LIVE EVENTS

The $10,300 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS North America is in the books! Another great event goes down in history at Playground. After five long days of poker, François Billard emerged the victor and cashes $961,400 ($749,030 were secured from the ICM deal, plus $212,370 for the win).

The final table was reached on Day 4, and the action went on until only six were left. These six players came back at 12:00PM today for the final battle, all vying for the massive $1,000,000 first prize. Francois Billard, Joni Petteri Jouhkimainen, Kevin Rabichow, Castrillon Fontan, Alexandros Kolonias, and Danick Landriault were rounding the Stream table, pumped up for the action.

Danick Landriault was the first to leave, and play continued 5-way for over 6 hours before Day 5 saw another elimination. During that time, many showdowns favoured the shorter stack, and many players took turns on the driver’s seat. Castrillon Fontan was the next player to leave. After losing most of his chips to Kevin Rabichow, he was emptied by François Billard.

Alexandros Kolonias followed, just before the dinner break. When Billard, Rabichow, and Jouhkimainen came back, they negotiated a deal that left $212,370 up for grabs and chopped the remainder of the prize pool according to the ICM calculator. The battle continued without any drop in intensity. After all, there were still six figures to shoot for.

Jouhkimainen was not able to get anything going and lost quite a bit of chips, until his chip situation forced him to take a lot of risks, and one of those moves turned out to be fatal. Billard took his chips and the 2 finalists were ready for the ultimate honour of the festival: The MILLIONS North America title.

Before initiating the duel, the two finalists took a short walk to pose besides the MILLIONS Tour trophy:

And play continued with an increasingly agitated crowd. François Billard being a local player, his rail was the largest, and consequently the most vocal, chanting his nickname virtually every time he won a pot, big or small. “Roux, Roux, Roux, Roooouuuuuuux!!!” And Roux could only smile. One could imagine that such support gave him some much needed strength in this final lap, after playing an average of 12 hours a day for 5 days. In the great white north, we call this home-ice advantage! Here are a few shots of the heads-up battle:

Eyes on the prize:

Billard started the heads-up match with a substantial lead, but Kevin Rabichow managed to even things out, but this turn of events was short-lived. The final hand was near.

Rabichow was on the button and bumped it to 12M chips. Billard 3bet to 42M, which was called, and both players went to a flop with a sizeable 84M in the middle to fight for. Billard placed a conservative continuation bet of 26M chips, and Rabichow called. On the turn, Billard did not slow down. In fact, having improved his hand, he did the exact opposite: all-in! Rabichow called the bet, only to realize that his tournament life was hanging by a thread… 11 cards would make him an overwhelming chip leader, but the rest of the deck would crown his rival.

It was truly great to watch the sheer happiness in François Billard’s face, and about 20 people singing his praises. The man of the hour walked among his peers, distributing handshakes, hugs, and headbutts. A well-deserved win. To our champion! Congratulations!

 

The partypoker LIVE MILLIONS North America Champion: François Billard – $961,400 and the Main Event Trophy

 

Runner-up: Kevin Rabichow – $578,990

 

A glimpse of the celebrations:

After an epic battle that lasted for hours, Lily Kornik is the champion of Event #7, the Playground 1000.

The Playground 1000 brought out an impressive field of 260 entries. The huge field built a prize pool that went far beyond the $100,000 guarantee and created a top prize of $55,430 for the eventual champion. Ali Keshavarz was the Day 1 chip leader.

A total of 82 players bagged chips for Day 2. The chip leader from this flight, Lily Kornik – better known to Playground regulars as “Big Salami” – kept up her strong Day 1 play and jumped out to an early chip lead. Although some other players had their turn as chip leader during Day 2, Kornik was never far off the lead. After the players reached the money, Kornik jumped back up to the top of the leaderboard and stayed there until the chips went in the bag at the end of level 26. Five players were set to return for Day 3 action, which would play down to a winner.

Ariel Celestino was the first to fall, taken out by Kornik. Ariel Celestino exited in fifth place for $15,000. Kornik commented how she very much enjoyed playing with Celestino over the last few days and she felt that she learnt a lot from him. The next to go was Armand King, better known to many as the “Oyster King”. Kornik sent King to the rail in fourth place, good for a cash of $20,060. Kornik then flopped trip kings to eliminate Robert Gariepy who took home $27,060 for his third place finish. 

The heads-up battle between Kornik and Frederic Cossette was epic. It not only lasted for hours, it saw the chip lead swing back and forth after every all-in hand. Kornik had asked Cossette if he was interested in an ICM chip chop, but Cossette preferred to play on to a winner. Kornik had the lead for some time, but then lost some key flips and fell to second place. She made it back in a couple of key hands, until finally, the last hand of the tournament was played.

In the last hand of play, Lily got it in with , and was called by Cossette who had . As fate would have it for Lily, the flop fell , and Lily started to shake. Her husband, who had been watching the heads-up battle, put his arm around her as the two of them watched the run out. The turn brought the , and then on the river came the , to seal the deal. And just like that, a winner was crowned in The Playground 1000.

Event #7 Champion: Lily Kornik, $55,430

Last hand of play:

Event #6, the $10,000 + $300 High Roller, started on Thursday, offering the players a 1,000,000 starting stack and unlimited re-entries until the start of level 13 on Day 2. There was a great turnout on Day 1, with a total of 52 entries (including 14 re-entries). Some of the best names in the business mixed it up with many experienced amateur grinders who were all battling it out on the felt, and as the chips moved around, the lead changed throughout the day. At the end of play, 28 players bagged and tagged to return for Day 2 action. The top stack in play belonged to James Romero, who bagged 4,320,000.

Day 2 saw the field grow to a total of 102 entries, surpassing the $1,000,000 guarantee. Pierre-Paul Paulin dominated the field and was the chip leader coming into Day 3. The top 10 players were in the money and one by one, they hit the rail, until two players were heads-up: Pierre-Paul Paulin and Brian Yoon. Their stacks were almost equal and the battle lasted for hours. A few key hands changed everything, and then it was Brian Yoon who took the lead. In an epic battle between the two players that lasted hours, Paulin never gave up and did his best to try to come back to take the lead, but Yoon caught key hands when he needed them and never let go of being in the driver’s seat.

On the final hand of play, Yoon raised it up pre-flop to 2,500,000, and Paulin made the call. Paulin checked the flop, and Yoon put in 1,800,000, which was called by Paulin. The turn brought the , and again Paulin checked. Yoon now made it 6,500,000, and Paulin responded by shoving his stack. Yoon called.

Paulin:
Yoon:

Yoon had turned top pair, and just needed to fade a King or a Jack on the river.

River: , and just like that, a champion was crowned in Event #6, the $10,000 + $300 High Roller.

First place champion, Brian Yoon, $300,000

Second place, Pierre-Paul Paulin, $185,000

Last hand of play:

 

 

Day 4 of the MILLIONS North America has come to an end, as the final six are ready to now battle it out tomorrow on the final table.

Only 16 players returned today for Day 4. When play began on Day 3, 66 players were still in contention, only three eliminations from the money bubble. After roughly an hour of play, the money bubble burst and the top 63 finalists secured at least $20,000 each. When the flight concluded, the 16 remaining players had locked up at least $40,000 each, but you can be sure that everyone’s focus today was on the $1,000,000 champion’s prize.

Day 4 featured 90-minute blind levels and 8-handed play. It took quite some time to form the “unofficial” final table of 9 players, and then even longer to make it down to the final six. Jason James was the first to exit the tournament room, finishing in 10th place for $60,000. The next player to hit the rail was Armin Razael, finishing in ninth spot for $100,000. Ruben Receval, a local player who has made WPT final tables here at Playground, followed in eighth position for a cool $150,000. The last player to exit was Benjamin Heath, finishing in seventh for $200,000.

Here the six final table members of the Millions North America:

First Name | Prénom	Last Name | Nom	Stack | Tapis
Kevin	Rabichow	156,150,000
Francois	Billard	126,250,000
Castrillon	Fontan	87,975,000
Joni	Petteri	79,050,00
Alexandros	Kolonias	40,550,000
Danick	Landriault	33,150,000

Day 5 begins at 12 noon tomorrow (Sunday, May 26).

Click here to watch the live streaming of the final table.