After ten 40-minute levels, Day 2 of the $150 + $25 Strangers in the Night event is now in the bag. Only 20 players remain out of the starting field of 584 that began the tournament.

With a total prize pool of $84,972 and a 1st place prize of $16,232, Day 3 promises to be an exciting affair! It begins tomorrow, Thursday January 31st at 7PM.

Below are some photos of our chip leaders, taken just before the end of the day.

Exact chip numbers for our leaders will be provided shortly.

The players in the Strangers in the Night tournament have taken their final break of the day and will now play down through 2 levels before bagging to return on Day 3. There are currently 27 players remaining, and as play is 9-handed, they are distributed evenly on 3 tables.

The chip leader his William Blais, but he’s followed closely by experienced players like Jonathan B, among others, so he nor anyone else can get complacent going into the final string in Day 2.

There was a bit of a preflop war as Charles Syme raised to 35K only to face a 3b from Vsevolod Malamud – known also as Slava or Squirrel (after one of his favourite card covers) to 101K. Charles made the call and the dealer laid out the flop.

Flop:

Both players checked. The turn came and Charles checked once again. Slava, who was also enjoying some chicken tenders and a sip of his beer, took a few seconds and then bet 169K. Charles went into the tank trying to decide what to do. He tried a little speech play, suggesting that he hadn’t even looked at the board yet, instead focusing on his opponent. Slava, for his part, took another bite of his tenders, refusing to take the bait. In due time, Charles made the call.

The river was a blank for both players, and the action went check-check. Charles was first to show: . But Slava turned over and took the huge pot.

Antonio Sankari – already an event champion during this World Cup of Cards – has emerged as the chip leader in the Strangers in the Night event with just 4 levels left to be played on Day 2.

Going into the final 4 levels there are currently 41 players spread across 5 tables. Play continues in level 21.

One of the players who doubled during hand for hand play was Alexandre Cote-St-Louis, who at one point pre-bubble had been down to 2bb. Then he was the first player to double during hand for hand play – except that he more than doubled – there had been 4 players to the flop on the hand, so he had their contributions as well as his beat Gabriel DT’s after Gabriel had 3b Christopher Kokozaki off the hand on the flop.

Fast forward a couple of levels and Alexandre is somewhat short again, but wins a nice pot in blind on blind action after tank-calling holding compared with his neighbour in the sb holding just . No one made a pair on the hand and Alexandre’s higher Ace took the pot.

Just 3 hands later, Alexandre was again all in, this time from the cutoff. Chad Coombs made the call, and the hands were exposed:

Alexandre:
Chad:

Alexandre found a way to win on the flop, coolering Chad, who could do nothing but watch as the turn and river cards were revealed.

The comeback was complete – Alexandre was left playing well over 400K in chips, ready to try for a deep run in the event.

When hand for hand play began, the button on table 19 was on Seat 8, the place where Yaseen Siddiqui’s stack sat – but no Yaseen – he had not appeared to start Day 2.

In the big blind ante era, however, that left plenty of time for his stack to not have to contribute anything to the pot. And, almost by fate, after 7 hands (seat 2 was empty), when the unclaimed stack was under the gun, there was an elimination on another table to bring the tournament into the money.

Along the way there were two other called all-in moments, but in both cases the player at risk doubled up. On the bubble hand, however, it was a different story. On table 20, there was an all in from Antonio De La Cruz, and he was called by Dakota Vandine to his immediate left. The rest of the hands were concluded on the other tables, and then both players’ holdings were revealed.

Antonio:
Dakota:

The flop was all Antonio really needed: and there was no miracle in store for Dakota on the turn and river.

Dakota Vandine was therefore out in 74th, and Yaseen Siddiqui placed 73rd for a payout of $220.

The players in the Strangers in the Night event have just returned from their first break of the evening, and in the first minutes upon resuming play, a couple of players were eliminated bringing the total count to 74 remaining – time for hand-for-hand action. Play will continue one hand at a time until there is an elimination, and dealers will indicate the end of each hand on their table by illuminating the red light.

While the players were away we were able to find the current leaders in the event – see the table below. For now, those leaders will be concentrating on trying to leverage the bubble while many others just try and stay alive until they’re in the money.

David Bonneau was playing a stack very close to the current chip average, but just now he more than doubled his holdings on a hand that ended up being all in 3 ways.

We arrived at the table to see a flop of and the player in Seat 5 pushed all in for his remaining (approx) 110K. David shoved all in over the top, and the player in seat 8 went in the tank, eventually asking for a count. Bonneau’s stack, the larger of the two already committed, proved to total 174K. With a laugh, the player punched a big stack of white T5000 chips in front of him by way of calling and the showdown was on.

Seat 5:
David:
Seat 8:

David seemed nervously optimistic upon seeing the hole cards. The player that could take him out did have the nut flush draw – but would have to draw out to make it – and his opponent in seat 5 blocked two more of his outs.

Turn:
River:

No more clubs had come, and the King-high flush took down the pot. David is now playing a much healthier stack of about 480,000 as the bubble begins to loom.