Bob T.

The Playground 200 was the marquee event of the February Power Weekend, featuring a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool. Players were allowed unlimited re-entries during the first six levels of each of the five Day 1 starting flights, and in the end, the event attracted a total of 697 entries, allowing the prize pool to grow to $132,218. The top 88 finishers were in the money, with a min-cash in 88th paying out $350, and the top prize paying $24,500 plus the coveted Power Weekend Champion’s ring! Day 2 saw 152 players return to play through ten 40-minute levels and when the day came to an end, Jean-Pascal Gauthier lead 23 qualifiers into Day 3. Each player had now secured a $940 payday although all eyes were on the top prize. On Day 3 the short stacks made moves from the first very hand of play and eliminations started to happen […]

The February Power Weekend kicked off today with the $100 + $10 Re-entry, which featured a $5,000 guaranteed prize pool. By the time the late registration period came to a close, there were a total of 56 entries (including 15 re-entries) and a prize pool of $5,432! Charli Azoulay took an early lead this afternoon, but, by the time the second break of the day came around, it was Matteo Carelli who was in the driver’s seat. Carelli maintained his lead all the way to the final table, however, he took a big hit when his pocket jacks went down to Christopher Goudreault’s set of fours. From that point forward, Goudreault started to win pot after pot, building a monster stack along the way. One by one the players busted out, leaving in Goudreault in full control. Carelli ended up falling in third place, losing his chips to Goudreault. When […]

Event #1 of the 2020 Women’s Series attracted 44 players who battled it out on the felt today. The top six spots would be in the money with a cool $2,210 for the event champion, along with a sweet trophy and winner’s pendant. There were many returning players from Playground’s tremendously successful inaugural Women’s Series, which was a tremendous success. There was a jovial mood in the air today, as the players clearly had a great time at the tables. But make no mistake, all participants arrived to play some serious poker and were fierce competitors.  This was truly Christine Park’s day. She took an early lead and never looked back, building a mountain of chips that only grew throughout the day. Her chip lead ranged from significant to seemingly insurmountable.  When the final table was formed, Park had a lead of nearly 2:1 over her nearest rival, and it […]

Event #18 of the 2020 World Cup of Cards was the $100 + $10 Playground 100, the most affordable multi-day tournament of the series. There were five starting flights over three days and in the end, it attracted a total of 743 entries, bringing the guaranteed $50,000 prize pool all the way up to $71,871, outstanding for a such an affordable buy-in! Play on the final table favoured the big stacks, as eliminations resulted nearly every time a tournament life was on the line. Day 2 chip leader Loai El Ayday lost a key hand when only three players remained when he put his money in good and lost on the river to Sebastien “Seabass” Drolet-Poitras. When heads-up play commenced between Drolet-Poitras and Hamzah Ozor, Drolet-Poitras had a marginal lead over Ozor, one that he would not relinquish.  On the final hand of play, the chips went in on a […]

Event #19 of the 2020 World Cup of Cards was the $300 +$30 PL Omaha 3 Lives Re-entry tournament that featured a $10,000 guaranteed prize pool. When the late registration period came to a close, there were a total of 65 entries, allowing the prize pool to swell to $18,915. All nine players on the final table would be in the money, with a min-cash in ninth paying out $570, and $4,905 in the top spot for the event champion. The night was action packed as players had “three life chips”, allowing them to choose whether or not they wanted to start the tournament with a full 30,000 chips stack, or, only use once life chip at a time, each with a value of 10,000 chips. By the time the first break came around, Ayana Massa had a substantial lead over the rest of the pack but later on she […]

Event #17 of the 2020 World Cup of Cards was the $100 + $60 + $500 Big Bounty Re-entry tournament. This tournament was not for the faint at heart as it featured non-stop all in action right from the get go. There was a $30,000 guaranteed prize pool and when the late registration and re-entry period came to a close, there were a total of 137 entries which brought the prize pool to $79,734! This was made up of $11,234 in payouts to the top seven places, and another $68,500 in $500 bounties. By the first break, local Tu Kham Tran had climbed to the top of the leaderboard and already had five bounty chips. As the night moved on, the lead changed and it was Dilo Hussein who now held the top spot, with more than four times the average stack. As a matter of interest, five of players […]

Event #12 of the 2020 World Cup of Cards, the $150 + $25 Strangers in the Night, was a great success, attracting a total of 525 entries from four starting flights. The tournament buy-in established prize pool, while the additional $25 from each entry was given to the Strangers in the Night charity foundation. That means that $13,125 was raised for charity!  The players who made the final table were each guaranteed a payout of at least four figures, but all eyes were set on the champion’s trophy and the $14,362 prize that came along with it.  There were some wild hands that played out early on at the final table, including a three-way all in that saw Trevor Adams with , Danny Knafo with , and Andre Piunno with . Adams hit a king on the flop; Knafo hit a queen on the turn, and Piunno hit an ace […]

Event #5 of the 2020 World Cup of Cards, the $100 + $20 + $100 6-Max 50/50 Bounty Re-entry, had a total of 209 entries. The prize pool guarantee of $20,000 was more than doubled, with $40,546 ($19,646 in payouts plus $20,900 in bounties) awarded.  The evening was action-packed and full of excitement as players hunted for those $100 bounty chips. The chip lead changed hands many times throughout the evening. Once the money bubble burst, the eliminations happened in rapid succession until the 7-handed final table was formed. On the final table the blinds were starting to get large, and six of the seven players had almost identical stacks. Because of this dynamic, the players agreed to an ICM chop that left an additional $835 for the eventual tournament champion. The following table lists the ICM payouts. As soon as play resumed, there was a series of bustouts. Eventually, […]

Event #3 of the World Cup of Cards, the $150 + $15 PL Omaha 3 Lives Re-entry, featured a $7,000 prize pool guarantee and unlimited re-entries during the late registration period.  When that moment arrived, there were a total of 69 entries, including 15 re-entries, which allowed the prize pool to surpass the guarantee and award a total of $9,679 in prize money to the top nine players. At the final table, Adam Bogach was the first to hit the rail, finishing in ninth place for $300. Then Joshua Royal Peteigney finished in eighth place for $390. Chris Arvanitis he ended up leaving in seventh place for $520, followed by James Reinhart, who finishde in sixth place and collected $680 for his efforts. In fifth place was Brian Morgan, scoring $890 to add to his weekend winnings. Once play went four-handed, the players agreed to an ICM chop of the […]

Players had a great dose of fun today playing this great “shootout” variant where a player had to win their initial table in order to make it into the second round where the two final tables would play down to a winner. There were 96 entries in total. Locals Rong Xu and Nicolas Majdalani made it to the heads-up match, and when Majdalani picked up a pocket pair he decided to open shove, a bet that was met by a call. Majdalani: Xu: The board ran , and with Majdalani’s pocket sixes holding, Event #2 of the WCC crowned a champion: Nicolas Majdalani. Event #2 Champion: Nicolas Majdalani, $2,841   Second place, Rong Xu, $2,550 Last hand of play:

The $200 + $20 Grand Prix Canada was the marquee event of Playground’s 9-Year Anniversary Series, featuring an outstanding $500,000 guaranteed prize pool. There were numerous starting flights, both live and online on partypoker. When the Day 1s came to an end, there were a total of 2,696 runners who came from near and far, allowing the prize pool to swell above the guarantee. All players who qualified for Day 2 were in the money, and any player who bagged in multiple flights received a $400 min-cash for each forfeited bag. Play resumed with 366 players on Saturday December 15 to play Day 2. It was a long day of poker as some player’s stacks were being built up while others were being sent to the cashier to collect their payouts. The chip lead changed through the day as one by one, players fell until only 16 were left in […]

Event #4 of the Playground 9-Year Anniversary Series was the $200 + $20 PL Omaha Re-entry tournament, always a favourite for those who love action. There was a $7,000 guaranteed prize pool and when the late registration period came to a close, there were 44 entries in total (including 11 re-entries) which allowed the prize pool to grow to $8,536. Action was the word of the evening as players were getting it in with draws, hoping to hit. The first elimination happened within the first five minutes of play, but with the re-entry format, the players were able to try their luck as often as they pleased. At the first break of the evening Maxime Flibotte-Blanchard took the lead and held on to it through the second break. David St-Louis was also on the first leaderboard and by the second break he was right behind Flibotte-Blanchard, in second place. As […]