Playground is always looking for ways to improve the gaming experience. Over the years, that has meant making changes for players as well as following suggestions by players. But sometimes efforts undertaken with good intentions miss the mark, which was the case when Playground Rewards was introduced to our poker community. Reflecting on the year that has been revealed some missteps on Playground’s path to elevating gaming. Our motto has always been “For Players, By Players”, and 6 months later, we realized we had made a mistake. So what do you do when you make a mistake? You fix it. So we are helping ourselves to some humble pie and announcing the return of free food! That’s right. As of today, a new menu will be introduced, and cash game players will no longer have to pay for food. No points needed, no cash required, absolutely free. Just remember to […]
Playground
Grand Prix Canada Champion: Alexandre Raymond
The $200 + $20 Grand Prix Canada was the marquee event of Playground’s 9-Year Anniversary Series, featuring an outstanding $500,000 guaranteed prize pool. There were numerous starting flights, both live and online on partypoker. When the Day 1s came to an end, there were a total of 2,696 runners who came from near and far, allowing the prize pool to swell above the guarantee. All players who qualified for Day 2 were in the money, and any player who bagged in multiple flights received a $400 min-cash for each forfeited bag. Play resumed with 366 players on Saturday December 15 to play Day 2. It was a long day of poker as some player’s stacks were being built up while others were being sent to the cashier to collect their payouts. The chip lead changed through the day as one by one, players fell until only 16 were left in […]
Our 50/50 Bounty Champion: Stephen Langlois
The $100 + $20 + $100 50/50 Bounty Re-entry started at 7:00pm and attracted a total of 221 bounty hunters battling it out for a piece of the $20,774 prize pool in addition to the $100 bounty for each player that was knocked out. As soon as play started, you could hear dealers announce “all in” at different tables as there was great incentive to knock out players to acquire their bounty chips. By the time the first break came around, the players at the top of the leader board had already accumulated between three to four times the average chip stack. Play slowed considerably once the money was reached but the final six players agreed to an ICM deal that sped things right back up. Patrick Slight was eliminated in third, walking away with $2550. The final two players, Stephen Langlois and Bart Sieminski played a few hands before […]
Raining BBJs
Late last night, quad over quad allowed a third Bad Beat Jackpot to hit since the beginning of the month. Table 7, located at the heart of our Original Room, delivered the BBJ to nine lucky $1/$2 players. Three of those nine players were sitting out, on break, leaving six players dealt in. The first two players to act limped in, but that was quickly raised to $10, a bet that was also short-lived. Gregory pushed $30 forward, a good chunky 3-bet. Much to the aggressors’ surprise, both blinds cold called, and were joined by the second limper – Georges – and the initial raiser, sending a group of five players to the flop! Flop: After four quick checks, Gregory continued with $45, and three players matched it, all interested to see the turn: . This street did not see any action, and the foursome got themselves a free river: […]
St-Louis takes down the $200 + $20 PL Omaha Re-entry tournament
Event #4 of the Playground 9-Year Anniversary Series was the $200 + $20 PL Omaha Re-entry tournament, always a favourite for those who love action. There was a $7,000 guaranteed prize pool and when the late registration period came to a close, there were 44 entries in total (including 11 re-entries) which allowed the prize pool to grow to $8,536. Action was the word of the evening as players were getting it in with draws, hoping to hit. The first elimination happened within the first five minutes of play, but with the re-entry format, the players were able to try their luck as often as they pleased. At the first break of the evening Maxime Flibotte-Blanchard took the lead and held on to it through the second break. David St-Louis was also on the first leaderboard and by the second break he was right behind Flibotte-Blanchard, in second place. As […]
Megastack Turbo Re-entry Champion: Silvio La Palerma
Event #3 of Playground’s 9-Year Anniversary Series, the $100 + $10 Megastack Turbo Re-entry, brought out a large field of players that contributed a total of 96 entries to this single-day event. The prize pool guarantee of $5,000 was easily surpassed, as over $9,000 in prizes was awarded to the top 12 players. Throughout the afternoon, many different players had turns as the chip leader, as nobody was able to hang on to that lead for very long. The turbo structure kept the chips moving around the tables at a brisk pace, putting most players on a white-knuckled ride just to keep pace with the blinds. So it was only fitting that the two players who managed to stay on the leaderboard for most of the afternoon, Mathieu Legault and Silvio La Palerma, would meet in a heads-up battle at the final table. Legault, who emerged victorious in Event #2 […]
6-Max Re-entry Champion: Mathieu Legault
Event #2 of the 9-Year Anniversary series, the $100 + $10 6-Max Re-entry was a great success. This one day tournament garnered a total of 79 entries and was full of action. The field was quickly reduced to the final table but once there the pace of play slowed dramatically as pay jumps got bigger and the players set their sights on the championship. After Yasser Zaatar was eliminated in fifth, the final four players asked the floor to pause the clock and they agreed to an ICM deal as followed: Michael Mickelson – $1,090 Silvio La Palerma – $1,190 Christian Rho – $1,420 Mathieu Legault – $1,380 This deal would award an additional $255 for the winner. Michael Mickelson and Silvio La Palerma busted out quickly after the fifth break, leaving Christian Rho and Mathieu Legault to battle it out for the top spot. Once heads-up, Rho and Legault […]
Super Sunday Takes a Break
In order to accommodate the increased needs in tournament tables during the 9-Year Anniversary and the World Cup of Cards, three editions of the Super Sunday will be cancelled: December 15 will make way for the 9-Year Anniversary, while January 26 and February 2 will allow the many WCC events on those dates to enjoy the space they require. The first cancellation is this weekend. The Grand Prix Canada, guaranteed at $500,000 and offering 19 Day 1s to choose from, is sure to qualify a vast number of players for next Sunday’s Day 2, and will without a doubt monopolize a great number of tables on that day. We can therefore guarantee that this Sunday will be more Super for a bunch of players, as Day 2 of the Grand Prix Canada will send the last 16 standing to the conclusion of the 9-Year Anniversary Main Event, on Monday, December […]
Ring In the New Year at Playground!
At Playground, there is nothing we want more than to celebrate the year 2020 with you! We spared no efforts to bring you the best buffets and the greatest entertainment you can hope for while we dance the decade away! New Year’s Eve On December 31, feast your eyes and stomach on our New Year’s Eve buffet while Joey Didodo amazes you with his Frank Sinatra tribute performance. Seating is between 8:00pm and 9:00pm, and the show starts at 9:00pm. From 8:00pm to 11:00pm, you can go back to The Rail’s Coal Fire Bistro’s delicious offerings as many times as you want! Tickets are $39. Space is limited. Make your reservations now, at the EGD or poker cashier! If you can’t make it this early, join us for the countdown… it’s free! The Hi-Fins and their Brit + 60s Experience will be with us from 11:30pm to say goodbye to […]
A Second BBJ in One Week!
Just three days after a quad-over-quad BBJ hit, another group of players got their own BBJ experience! This one arose after a heads-up pre-flop showdown, as both players involved – two long-time Playground regulars – were holding some serious hole cards. Just fifteen minutes after the table opened, the special hand started. Eric raised the pot to $10. The button made it $30 to go, and after Roland called from the small blind position, Eric shoved his whole stack. The player who placed the $30 3-bet reluctantly got out of the way, and Roland called for an effective $78. Eric: Roland: The flop was very promising, missing only one card to unlock the Bad Beat Jackpot. That card appeared right away, allowing celebrations before the board was completed. Full board: The amount of $25,394 was shared by the seven players present, awarding $12,697 to Eric and $6,349 to Roland. The […]
December Off To a Good Start!
On Sunday, the first day of December, the afternoon was coming to an end when a very special hand unfolded on one of our $1/$2 cash game tables. The game was full, but one player was on break, leaving eight players dealt in. After one call, Timothy raised the pot to $10, a very standard raise at these stakes. Two players cold called the bet, and the limper joined in. 4-way flop: The first 2 players to act passed the option to the raiser, who placed a smallish $20 continuation bet. Manpreet called, and was left alone with the aggressor, out of position. When the appeared on the turn, Manpreet politely passed the option over to Timothy, again. Another $20 were bet and called. The river: . If you’re holding quad 3s, this river is as beautiful as can be. You either win a big pot, or win the Bad […]
Bringing you 35 Days of Christmas!
With the holidays around the corner, Playground is excited to announce our biggest EGD promotion yet – the 35 Days of Christmas! This time of the year is a time of sharing and giving, and at Playground, there will be a whole lot of giving. From December 2 to January 5 – yes, that’s 35 days! – over 600 gifts will be given away to our EGD players. You read that right, 600 gifts of all kinds, totalling over $250,000 in cash and prizes! The first 34 Days of Christmas, from December 2 to January 4, EGD players will be randomly selected through Hot Seat draws while they play. Every day, every 30 minutes from 2:00pm to 10:00pm, one lucky EGD player will get to pick a present from under our tree. That’s 17 winners a day! And our tree is merry and bright, generous like nowhere else! Appliances like […]