Event #5: WSOP Europe Main Event - £10,000 No-Limit Hold’em

Hand #111: First hand at the brand new level and Ron Lee opened for 110k, picking up the blinds and antes.

Hand #112: Another Lee preflop raise to 110k took the next one. Easy game.

Hand #113: Nicolas Levi raised to 115k (breaking the new level's trend) and Fabrizio Baldassari, who hadn't threebet in a while, made it 350k. Levi folded quickly when it came back round and Baldassari picked up yet another pot without showing a card.

Hand #114: Roland de Wolfe shipped it in preflop, and no one found a hand to call him. Over 100k to him right there.

Hand #115: Ronald Lee put Roland de Wolfe all in, small blind to big blind. No call.

Hand #108: Fabrizio Baldassari raised to 100,000 preflop and everyone folded. He seems to be the Moses of poker this chap; whenever he raises, the table quickly step out of his way.

Hand #109: The action folded around to James Bord on the button who raised to 125,000. The blinds folded.

Hand #110: Ronald Lee snapped up the last pot of the level with a button raise to 90,000.

Hand #104: Danny Steinberg raised to 85,000 in another attempt to get aggressive preflop. This time, no one fought back and they gave him the pot.

Hand #105: Ronald Lee raised to 85,000 from the cutoff seat and won the blinds and antes.

Hand #106: Lee raised to 85,000 for the second hand in a row. Fabrizio Baldassari called from the small blind and Danny Steinberg called from the big blind.

The three players saw the flop come down:    , all black and all spades. Baldassari was first up and he fired 125,000. Action the fell to Steinberg and he released. Lee made the call.

The turn brought the   and Baldassari checked. Lee bet 310,000. Baldassari check-raised and Lee let it go right away. The amount of the check raise wasn't announced. Baldassari showed the    upon Lee folding.

Hand #101: Roland de Wolfe raised to 95,000 and then Nicolas Levi moved all in from the next seat. The total shove was for 595,000, an even half a million more. De Wolfe thought for a minute and then made the call.

De Wolfe:   

Levi:   

The flop came down     and de Wolfe tossed his hand up in the air in disgust. The turn brought the   and gave Levi two pair with de Wolfe still needing a ten.

The river completed the board with the   and Levi was able to come from behind to double up.

Hand #95: Lee, maintaining his aggression, made it 85,000 from under the gun. Nicolas Levi reached for chips in the cut-off and trickled in a reraise to 225,000.

It was going to be interesting to see how Lee reacted to a second consecutive three-bet, but that prospect began to diminish as the action halted on James Bord. He didn't hide his poker face, grimacing like a gurning champion and leaning back in his seat with his hands behind his head. It was clear, unless he was going for the Oscar, that this was a tough decision.

After a minute or two of deliberation, Bord announced all-in, triggering his ever-increasing crew of fans on the rail to inch closer to the edge of their seats. Bord, meanwhile, adopted the position that we have become more accustomed to: statuesque, elbows on felt, and chin resting on knuckles. Now the poker face was firmly attached.

Lee folded quicker than a jet-propelled whippet, but Levi was less hasty, counting out his white 25,000 chips as he mulled over his decision. He didn't seem confident, but he eventually made the call to put his opponent's tournament life at risk.

Cards on their backs, and it was coin flip time, and perhaps the most crucial flip of their poker careers:

Levi:   

Bord:   

As the rail held its collective breath, Bord and Levi both rose from their seats and waited patiently for the first three cards to hit the felt.

Flop:    

The crowd celebrated as if Bord had won the title, but it wasn't over yet.

Turn:  

The cheers increased in volume. Bord was now just one card away from a vital double through.

River:  

Bord turned to high five his band of men as the front row heaved against the rail like fans at a Take That concert, almost knocking it over. For a moment, the noise even forced the roulette players to look up from the wheel.

"BORD-Y, BORD-Y, BORD-Y!" chanted the crowd as Bord returned to his seat, smiling with a mixture of relief and excitement as he scooped in a behemoth of a pot.

Bord has never been short of support, and now he's not short of chips either. He's got around the two million mark and is in with a legitimate shot of becoming the 2010 WSOPE Champion.

Hand #89: The action folded to Fabrizio Baldassari on the button and he raised to win the pot.

Hand #90: Roland de Wolfe raised to 100,000. James Bord reraised from the small blind to 250,000. De Wolfe let it go and Bord won the pot.

Hand #91: Unknown action.

Hand #92: Danny Steinberg raised to 85,000 and Ronald Lee called on the button. The flop came down     and Steinberg fired 125,000. Lee made the call.

The turn brought the   and Steinberg was up first again. He fired 250,000 and Lee thought for a bit. After a couple minutes, he put in a raise to 500,000. Lee tanked and then folded something face up. His hand contained a seven and some other card, but we were unable to see and the dealer didn't show the cards under the overhead camera to be viewed on screen. There was no announcer for this hand either. Much like you, we'll also be interested to see this one on TV.

The rail are starting to get rowdy here at the Empire Casino, chants for James Bord now becoming customary after every pot he scoops. The fact that they are seated just a yard or two in front of the bar might, just might, be a factor.

Hand #80: Fabrizio Baldassari opened up the action for 90,000 from under the gun. Nicolas Levi relinquished his hand in the big blind.

Hand #81: Roland Lee took his turn to raise, this time to 85,000. The action folded around to Baldassari who reraised to a cool 300,000. Lee made the fold.

Baldassari is like the Mike Tyson of poker; no one wants to mess with him.

Hand #74: The blinds are creeping upwards, slowly but surely. Fold to James Bord, who raised to 90k. De Wolfe in the small blind counted out a raise and put in 345k which prompted an instafold from Bord.

Hand #75: Ron Lee made it 85k to go preflop, which was enough to win the blinds and antes. Opposition-less raises are, however, getting harder to come by...

Hand #76: Lee made the same raise once more, but this time Dan Fleyshman moved all in for his 250k. Instant call and

    for Lee vs.     for Fleyshman.

Flop:      .

Turn:   ("Nineball!" came a shout from the rail)

River:  

And with that, Fleyshman, once challenging the lead, heads out of the Main Event with six sterling figures to console him.

Hand #73: Last hand of the 15k/30k level. After the drama of the preceding river, Levi made it 75k preflop and picked this pot up preflop with not a whisper of resistance from the blinds.