As we enter our fifteenth level of play, there are 26 players remaining in the 6-Max Bounty. The blinds have crept up, meaning that the average stack now provides a little over 20 big blinds so everyone’s margin for error is that much smaller.

Here’s a look at some of the remaining players:

The players in the 6-Max Bounty have just left on their third break of the evening. Given the deep stacks, most players opted for pot control over the last few levels. This tendency has shown in the rate of bust outs, which has slowed significantly, leaving 28 players in the field.

The chips have shifted since the last break; Diego Aguilar, who had a massive chip lead over the field, is still playing an above-average stack but has dropped down the leader board. Our new chip leader, Pierre Marquette, took down a huge pot against Arthur W shortly before the break when the two got it in on the turn of a board, and Marquette’s held over Arthur’s .

Here are the current chip leaders:

As we approach the end of level 11 in Event #6, the 6-Max Bounty, roughly a third of the starting field remains in contention. The field is down to eight tables and the stacks are deep at this stage.

The chip average provides over 35 big blinds, opening lots of possibilities for creative lines. Although some players in the field are clearly bounty hunting, the prevailing strategy appears to be one of relative caution, with many players checking at least one street in order to control the size of the pots. But not everyone in the field has taken this conservative approach, some players are happy to play big pots and capture bounty chips; our chip leader, Diego Aguilar, holds a commanding lead with more than 300,000 in chips.

With the widening gap between the rich and the poor in the 6-Max Bounty, we are starting to see more bounty hunting. The blinds are now at 600/1,200 and some of the short stacks are starting to feel the pressure, forcing them to take some risks in order to double up. Thanks to the bounty chips in play, these spots are now encouraging more calls than folds.

Here’s a hand that offers a clear illustration: Jean Rheaume was the first to act at a 5-handed table and moved all-in for roughly 9,000. The next player to act, Nizar T, followed suit and put his bounty chip in play along with his last 12,000. The action folded to the big blind, Eddy De Iacovo, who’s only reaction was to say “two bounty chips?!” before making the call. Hands were tabled to reveal that Rheaume was ahead, albeit narrowly with , Nizar had a suited gapper, , and De Iacovo had two live cards, . The flop had something for everyone: . But the turn, , gave De Iacovo a lead he would not relinquish. The river, , missed all the hands involved and let De Iacovo  collect two bounty chips.

Play continues in level 10 with 54 players remaining.

Nearly half of the original starting field is gone in the 6-Max Bounty. As the players left the tables on their second break of the evening there were 71 runners left in contention.

There is now a huge disparity between the big and short stacks; our chip leader now has more than quadruple the average stack while many players are struggling to keep their heads above water with stacks of less than 15 big blinds.

Here are the current chip leaders:

The 95 remaining players in the 6-Max Bounty have settled in for the long grind to the finish, as we approach the end of our seventh level of play. Players have been exiting the tournament hall at a slow but steady pace, showing that the prize pool has more appeal than the bounty chips in this event.

Here are some more photos of the field: