After an unbelievable turn of events, Aleksander Stasiak was taken out in 10th. He lost about a million chips in one of the first hands after the break, and found himself in a preflop showdown against Réjean Bourgogne for a 6M+ pot!

Stasiak bump raised to 240K from the button. Bourgogne, sitting in the small blind, raised all-in without too much thinking. Stasiak hated his spot, but finally made the call.

Stasiak:
Bourgogne:

Board:

Here is the final table seating chart, with Réjean Bourgogne nursing over 6M in chips:

Players just took a short break, one elimination away from the final table. Ten players are split on 2 tables of 5 and playing short-handed poker for a spot in the finals.

Here are their counts, as play resumes:

After a series of quick eliminations, players are now merged onto the last 2 tables. 16 players are still in contention for the one of five 5-figure prizes and the 5th WSOP-C Playground ring!

Here is the seating chart:

A few more photos:

Michael Mckinnon was under the gun when he shoved his last 750K. François Tarrab, sitting on his left, went all-in himself with about 1.2M in front of him, and both were casually called by Trevor Proch, who covered everything.

Mckinnon:
Tarrab:
Proch:

Board:

The turn brought a hint of hope for both underdogs, as Mckinnon now had a gutshot for a 2-way chop, while Tarrab, on top of those chopping outs, had picked up 6 outs for a win. He let out a scream of victory when the river fell, while Proch held his head between his hands in disbelief.

The Closer has just merged to its last 3 tables. The average is now a cool million, and the 100K chips have been introduced at the last break.

Here are a few big stack photos:

Robert Gariépy had a fantastic 3rd stint. Aleksander Stasiak, chip leader at the last break, is still on top after having added quite a few chips to his stack, but Gariépy has gained much more in the last 4 levels, and as a result is almost shoulder to shoulder with our leader.

Here’s our top 4: