Day 1K is off to a great start as play enters level 3 with 75 entries so far. There is still plenty of time to join as the late registration and re-entry period will be open until the beginning of level 11 at 11:20pm.
Here is a look at what’s happening.
Day 1I is now down to three tables, and there are three millionaires in the field.
Play has just resumed in level 17, with only 26 players remaining. The top 23 will advance to Day 2 and make the money so the tension will only mount from here.
| First Name | Last Name | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| Alexandre | Fournier | 1,465,000 |
| Michael | Pinoudis | 1,630,000 |
| Fouad | Akli | 1,080,000 |
Welcome to Day 1K of the $200 + $20 Grand Prix Canada. This is the one of the few remaining starting flights for this event which guarantees a prize pool of $500,000. Find the combined Day 1 results here to see who has already qualified for Day 2 on Sunday, December 15 at 1:00pm.
Today’s event is a turbo flight that will start competitors with 100,000 in chips. They will play 10-handed through 20-minute levels until the number of remaining players has been reduced to 1 in 7 entries, at which point the money will be reached.
This is a re-entry event with unlimited re-entries permitted until the end of the late registration period at the beginning of level 11. Re-
entry is permitted for anyone that loses their chips or chooses to forfeit their stack. Players who qualify for Day 2 more than once will resume play on Day 2 with their largest qualifying stack.
Good luck to all!
The action shows no signs of slowing down on Day 1I, despite the fact that the field is less than 10 eliminations away from reaching the money.
The last few levels have seen many big pots and multi-way all ins, showing that the players in this flight are looking to run up their stacks as high as possible instead of simply folding their way to Day 2. The chip leader at the last break, Alexandre Fournier, has lost a few chips but still has one of the larger stacks in play. But other players, such as Michael Pinoudis and Christopher Taylor, have gone on heaters recently to join the seven-figure club.
Here is a look at the action from level 14:
There are now 166 entries with still 135 players left in the running with another three full hours left to go in the late registration and re-entry period which comes to a close at 9:30pm.
The chip average is currently 122,900 (77 big blinds) and the leader of the pack is Jean-Francois Laramee, playing a stack of 383,200, good for 239 big blinds. Hot on his heels with just 4,900 less chips is Carl Des Granges.
Here is the first leaderboard of the day:
| First Name | Last Name | Stack | # of Big Blinds: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jean-Francois | Laramee | 383,200 | 239 |
| Carl | Des Granges | 378,300 | 236 |
| Brian | Massender | 345,200 | 216 |
| Cynthia | Paquette | 288,600 | 180 |
| Eric | Leblond | 243,400 | 152 |
| Robert | Gosselin | 243,700 | 152 |
| Alexandre | Couture | 241,100 | 151 |
Play has just resumed in level 12, as Day 1I enters the late stages of play.
The momentum has shifted significantly since the last break, as there has been a nearly complete turnover of the leaderboard. The current chip leader, Alexandre Fournier, is light years ahead of the field with the only seven-figure stack in play. Fournier controls a whopping 157 big blinds at this point.
| First Name | Last Name | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| Alexandre | Fournier | 1,260,000 |
| Guillaume | Lachaine | 720,000 |
| Giovanni | Petrella | 662,000 |
| Brandon | Davis | 570,000 |
| Joseph | Silver | 545,000 |
Two solid players were head-up on the turn. Nicola Basile, hailing from Toronto and who has a great resume including a WSOP-C ring was in a hand with Eric Leblond, another solid player who lives in New Brunswick and who is a regular at all of the Playground events were battling away.
With the blinds at 700/1,400, there was already just over 50,000 chips in the middle on a board of 
when Nicola Basile put in a bet of 21,000, only to be met by an all in re-raise for Basile’s tournament life from Leblond. There was both a flush draw and a straight draw showing and Basile was asking himself if he was good or not? He spent time tanking and in he end, he decided to let go of his hand and wait for the next one.
We will keep a close eye on this table for sure.
As the timer winds down on level 11, only 56 players remain on Day 1I.
The end of the flight is now in sight, as the top 23 players will make the money and advance their stacks to Day 2. The players are still enjoying deep play at this point, thanks to the big starting stacks and player-friendly structure. An average stack gets players nearly 48 big blinds.
Here is a look at the action from level 11:
With already more than 100 entries in level two and another four and half hours to go in the late registration period, there will certainly be a ton of chips in play in this flight. late registration remains open until 9:30pm tonight, and players always start with a full 100,000 starting stack.
Here are some of the players seated in level two:
Day 1I has just entered its eleventh level of play, meaning that the late registration and re-entry period has ended.
This flight was helped along by a significant number of re-entries, 44 in all, which helped inflate the number of chips in play and will allow 23 players to advance from this flight. But there is still lots of poker to be played before the chips go in the bag, as the remaining players have lots of chips at their disposal. An average stack is worth roughly 42 big blinds, leaving lots of room to maneuver through the upcoming levels.
Here is a look at the action from level 10:
Welcome to Day 1J of the $200 + $20 Grand Prix Canada, the marquee event of the Playground 9-Year Anniversary Series. This event offers incredible value with it’s $500,000 guaranteed prize pool. This is your chance to play a Day 1 with 30 minute blind levels.
Players start the Grand Prix Canada with 100,000 chips. The blind levels are 30 minutes long and the play is 10-handed on Day 1. Day 2 starts 9-handed and moves to 8-handed as soon as possible.
This is a re-entry event with unlimited re-entries permitted until the end of the late registration period on each Day 1, which is at the start of level 11 at 9:30pm. Re-entry is permitted for any player that loses all their chips or chooses to forfeit their stack (online flights do not offer the forfeit option). 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. This allows for a great opportunity to see if you can qualify with a larger Day 2 stack by firing more than one bullet.
The starting flights will play down to when one in seven players remain, at which point the players will be in the money and bag their chips for Day 2.
To see the combined Day 1 results, click here. (NB: today’s results will be added to the list late in the morning on Saturday).
Good luck to all competitors!
The action is back underway in level 9, and this flight has a new chip leader.
Former chip leader Donald Billow has fallen off the pace, as a flock of new players have flown to the top of the leaderboard. And those players are led by Nikolas Blanchette, who went on a great run prior to the most recent break to take a commanding chip lead. Blanchette’s stack gives him roughly 140 big blinds at this point, well more than double the current chip average.
| First Name | Last Name | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| Nikolas | Blanchette | 490,500 |
| Alain | Couture | 430,000 |
| Brian | Hodhod | 393,500 |
| Ron | Farber | 392,000 |
| Kathy | Sawers | 361,000 |
| Michael | Pinoudis | 353,000 |
| Denis | Quirion | 334,000 |
| Martine | Letarte | 326,000 |
| Guillaume | Lachaine | 310,000 |
