Not long after finding a key double-up, Eric Leblond played a hand that lead to his demise.

Eric limped in from middle position, as did the button and small blind before Francois Roy raised to 330,000 from the big blind. Eric was the only caller, and the two went to see a flop. Francois lead with a bet of 450,000, and snap called the all-in of Eric worth a little more than 2 million.

Francois tabled for a flopped set, and had Eric Leblond drawing to runner-runners with . The turn sealed the deal for Francois, and the river was dealt as a formality, sending Eric to the cage in 8th place for $2,420.

 

Eric Leblond and Rinesh Gnanenthiran went to war pre-flop, creating a 3 million chip pot in the process. Once no more chips were left to wager, both hands were tabled.

Eric:
Rinesh:

Eric was on the brink of elimination, and decided to use his “One Time” in an attempt to bring him back into the game. He picked up some help on the flop, and turned a straight with the turn, dodging the split-pot with a river .

After Rinesh Gnanenthiran made a flush with versus Marcel Basset’s on a board a few orbits ago, Marcel was left with a very short stack, and patiently waited for a spot to spin it up. He survived by stealing some blinds and even doubled up his stack at one point, but then ran into his nemesis Rinesh’s after moving in with .

With no help on the board, Marcel was sent to the rail in 9th place, collecting $1,830 for his deep run.

 

Denis Scott opened to 320,000 from middle position, and William Blais 3-bet all-in from the big blind. With 1,445,000 total, Denis made the call and the two were in a coin toss for a 3 million chip pot.

Denis:
William:

Board:

Denis won the flip, and William paid out yet another double-up on this final table, bringing his count down to 4 million chips – roughly half of his peak not long ago, but still twice the average stack.

A lot of action has taken place in the early stages of this final table.

In one of the first hands of play, we saw short-stacked Rami Hammoud keep his seat at the table by tripling up his 190,000 stack through Eric Leblond and William Blais. Rami made a full-house with on a board. Eric won a 1.4M side pot in the same hand, besting William’s with .

Not long after William took another small hit after being dealt and losing to Francois Roy’s runner-runner flush with on a board. Francois shoved on the flop for 1 million chips after defending his big blind, and William made the call with the over-pair.

Moments later, Said Michailidis opened to 155,000 from early position and was met with a 3-bet to 550,000 from Mohamed Ben Yahia. Said replied with a 4-bet all-in, and Mohamed committed his 1.4 million chip stack.

Said:
Mohamed:

Board:

Said climbed to 3.2 million after the hand, while Mohamed was awarded a voucher for $1,420 for his 10th place finish.

The Strangers in the Night Event, part of the Playground Poker Fall Classic, has reached the final table with 10 players still in action battling for a $23,000 top prize. William Blais currently has the biggest edge with loads of tournament experience along with his overwhelming chip lead, however in the game of poker nothing is certain and everyone still has a fighting chance.

Congratulations on reaching the final table!

Final Table of Strangers in the Night:

First Name | Prénom	Last Name | Nom	Seat | Siège
Mohamed Ben	Yahia	Seat 01
William	Blais	Seat 02
Rinesh	Gnanenthiran	Seat 03
Francois	Roy	Seat 04
Marcel	Basset	Seat 05
Denis	Scott	Seat 06
Rami	Hammoud	Seat 07
Eric	Leblond	Seat 08
Tony	Lei	Seat 09
Said	Michailidis	Seat 10