LIVE EVENTS

After eight levels and six hours of play, Day 1 of the $5,000 + $300 Super High Roller event has come to a close.

The size of the buy-in was inversely proportional to the number of entrants, with the event only garnering 52 total entries (including six re-entries). Still, that relatively small number of players was able to create an impressive prize of pool of $252,000 – not too shabby!

And the prize pool may climb higher still, as this event has a unique format that allows for players to continue to enter well into Day 2, up to the beginning of level 13. Play will resume tomorrow at 1:00pm at level nine, where the blinds will be 2,500/5,000.

The player who collected the most chips over the course of the night was Danny Freitas, a former WSOP-C Playground Main Event champion. Danny put himself in a good position to begin the last leg of the journey tomorrow by stacking 1,075,000 chips. However, a larger-than-average chip stack won’t be enough to make the final table – many of the players in today’s are very accomplished poker players in their own right. Competitors will need to bring all their skill and experience to the table to take down this event.

Below are some photos of other players with large chip stacks. We look forward to seeing the action at the tables tomorrow on Day 2 as we play down to a winner. See you at 1:00pm!

The WSOP-C Playground Super High Roller event has a new leader, Jack Shea. With 842,500 chips in front of him, he’s nearing triple the chip average. Puddin would be proud.

Note: Puddin is Jack’s special lady.

The 2019 Super High Roller event is well underway here at the WSOP-C Playground, and although the talent runs deep, it runs just a little deeper over on table 28. Both Jean-Serge Baril (pictured below) and Mike Leah final-tabled last year’s Super High Roller event, taking fourth and eighth place, respectively. It is unclear whether the other players at the table know just who their tablemates are.

Then again, the others at the table are not to be trifled with either. For example, also seated at table 28 is Louis Boutin, who has live-cashed for over $250,000 this year alone, finishing in fifth here at Playground in the 2019 MILLIONS North America High Roller event this May. Jamie Sequeira is also at the table, no slouch himself, and a frequent visitor (and winner) here at Playground. The same goes for Chen Turjeman, a great player in his own right, as well as Jonathan B., who came in second place in the 2017 MILLIONS North America Main Event.

Good luck goes out to all of them. Considering the talent at the table, they’re all going to need it!

After three 45-minute levels, players have now gone on break. Below are some additional photos of our Super High Rollers.

It is not uncommon to see players use every trick in the book to gain an advantage during a poker tournament. Often times the deeper you go, the more likely it is to see some kind of psychological pressure being brought to bear. We can’t be entirely certain, but on table 20 just now we might have witnessed just that, in the form of uncommonly long periods of reflection.

What made this noteworthy was that the tournament was barely two hours old, most players had something on the order of 120 big blinds, and the stakes of this hand are relatively low, considering the starting stack. The delays were so out of place they seemed like an intentional tactic.

The hand began with three players entering the hand preflop for 7,000. The flop came down , and the first player to act took two full minutes in the tank, only to bet 8,000. Both other players immediately called and the dealer slapped down fourth street with record speed. Fourth street was a , and it took another two full minutes for the same player to open with a bet of 24,000.

Only one player stuck around to see the river, a . Again, it took another two minutes for the player to bet, this time 66,000 chips. The other player called and was forced to muck his cards when he saw his opponent flip over a , two pair.

In the end, we suppose it doesn’t matter how you get there – winning’s winning!

The Super High Roller event is now in level 2. Below are some photos of the competitors in the early stages.

The action at the WSOP-C Playground continues this week with Event #4, the $5,000 + $300 Super High Roller. With such a substantial buy-in, this event is not for the faint of heart. The caliber of play is also likely to be quite high. That said, with a guaranteed $250,000 prize pool and a relatively small group of participants, this could be your opportunity to put your name on the poker map and bag a nice prize in the process.

Today’s Super High Roller event will start players off with 250,000 chips and the blinds will begin at 500/1,000. This is an 8-handed tournament, and players will make their way through eight 45-minute levels before bagging their chips until tomorrow, Day 2. There, play will resume at 1:00pm and continue until there is a winner.

This is also an extended unlimited re-entry event, one that expands into Day 2. This means that players will be able to enter (or re-enter) until the beginning of level 13 on Day 2, which should occur at 4:30pm.

Players have already taken their seats and begun play. Good luck to all the participants!