After 18 hands of hand-for-hand play, the money bubble finally burst! It was a long-winded affair for all, but none felt it more than Sylvie Belair, who was hanging by a thread the whole time and won not one, but two 3-way all-in hands to survive! In the most memorable of the two, she went all-in from the under-the-gun position with 30K on a 20K big blind, was called twice, and picked up the pot with jack high. She went on to fold a full round and got tens on the big blind, allowing her to triple up with an ace and two queens on board!

Meanwhile, at least 8 players had their tournament life at stake. No more than 2 were actual underdogs, but it was one of the most epic bubble battle, one that lasted almost 2 hours. The tournament staff, although there was another 41 minutes to go before the closest break, decided to send the 58 money earners to a much-deserved 15-minute pause.

In the end, the bubble burst when Rayan Chamas raised from a late position and was called by Allan Puzantian, somewhat short-stacked. When Puzantian saw the flop, he committed the rest of his chips with . Chamas made the call with and held, sending 58 players in the money. Congratulations all!

Marc-André Yelle is still our chip leader, having played aces vs queens wonderfully, according to another player at that table, picking up a 3M+ pot in the process. He is now working with 3,658,000, and his only close follower is none other than William Blais, a relentless force during hand-for-hand play.

Next break will be in an hour, and two more levels will be played after that. Here are more shots of the money bubble period: