As we near the halfway point of what will surely be a very long day of poker, Daniel Dubeau is the new chip leader with 620,000 chips. Presently there are 115 players still playing, and only 111 will get paid, so the hands that are played after the break are sure to be very interesting.

As the clock wound down to the end of level 16 (the fourth 60-minute level of the day), we remain only four busts away from the money. With 115 players left, the pressure was on for two players in particular, Faisal Al Qutub and Toby Joyce.

When we joined he hand, the clock on level 16 had already expired, and all the other tables had left for the dinner break. However, this table took another five minutes of hard-thinking poker to finish.

With about 40,000 chips in the pot, the board was showing . Faisal bet 15,000, but was raised to 45,000 by Toby. Eventually Faisal called, after much thought. The river was dealt a .

This time Faisal checked utg, which prompted an all in by Toby of almost 160,000 chips. His stack easily covered what was left of Toby’s, and Toby was left with an agonizing decision. Should make the call and risk missing the money by only three spots? Or live to fight another day?

He ended up using all of his 30-second time chits thinking about what he should do, but ultimately he folded, staying alive for at least one more hand. Both players went off to dinner break, one significantly happier than the other. Only time will tell if it was the right decision, and you can bet we’ll be keeping on eye on table 26 as soon as the players return from their meals.

As we near the bubble, players with smaller stacks are trying desperately to hang on to make the money. To have come this far and to miss out on the $2,700 prize (for those that finish between 105th – 111th) would be a shame.

Things have just become much more difficult for Vasco Morgado on table 22, as he was recently crippled by Jessie Wheatley in a hand, mere minutes before the cut-off.

Jessie opened with a raise of 12,500, which was called by Vasco and another player. The flop came down . Jessie and the other player checked, at which point Vasco bet 23,000. Jessie stayed, the other player didn’t.

The turn was a , and two final players checked. Down came a on the river, and Jessie raised 42,500 utg.  Vasco was happy to call with his . He wasn’t so happy, however, when Jessie flipped over her for the nut flush.

As we write this, hand for hand has started, and there is only 15 minutes left before the 45-minute dinner break.

At the beginning of level 16 (the fourth 60-minute level of the evening), Michael Ferrer ate up a piece of Michael Blair’s stack on table 37. When we arrived the hand was already in progress.

Flop:

With several thousand already in the pot, Blair made it 12,000 to go. Ferrer called. A came down on the turn. Both players checked, leading to a on the river.

Blair checked utg, after which Ferrer raised 24,000. Blair couldn’t help his curiosity, eventually calling. But when Ferrer flipped over his , Blair mucked, losing the pot of approximately 80,000 chips. And he wasn’t able to fight for his chips back as luck would have it, as he was switched to another table by one of the floor managers immediately afterwards.

As we walked by table 25 we noticed that there were quite a few chips in the pot, and most of the cards were on the table. The board was showing  .

Upon closer inspection it was evident that the only two players left in the hand, Gabriel Attiave and Frederic Normand, were heads up. Gabriel had just bet 27,500 on the river, only to be re-raised 86,000 by Normand.

After some introspection, Gabriel threw away his cards, forfeiting the possibility of winning the hand. Frederic scooped up the chips, which must have numbered at least 60,000.

After two 60-minute rounds in today’s WPTDeepStacks Day 2, Francois Sauve sits comfortably at the top of the leaderboard with 558,000 chips. There are also several other players with over 400,000, enumerated in the list below.

Considering the fact that we have lost more than 70 players over the first two of today’s levels, the next chip leader promises to have an even bigger stack!