A word of advice: stay out of Nicolas Levi's way. He's in the zone, getting a massage, and not about to let anyone slow his roll. Surinder Sunar raised to 2,400, and tossed out a call on the button. Both checked the flop. It went check-check again after the turn. The river brought the , and with it, a bet of 3,300 from Sunar. Levi kept the rhythm of the hand going, quickly raising to 15,000. Sunar grimaced, rechecked his cards, and gave way to the power of the Levi heater. He's down to 30,000, while Levi is over 170,000.
When you combine creative play, big stacks, and big hands, there's no telling what's going to happen. The corner table has been non-stop action all day. This time, it got really expensive for Alexandre Gomes. He, Nicolas Levi, and Tristan Clemençon took a flop three ways. Clemençon checked the board, and Gomes bet 5,000. Levi flatted, and Clemençon got out of the way.
The turn made things really interesting. Gomes checked, and Levi bet 12,300. Alex sized up Nicolas' stack before raising to 27,700. Levi responded by moving all in, and Gomes snap-called. Gomes only needed to see one of Levi's queens to know what the Frenchman held. Gomes cursed as he tabled , drawing to two outs against Levi's . The river was the instead, and Levi earned a full double for his 69,400. He surged to the chip lead with around 160,000. Gomes was left growling at his remaining 22,000.
We're halfway through Level 9. That means there is still another two-and-a-half hours of poker to be played tonight.
So far we've lost about a third of our original Day 1a starting field of 137. There are 85 players still with chips, positioned around 10 tables.
Thanks to those 30,000-chip starting stacks, most players still have plenty of chips with which to play -- the current chip average is more than 48,000 or about 60 big blinds.
With about 6,500 in the pot, Dominik Nitsche called a bet of 5,000 from his lone opponent in the hand on an flop. Both checked when the turn card hit and after the landed on the river, Nitsche was faced with a bet of 10,000. He called, but mucked when his opponent tabled .
With the board showing , Francois Erscent bet 2,400 -- about a pot-sized bet -- and his lone opponent, sitting to his left, made the call. The river then brought the , prompting another bet from Erscent, this time 3,600. His opponent again called.
Erscent turned over his hand -- a heart flush. Then his opponent tabled his -- . Erscent searched the ceiling, somewhat exasperated, as the dealer pushed the pot toward his opponent.
Erscent slips back to about 31,000, just a tad above the starting stack.
Just before the break, Alexandre Gomes won a significant pot against Damien Rony to get back to 100,000.
From early position Rony raised to 1,300. Gomes was next to act and he popped it to 4,000. The rest of the table folded and Rony four-bet to 10,700. Gomes called and the flop came down . Both checked and the followed on the turn. Rony bet 8,200, but couldn't shake Gomes. The river brought the and Rony checked. Gomes sat still for about a minute before betting 20,800, sending Rony into the tank.
Four minutes later Rony called, looking absolutely stunned to see Gomes table for trips.
Rony: Down to roughly 28,000
Gomes: Up to about 101,000
It's that time again. Fifteen minutes to scramble to the bathroom and grab a snack. During this break, tournament staff are coloring up the yellow T25 chips.
Damien Rony raised preflop and picked up a call from the rather quiet Chilipoker qualifier on the button. She tossed out a single pink T5,000 chip, but the dealer confirmed that she'd meant to call. The flop came down , and Rony bet 2,625. His opponent again threw out a pink chip, this time saying "five thousand." The floor was called since she hadn't made a legal raise, and it was ruled that since she had announced a bet of more than half of a legal raise, she'd have to double Rony's bet. Rony called the minbet, and on to the turn. He quickly checked, and the button checked behind. The peeled off on the river, and Rony was done checking. He bet 7,600, and after a moment, his opponent called. Rony tabled , and his overpair was good for the pot, moving him up to 58,000.
Jean-Jacques Mars had been struggling, but during the last round of hands managed to pick up a couple of pots in an effort to turn things around.
In the latter of those hands, Mars was one of three players still involved by the turn. The board showed and about 3,500 sat in the middle. Mars checked from the big blind, and the player in middle position made a small bet of 1,300. The third player, sitting in late position, folded, and Mars made the call.
The river brought the . Mars tossed out a lavender-colored 10,000 chip, announcing a bet of 5,000. His opponent thought for a full minute before tossing his cards.
![[user140525]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop. It went check-check again after the 
turn. The river brought the 
, and with it, a bet of 3,300 from Sunar. Levi kept the rhythm of the hand going, quickly raising to 15,000. Sunar grimaced, rechecked his cards, and gave way to the power of the Levi heater. He's down to 30,000, while Levi is over 170,000.
board, and Gomes bet 5,000. Levi flatted, and Clemençon got out of the way.
, drawing to two outs against Levi's 
. The river was the 
flop. Both checked when the 
turn card hit and after the 
, Francois Erscent bet 2,400 -- about a pot-sized bet -- and his lone opponent, sitting to his left, made the call. The river then brought the 
, prompting another bet from Erscent, this time 3,600. His opponent again called.
-- a heart flush. Then his opponent tabled his -- 
. Erscent searched the ceiling, somewhat exasperated, as the dealer pushed the pot toward his opponent.
turn. He quickly checked, and the button checked behind. The 
and about 3,500 sat in the middle. Mars checked from the big blind, and the player in middle position made a small bet of 1,300. The third player, sitting in late position, folded, and Mars made the call.