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.
![[user140525]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
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.
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.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
172,000
12,000
|
12,000 |
|
54,000
-27,000
|
-27,000 |
|
48,000
-4,000
|
-4,000 |
|
43,000
7,000
|
7,000 |
|
41,000
-2,000
|
-2,000 |
|
||
|
38,000 | |
|
|
||
|
33,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
30,000
8,000
|
8,000 |
|
|
||
|
28,000
7,400
|
7,400 |
|
26,000
-2,000
|
-2,000 |
|
9,000
-12,000
|
-12,000 |
|
8,000
-77,000
|
-77,000 |
Dominik Nitsche opened with a raise to 1,350 and the table folded around to the player on the button who called. Both blinds released.
The flop came 
, and Nitsche rapidly fired out 2,200. His opponent thought just a moment, then called. The turn was the 
, and again Nitsche acted quickly, this time betting 4,600. When his opponent slid his cards back and forth in front of him, Nitsche started to reach forward as though perhaps thinking that he had drawn a fold. He hadn't, however, and after a full minute of contemplation, his opponent made the call.
The river brought the 
. This time Nitsche set out two pink (5,000) chips, announcing a bet of 9,700 while leaving himself just over 20,000 behind. His opponent again tanked, then finally let it go.
With that hand, Nitsche pushes over 47,000.
Alex Gomes' tumultuous day has reached an end.
He raised from the cutoff and Nicolas Levi called from the big blind. The flop came down 
and both checked, landing the 
on the turn. Levi took a stab at the pot and Gomes called. The 
hit the river and Levi bet 35,000, more than what Gomes had remaining. After a few moments, Gomes called for the remainder of his stack and saw Levi table 
.
Gomes was beat, but per casino rules had to show his hand, which turned out to be 
.
Levi is nearing the 200,000 mark as Level 9 comes to a close.
Level: 10
Blinds: 500/1,000
Ante: 100
Two players -- Damien Rony and Nicolas Levi -- had spent a couple of streets betting, thus bringing them to the turn. The board showed 
, and with much deliberation Rony checked, then Levi checked behind.
The river brought the . Rony again checked -- without hesitation, this time -- and Levi pushed out a bet of 2,000. Rony then sprung into action, counting out some chips, then tossing forward a single 10,000 chip. "9,000," he said, indicating his raise.
Levi shrugged and indicated he was folding, pushing his cards forward. Rony then showed his hand -- 
. That prompted Levi to grab his cards and table them as well -- 
. Both laughed loudly, seeing that Rony's modest hand was in fact best.
Rony now has about 34,000, while Levi still appears to enjoy the Day 1a chip lead with his stack of 166,000.
The board read and had about 10,000 in it. Surinder Sunar bet 6,200 and Damien Rony thought for about thirty seconds before bumping it to 16,200. Sunar folded pretty quickly and gave the pot to Rony.
Sunar: Down to about 26,000
Rony: Up to about 41,000
What a hand. Alana Pariente raised preflop, then bet the flop and turn of a board that ran out 
. There was over 25,000 in the pot by the river, when she fired a 17,500-chip final barrel. That sent her opponent into the tank for several minutes. Tournament Director Matt Savage joined the crowd watching the action, noting that you could make every possible hand on that board. You could play the board, have one pair, two pair, three of a kind, a straight, a flush, a full house, or a straight flush.
It was Pariente's hapless opponent's job to figure out which of those options she had. He stared her down, but she stayed stone-faced until another player called the clock. Then she started talking to him in French. Whatever she said worked, because he folded. Pariente kept her hands frozen for a moment, thinking about whether to show or not. Finally, she couldn't resist, flipping over . She's up to 100,000 now and proud of it. Her opponent is bright red and steaming with his 35,000.
