Event #15 of the World Cup of Cards, the $100 + $20 + $100 Crazy Pineapple 8-Max 50/50 Bounty Re-entry, brought out a big field and greatly surpassed the prize pool guarantee.

The early levels were full of wild action as the bounty chips and the all the potential options offered by an extra hole card induced plenty of big pots and pre-flop all ins. This tournament kept up a frantic pace following the end of the re-entry period all the way to the final table. Once the nine finalists claimed their seats following the re-draw, the play took on a different character. The players each had their sights set on the first place, as the tight and determined play showed. There were some relatively short stacks still involved when play began at the final table, but once they were eliminated the remaining players had plenty of blinds to work with.

Giovanni Massa was eliminated in fifth place at the hands of Emmanuel Francoeur. Massa raised all in following Francoeur’s flop bet on a board. Massa had for top pair, but Francoeur’s pocket queens withstood the runout. Massa collected $960 for his fifth place finish.

Jason Clarke was the next player to leave the final table. His pre-flop shove with pocket kings was called by Francoeur, who held and rivered a flush, eliminating Clarke in fourth place. Clarke pocketed $1,270 for his deep run.

Francoeur was the next to hit the rail. After his chip stack went on some wild swings, Francoeur was eliminated by Shawn Daigle. The two got their chips in the middle on a board when they each held a pocket pair. Daigle had the best of it with pocket eights, and the runout did not help Francoeur’s pocket sixes. Francoeur earned $1,700 for his third place finish.

It came down to Daniel Pepin and Shawn Daigle. Pepin arrived at the final table with the largest stack, but Daigle gained a lot of chips from Francoeur’s elimination and had a big chip lead when heads-up play began. After a brief discussion about a potential ICM chop, the two decided to play it out and put a quick end to the tournament from there. They traded a few blinds back and forth before the decisive hand. On the last hand, Pepin had the betting lead and fired on both the turn and the river with Daigle calling along. Pepin slowed down on the river with a check, opening the door for Daigle, who moved all in. The shove was quickly met by a call, and Daigle revealed the championship hand. Congratulations!

Event #15 Champion: Shawn Daigle, $3,014

Last Hand of Play:

Rong Xu’s run has ended in Event #15.

Xu fell victim to Giovanni Massa on his final hand. Massa raised Xu’s 30K big blind to 100K before Xu moved all in when the action came to him. Massa quickly made the call and the dealer spread the flop so the discards could be made. It was pocket kings for Massa against Xu’s . The board, , was safe for Massa’s kings, and Xu was eliminated in sixth place. He will collect $720 for his deep run.

Ahmad Tuhl has just been eliminated in seventh place.

Playing the short stack at the table, he hung on as long as he could, but his tournament run came to an end when he woke up with . He was down to a little more than four big blinds and seized the opportunity to get it in good, but he ran into two live cards in the big blind- -and the runout did not do him any favours. It fell all clubs, and the fourth club on the turn gave his opponent an insurmountable lead.

Tuhl will collect $540 for his seventh place finish.

It did not take long for the final table to produce an elimination, and the second followed shortly after.

Adam Lamers (left) was the first to go from the final table, earning $300 in addition to his bounties. Paul Trebuss (right) was eliminated in the same orbit; he will take home $400 for his eighth place finish.

Play continues in level 20, and the chip average now provides roughly 24 big blinds.

The field was quickly reduced to our nine finalists, and the stage is set for the final table. Following the seating re-draw, the final nine have taken their seats and are set to play down until there is a champion.

Now that the big money at the top of the leader board is within reach, it is safe to say that the players will no longer be interested in bounty hunting. The chip average provides less than twenty big blinds so the ranges will be tightened up from here until the end.

The field is down to 17 players; the money bubble has burst. The hand that burst the bubble occurred on the last hand before break when two relatively short stacks played the decisive hand. The action was opened with an all in from Pierre Bergeron for roughly 40K. The action folded to Shawn Daigle, in the big blind, who was playing a stack of slightly more than 50K. This put Daigle in a tough spot, but he eventually made the call. The flop fell , and the players made their discards so hands could be tabled. It was for Bergeron who had a comfortable lead over Daigle’s with top-top. But the runout- -provided Daigle a straight that allowed him to collect a bounty and put everyone in the money.

Daniel Pepin went from having a healthy stack to taking the chip lead thanks to a huge pot he won off former chip leader Jonathan Marrie. Pepin had flopped top set against Marrie’s combo (open-ended straight and flush) draw, which quickly led to all the chips going in the middle. The turn gave Marrie the nut straight, but Pepin rivered quads!

First Name | Prénom	Name | Nom	Stack | Tapis
Daniel	Pepin	615,000
Jason	Clarke	402,000
Adam	Lamers	295,000
Paul	Trebuss	272,000

The pace of play has slowed down in level 16, as many of the short stacks have been eliminated and the money bubble has come in sight. The players have been more selective with their hands and pre-flop all ins are becoming less and less frequent. But when three players make strong hands, the chips are still going in.

With the blinds at 4K/8K, it was a three-way pot between Srinivas Gottiparthi, Robert Riendeau and David Martinez, when we picked up the action on the turn. The board read . Gottiparthi, the first to act, checked to Riendeau, who moved all in for about 40K. The action moved to Martinez, who had roughly the same stack, and he went into the tank. Martinez eventually made the call, and Gottiparthi quickly followed suit. Hands were tabled that everyone had a piece of the flop, and the turn card improved each player’s holdings. It was for Riendeau, who turned trips, for Martinez, who turned a flush, and for Gottiparthi, who turned a higher flush. The river card was the , giving Gottiparthi the pot with his nine-high flush and letting add two bounties to his growing collection.

In a hand that surprised the table in a few different ways, Emmanuel Francoeur came out on top and captured another bounty.

It was a three-way pot between Gary Lucci, Ryan Jensen and Francoeur. With roughly 20K in the middle, the action was checked to the player in position, Francoeur, on a board. Francoeur bet 17K, only to have Lucci check-raise all in for roughly 55K. This put Jensen in a tough spot, who tanked and counted his stack before eventually finding a fold. Francoeur asked for the count and made the call in short order. The players made their discards and hands were tabled. It was for Lucci with an open-ended straight draw, which drew gasps from around the table, and for Francoeur with top-top. The turn brought the , giving Lucci a pair, but Francoeur took it for a straight card and he vented his exasperation until another player at the table pointed out the situation. The river card was the , allowing Francoeur’s hand to stand, giving him another bounty.