Event #1

Andre Faucher leads 30 Day 1J qualifiers into Day 2

December 14, 2019December 14, 2019 | 2:26am | Playground

Today’s Day 1J attracted a total of 210 entries (including 40 re-entries) which sent 30 qualifiers with a bag to Day 2. The blinds were 30 minutes in length which gave the players ample time to properly pick their spots. By the time the players went into their last break of the night, three millionaires were in the room as well as many other top stacks just below the one million mark.

Where as usually play tightens up and slows down as the money bubble approaches, tonight there was a whirlwind of activity allowing some players to double-up immediately after the break while others were sent to the rail, having lost their stack. As a matter of fact, only the leader from the last break, Christian Berthelet-Amaral, was able to stay above 1 million in chips.

The chip leader for Day 1J was Andre Faucher, bagging 1,638,000.

The top five stacks in Day 1J are:

Andre Faucher, 1,638,000
Nikolas Psaarris, 1,383,000
Nick Soller, 1,200,000
Brian Massender, 1,181,000
Christian Berthelet-Amaral, 1,167,000

To see the list of all of the remaining Day 1 flights, see the tournament structure sheet by clicking here.

To see the combined Day 1 results, click here. (NB: tonight’s results will be added to the list late in the morning on Saturday).

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.

Day 2 plays out this coming Sunday, December 15 at 1:00pm.

Good luck to all of the competitors!

Berenbaum takes the top spot

Level: 16
Small Blind: 8K
Big Blind: 16K
BB Ante: 16K
Chip Average: 508.5K
Remaining: 34
Entries: 173

December 14, 2019 | 1:32am | Playground

The tension is certainly rising as only 34 players remain. Three players have joined the millionaires club since the last break as the bigger stacks have been succeeding in applying the pressure.

Richard Berenbaum moves to first with a stack of 75 big blinds. The other two millionaires are Ryan Garonce, who has maintained his spot in second, and Jacques Bigonesse.

First Name	Last Name	Stack
Richard	Berenbaum	1,200,000
Ryan	Garonce	1,043,000
Jacques	Bigonesse	1,035,000
Brigitte	Metivier	800,000
Dale	Guenette	750,000

Three millionaires at the final break of the day

Level: 17
Small Blind: 10K
Big Blind: 20K
BB Ante: 20K
Chip Average: 636K
Remaining: 33
Entries: 210

December 14, 2019December 14, 2019 | 1:08am | Playground

The tournament is down to the final 33 players and there are now three millionaires. Jean-Francois leads with 1,154,000 in chips.

The tournament will stop once three more eliminations take place at which point they will bag their chips for Day 2.

Here the top stacks in play from the break:

First Name	Last Name	Stack
Christian	Berthelet-Amaral	1,154,000
Nicolas	Miron	1,028,000
Eric	Leblond	1,015,000
Jean-Francois	Laramee	925,000
Brian	Massender	900,000
Evan	Economopoulos	985,000

50 players remain

Level: 14
Small Blind: 5K
Big Blind: 10K
BB Ante: 10K
Chip Average: 353K
Remaining: 50
Entries: 173

December 14, 2019 | 12:39am | Playground

As the clock ticks down on level 14, 50 players remain in contention. Half of the field will be eliminated before the final 25 will be in the money. At this point the smaller stacks are becoming concerned about blinding down, resulting in a lot of all ins across the room.

Here’s a look at some recent action.

Fontaine-Raposa makes the call with AK

Level: 15
Small Blind: 6K
Big Blind: 12K
BB Ante: 12K
Chip Average: 500K
Remaining: 42
Entries: 210

December 14, 2019December 14, 2019 | 12:11am | Playground

There now only 42 players still fighting it out looking to be part of the 30 Day 1 qualifiers who will bag their stacks to move on to Day 2.

Over on table 53, with the blinds at 6,000/12,000, action was opened under the gun when Martin Parent raised it up to 31,000. It folded around to Mathieu Fontaine-Raposa seated on the button who tanked for 30 seconds before making the call. The small blind moved out of the way and Kevin Dawe, seated in the big blind, moved all in for 280,000 chips. Martin Parent had a big decision to make as he only had about 400,000 chips in total. He knew if he won the hand he would be in much better shape, but if he lost, he would be close to being out of the tournament. After almost two minutes of tanking he decided to fold his hand. Fontaine-Raposa snap called the all in bet and both hands were tabled:

Fontaine-Raposa:
Dawe:

Fontaine-Raposa had a monster and Dawe was now fighting for survival. The board ran out and Fontaine-Raposa pulled in the chips while Dawe was sent to the rail, ending his tournament day.

Parent mentioned that he folded pocket jacks.

Top 25 will qualify, Tan moves ahead

Level: 11
Small Blind: 2K
Big Blind: 5K
BB Ante: 5K
Chip Average: 233.5K
Remaining: 74
Entries: 173

December 13, 2019 | 11:40pm | Playground

Late registration has now closed and level 11 has commenced. It has been determined that from the 173 entries (including 51 re-entries), the top 25 players will be in the money and qualify for Day 2.

Evan Tan has taken a large lead over his competitors with a staggering 665,000 in chips. Ryan Garonce sits comfortably in second with a stack of 105 big blinds.

First Name	Last Name	Stack
Evan	Tan	665,000
Ryan	Garonce	525,000
Brigitte	Metivier	520,000
Sergei	Gurin	471,000

Berthelet-Amaral takes the lead at third break

Level: 13
Small Blind: 4K
Big Blind: 8K
BB Ante: 8K
Chip Average: 350K
Remaining: 60
Entries: 210

December 13, 2019December 13, 2019 | 10:54pm | Playground

There are still 60 players in contention and with an average stack now at 350,000 (44 big blinds), Christian Berthelet-Amaral has taken over the lead with 946,000 chips (119 big blinds). The leader from the previous break, Victor Goncalves-Morgado, had a bad few levels and unfortunately has now busted out.

Here are the players with the top stacks in play:

First Name	Last Name	Stack	# of Big Blinds:
Christian	Berthelet-Amaral	946,000	119
Matthew	Soleyn	755,000	94
Jean-Francois	Laramee	717,000	90
Vaughn	Reynders	716,000	90
Ryan	Kay	601,000	75
Pierre	Lussier-Hall	555,000	69
Nick	Soller	550,000	69

30 minutes left to register

Level: 9
Small Blind: 1.5K
Big Blind: 3.5K
BB Ante: 3.5K
Chip Average: 195K
Remaining: 80
Entries: 156

December 13, 2019December 13, 2019 | 10:44pm | Playground

New players and re-entries have been trickling in all night with hopes of building their stacks to qualify for Day 2. There are still 30 minutes left before the late registration period will close at 11:20pm.

Here’s a look at who’s still in contention.

Late registration and re-entry are now closed in Day 1J

Level: 11
Small Blind: 2K
Big Blind: 5K
BB Ante: 5K
Chip Average: 259.2K
Remaining: 81
Entries: 210

December 13, 2019 | 9:53pm | Playground

The late registration and re-entry period has now come to a close and there are 210 total entries for Day 1J (including 40 re-entries). With one in seven players making it to Day 2, it means that the tournament will play down to the top 30 spots at which point all remaining players will be in the money and will be returning on Sunday December 15 at 1:00pm to play Day 2.

Birecki leads after the first break

Level: 6
Small Blind: 1K
Big Blind: 2K
BB Ante: 2K
Chip Average: 137.5K
Remaining: 95
Entries: 131

December 13, 2019 | 9:45pm | Playground

Play has resumed after the break into level 6 with a total of 131 entries, including 21 re-entries. Krzysztof Birecki has taken a commanding lead with a stack of over 187 big blinds. Jacques Bigonesse follows in second with an impressive chip count of 320,000.

First Name	Last Name	Stack
Krzysztof	Birecki	375,000
Jacques	Bigonesse	320,000
Ian	Monahoyios	276,500
Marc	Senechal	238,500

Goncalves-Morgado has a massive lead at the second break

Level: 9
Small Blind: 1.5K
Big Blind: 3.5K
BB Ante: 3.5K
Chip Average: 211K
Remaining: 107
Entries: 206

December 13, 2019December 13, 2019 | 9:06pm | Playground

The players have just returned from another break and with 20,800,000 chips in play and 96 players still in contention, the average chip stack is sitting at 192,500 (55 big blinds). One player has managed to pull way ahead of the others; Victor Goncalves-Morgado is playing a stack of 820,000 chips, effectively 234 big blinds. The second place runner, Matthew Olma, currently has 531,500 chips.

Here is the leaderboard from the break:

First Name	Last Name	Stack	# of Big Blinds:
Victor	Goncalves-Morgado	820,000	234
Matthew	Olma	531,500	152
Driss	Aber	421,500	120
Carl	Des Granges	419,500	119
Vladimir	Georgescu-Mangiurea	417,500	118
Pierre	Lussier-Hall	415,000	118
Vaughn	Reynders	365,500	104

Fournier leads 23 Day 2 qualifiers from Day 1I

December 13, 2019 | 8:55pm | Playground

After 18 exciting levels of play, the chips are in the bag on Day 1I.

This afternoon’s flight brought out a large, boisterous crowd that contributed a total of 161 entries to the Grand Prix Canada. Those in attendance pulled out all the stops in their attempts to run up big stacks for Day 2, as big, multi-way pots became the early norm. The action settled to a more familiar tournament grind in the late stages, but the players were not shy about standing their ground and putting chips in the middle when the situation called for it.

This flight’s chip leader, Alexandre Fournier, rose to the top of the leaderboard after 11 levels of play, as the first millionaire in the field. Although Fournier was not the outright chip leader for the rest of this flight, he emerged with the largest stack when the chips went in the bag, securing 2,334,000 in chips for Day 2.

There are three more starting flights for the Grand Prix Canada, all of which will be held tomorrow. Day 1L starts at 11:00am, Day 1M runs at 4:00pm, and Day 1N Turbo goes at 7:30pm. Don’t miss out on these chances to get in on the Grand Prix Canada!

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