LIVE EVENTS

As is usually the case when a deal is struck; the play opens up a little more. Tonight was no exception and it only took a few hands before Constantinos Zafiriou went all-in. James Belanger wasted no time calling and tabled his hand.

James:

Constantinos:

Board:

James stayed true to form and caught a boat on the river. And that spelled the end for Constantinos.

Constantinos Zafiriou, 3rd place – $1,975

Following the elimination of Domenico Agatiello, the last three gentlemen left in the tournament soldiered on. After a few hands, they requested that the clock be paused to discuss a possible chop. After a few minutes, they all agreed to a modified ICM chop, leaving $195 of the prize pool aside for the winner. Fresh from a nice winning streak, chipleader James Belanger came out slightly ahead.

Domenico Agatiello had a great run tonight, was consistently among the chip leaders and seemed to be enjoying some great poker. The last few levels on the final table, however, had not been easy. He pushed all in and got a call from James Belanger. Contrary to his opponent, Belanger was on the rise; and steadily gaining momentum.

Domenico:

James:

Board:

James turned a straight to put an end to Domencio’s adventure tonight.

Domenico Agatiello, 4th place – $1,110

Even though Chris Arvanitis was down to vapors, he managed to triple up, and gain some ground. Hoping to repeat the process, he went all in with and felt pretty good. Until James Belanger called and threw his cards on the table: .

The board held no surprises for anyone: and Belanger’s aces sent Chris home in 5th place.

Chris Arvanitis, 5th place – $850

The players took a short break, which allowed us to get updated chip counts from the five remaining players. Chris Arvanitis has been struggling for a while and comes in at 28,000. The other four players share the remaining chips, with Constantinos Zafiriou and Domenico Agatiello each having more than 500,000.

The aces are flying high on the final table and James Belanger grabs a few to send Michael Carrington to the rail. Having survived the last few orbits with a less than average stack, Carrington was all-in holding . Sitting on aces, Belanger made the call with: .

The flop was good for both players: . Holding the only diamonds, Belanger’s flush draw was an added bonus, but Carrington’s two pairs were dangerous. From then on, it got from bad to worse for Carrington. The showed up on the turn and then the on the river sealed Carrington’s fate by giving Belanger a boat; aces over jacks.

So it’s the end of the line for Michael Carrington, who leaves the table in 6th place.

Michael Carrington, 6th place – $650

Already sitting on a decent stack, Constantinos Zafiriou didnt’t hesitate to call two all in’s from Andrew Johnson and Martin Dyotte. Both Johnson and Dyotte had very small stacks but a win for either of them would have been very welcome.

Andrew:

Martin:

Zafiriou:

The board was revealed: leaving Zafiriou with a boat and sending both gentlemen to the rail. Having a little more chips than Andrew, Martin Dyotte gained one position and finished in 7th place.

Andrew Johnson, 8th place – $380

Martin Dyotte, 7th place – $500

Guowei Hu’s is the first player to leave the final table. Holding . Guowei was up against chipleader Domenico Agatiello who turned over .

The board came out: and Agatiello’s Rockets stood their ground, sending Hu to the rail in 9th place.

Guowei Hu, 9th Place – $290

As is customary when approaching the prizes, hand per hand play was initiated with 10 players left. Players did not have to wait long, it took one hand to eliminate Carl Doyon in 10th place. The hand was over before we got to the table, but Doyon’s all-in was approximately 75,000 chips. With the elimination of Carl, the Tournament Director stopped the clock and a full redraw was performed for the final table.

With the average stack hovering at 119,000 chips, Martin Dyotte’s 394,500 stack is nothing to take lightly. In fact, almost 75% of the chips in play belong to the three chipleaders. This means there is a huge gap between the chipleaders and the rest of the players. Domenico Agatiello and Andrew Johnson are neck to neck, and eager to get their hands on some of Dyotte’s chips before the bubble hits.

There are nine prizes up for grabs. With a huge chunk of the chips in front on 3 players, and the blinds increasing every 20 minutes, the rest of the competition are going to have to find a way to get some magic going.

The action is still intense and unforgiving as the players head into level 12. Players are being eliminated at a steady pace and the prize pool is getting closer. There will be a short break after this level, which will allow us to see where the chips lay.

There are now only two tables left, and there will be a full seating redraw when only nine players remain.

Here are a few photos of the players in action.