The final table was formed some 15 minutes ago, and our finalists can now enjoy a short break, allowing them to focus on their breathing and realign their game plan.

Karam Saleh, who won the $200 + $20 50/50 Bounty Event in the 2016 Playground Poker Fall Classic has proven that he knows what to do on a final table of that sort, and must therefore be considered among the main contenders for tonight’s Champion Trophy.

Here are the counts of our 9 finalists, as play resumes at 30K/60K/a5K. As you can see, the chip distribution is very tight, and at this point, it’s anybody’s game.

As is customary in an 8-max tournament, the final table was formed when 9 players were left. That is to avoid that one table plays 4-way before the formation of the final. Here is the seating arrangement for our 9 finalists, who have locked in a minimum of $1,620. Congratulations!

10th place and final table bubble: Bill Kontaratos, $1,220

Event 6 of the Playground Poker Spring Classic is losing players at a rapid pace. The tournament went from 3 tables to 2 tables in the blink of an eye, as the blinds were going up to 15K/30K/a4K. Sébastien Proulx took out former leader Ian Modder, and was the chip leader for a while, sitting on 700K.

This being said, the top spot has seen many different names in the past level. It is now held by Karam Saleh, a very capable tournament player and deep runner in many of our past events. He has a little over 1 million in chips, and is followed closely by Christopher Savov.

24th: Bob T – $640
23rd: Jean-François Lescadres – $710
22nd: Ian Modder – $710
21st: Marc Convey – $770
20th: Andrew Molotchko – $770
19th: Gianfranco Giordano – $840
18th: Tomas Fara – $840
17th: Jean-François Stoycheff  – $920
16th: Nicolas Barette – $920
15th: Jean-François Langevin – $1,020
14th: Kevin Javier – $1,020
13th: Emile H – $1,110
12th: Yves Tremblay – $1,110
11th: Joshua Brueckner – $1,220

From a 251-player starting field, only 24 subsist. These players are forming the last 3 tables of the tournament, and the seating arrangement is detailed below. 26 players being paid tonight, all of our seated players have locked in a prize, but only 1 will taste the beefy 15K that is reserved for the winner. That person will also take home the Champion’s Trophy, along with its associated bragging rights.

26th:  Michael Lawson – $580
25th:  Ali G                      – $640

Only 2 eliminations separate us from the money, and Christopher Savov just passed Ian Modder to claim the chip lead. His 525K stack is looking very good, and dwarfs every other stack on his table.

Here are the top stack at the break, moments away from entering the money:

Here are some late action photos in the 8-max, taken during levels 13-14: