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Japan and Germany are neck and neck after the first event of Day 2 of the World Cup of Poker with 133 points apiece, Peru just one point behind with 132. Humberto Brenes' Costa Rica team along are yet to break the 100 point barrier and will have to mount the most stunning of comebacks if they are to get their hands on the silverware. Is it even possible? I really couldn't say but once these results have been posted I'll try to find out.

It was a strong round for Peru (34), France (33) and Tajikistan (33), allowing Peru to catch up with league leaders Germany (28) and Japan (29), and France to drag themselves near level with the Netherlands (25). Things are looking pretty bad for both Costa Rica (20) and Team Rest of the World (23).

1. Germany, 133 points
1. Japan, 133 points
3. Peru, 132 points
4. Tajikistan, 125 points
5. Netherlands, 123 points
6. France, 119 points
7. Rest of the World, 97 points
8. Costa Rica, 93 points

Makoto Fukuta flops quad aces heads up against Jake Schwartz

Team Japan steps in to take a snap of the evidence

France, who are now back within spitting distance of the top teams, have Philippe Lucas to thank who opted to inexplicably call all-in with [9c][3d]. But this was no random call, no sir, something else was obviously at play. Not being able to speak French the only thing I could understand was the shouts of 'Neuf trois! (that's nine three) and upon further investigation it was then explained to me that '93' is the department number for the area that Lucas is from, a suburb north-east of Paris called Seine-Saint-Denis. Somehow this tactic of calling off your stack based on home location paid off: Lucas went on to win his sit-and-go, beating Masa Kagawa heads up to book full points for France. It's classic World Cup action.

Round five, short-handed sit-and-gos, is under way.

Germany
Jan Heitmann (c): 3 + 10 + 4 (17)
Christian Rudolph: 5 + 8 + 7 (20)
Dennis Wiedenbruck: 2 + 10 + 8 (20)
Klaus Hornschurch: 3 + 5 + 4 (12)
Michael Stobbe: 1 + 8 + 5 (14)
MTT: 1st (50)
Team total: 133

Japan
Masaaki Kagawa (c): 7 + 7 + 8 (22)
Kosei Ichinose: 4 + 10 + 4 (18)
Atsushi Iwasa: 10 + 5 + 6 (21)
Yuichi Andoh: 10 + 10 + 3 (23)
Makoto Fukuta: 10 + 6 + 8 (24)
MTT: 5th (25)
Team total: 133

Peru
Martin Sansour (c): 1 + 10 + 2 (13)
Renato Nunez: 10 + 10 + 7 (27)
Luis Felipe: 6 + 6 + 10 (22)
Renso Renfigo: 7 + 7 + 5 (19)
Daniel Adrianzen: 4 + 7 + 10 (21)
MTT: 4th (30)
Team total: 132

Tajikistan
Angel Davidov (c): 8 + 5 + 8 (21)
Ildar Faizakhmanov: 7 + 6 + 8 (21)
Yaukb Imamov: 2 + 6 + 5 (13)
Makisimov Dmitrievich: 2 + 6 + 6 (14)
Akmal Sultanov: 7 + 8 + 6 (21)
MTT: 3rd (35)
Team total: 125

Netherlands
Noah Boeken (c): 4 + 5 + 5 (14)
Johan 'bustosoon' van Til: 6 + 7 + 10 (23)
Andries Swart: 2 + 8 + 2 (12)
Peter Roeleveld: 3 + 7 + 6 (16)
Giel van Doorn: 8 + 5 + 2 (15)
MTT: 2nd (40)
Team total: 123

France
Arnaud Mattern (c): 5 + 6 + 6 (17)
Anthony Monestes: 2 + 8 + 3 (13)
Guillaume Lebosse: 8 + 7 + 7 (22)
Philippe Lucas: 10 + 7 + 10 (27)
Sami Ben Ahmed: 8 + 5 + 7 (20)
MTT: 6th (20)
Team total: 119

Rest of the world
David Williams: 4 + 5 + 3 (12)
Jake Schwartz: 7 + 8 + 10 (25)
Wu Shuk Man: 6 + 8 + 5 (19)
Carl Slate: 6 + 10 + 2 (18)
Pierre Lambert: 4 + 6 + 3 (13)
MTT: 8th (10)
Team total: 97

Costa Rica
Humbertop Brenes (c): 1 + 10 + 4 (15)
Ibuki Fukui: 1 + 8 + 7 (16)
Paul Cukier: 6 + 6 + 2 (14)
Onofre Sade: 3 + 5 + 3 (11)
Adrian Varela: 8 + 10 + 4 (22)
MTT: 7th (15)
Team total: 93

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