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It's always more than a little bittersweet when writing the final post from a big live event with the bwin Team. Time seems to pause when you're on a trip with the Team, with your only concerns being what adventure is on the schedule for that day such as sailing catamarans, dining out at fine restaurants, or racing around southern France in vintage Citroens. As the Partouche photos and videos and podcasts suggest, there was no shortage of smiles and fun during the Team's stay in Cannes.

While plenty of fun was had by all, the real reason the Team was in Cannes was poker, with everyone's eyes firmly on the €1,300,000 prize that would go to the winner of the Partouche Poker Tour Final. The bwin Team would be nearly 30 strong, including some wily poker veterans such as Wieringen, ChipLieder85, HELLO_HAPPY, and UBolt969 as well as plenty of newcomers who'd be playing their first major live event.

The final table would remain elusive for the bwin Team, but we did have three players who navigated their way into the money, with the final two (imanol33 and DarkNomaD) playing well into Day 4. They logged nearly 50 hours of tense poker action over four consecutive grueling days, with potential elimination always possibly just a hand away, so a big round of applause for the bwin players below who cashed in Cannes:

imanol33: €23,200
DarkNomaD: €18,500
selfmade78: €15,000

The bwin Team may have scattered to the winds and returned home after the final farewell dinner (and customary night of partying into the wee hours) on Tuesday, but many of the friendships made here will live on long past the days the Team spent together in Cannes. We also have a feeling we'll likely meet some of the players again on upcoming trips to the GSOP Live in Riga and WPT Amneville, so hopefully it's just a temporary goodbye to some of the bwin players until the next big live event.

We're back for Day 5 here at the Partouche Poker Tour Final, which will be the last day of the tournament until November when they come back to finish the final table. 18 players return today for Day 5, and that number will be cut in half before the day is done.

Here are the chip stacks the players brought back to action today:

Ibrahim Raouf: 3,294,000
Ali Tekintamgac: 2,997,000
Vanessa Selbst: 2,432,000
Raphael Kroll: 1,653,000
Tommi Etelapera: 1,664,000
Hendricl Vogeling: 1,562,000
Cyril André: 1,396,000
Daniel Lo Spagnulo: 1,380,000
Fabrice Soulier: 1,316,000
Tobias Reinkemeier: 770,000
Bruno Barkusky: 676,000
Ronny Kaiser: 640,000
Mario Cordero: 617,000
David Adelskov: 558,000
Julien Labussière: 557,000
Nicolas Dervaux: 519,000
Phil Laak: 509,000
Soren Nielsen: 448,000

And here are the payouts for the remaining spots:

1st: €1,300,000
2nd: €800,000
3rd: €500,000
4th: €360,000
5th: €300,000
6th: €240,000
7th: €187,500
8th: €130,700
9th: €110,300
10th: €86,360
11th-12th: €75,000
13th-14th: €64,000
15th-16th: €52,000
17th-18th: €42,000

Things were draaaaggggging here late on Day 4, as we're stuck on 21 players for ages. But, just like that, we had 3 quick eliminations, getting us down to the magic number of 18 players which is the stopping point for the day.

The day ended a few levels ago for our two bwin players (imanol33 and DarkNomaD) who made it to Day 4 and well into the money, but both can hold their heads high for the effort they put in here at the Partouche Poker Tour Final. selfmade73 joined them in the money before bowing out late on Day 3, so a big round of applause for him as well.

Below are the three bwin players and the cash they'll take home:

imanol33: €23,200
DarkNomaD: €18,500
selfmade78: €15,00

They've just wrapped up play for the day here on Day 4 in Cannes

After a long delay due to a power outage here at the Palm Beach Casino , they're finally back in action at the Partouche Poker Tour Final. They're planning to play down to 18 players tonight and there are currently 23 players remaining.

As far as notable names in the field, Phil Laak and Vanessa Selbst are both still alive. Average stack is just about 1,000,000 chips and blinds of 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 ante.

Phil Laak (yes, that really is Phil Laak) limbering up before action here at the Partouche Poker Tour Final

Our last bwin player has just fallen in 28th place, with imanol33 running into a rough patch that saw him lose a big chunk of his stack to Vanessa Selbst and then his final 200,000 chips a few hands later.

imanol33 shoved for his last 200,000 chips from mid position and found one caller, who tabled pocket queens. imanol33 revealed AK, so it'd be a race to see if he could stay alive in the Partouche Poker Tour Final. The race got a lot more interesting on a 9s 10s 4s flop, as imanol33 had the As.

The turn and river blanked, though, knocking out our last bwin player in 28th place. It's always sad to see the last player fall but he not only cashed for €23,200 but also held his own with some of the world's best poker players over the last four days here in Cannes.

Below are the three bwin players who came through with nice cashes here at the Partouche Poker Tour Final:

imanol33: €23,200
DarkNomaD: €18,500
selfmade78: €15,000

Vanessa Selbst took a big chunk of imanol33's stack before another opponent finished him off in 28th place

imanol33 is still holding steady here in Cannes, sitting on about 500,000 chips at the second break of the day. While that sounds like a ton (especially since they were on stacks of 30,000 just three days ago), average stack is now 740,000, so he's slightly below average.

31 players are left, so they're closing in on 27th place, at which point players will be guaranteed to make €31,500.

So far so good for imanol33 on Day 4

We're down to the 35 player mark, which means that imanol33 is now guaranteed to make at least €23,200. For those keeping track at home, they've been playing for about 3 hours today and imanol33 has picked up an extra €8,200 (and counting), which works out to a pretty nice hourly rate for playing cards for a few hours.

imanol33 just won a big pot to push his stack up to 540,000, which puts him within reach of average stack of 640,000. The next step up in the payouts is at 27th place, at which point players will be guaranteed at least €31,500.

All 35 remaining players are chasing the €1,300,000 prize that goes to the winner

We've just completed the first level of the day here on Day 4, with imanol33 sitting on a little under 300,000 chips. He'd built up to about 350,000 but gave back 50,000 or so on the final hand before the break in a 3-way pot that he had to surrender on the flop in.

39 players remain, so they're knocking on the door of the next pay jump at 36th place for €23,200. Average stack is nearly 590,000 with blinds of 5,000/10,000 and a 1,000 ante when play resumes after the break.

imanol33 isn't exactly short stacked but he's less than half average and each orbit will cost nearly 25,000 chips, so hopefully he'll find a good spot to make a move at some point in the next level.

imanol33 contemplating a call on Day 4

Not a lot of excitement with our remaining bwin player imanol33 in the early going on Day 4. He's lost a few small pots to drop down to just over 300,000 chips but hasn't had any major confrontations yet.

There's an hour left to play in the first level of the day and we're down to 44 players. Average stack is now 520,000.

For the French speakers in the crowd, below is an interview with imanol33 from earlier in the tournament.

Be sure to check out the video section for more interviews and other videos of the action here in Cannes over the last week.

DarkNomaD's Day 4 has ended quickly, with the Russian bwin player exiting in 53rd place and cashing for €18,500. He lost a large chunk of his stack when he had to fold to his opponent's shove on the river with four clubs on the board, then found himself dominated a few hands later when he made a move with QJs but ran into an opponent with AQ.

He's understandably disappointed at how the day turned out but he should be proud of his result here, as he played some great poker over three very long, exhausting days and will take home €18,500.

His exit leaves imanol33 as the sole bwin player left in the field of 51 players. The plan is to play down to 18 players today, and hopefully imanol33 will be one of those when we wrap up play.

DarkNomaD cashes for €18,500 at the Partouche Poker Tour Final