Tonight was the first of 5 scheduled satellites for the $1,500 + $150 WPTDeepStacks event to be held during the WCC. The WPTDeepStacks event is the Main event in this year’s World Cup of Cards. There were 25 entries tonight including 3 re-entries, meaning that there was a small overlay on the guaranteed 3 seats that were awarded – in other words, “Value City”. Tonight’s satellite awarded the guaranteed 3 seats in the target event, and there ore another 4 $165 + $15 WPTDeepStacks satellites left on the WCC Schedule (3 on January 31 and 1 on February 1). Set a reminder now to return to Playground and play in a WPTDeepStacks satellite. The big event begins with Day 1A on February 1. Here is a photo of tonight’s winners

Once the group had been reduced to a total of fifteen players, the true game began. The game of patience. For over an hour, everyone popped the clutch and coasted in neutral, playing as conservatively as possible, folding around and around as the blinds were shuffled from player to player. Almost no preflop shove was challenged, and any that were didn’t knock anyone out.  Everyone wanted to be in on the payout reserved for only 12 players, but no one wanted to fight for it. Indeed, at times it felt like the tournament would never end. And yet, whenever a deal was floated tentatively it was rejected by one player over and over, a non-starter. However, like all things do, this too came to an end. Unfortunately for Jessica Comeau and Vladislav Gulli it ended just a little too soon. The two to bubble today’s $100 + $10 Survivor were left […]

A champion has been declared in the $100 + $10 Megastack Turbo, Event #5 in the World Cup of Cards. After Robert Turcotte knocked out Nizar T when he hit a jack on the river, to pair up, and beat Nizar’s pair of eights, Robert and David Bonneau were left to battle it out alone. The duo engaged in an hour of back-and-forth heads up action where, initially, David looked dead in the water. When both players went all in, early on, David’s pocket fives   did not appear strong enough to beat Robert’s pair of sevens, but when he hit the on the turn, he lived to fight another hand. But Robert had lady luck on his side, and even though David took a substantial lead at one point, Robert remained cool and poised, grinding his way to victory. When the final hand came down, David went all in […]

Congratulations to Jazz Smith for winning Event #7 in the World Cup of Cards! It was a hard-fought contest between the two players, one with quite a few exciting back-and-forths. The lead passed between Andrew and Jazz more than once, but in the end it came down to one hand that determined the outcome of the tournament. Andrew: Jazz: Board: Jazz takes home the 1st place prize, the trophy, $2,522 and the glory! But a big shout-out goes to his very worthy opponent Andrew Dick, who was a hair away from winning the tournament more than once during heads up play. Andrew collected 8 bounties, so along with his 2nd place prize of $2,000 it was a very good day for both players. Well done gentlemen, we’ll see you next time.

After almost 9 hours of play and an ICM chop, the endurance and will to fight on at the final table was beginning to wear thin. However, over three successive hands, Stephane Gauthier came out of nowhere and eliminated all three of his opponents, one after another. Congratulations to Stephane for an excellent tournament! The hand that won him 1st place and the trophy is below, in which he pulled a flush on the river. Stephane defeated 2nd place finisher Christopher Turnbull. Christopher took home $2,695 and 10+ $100 bounty chips. However, as mentioned above, this was the third hand in a row won by Stephane, each of which was an all in. He previously defeated the 3rd place finisher Philip Schrier (who took home $2,035 + 2 $100 bounty chips) when Philip’s pocket pair of was routed by Stephane’s on a board. Stephane had also defeated the 4th place […]

After just more than eight hours of play we have crowned ourselves a winner. Congratulations go out to Jonathan Poissant for winning Event #3 in this year’s World Cup of Cards, the $100 + $10 8-Max Deepstack Re-entry. Jonathan will take home $2,110 for his win. Jonathan said something interesting as we set up the championship photo. He recounted to us that, while he works 6 out of 7 days this week, today was his day off! He decided he wanted to come to Playground to relax and have fun, which turned out to be a good decision. Champion Jonathan Poissant Jonathan won the tournament after only a few minutes of head-to-head play with Steve Khoury, who earned $1,884 for his 2nd place finish. The way that Jonathan took down the tournament win was actually a combination of two successive hands. The first one crippled Steve, a hand in which Steve’s two […]

A champion has been declared in the $150 + $15 Deepstack Turbo, Event #2 in the World Cup of Cards. After more than eight hours of play, including close to 90 minutes of back-and-forth heads up action between Christina Knot and Anh Nguyen, where both players were saved more than once by unlikely cards being dealt on the river, Christina, of Saint Hippolyte Quebec, finally prevailed. Anh went all in with and Christina wagered everything on . It looked like Anh might reign victorious, but the final hand was won on the final card when the board was dealt . As runner up, Anh’s share of the prize pool was $3,210! But the grand prize of $5,166 and a champion’s bragging rights go to Christina, who demonstrated poise and  perseverance throughout the event! Christina Knot  

The winner in the first event in the World Cup of Cards, the $400 + $40 Tag Team, is Team Vincenzo D’Elia! After approximately 90 minutes of heads up play (and three switches between tag team partners) the final hand was played by Miguel Goncalo (of Team Brigitte Metivier) and Anthony Meli (of team Vincenzo D’Elia). Both players felt they had worthy cards and jumped all in preflop. The board was dealt   , but unfortunately for Miguel his couldn’t beat Anthony’s . Team Brigitte Goncalo take home their ICM Chop of $7,710 (-$250) and 2nd place. Congratulations! However, an even bigger congratulations go out to Team Vince! Well done boys! You’ve truly earned your 1st place win as well as your prize of $7,415 + $1,000 (-$250), or $8,165!

By the time heads up play arrived, both players were quite fatigued and with the deal in place, there was some fight between the two players – Christopher Turnbull and Antoine Simon – but both were equally easygoing about the whole affair. The mood was light, the players were happy, there was a nice small rail consisting of Sergei Gurin, and the stage was set for the final stretch of this terrific event. Chris scored an early double to take the chip lead, but before long Antoine had doubled back and enjoyed a big lead once again. Eventually, with fatigue getting the best of the players, Antoine limped his button holding and Chris decided to shove over the top holding . Antoine called. The window card told most of the tale on the flop: . The on the turn gave Chris a few more outs, but the on the river […]

With no deal in place to influence the pace of play and reasonable stack sizes and chip differential between the two players, one would have been excused to assume that heads up play would be an extended affair… but it was not – Minh Chi Nguyen and Guillaume Tremblay obviously came to play and weren’t afraid of a little gambling along the way. Before long, Guillaume was left gasping with just 160K left, and though he doubled once after that, within a few minutes both players were again happy with their holdings. Minh Chi: Guillaume: The flop was dealt: . When the came on the turn, Guillaume got out of his chair and on the river he put-on his coat and went for his payout voucher. Event #6 Champion: Minh Chi Nguyen, $1,985 Final Hand of Play 2nd place: Guillaume Tremblay, $1,525

Marco Cannizzaro of Montreal, QC has been crowned the Champion of the 8-Year Anniversary edition of the Deepstack! He outlasted 83 players through 27 levels, and a grueling 15 hours of play to emerge victorious. After Marco hit an ace on the river to knock Pierre Guay, the final three competitors continued to grind for dominance. Then Christine Park knocked out Mark Saddik  a half-dozen hands later, leaving Marco and Christine to battle it out to the finish. When the tournament was reduced to 7 players, the competitors chose to do an ICM chop (reserving $750 for 1st place). Combined with his guaranteed $3,895, Eric won $4,645. When the final hand of play occurred and both players went all in, Marco was holding   while his opponent, Christine, showed . The board ran out   and Marco`s pair proved to be the winning hand!  

Eric Schanck of Lachine, QC has been crowned the Champion of the 8-Year Anniversary edition of the Playground Shootout Turbo! He outlasted 62 players through 25 levels of play to emerge victorious. It wasn’t always easy going for Eric. He had to endure a heads up battle with Ghita Acordunencei just to secure the last spot at the final table. Ghita and Eric went back and forth long after the other eight spots had been secured, but in the end Eric finally prevailed. When the tournament was reduced to 8 players, the competitors chose to do an ICM chop (reserving $120 for 1st place). Combined with his guaranteed $665, Eric won $885. When the final hand of play occurred and all the chips were pushed into the pot, Eric was holding     while his opponent, James Brown, held  . The board ran out   and the pair Eric was holding was potent […]