A player in early position limped in and Carlos Mortensen raised to 1,200 from the hijack. The button and the big blind called, as did the early-position player.
The flop came down 
and the player in the big blind led out 1,200. After a fold from the original limper, Mortensen moved all in for about 17,000. The button gave it up and after about 30 seconds, the big blind did as well.
Mortensen flashed a black king as he collected the chips, now sitting on a stack of about 23,000.
It folded around to Julien Labuissiere who raised to 1,000 from the button. Only the player in the small blind called. The two players looked at each other as the flop was being dealt and exchanged animated, wordless nods with one another, as if they were mutually accepting the challenge to come.
Both wore half-grins as the flop came 
. The small blind checked, Labuissiere bet 700, and when his opponent called, Labuissiere rechecked his cards. The turn was the 
. Again, the player in the small blind checked, and when Labuissiere bet 2,000, his opponent was the one rechecking his cards. After a bit of thought, he made the call.
The river was the 
. The SB stared ahead for a while, then tapped a single finger on the felt. Labuissiere pulled together some chips and bet 5,200, prompting his opponent to take a swig of Red Bull, then exhale loudly.
"It takes a lot of money for me to figure out how you play," said the player. Labuissiere sat motionless in non-response. Finally his opponent called, Labuissiere turned over 
for a straight, and his opponent mucked.
Labuissiere moves back up to 33,000 on that one.
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier raised to 525 from early position, and Thomas Bichon called behind him. The cutoff, the small blind, and Bruno Lunais in the big blind also came along for the ride. Action checked to ElkY after the 
flop, but with four opponents, he didn't bother with a c-bet. Bichon took over the initiative, betting 1,225. The cutoff and small blind both called to see the 
turn put plenty of possibilities on the board. The small blind checked, and Bichon fired out 4,000. The cutoff called, and the small blind made her exit. Now heads up, both players quickly checked the 
river. Bichon tabled 
. His frustrated opponent showed 
, having been counterfeited on the river. With his better kicker, Bichon took the pot and built himself back to starting stack.
Philippe Ktorza had fallen below the starting stack during the first couple of levels, but things have turned around for him here in Level 3. A short while ago a humble pocket pair of deuces turned into flopped quads for Ktorza, netting him a decent-sized pot.
He was soon involved in another hand when he and three other players called an opening raise to 450 from a player sitting under the gun. The flop came 
and when it checked to the preflop raiser he continued for 1,600. Ktorza, sitting to his opponent's left, called quickly, and the other three players folded.
The turn brought the 
. This time the preflop raiser checked, and Ktorza, acting without haste, bet 2,700. His opponent called.
The river brought the 
. Both checked, and Ktorza turned up 
for top pair, top kicker. His opponent mucked, and Ktorza is now back up to 33,000.
We caught up with the action on the river of a 
board. There was a little over 10,000 in the pot and Melanie Weisner had checked. Her lone opponent in the hand bet 5,500 and Weisner called after a few moments, seeing her opponent table 
.
Weisner mucked and is down to about 12,000.
Also just before the break, Carlos Mortensen recovered some chips he had previously lost. An under-the-gun player opened to 375 and Mortensen popped it 1,175 from middle position. Action folded around to the original raiser and he called, leading to a 
flop.
It was checked to Mortensen, betting 2,150. His opponent raised to 7,075 and Mortensen responded by carefully moving his latest chip configuration into the middle, 13,000 total. His opponent tanked for about a minute before giving it up and boosting Mortensen's stack to about 22,000.
Just before the break, Liz Lieu saw her stack of 38,000 become about 18,000. The board read and the pot had about 20,000 in it. Lieu was faced with a bet of 10,000 from her opponent and after a while in the tank, Lieu called.
Her opponent tabled for the turned set, sending Lieu's stack in the wrong direction.
Level: 3
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 0
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
47,500
17,500
|
17,500 |
|
|
34,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
|
33,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
|
28,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
27,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
|
26,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
|
23,000
7,000
|
7,000 |
|
|
22,500
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
22,000
8,000
|
8,000 |
|
22,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
||
|
21,500
11,500
|
11,500 |
|
||
|
21,000
7,000
|
7,000 |
|
|
||
|
20,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
19,000
8,000
|
8,000 |
|
18,000
14,500
|
14,500 |
|
14,400
4,600
|
4,600 |
|
||
We've reached the end of Level 2 and the first 15-minute break of the day.
At the moment, the big board is showing that 80 players have registered for today's Day 1b, with five of those having already been eliminated. Registration remains open for two more levels.
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