* CLICK TO REFRESH FOR LATEST UPDATES
* Largest UKIPT Marbella main event in history with 844 runners
* Day 3 plays until a final table is reached
* We're in the money! 55 of 844 players remain
* CLICK FOR START OF DAY 3 CHIP COUNTS
* CLICK FOR DAY 3 SEAT DRAW
* CLICK FOR PRIZE POOL INFORMATION

12pm: Shuffle up and deal
Level 20 - Blinds 6,000/12,000 (2,000 ante)

Cards are in the air. Here's a reminder of the top ten chip counts heading into the day:

11:50pm: Race to the final is on
Level 20 - Blinds 6,000/12,000 (2,000 ante)

Welcome back to the penultimate day of the PokerStars Marbella Festival. Just 55 players remain but, by the end of the day, just eight finalists will be left. Play will stop if that point is not reached after ten levels of play, but we think we'll be okay on that front.

All returning Spanish players will be happy after their team beat Turkey last night. The poolside party where the game was played on a big screen was a great success and the mood can be summed up by the below picture. -- MC

PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at UKIPT6 Marbella: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Mickey May and Rene Velli. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog

Rick Mercier will see one of America's greatest majesties today. It will fill his heart with such awe, he will barely be able to hold back the tears. His heart will catch in his throat, and he will wonder just how his God could create something so breathtakingly unique.

But first he will go to the Grand Canyon. 

This weekend, children around the world will celebrate their dads, offering up new ties and socks and hoping their old man knows how much they love him. This Father's Day weekend, Rick's son Jason will give his dad the greatest gift a father can imagine. 

To understand how this will happen, you have to know a little about both men and how they came to a place where the Grand Canyon is the second-biggest thing Rick Mercier will experience this weekend. 

#AmIDreaming?

Jason Mercier is in the middle of a dream summer. He has already won nearly half a million dollars in World Series of Poker prize money. That includes his fourth WSOP gold bracelet and a runner-up finish that saw him nearly claim a fifth title. That doesn't include whatever money (by his count approximately $750,000) he pulled in from side bets with his fellow players. Today, he has a chance to win again. He is among the final 14 players in the $10,000 HORSE championship. First place pays $422,874 and perhaps more importantly, another gold bracelet.  

Mercier's summer is turning heads everywhere. His fans are clicking refresh on live WSOP updates all day long. His peers are staring in awe. Poker luminaries as bright as Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth are going out of their way to let the world know the kid from Florida has impressed them. Something is happening that few people can understand and even fewer people can explain. 

Along the rails at the WSOP stands a man who is not nearly as surprised. Rick Mercier likely knows his son better than anyone. Jason is the youngest of Rick's four children, and in a way, is the most like his dad. Both are, in poker parlance, grinders. 

Rick, a successful businessman, once said, "I'm a grinder by nature for work. I don't think about the hours. I just do what I have to do."

While the ability to harness success may come naturally to both the businessman and his self-taught poker prodigy, the effects of getting there have manifested themselves more profoundly in the son. That's what makes this Father's Day weekend so remarkable. 

Nearly cooked

In late 2013, Jason Mercier was already a superstar. He had won a WSOP bracelet, European Poker Tour title, and millions of dollars. He was headed toward his 30s as a millionaire, but on a poker trip to Europe he found himself untethered, tired, and in danger of a crash few people saw coming. Famous for the long hours he put in, Mercier had to step away from the game.

"It's kind of like the old story where the frog doesn't know he's cooked until he's dead. They just keep slowly turning up the heat," Rick told us in 2014.

Mercier did the only thing he knew to do. He went home to his parents, declaring publicly, "I came home from Europe knowing that some things need to change."

What happened there was private but profound. Mercier emerged with a new look in his eye. There didn't seem to be a place where he couldn't win. Today he has more than $16 million in live poker winnings and at least $2 million more in online poker cashes. 

It has not been without change, however. Mercier is playing his own game these days, but not without man's best friend at his side. His constant companion--prescribed for his anxiety issues--has seen nearly every hand Jason has played his summer. If the ribbing he gets about having his dog at the table bothers him, he's not letting on about it. 

There's something else happening, though. When Jason won his fourth bracelet a few days ago, he dedicated it to Rick. Jason knew Father's Day was right around the corner, and he couldn't have guessed he'd have two more good chances of winning another bracelet before Sunday. Jason wanted to dedicate it to his biggest fan.

"He has always just been the biggest supporter of me. It's really incredible to have that kind of support," Jason told PokerNews' Sarah Herring after his bracelet ceremony. 

Jason called his dad's support "incredible," a word that literally means unbelievable. It's funny, because what's happening between Jason and his father is the sort of thing that could inspire belief in fathers all over the world.

The biggest fan's greatest gift

This week, a news story declared that Americans would spend nearly $8 billion less on Father's Day than they did on Mother's Day. 

"That hardly seems fair," my wife said. 

I shrugged. I'm sure there will be Father's Day gifts waiting for me Sunday, but as I sit here on Friday, I'm looking forward to a 82° (F) weekend and watching my older son play baseball for two days. I can't think of many other ways I'd rather spend it. Like any father, a good day is one I see my boys happily pushing themselves to get better. The best gift I could receive is having them turn around to see if I'm watching them do it. They want me to be there, and sometimes they need me to be there. My gifts are a high five when things go well and a hug when they don't. 

And the only thing I have to do to get these gifts every day? 

I have to show up. That's all it takes.

Rick Mercier has shown up for his son time and time again. When Jason's 24/7 lifestyle beat him down, Rick and his wife Dottie were there to make sure Jason didn't fall. When Jason came back a couple of months later, Rick was there again to cheer him on. 

Now, Rick has shown up again. The plan was to record an interview for an upcoming documentary about Jason and then to see the Grand Canyon. That plan changed when Jason finished last night with the chip lead in the $10,000 HORSE Championship. 

Today, Rick has a chance to watch his son work again.

There is no perfect way to be a father. Each man who navigates fatherhood will fail as many times as he succeeds. There is no predicting what will happen, and the only way a father can make sure he is doing his best is by being there when he's needed.

When is that? Nobody knows. That's why a dad has to follow the two rules of fatherhood as often as he can.

Show up. 

Be there. 

They may sound like different things, but they are not. Figuring out how to do them both is the trick of being a good dad. 

That's what Rick Mercier is doing, and for that he will get the best gift around: a father's unwavering pride. 

No matter whether Jason slides another gold bracelet on his wrist this weekend, Rick Mercier will be proud, and that is a gift that no first place prize money could ever buy. 

I almost wrote a blog post several days ago. The title?  

"Still early."  

I was heading into Day 2 of the $1,500 8-game event at the WSOP with 100 or so runners still in the event. I was happy just to be still in the event as the WSOP summer had started out very poorly for me.
 
I arrived in Vegas on May 27th and hopped in a $50,000 buy-in one-day event at the Aria. It ended for me in very frustrating fashion, busting in 10th place for no money when eight players got paid. I shook off the loss and got ready for the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl which would kick off two days later.  
 

The tournament ended up being a long three-day grind in which I found myself in great position to make the money late on Day 3. This is where a problem arose in the tournament. When we reached nine players, instead of combining to one table of nine, the play was scheduled to continue with one table of four and one table of five. In an attempt to keep things fair, they would move one player back and forth every 20 minutes. While this is a decent notion, it doesn't prevent the biggest problem deep in poker tournaments (especially in SHR tourneys): stalling.    

A tournament this close to the money for this amount of money should probably be playing hand-for-hand with 12 or so players left when seven get paid. It just kills the structure and makes the tournament unbearable to play when it's advantageous for players to tank and use max time on every decision.   
 
I ended up busting in ninth place after playing three and a half hours with this alternating system. I became the shortest stack and ran kings into Bryn Kenney's aces at the four-handed table to bust out. While I was disappointed and upset, I knew that there was a long summer ahead.
 
I started the WSOP by playing the $10,000 Stud event and made Day 2, only to bust out after less than an hour on the second day. I then failed to bag chips in the next eight events I played. That's where I was a few days ago.

Now, it's a different story.
 
I made a semi-deep run in the $1,500 8-game on Day 2, busting out in 35th, leaving me plenty of time to hop in the $10,000 NL 2-7 tournament. This event would be the one to change my summer. I managed to make Day 2 of this event with around average chips and then bag the chip lead with nine players left going into the final day.  
 
The final day went as well as it possibly could. I went heads up against Mike Watson and came out victorious! On the final hand, Mike raised the button to 100k at 25/50k blinds. I called with 8654A and drew one, discarding the ace. He also drew one card. I caught a deuce, which was my nut card making me one of the best hands you can have in this game. I checked to Watts hoping he would bet so I could check-raise. He actually went with a pretty big bet size here firing 200k (almost pot). I decided to just go for it. I moved all in praying for a call. He deliberated for a minute or two and finally made the call!  

 
It was such an awesome feeling sitting there knowing that if he called, it would be "all over baby." It was my first bracelet win in that kind of spot. My other three wins were all either all-in on the flop or pre-flop. It was such an adrenaline rush shipping my first gold bracelet of the summer, winning $273,000 in prize money and collecting close to $750,000 in side bets. It was an incredible feeling winning my first bracelet of the summer and my fouth ever lifetime. There was also the added bonus that winning would also put me in a great position to collect on a bunch of bets I'd made on winning two bracelets with a decent shot at three-bracelet wagers, too.  
 
After winning the event, I registered the $10,000 Razz event and made Day 2 again with around average chips. It felt like deja vu on Day 2. I ran so hot, winning crucial pot after crucial pot to make the final table leading again. There were eight players left this time going into the final day, and I had the chip lead with 32% of the chips in play.   
 
I was confident I was going to win my second bracelet in three days and become the first player ever to win back-to-back $10,000 championship events. The final table went according to plan until I ran into the man that would eventually end my dreams of back to back wins: Ray Dehkharghni.   
 
We played a pretty intense heads up match for a few hours in which he got the best of me. I came up just short, finishing second place for around $160,000, leaving around $500,000 on the table plus the equity of the three-bracelet bet.   
 
I was disappointed for literally a few minutes, and then I had no choice but to get back to the grind. Making these bracelet bets doesn't really give you much leeway to skip events. I was extremely exhausted after the match, and really just wanted to go to bed. However, I jumped in the $10,000 HORSE just before registration closed. I bagged above average chips with 66 players left going into Day 2. Today? I'm chip leader with 14 left! 
 
I'm really excited my parents get into town tonight. They are here to film my Pokerography episode for Poker Central and sweat me in the HORSE. 

I want to thank all my friends, family, and fans who have been watching, supporting, and rooting me on while I'm on this quest. It means the world to me!  
 
I know I'm not finished. The task isn't done. There are still so many more big-buy in small-field events left.

Don't be surprised if you see me hoisting another bracelet. #BraceletHunting

* CLICK TO REFRESH FOR LATEST UPDATES
* Largest UKIPT Mareblla main event in history with 844 runners
*241 of 844 players remain (127 get paid)
* CLICK FOR SELECTED CHIP COUNTS
* CLICK FOR DAY 2 SEAT DRAW
* CLICK FOR PRIZE POOL INFORMATION

12pm: Moving day is here
Level 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (300 ante)

Welcome back to Day 2 of what is officially the biggest ever UKIPT Marbella main event. 151 players entered last night's turbo Day 1C to take the total number of runners to 844, eclipsing last year's record of 841.

The likes of Kuljinder Sidhu, Renee Xie, Vicente Delgado and Mateusz Moolhuizen all got through at the second attempt and take their place among 241 Day 2 runners. Over half of those players will get paid with 127 players earning at least €1,700 whilst the winner will take home €151,350.

You can see all the pertinent Day 2 information below. Cards are in the day at noon and we expect the usual ferociously fast day of poker as stacks are built and dreams dashed on what we call 'moving day'. Follow the coverage right here.

Seat Draw
Chip counts
Prize pool

There's just no quit in Kid Poker. 

Last week, Daniel Negreanu finished fourth out of 461 in the 2016 WSOP $1,500 Razz event for $42,030. Just a few day later he cashed in the $10,000 2-7 event placing 14th out of 100. Now, he's deep in his first no-limit hold'em event of the year and just a few tables away from his seventh WSOP bracelet. 

In less than two hours, Negreanu will be re-starting Day 3 in fifth place out of the remaining 26 players. The ride to Day 3 was crazy, one in which he managed to flop quads and get paid for it and then later make queens hold up three ways. Now, he's set to record his 86th WSOP cash and build on more than $15 million in World Series winnings.

Although Kid Poker's last three World Series summers have been amazing (including a runner-up finish in the One Drop and 11th place finish in the Main Event), he has not won a bracelet since 2013. That's nagged at him a little bit. 

In the KidPoker documentary, he admits he's still keen to win several more bracelets before he hangs it up. He's in a good spot to make it happen today, but he is not without some serious competition. The top ten going into today doesn't have a lot of soft spots. 

Martin Kozlov1 -- 497,000        
David Vamplew -- 1,310,000        
Calvin Lee1 -- 236,000        
Raghav Bansal -- 1,059,000      
Daniel Negreanu -- 932,000        
Daniel Weinman -- 932,000        
Will Givens -- 930,000        
Matt Giannetti -- 738,000        
Doug Polk -- 728,000        
Steffen Sontheimer -- 623,000  

Negreanu and the other 25 players pick back up at noon Vegas time. 

Good luck to Kid Poker as he works to bring home #7. 

12:03pm: Shuffle up and deal
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100

Cards are in the air for Day 1B. --MC

11:50am: Welcome back for Day 1B
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100

Yesterday was so much fun, let's do it all over again. Actually, let's do it twice today. It was trailed on the Eureka Poker Tour and now it's come to the UKIPT/ESPT. There is a Day 1C Turbo flight taking place later tonight that offers players a second chance to make Day 2, only open to players who busted on Day 1A yesterday, or Day 1B today. That's for later though, there's the little matter of Day 1B to take care of first.

Cards will be in the air at midday CET and more than 300 players are expected to through the doors of Casino Marbella. It may be the Spanish summer but no shorts in here please. Don't worry, they've got you covered with air conditioning.

One of the players taking centre stage today will be Team PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira De Melo. It one of her favorite stops of the year and she's dragged Leo Margets along with her. We'll bring you news of all the other notables once play is underway. --MC

Key UKIPT6 Marbella Facts:
- 25,000 starting stack
- Blinds starting at 50/100 for 250 big blinds
- Levels are 45 minutes on Day 1 and they'll be 12 of them. From Day 2 onwards levels increase to 60 minutes. 
- Day 1A was yesterday (read about it here), Day 1B takes place today and there's also a turbo Day 1C at 10pm tonight. That opening flight is only open to players who've busted on Day 1A or Day 1B.
- The field will then combine for the first time on Friday. We'll reach the money during the eight levels of play on Day 2 and then play down to a final table on Saturday. Sunday is all about the final. Cue mad celebrations and swigging of sangria from the trophy (possibly). 
- Full UKIPT5 Marbella schedule here.

PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at UKIPT6 Marbella: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Mickey May and Rene Velli. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog

Everyone likes a good old-fashioned summer holiday, right? Spain has long been a place where the British and Irish descend for their annual time in the sun. Marbella had always been a popular spot and had evolved over the years. Bars showing Only Fools and Horses repeats while serving up a full English/Irish breakfast are slowly being replaced by poolside day clubs serving sushi over ice. One consistent trend over the past few years has been the UKIPT coming out mid June to meet up with its Estrellas cousin, and together they host the PokerStars Marbella festival.

The Main Event kicked off today with Day 1A and attracted 284 players. It played out over twelve 45-minute levels and after all the bagging up took place, Tinlay Tsontu amassed the most chips with 281,800. He's closely followed by Grzegorz Idziak (260,700), Bob Janssens (254,700) and Alexander Voytko (229,100).

The last of these players could actually have ended the day as chip leader but for a controversial last hand of the night. Voytko was forced to pay an opponent almost 60,000 after the dealer accidentally mucked his hand. He had raised and picked up two callers before a player in the blinds squeezed all-in for just under 60,000. Voytko called and that prompted the two callers to fold their hands but the dealer thought all three players had folded and dragged all cards into the muck. It was an extremely unfortunate situation for Voytko but the rules state it's his responsibility to protect his hand even though the dealer made a mistake. It may well have cost him the chips lead but at least he'll be back on Day 2 to fight another day.

Other players though to Day 2 are: Milos Skrbic (218,100), Jon Gonzalez (209,200), Seun Oluwole (201,800), Neil Raine (114,600), Guy Taylor (100,900) and Will Davies (96,200). A total of 70 players made it through to Day, and the full counts can be read here.

Vicente Delgado may now live in the UK but he's still one of Spain's hottest young poker talents and crushed the online satellites leading up to this event. He came 20th in this event two years ago and was looking on course to go deep in this event. He shot to an early chip lead with 80,000 but not long after he was out with Tomasz Wrobel looking like his executioner.

Tom Holke's first ever tournament cash was a win. The colourful player from Hamburg, who's a walking, talking German flag took down the inaugural Eureka in his hometown just over a year ago but he couldn't repeat the same success here. Noelia Ivars Rico and Sabina Hiatullah were two of several females in the field today but suffered bad beats to bust though. Each of them got their stack in good with sets but neither could hold to the river and will be trying their luck in Day 1C tomorrow.

Day 1C tomorrow I hear you ask? Isn't it supposed to be Day 1B tomorrow? Day 1B will play out tomorrow just as Day 1A played out today, but then at 10pm, they'll be a third, turbo flight. It's something that's been tried out on the Eureka Poker tour and proven very popular. It's only open to those who have already busted from either Day 1A or Day 1B, no players will be able to enter it as their first entry. The levels will be 20 minutes long and it should last a little over four hours.

Day 1B will start at midday CET and Team PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira De Melo will be in the house! She's here with good friend and Spanish star Leo Margets. They'll be joined by the likes of Asif "Poker Tourist" Warris, Dave "I literally won all the buttons last night" Clarkson, Diego "I am a gentleman" Gomez, Chris Dowling, Tudor Purice, Rasmus Agerskov and Kjell Lindqvist.

Join the PokerStars Blog team back here tomorrow where we'll bring you all the major talking points we witness, except when the England vs Wales game in on the TV, then the blog may be a little bit light. Until then it's good night from a baking Spain. Catch up on all today's action by clicking here.

PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at UKIPT6 Marbella: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Mickey May and Rene Velli. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog