Event #3

Playground 100 Day 1F: This is your last chance to enter!

Level: 1
Small Blind: 50
Big Blind: 100
BB Ante: 0
Chip Average: 20K
Remaining: 70
Entries: 70

November 23, 2019November 23, 2019 | 8:13pm | Playground

This is your last opportunity to try your poker skills playing the most affordable multi-day tournament of the November Power Weekend. The $100 + $10 Playground 100 offers players a massive $50,000 guaranteed prize pool that with the one online flight last Sunday on partypoker plus the five live starting flights here at Playground over the last two days, the guarantee has already been smashed! It’s definitely a great opportunity to play for a big payday at a modest buy in cost to you.

Players start with 20,000 chips and play starts off ten-handed with 20 minute blind levels, and will move to nine-handed play once the field thins out just a little bit. This is a re-entry event with unlimited re-entries permitted until the end of the late registration period on each Day 1 starting flight. Re-entry is permitted for any player that loses all their chips or chooses to forfeit their stack. A player may play additional Day 1s even if they have survived a previous Day 1 with chips. Players who qualify for Day 2 more than once will resume play on Day 2 with their largest qualifying stack; all other qualifying stacks will be forfeited. Players would, however, retain the associated cash prize for every forfeited stack. Players may enter (or re-enter) the tournament until the beginning of Level 7 on each Day 1, which will be at 10:15pm.

Play continues on Day 1 starting flights until only 10% of the field remains, at which point all players will be in the money as they bag their chips for day 2.

The combined Day results for the Playground 100 can be found here. (NB: today’s results will only be added tomorrow)

Day 2 will be held on Sunday, November 24 at 3:00pm and play until there is a winner.

With already 73 players seated in the room, this is looking like it will be a really big success.

Good luck to all of the players!

Lamoureux leads after the second break

Level: 15
Small Blind: 1.5K
Big Blind: 3K
BB Ante: 3K
Chip Average: 74,000
Remaining: 36
Entries: 133

November 23, 2019 | 8:03pm | Playground

The field is getting smaller and the stakes are getting higher after the second break of the day. After 133 entries, only 36 players remain in hopes of gaining a spot in the top 14 to advance to tomorrow’s final.

Jean Lamoureux has taken over the top spot with a staggering amount in chips. He has a stack of over three times the chip average and holds a considerable lead over his next closest opponent.

First Name	Last Name	Stack
Jean	Lamoureux	279,000
Jean-Francois	Belanger	197,000
Dawn	Cook	172,000

That’s a wrap on Day 1D!

November 23, 2019 | 7:00pm | Playground

Literally moments after posting our last post – the one referencing the fact that there were only three eliminations to go – three players were eliminated in rapid succession, ending today’s Day 1D flight. Congratulations to those that outlasted their peers! Well done.

More good news: The $100 + $10 Playground 100 has officially surpassed the guaranteed minimum prize pool of $50,000. While the final number will not be available until tomorrow, with another two flights taking place tonight a fair guess would place the prize pool up above $70,000. Who knows, it might go as high as $90,000 or $100,000! Stay tuned to find out.

The player to collect the most chips in today’s action was James Belanger, who managed to amass a whopping 435,000 chips. That will place him in 2nd on the overall Playground 100 leaderboard. Along with Ali Awada (268,000), Jay Srinivasan (248,000) and Richard Drolet (244,000), James will be very well-positioned for Day 2, which will begin tomorrow, Sunday, November 24th at 3:00PM.

Good luck to everyone on Day 2 tomorrow!

9 levels played, 71 remain

Level: 10
Small Blind: 500
Big Blind: 1000
BB Ante: 1000
Chip Average: 37.5K
Remaining: 71
Entries: 133

November 23, 2019 | 6:34pm | Playground

Now that nine levels are complete, only 71 players remain. The day is proving to be action-packed as the field is shrinking quickly. Only 14 will advance to the finals tomorrow where players will compete for a guaranteed prize pot of $50,000.

As numerous starting flights have been completed, 47 players have already advanced to Day 2. Check out the combined Day 1 results here.

Only three eliminations to go

Level: 19
Small Blind: 5K
Big Blind: 10K
BB Ante: 10K
Chip Average: 190K
Remaining: 20
Entries: 161

November 23, 2019 | 6:29pm | Playground

We’re about ready to reach the sweet seventeen, the last remaining ten percent of the PG 100’s Day 1D field. However, the crowd has remained locked at 20 players for some time now. Here are some photos of our chip leaders as the group makes the final push. It appears, for the moment at least, that Ali Awada (wearing the Canadiens tuque) leads the field.

Mohorea cripples Sevahirciyan

Level: 19
Small Blind: 4K
Big Blind: 8K
BB Ante: 8K
Chip Average: 140K
Remaining: 23
Entries: 161

November 23, 2019 | 5:54pm | Playground

On table 45 just now we witnessed a classic showdown, as Aris-Sero Sevahirciyan faced off against Paul Mohorea (pictured below) with only a dozen or so eliminations to go before the bubble. In the end, Paul ended up taking down the hand, and he took virtually all of Aris’s chips in the process, fatally crippling him.

The hand began with a raise to 12,000 from Paul under the gun. It was called by Jay Srinivasan at the cut-off as well as by Caley Michaud on the button. But Aris, sitting in the small blind, shoved for his tournament life with, as we found out later, a pocket pair of jacks. Paul insta-shoved right after (holding aces), and Jay and Caley wisely got out of the way. It was classic versus showdown, and the result was predictable.

The board came down and Paul doubled up. His stack was just a little bit smaller than Aris’s, so there was no elimination during this play, but he was ultimately eliminated a few hands later. Sometimes jacks can pull it off, but not this time.

Anzini takes a huge lead after the first break

Level: 7
Small Blind: 250
Big Blind: 500
BB Ante: 500
Chip Average: 28K
Remaining: 95
Entries: 133

November 23, 2019November 23, 2019 | 5:53pm | Playground

Play has resumed after the first break and Level 7 is now underway. There were a total of 133 entries, a figured helped along by 26 re-entries, before the end of the late registration period.

Roberto Anzini has taken a huge lead over his competitors with a stack of 246 big blinds which is over four times the average stack.

First Name	Last Name	Stack
Roberto	Anzini	123,000
Jean	Lamoureux	94,000
Michel	Bergeron	75,500
Rosario	Scalia	55,500

James Belanger up top as we enter the final phase

Level: 17
Small Blind: 2.5K
Big Blind: 5K
BB Ante: 5K
Chip Average: 100K
Remaining: 32
Entries: 161

November 23, 2019 | 5:15pm | Playground

With just 32 players remaining, this tournament is moving towards its conclusion at lightning speed. And for the first time today, we actually have more than one player with a chip stack equal to more than double the chip average at the break!

At the moment, the player with the most chips is James Belanger, holding steady with a quarter million chips. If he were to finish the day with that amount, he would find himself in 15th place out of the 47 players that have qualified for Day 2 so far – not bad! Hopefully he’ll be able to run up his tally a little higher in the remaining time, putting himself into an even better position. We’ll see!

First Name \| Prénom	Last Name \| Nom	Stack \| Tapis
James	Belanger	250,000
Jonathan	Blaha	200,000
Ali	Awada	194,000
Daniel	Lafreniere	168,000

30 minutes left to register

Level: 5
Small Blind: 150
Big Blind: 300
BB Ante: 300
Chip Average: 22K
Remaining: 96
Entries: 105

November 23, 2019 | 5:02pm | Playground

Day 1E is off to a flying start! The players know that this turbo flight means pedal to the metal. There is still 30 minutes left to enter before the late registration period ends at 5:30pm, don’t miss your chance to get in on this exciting flight!

Here is a look at some early action:

Three-way all in leads to former chip leader’s ouster

Level: 16
Small Blind: 2K
Big Blind: 4K
BB Ante: 4K
Chip Average: 85K
Remaining: 38
Entries: 161

November 23, 2019 | 4:54pm | Playground

We recently noticed a multiple all-in situation at table 41 and decided to take a closer look.

Locked into a life-or-death battle were former chip leader Simon Belair-Grondin, Murielle Viau and Christian Brousseau. The hand had started with a mid-position raise to 2,400 that was called by Christian from the cut-off. Simon shoved from the small blind with a small stack, and Murielle shoved overtop to try to force the other two players out. The original raiser folded, but Christian decided to stay, and so it was a battle of three. The players flipped over their cards to await the flop.

Simon:

Murielle:

Christian:

A quick look at the table suggested Murielle’s sailboats would allow her float her way to victory, but a flop gave Christian an open-ended straight. Things did not look so great for Simon however, as only one of two remaining nines in the deck would save him. The turn and river were dealt , and Murielle took down the pot.

Simon, the chip leader from the first break, said goodbye, and he won’t be the last to bow out from the tournament. Indeed, it’s that time of the night. The blinds are creeping steadily upwards and the short-stacks are feeling the heat. Case in point, as we left the table to write up the hand, we heard the dealer utter those fateful words once again: “Player is all-in!”

Play continues…

Day 1E Turbo has begun!

Level: 1
Small Blind: 50
Big Blind: 100
BB Ante: 100
Chip Average: 20
Remaining: 72
Entries: 72

November 23, 2019November 23, 2019 | 4:14pm | Playground

Day 1E has kicked off! This flight is sure to generate lots of excitement as the Turbo structure changes slightly by introducing 15-minute levels instead of the usual 20 minutes. Players start with 20,000 in chips and play down to 10% of the field to compete for a guaranteed prize pool of $50,000. Qualifying players will advance to Day 2, which will be held tomorrow at 3:00pm and play until there is winner.

This is a re-entry event with unlimited re-entries permitted until the end of late registration at 5:30pm. Re-entry is permitted for any player that loses all their chips or chooses to forfeit their stack. Day 1E will play 10-handed and move to 9-handed as soon as possible.

There are currently 72 entries and counting as the number is expected to grow before re-entry and late registration period closes at 5:30pm. Don’t miss out on this action-packed flight!

Runner-runner straight!

Level: 13
Small Blind: 1K
Big Blind: 2K
BB Ante: 2K
Chip Average: 56K
Remaining: 57
Entries: 161

November 23, 2019 | 3:47pm | Playground

Just before the break, Patrick M. found himself with only 6,375 chips left in his stack. He decided to shove from under the gun. Although they weren’t exactly blockbuster stakes, the table folded around to Michael Talbot in the big blind. He decided to call, and holding a pair of threes and a larger stack, it was theoretically the correct play.

When Patrick flipped over his cards, it still looked good for Michael. His pair of threes was likely to take down Patrick’s two over-cards, especially with the flop showing an . Patrick would have to pair his nine or his ten, or he would need to get a runner-runner combination of cards to complete a straight. And wouldn’t you know it, that’s exactly what happened, as a came down and helped him scoop the pot!

Patrick was happy to double up, but in the time between this hand and our posting, not only has Patrick been eliminated, but so has Michael! That’s poker!