LIVE EVENTS

Once four-handed, the players stopped the clock once again to discuss a possible deal.  The discussion lasted only a few minutes and it was done.  An even chop of $1,800 was agreed upon, leaving an extra $474 for the champion.

Play resumed and almost immediately, two players fell.  Nathalie Thibeault finished 4th and Michel Pouliot hit the rail in 3rd place; both players pocketing $1,800 as agreed.

Heads up action between Jacques Berthiaume and Jeffrey Batmanian just started, with Berthiaume enjoying a noticeable chip advantage.

4th place – Nathalie Thibeault, $1,800

3rd place – Michel Pouliot, $1,800

After the elimination of Eric Sauve in 7th position ($510) when his came up short against Michel Pouliot’s , the players paused the clock to discuss a possible deal.

Unable to come to a unanimous agreement, the players soldiered on.

Jeremy Chandler, short stacked and out of options, went all-in with but was crushed by Nathalie Thibeault’s cowboys and hit the rail in 6th place and a prize of $680

Next, it was Anderson F. who was backed up in a corner.  He tried his luck with but hit a brick wall when Jacques Berthiaume tabled his rockets and was sent home in 5th position and $900.

7th place – Éric Sauvé, $510

The players have moved on to the final table, and were happy to do so.  Playing four-handed for quite a while made a huge dent in some stacks because of the increasing blinds.

Here are the players who headed for the rail after the bubble burst:

• 8th – Samuel Mercier-Fortin, $390
• 9th – Ahmad Baalbaki, $290
• 10th – Christian Rho, $220
• 11th – Farbod Nematkhah, $220
• 12th – Bryan Robitaille Fequet, $200
• 13th – Patrick Sullivan, $200
• 14th – Camille Jr Lefebvre Pelletier, $190
• 15th – Réal Cantin, $190
• 16th – Maxime Roby, $170

I took quite a few hands, a lot of all-ins and some patience but in the end it only took one hand to unlock the final table.

After a few devastating hands, Samuel Mercier-Fortin had very few options left, so he went all-in for 29,000.  Anderson F. made the call and so did Jeffrey Batmanian.

The flop came out: , the action was instantaneous from Anderson: “all-in”. Jeffrey got the message and bowed out.  The hands were then tabled:

Anderson:

Samuel:

With a straight on the flop, Anderson was happy and only needed to avoid a deuce which would lead to a chopped pot.  But the hand held with a on the turn and the on the river. With no player holding clubs, the straight was good for Anderson.

With the elimination of Mercier-Fortin, the final table was set.

A few minutes after the tournament was reduced to three tables, the tournament director proceeded to start the hand-for-hand format.  This format would allow the tables to all have the same rhythm in order to make the bubble elimination fair for all the players.  I took a few hands to achieve but eventually the players got their bubble man.

Small blind Travis Robertson pushed all-in preflop for 61,000.  He got a snap call from Jeremy Chandler, which left Christian Rho with a decision to make.  Chris was on the button and he was facing the small (Travis) and big blind (Jeremy).  His problem was Jeremy who was the table chip leader.  With a sizable stack of his own, Chris quickly figured out that he did not hold the right hand to gamble against Jeremy, and he folded, announcing that he had ace-six.  Heads up, Travis and Jeremy tabled their hands:

Travis:

Jeremy:

Then the flop came out: and everyone heard a gasp from Chris… he would have hit two pairs.  Still hoping for a deuce to join the ducks he held, Travis looked pleadingly at the board.  But, no joy, the turn and river sealed his fate.  Travis was the bubble boy, defeated by Jeremy’s pair of tens.

So Travis Robertson unwillingly becomes the bubble boy and play has resumed.  Congratulations to all the players for making the money list.

The bubble hand:

Travis Robertson, bubble, but still smiling.

We came upon table #20 in the middle of a hand.  Jonathan Scott Mclean was all-in for 69,500.  He had just received an under call from Ahmad Baalbaki, with 61,500.  The action was on Camille Jr. Lefebvre Pelletier.  With a larger stack and after a small inner-argument with himself, Camille called.  The players all tabled their hands:

Ahmad:

Camille:

Jonathan Scott:

With no one holding a pair, Camille’s hand looked pretty good at this point.  The flop came out: and all of a sudden Jonathan Scott was smiling, not quite believing his luck at having flopped a flush.  But before any celebrating could take place, the turn arrived: , awarding Ahmad with a nut-flush and rendering the river obsolete .

So not only was Ahmad the shortest stack involved, he was also behind from the start.  So it was with a relieved smile that he began scooping up his loot in the wake of a much needed triple-up.  After paying Ahmad, Jonathan Scott received a few chips from Camille, and play resumed.

The tournament is down to the last 6 tables and the action is still going strong.  With blinds at 1,500 / 3,000 and the average stack at 24 bb’s, the pressure is definitely on.

Here are some photos of the players, from level 10.

Things are moving along and the eliminations are happening at a steady pace.  After 10 levels, the players took a short break which gave us the opportunity to survey the field in search of chips.

Previous leader Manfred Gunther has managed to increase his stack to a very respectable 159,000.  But, after winning a four-way all-in, Éric Sauvé is the new leader with 173,000 chips.

There are presently 35 players left and the pressure is being felt everywhere, especially on the shorter stacks who have to contend with short-table strategy too.

Éric Sauvé, chip leader – 173,000

The prize pool is up on the boards and sure enough, it’s big.  The total pool is $11,834, more than double the advertised guarantee of $5,000. The 16 top spots are paid, with a $2,794 prize for the winner.

After 6 levels of play, Jeremy Chandler and Manfred Gunther have moved ahead of the pack with 84,100 and 82,600 chips each.

Late registrations are now closed.  In total, 122 entries were logged, including 27 re-entries. There are 88 players left and they will battle until a champion is crowned tonight.

For the players who didn’t make it down to Playground in time for this event, there is also Event #9.  This last event of the June 2019 Power Weekend offers a similar format.  It’s a $100 + $20 + $100 6-Max 50/50 Bounty tournament, with a guaranteed prize pool of $20,000,  This event also has unlimited re-entries possible until the beginning of level 7 and starts at 7:00pm tonight.

Manfred Gunther 84,000 chips

Things are moving along in the 6-Max and players are still coming in.  There are now 78 players in the field and there has been 85 entries to date.  Five players have elected to fire a second bullet, taking full advantage of the late registration period and unlimited re-entries for this event.

The prize pool has already climbed well past the guaranteed amount and is now at over $8,000.  There is still plenty of time to head for Playground, late registrations are possible until 2:15pm.

Here a re a few photos of the players, from the first levels.