LIVE EVENTS

Play is now three handed on the final table between Benoit Desbiens, Jonathan Poissant, and Irene Tzanetopoulos.  Benoit still has a strong lead but all three players are seasoned tournament grinders with lots of savoir faire, and, no one is giving up, that’s for sure.

So far we have lost:

9th Fady Habishi ($210)

8th Dominic St-Pierre ($270)

7th Alain Lavoie ($350)

6th Jason Kastner ($460)

5th Gabriel Demers ($610)

4th Alexandre Guay ($800)

Benoit Desbiens is still in the lead but not too far behind him is Jonathan Poissant and Irene Tzanetououlos.

Here are the chip counts of the final table players:

With the top nine spots getting paid, the tournament director paused the clock once the field dropped down to 10 players.  A few of the players asked about paying the bubble, but there was some resistance to this by a few of the players and play marched on. Hand-for-hand action last the better part of 20-25 minutes, until the fatal hand took place.

Irene Tzanetopoulos went to the flop against Danny Landry. Irene was 1st to act and led out for 12k. Danny, who had been nursing a below average stack for some time, was apparently delighted to see the flop and announced that he was “all-in”.  Irene thought about it for only perhaps 15-20 seconds, and then picked up a yellow 1K chip and threw it in, signalling a call.

Danny:
Irene:   

Danny had flopped trip 4’s, and Irene had a flush draw. Danny wqs holding on tight as Irene was hoping for a diamond.

Turn: and Danny’s only remaining hope was to boat up on the river.

River:

And just like that, Danny Landry became the “bubble boy” and the tournament is in the money.

Table 32 has been seeing a lot of action, along with a lot of bust outs. There are therefore tons of chips on 32, where we found three of the top stacks in play.

Benoit Desbiens, who recently retired as a dealer after six years at Playground, has been pumping away all afternoon and now has the dominant stack in the tournament room. Gabriel Demers, who currently works as a dealer here, is hot on his heels in 2nd place. Another player, Irene Tzanetopoulos, who has won an event in the past during one of Playground’s festivals, had dropped down to only 6K early on in the day, but has now made it to the one of the top positions.

It is still however anybody’s game….

With a total of 71 entries (and 14 re-entries), the $5,000 guarantee was smashed, and has grown to $6,887. The top 9 spots will get paid, with the top prize being $1,787 for 1st place, and a min cash paying out $210 in 9th position.

Late registration has now closed in Event #9 and a total of 71 players have entered the tournament (including 14 re-entries) which helped to grow the prize pool well beyond the $5,000 guarantee, bringing it all the way up to $6,887! (We will post the payouts shortly)

During the break we had a chance to survey the chip stacks, and with the average stack hovering around 38K, three players have managed to leap way ahead of the field.  Frederick Normand leads the pack with a cool 72,100, so we will keep an eye on him to see if he can maintain that lead.

Here are the three players who are in the lead:

The room keeps filling up, there are now 56 players who have entered the tournament (with 6 re-entries) and the mood is easy going, but make no mistake, everyone seated wants a piece of the prize pool pie.

Here are a few photos of some of the players in today’s action:

The cards are in the air for Event #9, $100+$10 6-Max Re-entry. Players start with 20,000 chips, blind levels are 20 minutes in length, and there are unlimited re-entries available right up until the end of the 1st break after level 6 (2:15pm). There is a guaranteed prize pool of $5,000, and if the turnout is the same as past events, the prize pool may in fact grow even larger!

This is a 6-max format which means there is a lot of elbow room at the table and it tends to play out more aggressive than a ten or eight handed tournament, with lot’s of action happening post-flop. If you have never played a 6-Max tournament, this your chance to jump into the action at a modest buy-in.

Today is the last day of the May Power Weekend, so come join in on the tournament action. The last tournament is tonight, Event #10, $100 + $20 + $100 6-Max 50/50 Bounty, starting at 7:00pm, with late registration open until 9:15pm.

Event #9: $100 + $10 6-Max Re-entry

Monday May 6 at 12:00pm

$5,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool