MILLIONS General News

Danny Boyaci wins the Montreal Open

May 22, 2019May 22, 2019 | 4:28am | Playground

Event #2 of the MILLIONS North America, the $1,000 + $100 Montreal Open, had seven starting flights. Each Day 1 permitted unlimited re-entries and brought in a total of 1,536 entries. Thanks to the huge field, the prize pool easily exceeded the seven-figure guarantee to create a prize pool of $1,340,055. The top 15 finishers in this event were also awarded entries into the $10,000 + $300 MILLIONS North America Main Event.

The field was full of players who traveled from far and wide to take part in this event, including some of the biggest names in poker. From WSOP and WPT bracelet and ring winners to Playground event champions, many in the field had extensive poker resumes.

A total of 473 players survived Day 1 play and returned for Day 2. The money bubble was reached in the latter half of Day 2, as the top 188 finishers cashed in this event. After 12 levels of play on Day 2, only 62 players remained. It took roughly eight hours of play on Day 3 for the field to be reduced to the final table.

Scott Montgomery, a Canadian with many cashes in major tournaments, his largest on the final table of the 2008 WSOP Main Event, was in control for most of the day and was the massive chip leader when the final table started. He stayed in control for quite some time, until finally his luck changed and he lost some key pots, including being coolered by Danny Boyaci when Danny hit a two-outer on the river to take almost all of Scott’s chips.

It came down to Danny Boyaci and Romio Mikhael in heads-up play. Romio played a solid final table, which was an amazing feat as he is a cash game player who has played fewer than five tournaments in his life.

The prize list showed $200,000 for the champion and $125,000 for the runner-up. Both players had nearly identical stacks so they decided to work out a deal. Danny had Romio covered by just a few chips so their ICM chop of the remaining prize pool resulted in $166,000 for Danny and $159,000 for Romio.

As partypoker LIVE requires that a minimum of 10% of the remaining prize pool must be left for the eventual winner, the players agreed to each remove $16,250 from their payouts, leaving $32,500 for the champion. That left $142,750 for Romio, and $149,750 for Danny.

It did not take long to reach a conclusion. All the chips went in on the first hand of heads-up play!

Danny:

Romio:

Board:

And just like that, the Montreal Open crowned its champion, Danny Boyaci, who earned a sweet $192,550 ($182,250 cash plus a $10,000 + $300 seat to the MILLIONS North America Main Event).

Montreal Open Champion, Danny Boyaci, $192,550 ($182,250 cash plus a $10,000 + $300 seat to the MILLIONS North America).

Last hand of play

Second place: Romio Mikhael, $153,050 ($142,750 cash plus a $10,000 + $300 seat to the MILLIONS North America).

Precious cargo – 151 bags are locked away for Day 2

May 22, 2019May 22, 2019 | 1:38am | Playground

After ten levels of play, the remaining players could be seen slowly exiting the tournament hall, visibly drained after 12 hours of poker today.

Here’s a short recap of the action up to this point: Exactly half of the total entries today were already seated when the tournament kicked off at 12:00pm. The players set a slow pace befitting a 5-day tournament of this caliber. The ratio between the 1,000,000 starting stack and the initial blinds was also conductive to a more leisurely rhythm of play.

As expected, the field was full of international as well as local players. Early on, Mark Mckee, from Ontario, and Czech Ondrej Drozd, made the first leaderboard with almost 2½ the average stack. A couple of hours later, it was Australian Tristan Bain and Canadian Rick Beer that took hold of the top positions with approximately 3.4 million chips each. By the time the players took a long and welcome dinner break, the tides had shifted somewhat and new leaders emerged. Of the 230 players left, Beer and Bain were still in the top ten, and still neck to neck, but they had dropped down a few spots. Three Canadians now topped the leaderboard. It was now Babak Forozandeh and Danick Landriault’s turn at the helm, both players a few hundred thousand chips from five million. At this time, Ami Alibay was starting to gain some serious ground as well, sitting on 4,29 million chips. At the last break, Austrians Armin Rezaei and Gerald Karlic both came out of nowhere to claim the lead with 5,600,000 and 4,965,000 chips respectively.

The shift in chips were pretty modest on average, and very few huge pots were disputed in the last hours of play. When the last two levels came around, there was a small but perceptible surge in the eliminations. This small rise in activity was easily explained by the smaller stacks making an attempt at doubling up or going home in the last sprint to the finish line.

After all was said and done, a total of 151 players, almost half the field, qualified for Day 2. Canadian Sandy Lam bagged the most chips tonight (6,840,000) and is closely followed by German Manig Loeser who dropped 6,620,000 chips in his bag. Loeser is the only other player besides Sandy to have bagged more than 6 million chips tonight. Armin Rezaei managed to slightly improve on his earlier count and finished with 5,790,000 chips, securing the third spot on the chip count list. The players will be back Thursday for Day 2, and will be joined by tomorrow’s qualifiers from Day 1B. To see the combined Day 1 results, click here.

Players have one other chance to get into the action of the Main Event, and that’s tomorrow, Wednesday May 22nd. The action gets underway at 12:00pm for Day 1B. The rest of this five day event will unfold as follows:

Day 2: Thursday May 23 at 12:00pm
Day 3: Friday May 24 at 12:00pm
Day 4: Saturday May 25 at 12:00pm
Day 5: Sunday May 26 at 12:00pm

Day 1A chip leader – Sandy Lam bagged 6,840,000

Precious cargo: taking no chances with the bagged chips.

More qualifiers for the Main Event!

May 21, 2019 | 5:47pm | Playground

Ten more players have qualified for the $10,000 + $300 Main Event through the turbo re-entry satellite that started this morning at 10:00am. This $1,030 + $100 satellite guaranteed 10 Main Events seats and brought out 78 entries so even though it was early start for them, the lucky qualifiers capitalized on some great value. The players had the option of joining the ongoing Day 1A or waiting for the final starting flight, Day 1B, which begins tomorrow at noon. Most opted to wait for tomorrow, but a handful decided to jump in right away and helped bring the total number of entries to Day 1A of the Main Event up to 304.

Some of today’s Main Event qualifiers:

Even though the Main Event is in full swing, there are still ways to qualify for a fraction of the buy-in cost. A $1,500 + $150 re-entry satellite with a 10 seat guarantee is currently underway; five levels have already been played, but late registration and unlimited re-entries will be available until 6:50pm. For anyone who misses out, there is another satellite this evening.

Starting at 8:00pm, tonight’s $1,030 + $100 turbo re-entry satellite guarantees another 10 Main Event seats. Starting with 100,000 in chips, the players will grind through 15-minute levels until Main Event seats are awarded to the qualifiers. As with all other satellites, unlimited re-entries are available during the late registration period so players can (re-)enter until 10:15pm.

The last starting flight for the Main Event starts tomorrow and you chances to qualify are running out. Don’t miss this one!

More chances to qualify for the Main Event

May 21, 2019 | 1:21pm | Playground

Playground is offering lots of ways for you to play your way in to the premier event of the year, the $10,000 + $300 MILLIONS North America. Today will be an action packed day with multiple satellites running, as well as the first starting flight of the Main Event and Day 3 of the Montreal Open.

Up first, at 4:00pm is a $1,500 + $150 re-entry satellite that guarantees at least 10 Main Event seats. Players will start with 100,000 in chips and play 20-minute levels until only the qualifiers remain. Unlimited re-entries are permitted until the beginning of the ninth level of play at 6:55pm.

A $1,030 + $100 turbo re-entry satellite that guarantees another 10 Main Event seats will get underway at 8:00pm. Starting with 100,000 in chips, the players will grind through 15-minute levels until Main Event seats are awarded to the qualifiers. As with all other satellites, unlimited re-entries are available during the late registration period so players can (re-)enter until 10:15pm.

Between these two satellites, at least 20 players will qualify for the Main Event. The second and final Main Event starting flight is tomorrow, take advantage of the chance to play your way in today!

Day 3 action is underway!

May 21, 2019 | 12:22pm | Playground

Event #2 on the MILLIONS North America, the $1,000 + $100 Montreal Open, will play to its conclusion this afternoon.

Over the course of seven Day 1 flights, this event garnered 1,536 entries and created a massive prize pool in the process, easily exceeding the seven-figure guarantee. A total of 473 players advanced stacks to Day 2, which played through 12 levels yesterday to reduce the field to only 62 players. Those who remain in contention are assured a cash of at least $4,000, but all eyes are set on the big money at the top of the prize list. The 15 finalists will be awarded $10,000 + $300 seats to the MILLIONS Main Event in addition to their prize money, while a prize of $200,000 awaits the champion.

Good luck to all!

The Main Event is here!

Level: 1
Small Blind: 2K
Big Blind: 5K
BB Ante: 5K
Chip Average: 1,0M
Remaining: 152
Entries: 152

May 21, 2019May 21, 2019 | 12:06pm | Playground

Cards are in the air for the first of two Day 1 flights for Event #4 $10,000 + $300 MILLIONS North America.

This event boasts a $5,000,000 guaranteed prize pool and is undoubtedly the most anticipated of the events. 79 players qualified for the event through the many satellites that were held at Playground. There were also 82 qualifiers online. The tournament hall is buzzing with excitement as the players slowly get to their seats.

Here is the schedule for this event:

Day 1A: Tuesday May 21 at 12:00pm
Day 1B: Wednesday May 22 at 12:00pm
Day 2: Thursday May 23 at 12:00pm
Day 3: Friday May 24 at 12:00pm
Day 4: Saturday May 25 at 12:00pm
Day 5: Sunday May 26 at 12:00pm

Players start with 1,000,000 chips and blinds increase every 60 minutes on Day 1, and will play for 10 levels. The rules & structure can be found here.

Like the man just said: “Dealers, shuffle-up and deal!”

Montreal Open Day 3 seating draw

May 21, 2019 | 11:10am | Playground

After seven starting flights and an action packed Day 2 that started with 473 players, only 62 players remain in the Montreal Open. With a huge prize pool and 15 Main Events seats up for grabs for the top finishers, the stage is set for Day 3, which will play until there is a winner.

When play resumes for Day 3 at 12:00pm, the players will be seated according to the following table.

First Name \| Prénom	Last Name \| Nom	Seat \| Siège	Stack \| Tapis
Hugo	Dumoulin	Table 62 - Seat 5	24,900,000
Joseph	B	Table 61 - Seat 5	20,150,000
Kevin	Boesel	Table 62 - Seat 3	24,300,000
Romio	Mikhael	Table 59 - Seat 4	56,150,000
Victor	Adams	Table 60 - Seat 4	15,075,000
Thomas	Lefort	Table 64 - Seat 5	45,825,000
Tan	Ho	Table 61 - Seat 2	7,000,000
Nicolas	Majdalani	Table 57 - Seat 1	9,775,000
Samuel	Chartier	Table 57 - Seat 4	21,525,000
Kalpesh	Raichura	Table 60 - Seat 2	300,000
Niko	Koop	Table 59 - Seat 5	27,675,000
Kyle	Chang	Table 63 - Seat 1	21,200,000
Mark	Dube	Table 60 - Seat 5	26,250,000
John	Cayley	Table 64 - Seat 8	21,000,175
Scott	Montgomery	Table 58 - Seat 6	67,650,000
Sean	Satar	Table 63 - Seat 4	16,050,000
Samuel	Bantock	Table 58 - Seat 2	18,075,000
Robert	Cicchelli	Table 62 - Seat 7	18,900,000
Faisal	Al Qutub	Table 64 - Seat 1	22,700,000
Mark	Davis	Table 64 - Seat 6	16,400,000
Eric	Afriat	Table 61 - Seat 3	3,325,000
Tyler	Smillie	Table 63 - Seat 8	72,075,000
Stuart	Taylor	Table 59 - Seat 7	9,400,000
Alexandre	Lavigne	Table 60 - Seat 1	42,300,000
Robert	Greenberg	Table 60 - Seat 3	58,450,000
Feizal	Satchu	Table 59 - Seat 8	49,925,000
Mario	Dardis	Table 59 - Seat 2	22,025,000
Marc Andre	Larouche	Table 62 - Seat 1	10,925,000
Carlo	Vignone	Table 61 - Seat 8	48,025,000
Alexis	Urli	Table 57 - Seat 6	32,500,000
Eric	Al Halaby	Table 58 - Seat 4	12,550,000
Xavier	Goupil-Lapointe	Table 64 - Seat 7	31,000,000
Stanislav	Zegal	Table 58 - Seat 5	18,125,000
Jiachen	Gong	Table 62 - Seat 8	7,650,000
Matthew	Wilkins	Table 57 - Seat 7	13,670,000
Cheathta	Ros	Table 64 - Seat 3	8,200,000
Azim	Popatia	Table 59 - Seat 3	32,425,000
Martin Robert	Marthis	Table 62 - Seat 2	62,125,000
Stephane	Blouin-Verroeulst	Table 64 - Seat 4	9,975,000
Andrew Kinwai	Lam	Table 61 - Seat 7	41,325,000
Danny	Boyaci	Table 57 - Seat 2	37,175,000
Felix	Sides	Table 63 - Seat 7	15,250,000
Kelly	Minkin	Table 63 - Seat 5	54,150,000
Arnold	Yaxley	Table 62 - Seat 4	8,075,000
Scott	Ahonen	Table 63 - Seat 3	49,375,000
Shawn	Daigle	Table 60 - Seat 8	8,200,000
Michael	Taylor	Table 63 - Seat 6	18,675,000
Roger	Lamia	Table 63 - Seat 2	14,900,000
Tomas	Larivee Magni	Table 58 - Seat 3	7,000,000
Gregory	Baksic	Table 60 - Seat 7	13,450,000
Stephan	Intraligi	Table 57 - Seat 8	31,000,000
Danny	Kalpakis	Table 64 - Seat 2	51,400,000
Griffin	Ristevski	Table 58 - Seat 7	5,150,000
Shane	Rawlins	Table 61 - Seat 1	9,100,000
Vadim	Rozin	Table 57 - Seat 3	10,850,000
Jason	Mandanici-Turcot	Table 59 - Seat 6	36,000,000
Adil Atif	Morkos	Table 62 - Seat 6	5,400,000
Andres	Ojeda	Table 59 - Seat 1	9,175,000
Mohammed	Alamelhuda	Table 58 - Seat 8	34,600,000
Bernard	Harvey	Table 60 - Seat 6	8,550,000
Marc	Senechal	Table 61 - Seat 4	22,600,000
Christopher	Kwan	Table 61 - Seat 6	15,100,000

The next satellite to the Main Event is about to begin

May 21, 2019 | 10:22am | Playground

For anyone looking to qualify for the $10,000 + $300 MILLIONS North America Main Event at a steep discount, this morning’s $1,030 + $100 turbo re-entry satellite presents a great opportunity. The Main Event features a $5,000,000 guaranteed prize pool and your chances to qualify are running out.

With a guarantee of at least 10 seats to the Main Event, this turbo re-entry satellite offers tremendous value and should not be missed! Providing players with a starting stack of 100,000 (including the add-on) in chips to play through 15-minute levels, today’s satellite allows unlimited re-entries during the late registration period, which will run until the beginning of the ninth level of play.

The Main Event is almost upon us. Don’t miss your chance to qualify!

Closing the book on Day 2

May 21, 2019 | 1:44am | Playground

It’s been quite a roller coaster ride today in the Montreal Open Day 2. The day started with 473 players seated at tables across the entire tournament hall. The action was swift and unforgiving.

The top baggers from the previous Day 1 flights had imposing stacks of chips to play with. Starting today, David Bolduc Hamel was the overall Day 1 chip leader, with 13,865,000 chips. He was in good company with five additional players who had managed to bag more than ten million chips themselves. With 1.5 billion chips in play anything could happen.

The $1,494,555 prize pool was announced today as well. This event boasted a guaranteed prize pool of $1,000,000 but that was exceeded after the second flight of Day 1’s. On top of the prize money, the top 15 players will receive a MILLIONS Main Event seat, worth $10,300. The players needed no more incentive to dive in and take no prisoners today.

Adil Morkos took an early lead and kept it that way for half of the evening, and by level 23 he had more than four times the average. Then the winds changed and two new leaders emerged. Scott Ahonen and Danny Kalpakis took the lead and remained in good shape for the remainder of the evening. Kalpakis bagged a respectable 51,400,000 chips, and Ahonen dropped 49,375,000 in his bag.

All in all, 62 players received a bag to put their chips in for safe keeping until Day 3, which starts tomorrow at 12:00pm. Topping the chart with 72,075,000 chips is Tyler Smillie. Scott Montgomery is close behind with 67,650,000 chips. Montgomery is no stranger to big tournaments and got his biggest live cash payout in 2008 when he claimed 5th place in the WSOP main event in Las Vegas, for over $3,000,000. The only other player above the 60 million mark is Martin Robert Marthis, who bagged 62,125,000 chips.

The 62 players will be back at the felts tomorrow at noon when Day 3 kicks-off.

Andrew Pantling takes the trophy

May 20, 2019May 22, 2019 | 7:49pm | Playground

Event #3, the $25,000 + $300 Super High Roller, has just crowned a champion: Andrew Pantling, from Toronto, Ontario. There were eight entries in total, including two re-entries.

There were only a total of six entries on Day 1, including one re-entry (Andrew Pantling). The players were:

Niall Farrell
Marc Macdonnell
Philipp Gruissem
Manig Loeser
Andrew Pantling

After losing Marc Macdonnell early on in the evening, and then Niall Farrell later on, who was coolered twice through the night, all three remaining players bagged for Day 2. Andrew Pantling re-entered early in Day 1 and it proved to be a good investment, as he bagged the largest stack of the three players.

When Day 2 started, Rainer Kempe joined in on the action, but he unfortunately was out after just one level of play. Manig Loeser also had decided to re-enter today, but ultimately fell short and was sent to the rail.

Philipp Gruissem won some key hands after putting his chips in when he was behind, as he found the right magic to hit the board and cripple his opponents. Andrew Pantling, who had never played with Gruissem before, played an aggressive game and was the end of day chip leader on Day 1, and, once play went heads-up today, he started to gain a lot of ground on Gruissem.

On the last hand of play, with the blinds at 25,000/50,000, Gruissem raised from the button to 125,000, and was met by a 3-bet by Pantling to 300,000. Gruissem responded by shoving the rest of his stack (1,235,000 in total) and Pantling made the call.

Gruissem:
Pantling:

Board runout: , and Andrew Pantling was crowned the Event #3, $25,000 + $300 Super High Roller Champion.

Event #3 Champion, Andrew Pantling, $144,000

Second Place: Philipp Gruissem, $50,000

Last hand of play:

The next satellite to the Main Event starts soon!

May 20, 2019 | 6:44pm | Playground

Tonight at 7:00pm is another direct satellite to the MILLIONS North America $10,000 + $300 Main Event that guarantees 10 seats will be awarded. The Main Event features a $5,000,000 guaranteed prize pool and has only two starting flights so don’t pass up this chance to qualify!

A $1,030 + $100 ticket to tonight’s satellite gets players a starting stack of 100,000 (including the add-on) in chips to play through as many 20-minute levels as it takes to narrow the field down to the qualifiers. This is a re-entry event with unlimited re-entries permitted during the late registration period, which will run until the beginning of the ninth level of play at 9:55pm. Seats won from this satellite are non-transferable.

Don’t miss your chance to play your way in to one of the biggest events of the year!

We have a liftoff for Day 2

Level: 17
Small Blind: 40K
Big Blind: 80K
BB Ante: 40K
Chip Average: 3,25M
Remaining: 473
Entries: 1536

May 20, 2019May 20, 2019 | 3:45pm | Playground

Cards are in the air for the much awaited Day 2 of Event #2 $1,000 + $100 Montreal Open.

Here’s a recap of how things went down during the seven Day 1 flights for this event.

Flight \| Jour	Entries \| Entrées	Qualified \| Qualifiés
Day 1A	173	55
Day 1B	122	31
Day 1C	272	71
Day D	187	51
Day E	336	110
Day 1F	255	78
Day 1G	191	78

In total the Montreal Open attracted 1,536 entries and 473 players qualified for today’s Day 2.

Today the players start at level 17, with blinds set at 40K / 80K + 80K big blind ante. The average stack is at 3,247,357.

Click here to follow the action on our featured table.

Good luck to all and may the odds be ever in your favor!

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