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Over the course of the last week, Playground implemented a series of measures to support the effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), which culminated in a complete closure on Friday night at 11:59pm. Today, we announce that the WPTDeepStacks Montreal, on Playground’s event schedule from April 16 to April 27, 2020, is postponed indefinitely. The decision was taken in conjunction with our partners the World Poker Tour and partypoker LIVE. All of us are still very excited about the WPTDeepStacks Montreal and we wish to assure the community that the new dates will be made public as soon as they are decided. Playground’s senior management team is still meeting daily, analysing the latest news and development and discussing the best course of action for the public’s safety. We thank you for your patience and understanding.  

You know the name. You love the format. The WPTDeepStacks returns to Montreal, and this time as a full-fledged festival! Held from April 16 to April 27, the series features nine tournaments and over $1,900,000 in total guarantees. The tour was honoured at the 4th Annual American Poker Awards in February of 2018 with the well-deserved prize for Mid-Major Circuit of the Year. Since then, the brand has continued to expand and now offers premier poker festivals on six continents! What to expect in Montreal? Lots of action! Event #2 will be none other than the now famous WPTDeepStacks Opener, the $500 + $50 tournament that follows the WPTDeepStacks far and wide. With a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool, seven Day 1s to choose from and an unlimited re-entry format, this is a can’t-miss event. The WPTDeepStacks Montreal Main Event is a $1,500 + $150 tournament that is no stranger to our […]

The Playground 1000 was the marquee event of the World Cup of Cards 2020: biggest buy-in, biggest 1st prize ($89,750) and second biggest guarantee ($400,000). The event attracted a vast crowd that put in 464 entries, forming a total prize pool of $450,080. After three Day 1s, 186 Day 2 qualifiers were assembled in the tournament hall to play another 12 levels during which the money bubble would be reached. At 59 players, one shy of the money, it seemed like Earth’s rotation came to a halt, as the event played hand-for-hand for about two hours. When the bubble finally burst, the pace of eliminations sped up greatly and by the end of the day, only 25 players were still in contention for the title. Marc-André Yelle, who rocked Day 2 like a champion, eventually let go of the driver’s seat midway through Day 3, to the hands of Bill […]

The Hold’em Bad Beat Jackpot, after hitting 3 times within a 9-day period, went on to build for almost 2 months without being delivered, which is a pretty long time considering that the fixed qualifying hand is aces full of kings. Because of that relative drought, the BBJ had grown to an impressive $171,894! Late on Saturday night, a group of 7 players got their hands on it. It happened very theatrically, with a pre-flop showdown of the highest quality. The game was $2/$5 Hold’em, and the pot was first opened by David-Alexander. After one fold, he made it $25 to go. That bet was re-raised to $75, and Edgar flat called the sizable amount from the button. Two players folded, and our initial raiser went all-in. Two calls for less were quickly announced: $117 and $167. Board: David-Alexander proudly opened , knowing that he would either pick up the […]

The World Cup of Cards is in full swing and the upcoming weekend will be a riot. As the action unfolds in the tournament hall, we look forward to the next event on Playground’s schedule: the February Power Weekend. The mini-series, scheduled from February 27 to March 2, presents six events with a total of $141,000 in guaranteed prize pools. The headliner is none other than the Playground 200, one of our club’s most popular tournaments. The multi-day event allows players to shoot for a huge $100,000 guaranteed prize pool for a buy-in of only $200 + $20. Of course, you can go at it more heavily if you wish, as it has an unlimited re-entry format. Throw in as many bullets as needed to send a strong stack to Day 2! This Power Weekend also presents a handful of nice single-day events with buy-ins ranging from $110 to $220, […]

On day 19 of the new year, a third BBJ Omaha was hit! Of course, it was also day 1 of the World Cup of Cards, and we know all too well that poker festivals are usually the scene of multiple Bad Beat Jackpots. Well, the first one didn’t take long to come! The events reported here took place on Sunday, late in the afternoon… The action started seamlessly, with a straddle and a string of folds all the way to the blinds. The small blind and big blind completed the $5 straddle and the option was checked. Then the flop was checked around. Let’s take a look at the resulting board: Board:   Leo was sitting in the small blind position and checked it once more. Kurtis bet $5 a third of the pot. After one fold, Leo called from the small blind position. The on the river came […]

The Women’s Series Event #4 and Final Event are coming up this weekend, wrapping up a truly successful series that brought together women from here, neighbouring provinces and even the United States. Today, by popular demand, Playground and the Women’s Poker Association announce Women’s Series 2020, our second series exclusively for women. The new and improved edition presents five open events, one more than the inaugural series, and will span the whole calendar year. Each one has a $150 + $15 buy-in – of which $10 will go to the Championship Event prize pool – and a $5,000 guaranteed prize pool. Start each one with 25,000 chips, play your best, and finish in the top 40% of the field to earn leaderboard points. Climb up the leaderboard and finish the series in the top 30, the only way to earn a seat at the Championship. Once there, your starting stack […]

Only 5 days after quad 8s were defeated and unlocked a huge Jackpot, The BBJ Omaha was hit again! It happened in the middle of the night on a 4-handed table. Facing a straddle bet, the player on the button was first to act before the flop and folded. Viken A, sitting in the small blind, raised the $5 straddle to $20, enough to induce a fold on his left, but Patricktt – his screen name! – was not going to relinquish his straddle so easily. He came over the top with a $60 3-bet and found a call. Flop: Viken, first to act on the flop, announced a pot bet, more than enough to cover Patricktt’s remaining chips. He called under for $90. Viken: Patricktt: Full board:   The river completed not one, but two straight flushes! $11,144 were split among the four players that made it happened. Patricktt […]

For many years, Playground has included Seniors’ Events in poker festivals and mini-series, each of these events attracting a good number of players, eager to compete between them and have loads of fun… and they did without fault. Today, we are announcing the Seniors’ Series, a competition made up of five open events and culminating with a Championship Event, exclusively for players who are at least 50 years young! The series schedule features an open event every other month, the first one being on Sunday, February 23. Each tournament starts at 12:00pm and is held on a Sunday. The modest $200 + $20 buy-in and the $10,000 guarantee ensures that players enjoy a great ratio each time. View the full schedule here. Throughout the series, players will accumulate leaderboard points by placing in the top 40% of the field and try to finish the race in the top 30 on […]

Last night at 11:40pm, eight PLO players had the joy of hitting a huge Bad Beat Jackpot! The PLO BBJ had not been hit for a while, and our lucky players got to share a cool $48,047. It all happened on table 16, where an 8-handed $2/$2 PLO game was being dealt. On that hand, two players were sitting out, leaving six in the arena. The action started with a call from the under-the-gun position, immediately followed by a raise to $10. This amount was just right for everybody, and just like that, a $60 pot was created. Flop: Three players checked to the raiser, Loic D, who supported his pre-flop aggression with a $35 continuation bet. Vincent K was next to act and called. Marco T, sitting on his immediate left, brought it up to $200, a chunky bet even for this game. Everyone that had not invested on […]

Late last night, quad over quad allowed a third Bad Beat Jackpot to hit since the beginning of the month. Table 7, located at the heart of our Original Room, delivered the BBJ to nine lucky $1/$2 players. Three of those nine players were sitting out, on break, leaving six players dealt in. The first two players to act limped in, but that was quickly raised to $10, a bet that was also short-lived. Gregory pushed $30 forward, a good chunky 3-bet. Much to the aggressors’ surprise, both blinds cold called, and were joined by the second limper – Georges – and the initial raiser, sending a group of five players to the flop! Flop: After four quick checks, Gregory continued with $45, and three players matched it, all interested to see the turn: . This street did not see any action, and the foursome got themselves a free river: […]

In order to accommodate the increased needs in tournament tables during the 9-Year Anniversary and the World Cup of Cards, three editions of the Super Sunday will be cancelled: December 15 will make way for the 9-Year Anniversary, while January 26 and February 2 will allow the many WCC events on those dates to enjoy the space they require. The first cancellation is this weekend. The Grand Prix Canada, guaranteed at $500,000 and offering 19 Day 1s to choose from, is sure to qualify a vast number of players for next Sunday’s Day 2, and will without a doubt monopolize a great number of tables on that day. We can therefore guarantee that this Sunday will be more Super for a bunch of players, as Day 2 of the Grand Prix Canada will send the last 16 standing to the conclusion of the 9-Year Anniversary Main Event, on Monday, December […]