LIVE EVENTS

Recent chip leader Ron S. found himself in a battle at table 34 just now, one that could have cost him dearly. Although he still had plenty of chips in front of him, he didn’t have as many as he did at the end of the last break, and a loss in this hand would most likely be fatal, as there were other big stacks at the table. Luckily for him, he withstood the pressure and made the right moves, virtually doubling his already significant stack by the end of the hand.

With the blinds at 1,200/2,400, the hand began with Ron limping in under the gun, which was followed by a raise to 4,500 by Sylvie Laflamme, his neighbor to the left. Gaetan Laperriere then raised to 12,500. When Ron made a smooth and quiet call, Sylvie smelled danger and got out of the hand. “Good fold,” Gaetan said, eliciting a bemused smile from Ron.

Flop:

First to act, Gaetan bet a near pot-sized 26,000 chips. Ron called it like he was checking the time. The turn was a , and this time Gaetan bet 45,000. No longer quite so casual, Ron’s smile disappeared. He had to think about it, because if he played this wrong his night might be over. Ron seemed to be double-checking his mental math. Was Gaetan trying to buy his way out of a bluff? Did he have pocket aces? Two pair? A flush? After about a minute, brows furrowed, Ron made his choice and shoved over the top.

Pot-committed, Gaetan was compelled to call and flipped over his cards, . Ron followed suit, flipping over his . The river card was no help to Gaetan, and Ron doubled up. Although there is still another level to go before the next break, it wouldn’t be too surprising if Ron ended up back at the top of the leaderboard at the end of it.

As players returned from their second break of the evening, there was one that was far and away above the rest, and that player was Ron S. Because many of the small denomination chips have still not been chipped up, Ron barely has any place in front of him for all of his chips. However, he doesn’t mind – that’s the kind of problem you want to have in a tournament.

Ron has steadily climbed the rankings, moving from fifth place into the chip leader position over the last two hours. Can he continue on his run? We’ll see! Good luck to him and all of the remaining 107 players still working their way towards the finish line.

Just before the second break of the evening we came across a table where three players were all in preflop. The hand started with a bet of 2,500 that received a few callers. That was when Jean Demers shoved in the big blind for approximately 40,000 chips. Han Chen was game to play, short-stacked as he was. So was George Wolf, also short.

When Han flipped over his he found himself facing off against Jean’s ace-king and George’s ace-queen. Because the aces were split between his other two rivals in the hand, Han found himself in an enviable position – especially after seeing the board come down !

Han triples up and goes into the break feeling confident, and with a little extra breathing room.

Now that registration is closed, the field is no longer growing, but shrinking. Over the course of the last hour we have moved from 216 players down to 151, and tonight’s action will only end when 32 players remain, equivalent to 10% of Day 1E’s 316 entrants.

Here are some photos of some of our remaining competitors.

After seven levels of play and a 15-minute break, the Day 1E player with the most chips (seen below) is Atbin Abbasianafrapoli. With almost quadruple the chip average, he is off to a great start, along with several other players nipping at his heels.

This final flight of the Playground 100 registered a total of 316 entries (including a whopping 80 re-entries), and now that registration for this event is officially closed we can announce that with a total of 1054 entries over the course of all the Day 1 flights, Playground was able to raise the prize pool amount, originally guaranteed at $50,000, to a much higher $102,238! Well done everyone!

Good luck to all the players moving forward, but don’t forget: there are no more re-entries! Time to tighten up!

The registration period will end in exactly 30 minutes for Event #3, the $100 + $10 Playground 100. If you want to have a shot at taking home a piece of the prize pool (which was originally guaranteed at $50,000, but has since risen to over $100,000), it’s now or never. Players will be going on break shortly, so sign up and take your seat before the return!

There has been plenty of action early on at Day 1E of the Playground 100, partly due to the fact that many players are utilizing the unlimited re-entry option. With the ability to jump back into the action after losing your chips, the first two hours of these Day 1 flights is often filled with aggressive and risky plays. This structure often leads to players making higher bets early on, making quicker and looser calls, and for some, making early exits. Over on table 26 just now we saw an example of that.

When we joined the hand the flop had already been dealt with three players in the hand. With the blinds at 100/200, Louis-Charles Levros opened with a bet of 2,500, quickly called by Michael Tremblay and Youri Parisien. A on the turn made two flushes possible, but it didn’t seem to matter to the players at the table. Another relatively large bet was placed, resulting in two more calls and a river.

Louis-Charles shoved without hesitation, with Michael following suit close behind him. Youri bowed out, but when Louis-Charles flipped over his his trips didn’t faze Michael at all. He turned over a and the flush took the hand.

Apparently it didn’t faze Louis-Charles either, as he is back for his third re-entry as we speak!

Today’s event is barely an hour old and there are already over 200 entrants taking part. At this pace, it is likely that we easily overpass the 224 players that entered the Day 1D event that took place earlier today. Below are some photos of our competitors. Good luck to all!

Event #3, the $100 + $10 Playground 100, has been slowly building to it’s conclusion over the course of the last few days, with five Day 1 flights played so far. 54 players have made it through to Day 2 to this point, and this evening the final Day 1 flight will be played. In fact, it just started! With the cards officially in the air, it’s the last chance for players to take their shot at the title, not to mention their share of the $100,000+ prize pool.

As it was with the other flights, players started with 20,000 in chips and will play until 10% of the field remains. Unlimited re-entries are permitted until the beginning of the seventh level of play, and because all levels last 20 minutes, players have until 9:15pm to get in on the action.

Day 2 will be held tomorrow, Sunday, July 21 at 3:00pm, and qualifiers will play until there is a winner. Keep in mind: everyone who makes it to Day 2 is automatically in the money. Good luck to all of our competitors!