It was just a question of time before two players would be dealt hands they could not let go of, and this just happened here in the Main Event of the Playground Winter Festival. Sergio Vigano opened to 350,000 from the button, and Norman Doucette moved all-in from the small blind.

Sergio:

Norman:

Sergio’s pair of 7s held on the board, and after the dealer did the counts, it turned out that Norman was just barely covered in the hand.

This bring us down to heads-up between Sergio and Hugo Fontaine, and the stacks are virtually even. Sergio actually has the chip lead, but it’s only by one ante!

3rd place: Norman Doucette – $43,410

 

 

Action has been quite passive here in level 32, and there have been no significant pots until just now, although Hugo Fontaine has been consistently (and slowly) chipping up prior to this last hand.

Hugo opened his button to 325,000, and called when Sergio Vigano moved in for 2 million even. He turned over , a great hand in three-way action, but was trailing the of Sergio. The board changed nothing, propelling Sergio back over the 4 million mark.

The players are enjoying a short break, and this is how the chips are spread out at this point in the tournament:

[eztable width=80% colwidth=27%|33%|20% colalign=center|center|center]
Table – Seat,Name,Chip Count [attr sort=desc]
Table 38 – Seat 5,Norman Doucette,”3,200,000″
Table 38 – Seat 6,Hugo Fontaine,”8,300,000″
Table 38 – Seat 8,Sergio Vigano,”3,325,000″
[/eztable]

 

Final 3 players of the Main Event in the Playground Winter Festival:

Hugo Fontaine limped in from the small blind, and Sergio Vigano checked his option. On a flop of , Hugo lead out for 135,000, and snapped when Sergio announced all-in for 1,595,000.

Hugo:

Sergio:

Sergio rivered the flush, as the dealer ran the and the , and doubled up to almost 3,500,000.

Norman Doucette 3bet jammed for just over 2 million after Sergio Vigano had button open, and found a call.

Sergio:

Norman:

Board:

With that pot, Norman is back to being over 4 million, while Sergio dropped to around 2 million.

Sergio Vigano just doubled up through Norman Doucette, and the two have virtually just switched stack sizes. Norman button-raised, and was followed by Sergio. They both checked the flop, but found all their chips in the middle when the fell on the turn. Serio tabled for three-of-a-kind, while Norman tabled for two-pair and a club redraw. The river was a brick, and Sergio climbed to almost 4,000,000, while Norman dropped to around 1,700,000.

Daniel Charette limped from the button, and was followed by a call from Norman Doucette in the small blind, and a check from Hugo Fontaine in the big blind. The dealer brought out a flop of , to which Norman and Hugo both checked. Daniel moved all-in for over 3-million, and found a quick call from Hugo.

Daniel:

Hugo:

Hugo flopped the small straight, and only had to avoid a few chop-outs and a backdoor to win the huge pot. With the turn and river blanks ( ), Hugo took over the massive chip lead, while Daniel fell in 4th place.

4th place: Daniel Charette – $32,490

 

Here are the chip counts of the final 3 players:

[eztable width=80% colwidth=27%|33%|20% colalign=center|center|center]
Table – Seat,Name,Chip Count [attr sort=desc]
Table 38 – Seat 5,Norman Doucette,”4,600,000″
Table 38 – Seat 6,Hugo Fontaine,”8,210,000″
Table 38 – Seat 8,Sergio Vigano,”2,010,000″
[/eztable]

Moments after losing a huge pot to Hugo, Nicolas Bastien opened to 250,000 from the cutoff, and called off the rest after Norman Doucette jammed his big blind.

Nicolas:

Norman:

Nicolas couldn’t improve on the board, and the former chip leader made his exit in 5th place.

5th place: Nicolas Bastien – $24,390

Nicolas Bastien has put on a solid performance throughout this event, but may have just made his first costly mistake. Hugo Fontaine raised to 275,000 from the small blind, and was followed by Nicolas from the big blind. With the flop showing , Hugo cbet 325,000, and Nicolas replied with the words “all-in”. Hugo threw in a calling chip, and Nicolas was in big trouble.

Nicolas:

Hugo:

Nicolas was drawing dead on the turn, and Hugo slid forward his 1,550,000 stack to have the count verified by the dealer. Nicolas dropped to 1,150,000 after that hand.

Rodney Ramalho found himself in a tough spot in a battle of the blinds. Daniel Charette limped in from the small blind, and Rodney checked his option. They both checked on a flop of  , and when the turn brought the , Daniel check-raised to 350,000. On the river , Daniel shoved for just over 1,500,000, which had Rodney covered. Rodney hesitated for a moment, but finally announced a call.

Daniel turned over , and had Rodney’s outkicked.

6th place: Rodney Ramalho – $19,540