Day 1D of Event #1 had the largest field of all four starting flights, with a total of 386 entries (including 77 re-entries), putting a total of 9,650,000 chips in play. All those chips in play created the perfect conditions for a new overall chip leader to emerge. The average stack at the end of the night was 111,000, and the overall chip leader, Marc Bourgeois, managed to bag an impressive 366,000, but tonight’s chip leader bagged the largest stack so far. Shijaudin Daud Sha (aka “Afghan Bruce Lee”) managed to bag 460,000 in chips, making him the overall chip leader going into Day 2. That is far ahead of the second largest stack to advance from this flight, Christopher Pietrzak, with 261,500. In all, there were 87 players who advanced, and they will join the others from the previous flights to battle it out tomorrow night at 7:00pm on […]
Poker
12 more satellite winners to the Montreal Open
Tonight’s $150 + $15 satellite to Event #2, the Montreal Open, a $1000 + $100 NL event with an outstanding guaranteed prize pool of $1,154,500 has just concluded. There were 89 entries in tonight’s satellite that had a guaranteed 10 seats to be awarded; with the large field, the prize pool grew to 12 seats (+ $150 for the 13th place finisher). Here are the names of the 12 winners: Placide Junior Sanon Miguel Goncalo Adam Cader Breyer Calvert Raymond Macdonald John Kedziora Jean-Francois Stoycheff Jean-Francois Langevin Brandon Quick Peer Rower Lucas Braga Ben Menache There are still many other opportunities to play a satellite over the next few days: Thursday May 16, at 12:00PM – 5 Seats Guaranteed Thursday May 16, at 8:00PM – 15 Seats Guaranteed Friday May 17, at 8:00PM – 15 Seats Guaranteed Saturday May 18, at 8:00PM – 15 Seats Guaranteed Congratulations to tonight’s 12 […]
Event #1 Playground 200 Payouts
The totals are in, and after four Day 1 starting flights, the total entries far exceeded anyone’s greatest expectations! There were a total of 386 entries (including 77 re-entries) tonight in Day 1D, bringing the total entries from all four starting flights to 1,102, smashing the $100,000 guarantee and creating a net prize pool of $213,788. Day 1A – 275 entries Day 1B – 252 entries Day 1C – 189 entries Day 1D – 386 entries The top 138 places will be in the money, with first place paying out $36,128, and a min-cash in 136th-138th place paying $290.
MILLIONS produces its first Bad Beat Jackpot
Last night at 12:50AM, the Secondary Bad Beat Jackpot hit on a $2/$5 Hold’em table. This is the first poker Jackpot produced by MILLIONS North America frantic action. As we know, the increased traffic during a festival never misses to cause a good number of Jackpots to hit. Last year during MILLIONS, no less than SIX JACKPOTS were hit… in 6 days! Let’s hope we surpass that tally in 2019. Let’s take a look at the simple play-by-play that spread $25,000 on table 9: After one player limped, Frederick Seiffert raised to $20. George Finkelstein called the bet, and so did 2 more players, including the limper. Flop: Three checks took place before Vladimir Georgescu-Mangiurea placed a $75 bet. Frederick, the initial raiser, called, and George went all-in for $106. Both players involved in the action called. On the turn, Vladimir pushed $200 forward. Frederic shoved his own stack for […]
A Power Weekend in June
As the first week of MILLIONS North America fills Playground with relentless action, we look forward to the summer months and discern on the horizon the perfect summer mini-series: the June Power Weekend. Held from June 27 to July 1, it features 7 events totaling over $180,000 in guarantees and it is headlined by the Playground 200; a return to entertainment in simplicity. Our flagship event, the Playground 200, is sailing as we speak under the MILLIONS banner: it is the opening event of MILLIONS North America. Its great buy-in/guarantee ratio represents the spirit of Playground very well, and it will be back at the end of June with the same $100,000 guarantee. Added to four live Day 1s, an online Day 1 will be made available on June 23 at 16h00 for players who wish to qualify for Day 2 from the comfort of their homes. Six more events […]
MILLIONS makes its U.S. debut
The 2019 MILLIONS tour, which was initially comprised of 5 major events, was just added another stop. From June 28 to July 2, the famous ARIA in Las vegas will host MILLIONS Vegas ‘Special Edition,’ a $5,000,000 guaranteed poker tournament that will sit amidst ARIA’s comprehensive summer schedule. MILLIONS Vegas ‘Special Edition,’ located between MILLIONS North America and MILLIONS Europe, is the very next stop on the tour. It is a standalone $5M guaranteed special edition of the tour’s centrepiece Main Event, with a $10,300 buy-in. It features two Day 1s, with only one entry allowed per flight, following the tour’s Main Event format. However, at the request of partypoker LIVE partners, registration will remain open for the first 2 levels of Day 2. John Duthie, President of partypoker LIVE, said: “The partnership with ARIA in Vegas is a significant step marking the first time partypoker LIVE has hosted a […]
$20,000,000 Guaranteed
Last week, the online community rejoiced when a repeat of the $20,000,000 guarantee was announced for MILLIONS Online, which will conclude the 2019 MILLIONS tour as it did last year. This time, however, the massive tournament will double its buy-in to $10,300 and sit as the centrepiece of a full poker festival, with a proper set of side events! Last year’s MILLIONS Online blew all previous online prize pool records out of the water. Here is a list of previous records: $12,423,200 – $215 Sunday Million 10th Anniversary (2011) $12,215,000 – $5,200 WCOOP Main Event (2010) $11,825,600 – $215 Sunday Million 5th Anniversary (2011) $11,262,000 – $215 Sunday Million Anniversary Take 2 (2018) $11,167,000 – $215 Sunday Million 11th Anniversary (2012) As you can see, the amounts are rather close, allowing the assumption that the size of the online community dictated some kind of prize pool cap. partypoker, however, did […]
The Omaha Bad Beat Jackpot bursts at $55,559
Last night on table 15, an Omaha Bad Beat Jackpot was hit, leading the way to the natural phenomenon of Event BBJ Rush. As we know, the big action generated by poker festivals never fails to produce some Jackpots, and with MILLIONS North America starting today, this diamond-filled jamboree may very well be the first of a long line of Bad Beat Jackpots! Here’s how the action unfolded: Table 15 was a $2/$2 PLO game with all 8 seats occupied, and this hand started with all of them trying to get a cheap glimpse at the flop. Ryan Nelson, however, felt like infusing some juice into that pot, so he raised to a mere $10, and naturally, a string of calls ensued. Flop: Looking at an $80 pot, 6 players checked, then Meir Medalssy bet max from the cut-off. Nelson called in position, and so did Edet Umoh, from the […]
MILLIONS North America is here!
It was a long wait in North America. At Playground, the first STEP 1 satellite for the $10,300 Main Event of the MILLIONS festival was held on December 2. Today, more than 5 months later, we have 49 live qualifiers, 62 online qualifiers, and the Direct Satellites haven’t even started yet! On Monday, May 13, partypoker LIVE’s MILLIONS North America will be knocking on the city gates. So free your schedule, tell your relatives that you won’t be available for two weeks, and plan your events… it’s playtime! The series kicks off with a $150 + $15 Montreal Open Satellite Turbo Re-entry tournament. There are 9 such satellites on the MILLIONS schedule, guaranteeing a total of 85 seats to the target event. Guaranteed at $1,154,500, the Montreal Open is one of three MILLIONS events with a 7-figure guaranteed prize pool. The guarantee represents $1,000,000 in cash, and 15 seats to […]
Are you and your partner the Ultimate Poker Couple?
When we hear the expression ‘poker couple,’ Alex Foxen and Kristen Bicknell automatically come to mind. How could they not after winning GPI’s Player of the Year and Female Player of the Year in 2018. partypoker LIVE, however, wonders if there are any hidden talent out there that could rival with the current Players of the Year, and put out a fun and refreshing promotion for MILLIONS North America at Playground: beat them at the Main Event and you will win a $12K package to MILLIONS Europe at King’s Resort, Rozvadov, Czech Republic! How exactly do you need to beat them? Scoring will be done golf style, with finishing positions of each partner added up. The smallest total wins. You are part of a strong couple that can work together, show sportsmanship, and play good poker? Show it at MILLIONS North America! Kristen Bicknell said: “King’s Resort have even […]
Domenico Agatiello is the Event #10 Champion
Tonight’s Event #10: $100 + $20 + $100 6-Max 50/50 Bounty tournament was the last event of the Playground 2019 May Power Weekend event. And what an event it has been. Let’s take a look at all the champions: Event #1: $100 + $10 Mix Max Re-entry: Jonathan Jette-Prince Event #2: $150 + $25 Strangers in the night: Adam Cader Event #3: $150 + $20 + $50 PLO Bounty Re-entry: Goran Brestovac Event #4: $100 + $10 Deepstack Turbo: Jonathon Mclean Event #5: $100 + $10 Women’s event: Lori Sanderson Event #6: $150 + $15 Freezout: Philip Fleury-Maisonneuve Event #7: $200 + $20 Deepstack Re-entry: Yan Touchette Event #8: $100 + $20 + $100 50/50 Bounty: Pierre-Luc Bourgeois Event #9: $100 + $10 6-Max Re-entry: Benoît Desbiens Event #10: $100 + $20 + $100 50/50 6-Max Bounty: Domenico Agatiello No less than 170 players showed up and got in on […]
6-Max Re-entry champion: Benoit Desbiens
Event #9 was a $100+10 6-Max Re-entry tournament that started at 12 noon today. There was a $5,000 guaranteed prize pool, but with 71 players (including 14 re-entries), the prize pool grew to $6,887, with the top nine players getting paid. Players had fun, enjoying the 6-max format, which allows for more space at the table and more aggressive action. From the very start of the day, Benoit Desbiens kept eliminating many players and acquiring chips to keep increasing the size of his stack. He was on the leaderboard most of the afternoon and was the leader through the latter levels of the tournament. Once the final table was formed, it didn’t take long to get down to three handed play. Jonathan Poissant was right behind him in 2nd place, followed by Irene Tzanetopoulos, both of whom are very skilled players. Irene and Benoit got involved in a hand that […]