A champion has finally been crowned in the $200 + $20 Playground 200. It was a spirited affair that saw 562 entries battle it out over the course of five Day 1s. A total of 117 players qualified for Day 2, and only 14 players advanced to Day 3.

Bill Kontaratos found himself in heads up play with Josef Ares after eliminating a slew of other players throughout the course of the day. After exchanging a few small pots at the beginning of heads-up play, the two were nearly even in chips, with Ares holding a razor-thin chip lead. But before long, they decided it was time to play for all the chips and were all in preflop after raising each other back and forth. Ares had the best of it with ace-high, but Kontaratos’ suited gapper, , improved to a straight by the river. This hand crippled Ares’ stack, and it was all over on the next hand, following another preflop all in. Kontaratos earned himself first place, $16,741 in cash and the illustrious honor of being crowned the Playground 200 Champion. Well done!

Playground 200 Champion: Bill Kontaratos, $16,741

Final hand of play:

Second place finisher: Josef Ares, $14,677

Josef Ares, our runner up, earned every cent of his payout, coming very close to taking it all down. His consistent, savvy play was evident throughout all three days of the event. However, no matter how well the play, there can only be one winner. Tonight it was Bill Kontaratos. Next time it could be you!

Congratulations to all of the players who took part. We’ll see you at the next Power Weekend!