Amit Abriol has just been eliminated in 12th place after what can only be described as a cooler spot.

With the blinds at 15K/30K, Abriol opened the action to 75K from early position. Popescu made the call on the button, and the blinds folded, so they went heads up. They saw a flop of and, before long, all the chips went in. Abriol made a continuation bet of 150K and Popescu, who had the bigger stack going in to the hand, raised all in. Abriol called immediately and hands were tabled.

Popescu:

Abriol:

Set over set on the flop! A spot that’s nearly impossible to get away from in hold’em, and this one was no exception. The turn and river did not provide Abriol’s one-outer, and he hit the rail in 12th place. He will take home $1,860.00 for his trouble.

Elvira Popescu just sent Alex Normandin to the rail in 15th place, after setting a trap with top set on the flop.

Three players, Popescu, Normandin and Hassan Salha, saw the flop of . Salha was first to act and led the way with a bet of 35K. Popescu flat called, and Normandin put in a raise to 75K. This raise forced Salha out of the pot, and the action was back to Popescu who raised all in. Popescu emerged from day 1 with a large stack and found a way to maintain her momentum throughout Day 2 to remain one of the larger stacks all day. She had Normandin covered, putting him in a difficult spot, but with so many chips in the middle Normandin found himself committed and made the call.

Popescu:

Normandin:

The runout, , offered no help for Normandin, and Popescu collected another huge pot.

Normandin will take home $1,480.00 for his 15th place finish.

When Isham Yamani raised to 54K, Mélanie Ares, counting a little over 400K, decided to take a stand. She went all-in, hoping for a fold or a coin flip, but with a couple of cowboys in hand, Yamani was in a sweet spot:

Isham Yamani:
Mélanie Ares:

Board:

With this pot, Yamani enters the very select millionaire club. Mélanie Ares takes 18th, good for $1,240. Well done!

The players have just returned from the final break of Day 2. The field is down to 21 players on three tables, and two players, Hassan Salha and Shawn S, continue to lead the way with the biggest stacks.

Salha’s remarkable comeback, after losing a huge pot to Shawn S earlier in the day, to reclaim the chip lead continues to be the story of the day. Several other players, such as Alexandre Nadeau-Levesque, continue to quietly accumulate chips, and, at this point, every player left in the field has a legitimate chance to win.

Here are the current chip leaders:

First Name	Last Name	Chip Count
Hassan	Salha	2,480,000
Shawn	S	2,050,000
Alexandre	Nadeau-Levesque	1,150,000
Rabah	Belal Ahin Al-Nasseri	972,000
Bruno	Blanchette	890,000

Scott Schein’s run has come to an end in the Playground 200. Although he was disappointed with his 25th place finish, he can brag about the great return on investment that he got out of this event.

Shein qualified for the Playground 200 through a $22 satellite on partypoker. After advancing through the satellite, he played the online Day 1 offered on partypoker and played his was in to Day 2.

Shein fought his way through this afternoon’s field, only to fall victim to some bad timing in level 23. Shein was playing an above-average stack after the last break, but after running pocket jacks into pocket aces and doubling up Adam Cader, Shein was on the ropes. Nonetheless, he found a way to get all the chips in with good equity when pushed pre-flop with was called by . Shein’s opponent flopped a king and Shein made his way to the counter to collect his ticket, only to be called back to the table because he had less than one big blind remaining. Despite the micro stack, Shein managed to be ahead when his tournament life was finally at risk when he woke up with an ace, but it was not enough and Shein’s opponent hit the board and the pair sent Shein to the rail.

Shein will collect $740.00 for his 25th place finish, a pretty good return on $22.00!

As the field dwindles here on Day 2, the pots are getting bigger and bigger with more and more at stake. The players continue to put each other to the test, and every decision is being carefully calculated.

A hand that just played out illustrates just how painstaking the decision making can be at this point. With the blinds at 6K/12K, Adamo Giroux and Amit Abrol tangled in a monster pot, where both players had stacks that were well above the current average of 523K. Abrol had the pre-flop betting lead and made a 125K continuation bet on flop of . Giroux, on the button, then put in a raise to 300K, putting the pressure back on Abrol. But that pressure was short-lived as Abrol quickly went all in, putting Giroux’s tournament life at risk. Giroux’s disgust was obvious as he grimaced and told the table he would need a little while to make a decision. “You really have ace-king?” Giroux asked of his opponent. After a few minutes in the tank and lots of commentary, Giroux shrugged and concluded that he was pot committed so he made the call. Hands were tabled, and it was just as Giroux had predicted; for Abrol and for Giroux. The turn brought the and, as Giroux was rising from his chair, the hit the river to give both players a full house!

As the saying goes, everyone loves a chopped pot!