Were the supposed effects of Friday the 13th just delayed a couple of days? For one player on Table 12, it definitely seems to have been the case – but that turned out to be a good thing! The rest of the players on the table definitely seemed to agree. The table was a $2/$5 table. Preflop action was pretty standard, with a raise to $35 and two callers – three players went to the flop. The flop was dealt: The first two players to act checked, then the player in the cutoff bet $60. Both of the other players called and the dealer laid out the turn: . Action checked around. Next up came the river card: . With the last of the community cards out, the action went wild. First to act was Matthew Y in Seat 5, who led out with a bet of $155. The player […]

Today is Friday the 13th, the unluckiest day on the calendar! According to some, this superstition has its roots in the Christian religion. On a Friday, they say, 13 men shared a meal on crucifixion day – the Last Supper. In the Middle Ages, most European people avoided new beginnings on a Friday. No weddings, no travel. Today, when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday, many Americans still refuse to fly or to buy. In 2004, it was estimated that between $800M and $900M were lost on Friday the 13th because people would not do the business that they normally would. Today, this number is probably in the billions. Now that’s a bad session! That date, however, is definitely not agreed upon by the whole world. Greeks are most wary of Tuesday the 13th. Why? On Tuesday, April 13 of the year 1204, Constantinople fell to the […]

Almost 4 months ago, we launched a completely new playgroundpoker.ca website. The new site features easier navigation, simpler tools, and an overall better experience for our customers. Since it went live, our programming, design, and editorial teams have been working on the development of new features on the site to make it easier to use and more effective for players, including everyone from daily grinders, to weekend players, to event players who stay informed from afar. The latest addition is a new tournament countdown clock that appears on the main page of playgroundpoker.ca, allowing players to know exactly how much time they have before the start of the day’s events! And more – when a tournament begins, the clock turns red and counts down the amount of time left to late register! Players can now check their phone to know exactly how much time they have on the cash game […]

One of the great things about hosting so many major events at Playground Poker Club is the friends we make from around the poker world. With the biggest event of the year – the WSOP Main Event – now in the money and ready for Day 4, we thought we’d recognize some of the players we’ve come to know over the years as they try for a deep run. First among these by chip count is Ottawa-based player Alexander Wong, who will start Day 4 in 3rd place by chip count. Following Alexander is a long list of players including former Playground Event Champions, local Quebec and Montreal players, as well as some players from further afield in Canada and the US. Good luck to all! Alexander Wong (1,431,000) Louis Boutin (913,000) Chanracy Khun (629,000) Kristen Bicknell (565,000) Shawn Buchanan (532,000) Antonio Esfandiari (499,000) Dean Murphy (461,000) Eric Wasylenko (457,000) […]

It has been a while since the last jackpot was hit – but the next one is never very far away, as 8 lucky players – and 2 of those in particular – learned tonight on Table 21! The table featured a $1/$2 NL Hold’em game, and the hand was a classic poker showdown between pocket Aces and pocket Kings. When the fateful hand occurred, the button was on seat 9 and after the hole cards were dealt, the first three players to act all called $2, the next player folded, and then there was a raise to $14 from the cutoff. The button player folded, then the small blind and two other players called the $14 raise – there were 4 players ready to see the flop. The flop was dealt: The action checked to the raiser, who bet $25 and found a single call from the player in seat 1 (who […]

As you may know, partypoker has come up with a new currency that gives players more flexibility and buying power on their live events. You can satellite your way into PPL $$$ directly on partypoker, and use those $$$ for Playground Poker Power Weekends, the upcoming WSOP-C Playground or any other partypoker LIVE event, including online! Well, as good as this sounds, PPL $$$ just got A LOT better! You are now able to buy into ANY Playground tournament with your partypoker LIVE dollars! That’s every single tournament on our schedule! On partypoker, PPL $$$ satellites are running daily with over $500,000 in guaranteed prize pools every week. You will find: $200 PPL $$$ satellites with a $22 buy-in $1,000 PPL $$$ satellites with a $109 buy-in $5,000 PPL $$$ satellites with a $530 buy-in   $1M Leaderboard When you start playing these satellites, you automatically participate in a $1M […]

Playground Poker Club and the World Series of Poker are bringing a WSOP Circuit event to Kahnawake in 2018! Both Playground Poker and the WSOP are still working hard to finalize all of the event details. However the Main Event in the WSOP-C Playground is confirmed to be a $1,100 NL Hold’em Re-entry tournament with a $2,000,000 Prize Pool Guarantee. “Canada has produced the most entries to the World Series of Poker outside of the U.S., so we’re thrilled to be back in Canada for an event of this magnitude,” said WSOP Director Gregory Chochon. “Playground has a tremendous reputation among the poker community and we anticipate big things for our first ever WSOP Circuit there.” Phil Sabbah of Playground Poker Club echoed this sentiment: “Playground’s players – and poker players across Canada – have always expressed a great love for the WSOP, and bringing these two iconic brands together […]

Play in Event #1 is almost through to the first break and with that action underway, the Playground Power Weekend for May 2018 is now on the track! This month, the “Weekend” features 9 events spread from Thursday to Monday evening… well, that means Tuesday morning (early). In keeping with all of the Power Weekends we have thrown, the idea is to present a short series of different, sometimes offbeat tournaments with affordable buy-ins – but to mix that with at least one low-buy-in/high-guarantee event. This time, the “Main” is the 3rd edition of the Playground 200. With a $20 + $20 buy-in, it’s accessible to almost everyone, while the $100,000 guarantee makes it appealing to everyone – even the player used to playing larger stakes events! Today’s tournament is a NL Hold’em 3 Lives Turbo event, while tonight will see the first of three Live flights in the Playground […]

Kwane and Daniel paid us a visit this morning. Who are Kwane and Daniel? Just a couple of poker players who hit the biggest Bad Beat Jackpot in Playground history! Daniel got here first, then Kwane. Daniel, holding the oversize novelty check in his hands and still looking a little stunned by the experience, noticed him and his face lit up. It was as if Kwane was the familiar face he was looking for to make sense of all the commotion at the cashier. Bad Beat Kwane, who got the biggest amount, looked rather relaxed. He talked of how he was looking forward to bring the news in person to his mom, who lives in Toronto. Him and Daniel casually made plans to go see a Jays game together. Before or after Daniel and his better half visit Iceland, whatever works, right? See the Bad Beat hand here.

The 2018 MILLIONS North America has come to a close, and after 12 days of non-stop poker action, it is clear that we’re closing the page on the largest and most successful Poker Festival in Canadian history. The most obvious benchmark for how big was the MILLIONS is the total amount of the prize money that players took home. Once all 6 events were accounted for, an amazing $15,196,020 in prizes were awarded! The Champions     Here are a few other interesting facts related to the MILLIONS North America:   The Main Event added a million dollars (Canadian) or more to the lifetime earnings of 3 players: Taylor Black, Darryll Fish, and Anthony Ruberto With just 6 events on the schedule, 476 unique players cashed for at least a min-cash in an event Victor Ramdin, who has been visiting Playground on and off for years, was the consistency champ […]

The festival may be over, but that doesn’t mean that Jackpots are necessarily going to slow down! For the second time in 2 weeks, the Omaha BBJ has been won – and yet again there are some very happy players who will win a nice bonus from their cash game play! It all went down at about 12:45am on Table 15, which was a $2-$2 PLO table. The action was opened with a couple of limps in seats 2 and 3. Action folded around to the button, who raised to $10 – and both blinds and both limpers made the call. There were 5 players to the flop. Flop: An interesting start to the board… but action was checked all around. Turn: – action was checked around once more. River: – there would be no more checking! The player in Seat 7 was Azizul H, and he opened the action […]