With 27 places paid and 28 players left, the tournament entered the “hand per hand” format. All it took was a single hand. Two tables went to showdown. No one got eliminated at table #33, but it was a different story on table #34.

Pascal Baumgartner, his stack protected by his toy figurine, was all-in preflop, Marc Saddik his only caller.

The flop was out: and the dealer was waiting for the ok from the tournament director to have both players open their hands.
After a few seconds, the hand unfolded.
Pascal:
Marc:

Pascal, ever the optimistic, said, “hey, no problem, all I need is a king… or a nine!”, smiling at the dealer. The on the turn didn’t change much, and then the hammer hit the nail on the head with the river: giving trips to Marc although he didn’t need it.

So Pascal Baumgartner is the bubble, and the remaining 27 players are in the money. Paul said he was not going home empty-handed. He obviously had been enjoying himself, and informed the whole table that he had four bounties in his pockets.

Bubble: Paul Baumgartner, proudly showing how many bounties he had gathered.