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Tournament staff just announced "One down!" The first table has broken, leaving 14 more still at it on Day 1a. Pierre Canali, who had become short-stacked following the first couple of levels of play, was among the early eliminations from that table just before it broke.
Registration remains open for another level, but at the moment, the board reads 126 of 136 players.
Guillaume Darcourt suffered a stumble early on in that multi-way pot in which he lost some chips trying to play from the big blind. He managed to recover from that one, building back up over the 20,000-chip mark. But just now Darcourt once again found himself getting into trouble from the BB.
A player in the cutoff had opened to 525, getting one caller from the button. The small blind got out, but Darcourt decided to defend. The flop came 
, and Darcourt checked. The preflop raiser fired a continuation bet of 725, pushing out the button. Then Darcourt tossed out a raise to 3,000. His opponent took a moment, then made the call.
The turn brought the 
, and Darcourt quickly bet 6,000. Again his opponent deliberated for a bit before making the call.
The river brought the 
, and neither player chose to commit any further chips, both checking. The dealer held an open palm in Darcourt's direction, and he turned over his 
. His opponent tabled 
for kings and jacks, and took the pot.
Darcourt counted out his remaining chips and restacked them, noting he was down once again, this time to 14,500.
Nicolas Levi raised to 525 from early position and found callers from the players in the cutoff and the big blind.
The flop came down 
and it was checked to Levi. He bet 1,050 and the lone caller was the player in the cutoff. The turn was the 
and both checked, leading to the 
popping off on the river. Levi bet 3,700 and his opponent quickly put the rest of their stack in the middle, about 25,000.
Levi chuckled, turning over the 
and mucking his hand. He slipped to about 28,000.
The far corner table with Nicolas Levi and Tristan Clemençon was already one of the toughest in the room. Also sharing the felt with them are Lucille Cailly, Mario Cordero, and Damien Rony. To make matters worse, Surinder Sunar was just broken to that table as well.
Marc Inizan and Jean-Paul Pasqualini have been sitting side-by-side all afternoon, with Inizan (on Pasqualini's left) having gotten the better of their mostly small skirmishes thus far today.
Just now Inizan opened with a raise from under the gun, and the table folded around to Pasqualini who checked his cards, then chuckled as he had to let go of his hand, showing a deuce as he did.
On the following hand, the table folded around to Pasqualini who completed from the small blind. Inizan checked his cards, then raised to 675. Pasqualini called the raise, and the flop came 
. Pasqualini bet 725, and Inizan quickly called. The turn was the 
. This time Pasqualini checked, prompting Inizan to gather some chips and bet 1,625. Pasqualini called.
The river was the 
. Pasqualini checked this time, and Inizan made a small bet of 1,275. Pasqualini took over a minute, then called, tabling 
for top pair of jacks. Inizan had jacks, too, but his 
meant Pasqualini had him out-kicked.
Pasqualini moves back around 22,000 with that one, while Inizan slips back just under the starting stack to 29,000.
Looking around the room, we've noticed that in addition to the many Chilipoker banners and WPT signs, there are four photos blown up and mounted on poster board on the walls. One is a photo of people playing slot machines, and one is a guy in a hat and hoodie with his head down playing in the World Series. Our best guess is Theo Tran. And two are photos of players who won't be in attendance this week. Who is important enough to adorn the walls of the tournament room? In a nod to the young and the old, the male and the female, the American and the European - Doyle Brunson and Liv Boeree.
The player on the button raised to 675 and the player in the small blind called. Antoine Saout called out of the big blind as well and the flop came down .
It was checked around, landing the on fourth street. The player in the small blind checked to Saout and he bet 700. The button called and the small blind folded, leading to the 
on fifth street. Saout fired 2,250 and his lone remaining opponent quickly gave it up.
Saout upped his stack to about 44,500.
Alex Gomes has had a quiet first four levels today, having slowly lost chips during the few hands in which he's played.
Just now he opened with a raise to 525 from the button and got one caller from the big blind. The flop came 
, and when checked to Gomes continued with a bet of 625. His opponent called. The turn brought the , and both players checked.
The river was the 
. Gomes' opponent quickly checked, and Gomes studied for a while before checking behind. The big blind turned over 
-- he'd rivered trip nines -- and a weary smile spread over Gomes' face as he pushed his cards to the dealer.
As we near the second break of the day, Gomes sits with about 18,000.
We've reached the end of Level 4, and players are now taking their second 15-minute break of the day. Registration closes at the end of this break, so we'll have a final total for Day 1a entrants on the other side.
Level: 5
Blinds: 150/300
Ante: 25
