LIVE EVENTS

Cliquez ici pour lire la version française de cet article. Event #18 of the 2020 World Cup of Cards was the $100 + $10 Playground 100, the most affordable multi-day tournament of the series. There were five starting flights over three days and in the end, it attracted a total of 743 entries, bringing the guaranteed $50,000 prize pool all the way up to $71,871, outstanding for a such an affordable buy-in! Play on the final table favoured the big stacks, as eliminations resulted nearly every time a tournament life was on the line. Day 2 chip leader Loai El Ayday lost a key hand when only three players remained when he put his money in good and lost on the river to Sebastien “Seabass” Drolet-Poitras. When heads-up play commenced between Drolet-Poitras and Hamzah Ozor, Drolet-Poitras had a marginal lead over Ozor, one that he …

After losing El Ayday in third place, the tournament is heads-up between Seabass Drolet-Poitras and Hamzah Ozor. The players have decided to play without antes during the heads-up battle. Seabass has the lead over Ozor, the stacks are as follows: Seabass: 8,825,000 chips (35 big blinds) Ozor: 6,035,000 (24 big blinds) They are playing for $13,451 in first place and $9,400 in second.

Loia El Ayday was the chip leader coming into Day 3. He played well and took a few players out on the final table but also lost a few hands along the way. After his stack took a hit, he put his money in good when he was called by Seabass (Drolet-Poitras). El Ayday: Drolet-Poitras: El Ayday had Drolet-Poitras clearly dominated and all was looking good for him on the flop and turn, but the river made a pair for Drolet-Poitras, sendinmg El Ayday to the tournament desk to collect his payout slip. Third Place: Loai El Ayday, $6,010

Blair Miller was in Montreal to play some poker and have some fun. He stayed away from getting in trouble on the final table today and watched others bust out while he kept moving up in the pay jumps. As his stack was blinding down, he pushed his chip[s forward when he picked up an ace, and was called by Loai El Ayday who also had an ace. Miller: El Ayday: Miller had no help on the board and exited in fourth place. Fourth Place: Blair Miller, $4,370

Jean-Pascal played a great game and had a solid Day 2, finishing the day second in chips. He was a serious contender for the champion trophy but ran into a few bad hands today on Day 3 that eroded his chip stack. After losing ground, he moved all in with the last of his chips and was looked up by Ozor who has been running strong on the final table. Gauthier: Ozor: Not only was Ozor way ahead of Gauthier, when the dealer fanned out the flop, Gauthier was now almost drawing dead. The turn and river were bricks and Gauthier’s day came to an end.   Fifth Place: Jean-Pascal Gauthier, $3,370

Event #21 of the World Cup of Cards, the $100 + $10 Crazy Pineapple 8-Max Re-entry, was an action-packed and fun-filled affair. Drawing a turnout that made a total of 90 entries, this single-day event easily surpassed the prize pool guarantee of $5,000 to award $8,730 in prizes to the top 12 players. The action got off to a fast start this afternoon and rarely showed signs of slowing down. The chips made their way around the felts quickly, especially in the early levels before the end of the late registration and re-entry period as many players took advantage of the structure to fire additional bullets. Mario Savard dominated the field through the first two breaks with a massive chip lead, but he ran out of steam and gave way to this event’s eventual champion, Sabin Levesque. Levesque maintained one of the largest stacks in …

Only four players remain at the final table. Although the first few orbits at the final table were uneventful, there was a flurry of action just prior to the break including eliminations on back to back hands. Christopher Lau finished in eighth, good for a $320 payout. Shortly after, Eric Leblond hit the rail in seventh after three-bet shoving and running into the initial raiser’s . The eight-high board missed both players, and ace-high was good at showdown. Leblond will collect $420 for his final table appearance. Real Cantin and Janendra Mahendra Rajah were then eliminated one after the other at the hands of the current chip leader Charli Azoulay. Azoulay came from behind in both situations. First, by rivering a full house to beat Cantin’s turned straight and then by rivering a flush with pocket eights against Mahendra Rajah’s pocket aces following a preflop …

It did not take very long to reduce the last dozen to the final table. After patiently waiting out the money bubble, several players jumped on the first opportunity that came their way once they secured a payout, which results in four rapid eliminations. Dave Jeanneau-Cyr, who racked up several great results during the World Cup of Cards, hit the rail in twelfth place and earned $170. Bonnie Reid and Lee Daud Sha finished in eleventh and tenth, respectively, to each collect $190. Gregory H’s elimination in ninth place got him a $250 payout for his deep run.

Following a dramatic build up, the money bubble has burst on the Crazy Pineapple 8-Max Re-entry. The tournament was played hand for hand for nearly the entirety of level 15. Several short stacks put their tournament lives on the line during that span and survived. The field was finally brought into the money thanks to Robert Gosselin, who took down a three-way pot against Real Cantin and Joey Bozcek. Bozcek had the shortest stack at his table and moved all in for 24K, which was called by Cantin and Gosselin, who checked down on the board. Gosselin’s was good at showdown, putting the twelve remaining players in the money.

Play has just resumed in level 15. The field is now only three eliminations away from the money, and there is a new chip leader, Sabin Levesque. Levesque has had one of the largest stacks in play throughout the afternoon, and he found ways to take his stack to new heights in the lead up to the last break, to put himself heads and shoulders above the rest of the field. Former chip leader Mario Savard ran cold after his hot start and hit the rail in level 13. The blinds have caught up to many in the field, as the chip average only provides 15 big blinds so hand selection will be critical for many in the field if they hope to make it past the money bubble. Here are the top stacks in level 15:

Event #22, the $100 + $20 + $100 8-Max 50/50 Bounty Re-entry, wrapped up the 2020 World Cup of Cards in exciting fashion. The prize pool guarantee of $20,000 was inflated to $25,762 by the massive turnout of 273 entries. The top 35 players would make it in the money with a grand prize of $5,632 for the winner. The evening was fast-moving and action-packed as players hunted for $100 bounty chips. The chips flew throughout the night, as the leaders shifted after every break. Once the field reached the final table, play slowed significantly as the stakes grew. Mykyta Kurilenko was the first to go after the final three reached an ICM deal. He finished third for $3,815. This left Philippe Belley and Guowei Hu to fight for the additional $607. The final hand saw Hu shove with Belley called with . The dealer flopped …

The final three players, Philippe Belley, Mykyta Kurilenko, and Guowei Hu, briefly paused level 26 to discuss an ICM deal. Originally the three decided against but play was paused after two more hands and they were able to reach an agreement. The deal awards Belley with $3,995, Kurilenko with $3,815, and Hu with $3,715. The winner will be awarded an additional $607. Shijaudin Daud Sha was eliminated in sixth place to receive $1,320, Stephen Kindraczuk went out in fifth for $1,700 and Yannick Labattaglia finished fourth for $2,140.

Play at the final table has undoubtedly slowed as players are thinking twice before making any big moves. John Helou was the first to be eliminated at the final table to finish 9th for $540. David Tazbaz went home next in 8th place for $740. Francois Semaan went heads up against Mykyta Kurilenko, shoving with queen-ten against Kurilenko’s pocket fives. The board read to give Kurilenko two pairs and send Semaan home in 7th for $1,010. Six players remain.

Chip leader at the third break, Natasha Tatta, was eliminated in 10th place ($400) to re-seat the remaining nine players at the final table. Competitors have just resumed play in pursuit of the $5,712 grand prize. Here’s a look at the final seating draw:

16 players have just completed a seating redraw to reconfigure into the final two tables. Remaining competitors are guaranteed to finish with at least $300 but everyone is trying to ladder up to the final table where the payout jumps to $530. Stephen Kindraczuk doubled his stack moments ago after eliminating Robert Dale in 17th place ($300). It seems the chips are quite evenly distributed at this point in the night, making it anyone’s game. Here’s a list of the most recent eliminations: 17th – Robert Dale, $300 18th – Gabriel Demers, $270 19th  – Tanvir Ahmed, $270 20th – Ian Armorer, $240 21st – Stephen Langlois, $240