admitted to having king-queen.

"You win," said Alexious, before on second thoughts adding "maybe." Manole looked robbed.

5.35pm: From the features desk
It doesn't always have to be so frantic. Take a leisurely perusal at the latest offerings from our features department, namely the story of the rise and fall of Christophe Schmeyer, from Germany, as well as the tale of four flying Dutchmen in today's field.

5.30pm: Counter attack
Constantin Cirstea just had his own little fist pump after tripling up to 35,000. There was a three-way all in on a [as][2s][7d] flop. Cirstea held [qs][ts] to his opponent's [ac][jd] and [7s][6s] respectively. Instant service for the Romanian as the turn came [4s] to complete his flush and comeback, for now.

5.27pm: Watch this
And now it's time for a video. Here's a look at the PokerStars welcome party last night...

5.25pm: We know this; we don't know that
The tournament information board currently confidently displays the fact that 180 players remain the the day 1a field. What's less certain is how many we started with. There's a slight discrepancy on the admin side of things and when that's ironed out we'll discover if it's 219 or 220 players who signed up today.

5.20pm: This week's Ukrainian
Pretty much every week we highlight a new poker force and realise that the more we do so, the less credibility our bold assertions carry. But this one is for real: the breakout country on this year's EPT has been Ukraine. Not only did Kyiv host the first event of the tour, but the likes of Oleksandr Vaserfirer, Alexander Dovzhenko and the sensational ex-pat Yevgeniy Timoshenko have been ripping through tournament fields all year.

And what do you know, the first man through 100,000 here in Prague is Ukranian. This time it's Oleh Okhotskyi, who has about 120,000, four times his starting stack, at the mid-point of level five.

5.10pm: Fist pumping
Five players saw the flop of [7c][3s][4d] but only Constantin Cirstea and Peter de Korver took it any further. Cirstea, who went deep in EPT Barcelona this season, checked to EPT Grand Final winner De Korver who bet 900. Call. Manole checked the [th] turn as well. De Korver bet 1,925. Call. Then the river card [6s]. Manole checked once more. De Korver grabbed 12,000 from his stack and lumped it in.

Cirstea called in a flash. De Korver turned over [8s][5s] and pumped his fists in celebration. Cirstea hadn't even showed his cards yet. "Of course I've got a straight," said De Korver, who had left Cirstea with 11,000 while moving up to close to 50k himself. "My area code, five-eight." We didn't find out what area code Cirstea lives in.

5.00pm: Dutchman flying again
Team PokerStars Pro Marcel Luske's stack had dwindled back below his starting stack after reaching lofty heights early on. Not to worry though as he's flying again after doubling up to 55,000 through Richard Grace.

Luske opened the action with an early position raise to 700 and was flat called in two spots before Grace three-bet to 4,600 from the small blind. Luske then four-bet and then called all in after Grace pushed. It was a bit of a cooler as Luske opened [as][ad] to Grace's [qs][qh] and the board ran out a safe [jd][4h][6d][2d][3c]. Grace knocked back down to 15,100.

4.45pm: And we're back
Players have enjoyed a 15-minute break and are back to battle it out once more. Meanwhile, here's a picture of a clown...

Time was when Team PokerStars Pros were like golden eagles: they were a magnificent sight but there weren't very many of them. These days things have changed. On the whole, these players are still well worth watching as they circle through the fells of an EPT Main Event, but they're hardly an endangered species. The sustained global expansion of PokerStars has been mirrored by the successful growth of the Team.

Each country across the ever-growing poker landscape is represented by its own flock of fighters, emblazoned both with the Team Pro standard and their country's flag. This afternoon, it seems as though Team Pro Holland are among the best represented, with Marcel Luske, Pieter de Korver and Ruben Visser all within close sight of our row of laptops, and the distinctive curly mop of Joep van den Bijgaart clearly visible too at the other side of the tournament area.

Coincidentally, as those words were being typed, Thierry van den Berg dropped by for a quick chat with media row. Van den Berg, who is playing tomorrow (dodgy stomach permitting) then set off on a brief tour of the room, navigating his way neatly through those Dutch landmarks.

He will have found Luske kitted out in his characteristically impeccable tailor-work: suit, shirt and tie, and a table of Arnaud Mattern, Florian Langmann and Juha Lauttamus, among others.

De Korver, the EPT Grand Final champion, hasn't played too many EPT events this year - he's not got all that much to prove after picking up €2.3 million in Monte Carlo in April - but he's back today and impressing.

Visser, meanwhile, is on good form, fresh from a deep run in Vilamoura last week. And Van den Bijgaart, or Pappe_Ruk, continues to crush online, only pausing from his internet domination to pick up the odd €50,000 at his home tournament - the Masters Classics in Amsterdam at the start of this month.

Each of that little posse are going strong as we approach the end of level four and the second break of the day. We, as ever, will continue to follow them closely.

There was a time when PokerStars qualifiers, or any breed of qualifier for that matter, matched a certain profile. Usually male, they were aged between 18 and 22, were studying something at university and had no facial hair. Sent up against the experienced pros of European poker some would flourish, some would cash well and a few more would score big, but most would bust, having had a harsh lesson in poker reality.

That age didn't really last that long.

Soon the guys (and gals) from the internet were among the most feared players on the live circuit and to have qualified for an event like this simply meant you paid a lot less for your seat than the old time pro who busted you back in your first live tournament. Take Deeb as your example, or Annette_15, ElkY and Zigmund.

But while all PokerStars qualifiers now have the necessary skills to fight hand to hand in an environment like this they must still go through that first EPT experience, that first day 1a, and do it alone. For Christophe Schmeyer, from near Bremen in Germany, that day is today. Well almost. He's not alone. He's brought his mum.

Schmeyer was among the first to arrive in the tournament room this morning along with mum Pia, here to see for herself just what all the fuss is about and snapping a few photos for the family album. Christophe, a good son, dutifully posed in front of the appropriate backdrops and she looked proud to be watching him take those first EPT steps. So, I asked, is he a good player?

"He's good," she shrugged. "He's my son, so he's good," nailing in one line the thoughts of poker parents everywhere.

It's a sharp learning curve for the 22 year old who's been playing for fun for four years and studies civil engineering in Bremen. His seat here came thanks to a successful 10,000 FPP satellite which came thanks to a successful 500 FPP satellite prior to that. It all amounted to a €5,000 buy-in seat and a week at the Hilton.

Schmeyer watched from the rail as his rivals trickled in around noon. Shaun Deeb walked past, here for another crack at live poker vindication (as if the online legend needed it) and a few others too, each stopping to chat to friends not seen since Vilamoura, or Warsaw.

Schmeyer did the same, without the chatting, taking his seat alongside Manuel Bevand, one of a crack bunch of a French attack pros like Levi, Lellouche and Lacay. Mother Schmeyer took a few last photos before retreating to the rope line, leaving him at the school gate to fill in waiver forms and fiddle with 30k worth of chips.

Schmeyer got off to a gentle start. Around him the Italian influx, now standard on the tour but never more so than in Prague (outside of San Remo that is), were already deeply involved. Two were all in and calling a table away, splitting a pot when both showed a nine. It's the C5 Sicilian defence - an attack first, count chips later strategy that last year got three of them into the last five.

Schmeyer on the other hand played in a more considered fashion at the start, easing into the game. Nothing flash as far as I could tell, loitering around his table. Approaching from a different direction I watched him win a hand off Bevand, restoring his stack to around the jump off point. But it would be Schmeyer in trouble soon enough.

Russian Anton Kashuba, another PokerStars qualifier, also fitted the standard description: young, clean shaven (if there was any facial hair there to shave in the first place) school boy looks, but with the instincts of a thief.

It was those same instincts that would send Schmeyer to the rail. On a king high board deep into level two, Schmeyer held ace-king but didn't count on Kashuba holding pocket kings. Oh well, Schmeyer out.

There's always next time.