Elvira Popescu limped in from the button, and Alex decided to raise to 350K from the small blind. Both players called, and the flop was put out. Alex did not place a continuation, and both his opponents checked very quickly, happy to see a turn. That’s when Alex decided to commit. He bet out 310K, which were called only by Hassan.

On the river, Alex went all-in for about a pot size bet, and a snap call followed.

Alexandre Nadeau-Lévesque:
Hassan Salha:

Board:

A very wet turn, giving Alex the top pair and Hassan the nut straight. Alex played solid poker throughout the evening, the only player to have rivaled with Hassan’s stack at some point. He takes $14,470, which was previously secured in the ICM chop.

Congratulations!

The three finalists in the Playground 200 have just agreed to an ICM chop. After counting their stacks, the tournament staff crunched the numbers and quickly reported back to the players. The players agreed without hesitation and play now continues 3-handed. Hassan Salha, the chip leader, will take $18,600.00, Alexandre Nadeau-Levesque, second in chips, will get $14,470.00 and Elvira Popescu will pocket $12,476.00. As with all our events, it is required to leave a portion of the prize pool for the eventual winner so the three players are still playing for an extra $2,400.00.

Only 4 players are left in the Playground 200, and have been granted a short break. Recent action include Elvira Popescu’s double up against Alexandre Nadeau-Lévesque. Alex raised to 170K, which was called by Hassan Salha. Popescu went aheau and pushed 1.1M. Only Alex called, with a small pair, which did not improve to beat Popescu’s jacks.

Alexandre Nadeau-Lévesque got his chips back from Rabah Belal Ahin Al-Nasseri when he got value from him with his flopped top pair.

Here are the actual counts:

Hassan Salha is by far the most active player on the table. His attacks are incessant, and it is only natural for a seasoned player to want to fight back. That’s what Shawn did, but it backfired on him.

The pot was very nicely built already, and Shawn, leading the action, went all-in on the turn for about 2M chips. Hassan was clearly annoyed by that bet. He asked for an exact count, and finally decided it was likely enough that his opponent was just playing the man. He called.

Shawn S:
Hassan Salha:

Board:

Salha took down the biggest pot of the tournament, and is now undertaking this 4-way gig with half the chips in play and a well defined plan. Shawn S took $5,530 for his 5th place finish.

Congratulations!

Hassan Salha, as is often the case, open-raised. Isham Yamani, sitting on his left, went all-in for about 900K, and Elvira Popescu called with her remaining 600K. Salha folded, and the 2 shortest stacks went to showdown.

Yamani
Popescu:

Board:

A few hands later, Yamani committed his remaining 185K with . Shawn S called from the blinds with , and hit 2 pairs.

Yamani ends his adventure in 6th place, worth $4,530. He can add that amount to his 2nd place finish ($1,000) in this afternoon’s $70 + $10 8-max Event. He had to abandon that stack when 3 players were left in order to take on Day 3 of the Playground 200. That is one way to multi-task!

Well done Mr. Yamani, across the board!