Vincent Mathieu (photo courtesy of Caroline Darcourt)
Earlier we mentioned that Jonathan Therme, Vincent Mathieu, and Manu Martin were the three players that bubbled. Since it wasn't just one "bubble boy", the first two players received 7,330 MAD (about €676) for 113th and 114th places while Martin was awarded 10 MAD more or 7,440 MAD for 112th place.
Therme and Mathieu actually were fortunate enough to walk away with more than just a partial cash. Since both players were wearing Winamax logos, they each received a ticket to next year's Winamax SISMIX Main Event valued at 6,000 MAD (€550)!
No free seat next year for Manu Martin since he was not wearing the Winamax logo despite numerous announcements that this was one of the requirements for the bubble promotion.
Aggression sometimes pays off and Pierre Merlin is no stranger to either aggression or to winning big in Winamax events. In 2014, Merlin became famous in Winamax circles by taking down the Winamax Poker Tour Paris Main Event for a cool €100,000.
Merlin is right in the thick of things with under 65 players left thanks to aggressively playing a mid pocket pair from the blinds. Julien Laroze raised the action to 12,000 from the button, Bruno Michels 3-bet to 32,000 from the small blind. Undeterred, Pierre Merlin fires a cold four-bet from the big blind for 71,000. Laroze folded and Michels calls.
Here is where the aggression ended as the flop, turn, and river were all check-checked with Merlin showing and Michels turning over on a board. After shipping this pot worth around 160,000 chips, Merlin's stack has soared to 350,000 chips.
Players are now on their third 15 minute break of the day. The next break after this one will be a 2 1/2 break so players (and staff) can enjoy watching the Champions League finals.
There were 58 players remaining heading into the last break. Bruno Michels who just recently lost a hand to Pierre Merlin was one of the players to bust out of the tournament just before break. Matthieu Rodriguez collected 15,500 MAD or approximately €1,459 for 58th place while the remaining players listed below each were awarded 13,500 MAD or about €1,244 for their performances.
2016 Winamax SISMIX Main Event Eliminations (59th - 65th Places)
Thomas Cazayous (compliments of Caroline Darcourt)
Thomas Cazayous is easily the new chip leader with 1.5 million chips. One big hand for the Frenchman was when he eliminated Julien Laroze from the tournament when his was good against his opponents .
The average stack of 400,444 is back up to 50 big blinds after play loosened up quite a bit since the money bubble broke a few hours ago. Cazayous as the chip leader is cruising along with a very impressive 188 big blinds.
and Michels turning over 
on a 
board. After shipping this pot worth around 160,000 chips, Merlin's stack has soared to 350,000 chips.
was good against his opponents 
