Ari Engel came onto this final table of the partypoker Million North America as the chip leader, and was likely the most feared player on a stacked table. Currently chasing the #1 spot in the 2017 Player of the Year Race, Ari surely only had one idea in mind: becoming the tournament champion.

He came out swinging in his usual manner, however a few tough spots saw his starting stack get cut in half as the day moved forward. With around 25 big blinds left, he was faced with an all-in from short-stacked Philippe D’Auteuil, and made the call for roughly half of his stack. Ari’s was in a dominating spot, however Philippe caught a runner runner flush with on a board to secure his double-up.

Ari became the short-stack himself after the hand, and let a few hands pass before taking advantage of an unopened pot from the button. He moved all-in, and was looked up by his Philippe in the big blind.

Ari:
Philippe:

Ari connected with the board, but not enough to overcome the pocket pair of his nemesis, and was eliminated in 5th place. A $235,000 prize is waiting for him at the cash as he adds yet another final table score to his impressive resume.

5th place: Ari Engel – $238,350.00

WPT and EPT champion Niall Farrell has been a fierce competitor throughout the tournament, one that no table-opponent wanted to see with chips given his strength in tournament poker. He navigated through the huge 1,168 entry field and found his way to the elusive final table with a rather short stack, but he got to work early on and ramped his stack up above the average chip mark as the field slowly thinned out to 6 players.

In a previous hand on this final table, we saw Niall limp in from the small blind, inducing an over-shove from chip leader Jean-Pascal Savard in the big blind. Niall made the fold back then, but remembered the hand and took full advantage of it just recently when dealt a premium hand in the small blind. Much like previously, action folded around to him in the small blind, and he completed the blinds – holding a healthy 35bb stack. Jean-Pascal peeled his cards and went into the tank for a moment, staring down his opponent before announcing he was all-in. Before anyone really knew what was happening, Niall had announce the call and tabled . He had set a trap and was now a big favourite to win the biggest pot so far in this tournament, over 430 million!

Jean-Pascal tabled , a strong hand for a limped pot on a short-handed table – and with so much to win in the higher payouts, he knew Niall wouldn’t be willing to risk his stack with anything but a premium. Niall definitely had it this time with pocket Kings, however and Ace reared it’s head on the  board to send him off this final table in 6th place. He collected a solid $160,000 payday for his deep run, however like most poker players in his spot, he is surely feeling some disappointment for not remaining in the running of becoming the first partypoker Million North America champion.

With that pot, Jean-Pascal climbed up to 655 million for nearly half the chips in play 5-handed.

6th place: Niall Farrell – $160,000.00

The final 6 players in the partypoker Million North America are taking a 45-minute dinner break before resuming their journey towards crowing a champion. Jean-Pascal Savard took the chip lead after eliminating Rayan Chamas in 8th place, and currently holds nearly 40% of the chips in play. His 444 million stack more than doubles nearly every player, except for second in chips Niall Farrell who has 225 million at the break.

Below are the full counts entering level 36.

First Name | Prénom	Last Name | Nom	Seat | Siège	Stack | Tapis
Jean-Pascal	Savard	Seat 8	444,000,000
Niall	Farrell	Seat 6	225,000,000
Louis	Boutin	Seat 5	141,000,000
Jonathan	Bussieres	Seat 2	138,000,000
Ari	Engel	Seat 1	101,500,000
Philippe	D'Auteuil	Seat 4	92,000,000

Some Day 5 photographs:

Matthew Waxman had high hopes for this tournament having made the final table a little bit under the radar, and starting with 115M chips he was poised for a good showing on this final table – and it’s as likely as not that he would have had a great run were it not for some unfortunate luck in the first level of the day that had him chip down to just around 20bb and then to 10bb and 5bb as he passed up spots with poor starting hands and the blinds grew.

His ultimate hand in the tournament found him under the gun with the – enough for a 5bb shove in any tournament. Action folded around to Niall Farrell in the bb who made the call with and the community cards were dealt.

Board:

The on the turn was the killer and Matthew left in 7th place.

7th place: Matthew Waxman, $110,000.00

Jonathan Bussières has been among the short stacks since the beginning of the day while action heated up all around him, but he finally found what seemed to be a good spot holding with a raise by Jean-Pascal Savard and a call by Ari Engel before him – he went all in for his final 49M chips. Louis Boutin – who has picked up a ton of chips on the day so far – was left to act, and holding the he shoved all-in over the top for 110M. This was a big enough bet to move Savard and Engel out of the hand and Bussières needed help to survive.

The flop of didn’t help matters, but the on the turn was just what Jonathan was looking for, and a blank on the river gave him the double and then some. This was the last hand of the level and players went on break immediately following.

Rayan Chamas has been eliminated in 8th place from the partypoker Million North America.

He came to the table 3rd in chips with 168,400,000 to start the day, and although he was one of the most active players at the table, he had been a little unlucky to slide back to about 130M when the fateful moment arrived. Rayan opened to 10M from utg, but found himself facing a 3bet to over 31M from Jean-Pascal Savard (button). Rayan responded by going all in. Savard snap called.

Chamas:
Savard:

The board was no help for Chamas as it ran out: and Savard made the Broadway straight.

8th place: Rayan Chamas, $80,000.00