As Event #2 is now down to 53 players, the pay jumps are starting to become more important as each time a player ladders up they will earn at least an extra $1,000.

Arriving at table 64, action had folded to to Stephane Blouin-Verroeulst in the small blind, and he was tanking and threw in a time card (the shot clock is in play allowing players only 30 seconds to make their decision; each player has 6 additional time cards which they can use when ever they want to extend the clock another 30 seconds) as he started looking at the other tables to see if there were any bustouts. There were 56 players left at the time and 55th would pay out an additional $1,000.

Finally he decided that it was “now or never” and he announced that he was all in for just over 6,000,000. Thomas Lefort, a solid local player with 36 cashes on The Hendon Mob, sitting in the big blind with over 30,000,000, made the call.

Blouin-Verroeulst:
Lefort:

The board ran out and Blouin-Verroeulst had his badly needed double up, and made the next pay jump as there was a bustout on another table.

As fate would have it, a few hands later, Danny Kalpakis opened to 1,600,000, only to have John Kaley shove for a little bit more than 30,000,000.  Blouin-Verroeuls was feeling the rush of the last double-up and decided to make the call.

Kaley:
Blouin-Verroeuls:

It was not looking good for Blouin-Verroeuls and the board run out didn’t offer him any help at all, so he hit the rail, $1,000 wealthier than he would have been 15 minutes earlier on.

 

 

Stephane Blouin-Verroeuls, 54th, $5,000

 

Thomas Lefort