LIVE EVENTS

No one was killed in this particular hand, but curiosity certainly cost one of these cats about 20,000 chips just now. As the blinds continue to rise, so does the pressure – along with the temptation to make calls when you’re really not sure you should. This was one of those cases.

When we arrived at the table, the flop had already been dealt and there were just over 10,000 chips in the pot. The table checked around to Shaw-Ying Chaw, who spilled in the rest of her chips, just about 16,000. Giuseppina Sferlazza, the only other player in the hand, was truly tempted to call, but she had to think about it.

There were plenty of hands she wouldn’t want to run into – pocket fours or nines, or, most likely, an ace with a better kicker. In the end she decided to go for it with her hand, an . The only problem? Shaw-Ying had an . The turn and river were no help, and Shaw-Ying doubled up.

Lucky for her, Giuseppina was able to absorb the loss without too much damage. But next time she’s really curious about what her opponent is holding, she might think twice!

Over the course of the first several levels tonight we have seen an uncharacteristically high level of hands where more than five players saw the flop. Indeed, we’ve seen more than a dozen where seven or more players saw the flop! Limpers abound, in other words.

That’s why our ears perked up when we saw some raises and re-raises over on table 37 just now. In this particular hand, Gina Landry (below, right) was the active better, raising more often than calling. With the blinds at 500/1,000, Gina pumped it to 3,000 and only found two other callers. One of them was Lucy Corbin.

When the flop came down Gina led out with a bet of 3,500, but found herself running straight into a 35,000 chip re-raise shove from Lucy. Gina didn’t have to think long, although she did take a minute to see how much of her stack the call would eat up. In the end she folded, and Lucy wasn’t interesting in showing what she raised with.

Play continues…

After six levels of play and a break, the $100 + $10 Women’s Event is back in full swing. Registration has now officially closed, and we are sitting pretty with 60 players still at their seats (from a grand total of 71 entries on the night, including 8 re-entries). Those 60 remaining players will now play down to a winner. The blinds are slowly climbing, so it’s time to start stacking chips!

Speaking of stacking chips, the player with the most chips at the first break is Pauline Paquet. Her and two others have managed to accumulate more than double the chip average, with no one else appearing to separate themselves from the pack just yet. But there is still plenty of poker left to play though!

Good luck to all moving forward.

The pace of play is nice and easy in the early levels, with only one player having been eliminated in the first hour. There’s a lot of bragging rights on the line, and so the caution we have seen so far may be related to that. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this group to see if we can identify the early breakout leaders as they emerge.

We’ve just wrapped up the second level of the night, and we’re almost at 60 entries so far in the Women’s Event. Here are some photos of our competitors in the early goings.

Today at 5:00pm marks the start of Event #4 in this September Power Weekend, the $100 + $10 Women’s Event. This is a battle that will crown Playground’s preeminent female champion, one with the skill, luck and patience to go the distance against her fellow female competitors.

Sure to be jam-packed with the best poker players this side of the Y-chromosome, players will begin the night with 30,000 chips and play 10-handed through 20 minute levels until a winner emerges. This is a re-entry event, with unlimited re-entries permitted until the beginning of level seven, which should occur right around 7:15pm.

The first hand is about to be dealt, so it’s time to find your seats and get started. Who’s going to win it all? Only time will tell! Good luck!

Event #4: $100 + $10 Women’s Event

$4,000 Guaranteed