Event 3 was a $100 + $10 8-Max Re-entry tournament and attracted 88 entries, crushing the $5K guarantee. The 8-Max format is very popular among our players as it suggest slightly more aggressive play, as well as roomier tables. The final table welcomed a few very capable players, including Mitcheal Ferguson who final tabled both finished events in the July Power Weekend. Stuart Taylor is also accustomed to deep runs, while Mathieu Hébert, despite having been away from the tables for a while is known at Playground Poker Club as a sound tournament player. However, when the ICM chop was concluded, Stuart and Mathieu were out, while Mitcheal was crippled. Bruce Allali feasted on the final table until 4 players were left. Sébastien Éthier-Roy then ran up a good stack, but both of them got passed by Andrei Cernopolc, who led the event with 12 players left and ended up taking […]

Event #1 of the July Power Weekend, the $80 + $10 Mix Max Re-entry, brought out a field of 75 runners. The strong turnout built a prize pool that far exceeded today’s $4,000 guarantee. Today’s event put the players through their paces as they transitioned through several different formats, from 10-handed play at the start of the day through 8-, 6- and finally 4-handed play. Francois Meloche jumped out of the gate to start the day, building a huge chip lead before the first break. Meloche maintained his momentum after the late registration period ended and the tables began transitioning through the various formats. Benoit Larochelle Legrand shot up the leaderboard shortly before the second break of the day and managed to build a stack to rival Meloche’s not long after the players returned. After building up his stack, Larochelle kept his composure all the way to the final table. […]

Event #10 of the June Power Weekend, the $100 + $20 + $100 NL Hold’em 6-Max 50/50 Bounty, brought out a field of 163 players. All the events throughout the Power Weekend were popular, and this closing event was no exception. We have come to expect fast, loose and aggressive action in bounty tournaments, especially during the early levels when bounty hunting is often the name of the game, but tonight’s tournament started out with a lot more caution and pot control than we have come to expect. The first four levels only saw a few bounty chips change hands, but that all changed after the first break. The action picked up pace from there and did not slow down until the very late stages. There was a brief period when the play tightened up as the money bubble approached, but following Muset’s huge pot against Philippe Drouin where Muset cracked […]

The final table of Event #9 – a $100 + $10 Deepstack Turbo event in the June Power Weekend – was an extremely fast affair. During the time it took to prepare the final table post, the first 5 players were already eliminated, as mentioned earlier tonight. When we did return to the table, the 5 players had decided on an ICM chop. Specifically, they chose to reserve $250 for the eventual winner while dividing the rest of the prize pool according to ICM values. Once the deal was done, things moved along even more quickly. In less than 2 orbits, 2 of the remaining players were eliminated and just David Bonneau and Michael Chouinard remained – and David had about a 2:1 advantage in chips. It only took two preflop raise-and-take-it hands before the chips got in the middle, and Michael got it in good: against David’s call holding […]

Event #8 of the June Power Weekend brought out an impressive field of 222 entries, enough to greatly surpass the guarantee on the prize pool and fill the tournament hall with bounty hunters. The action was predictably wild during the early levels. There was no shortage of multi-way all-ins, bloated pots and loose calls. In many bounty tournaments, this kind of dynamic gives way to much tighter play once the prize money is in sight, but that was not the case tonight. The money bubble held up play only briefly, and the 28 players who cashed this event were reduced to the final table before anyone expected. The play at the final table was far more conservative than everything we had seen throughout the night, as the huge swing between tenth and first-place money clearly weighed on the players. There was an attempt at negotiating a deal at the final table […]

Event #7 of the June Power Weekend, the $300 + $30 NL Hold’em Tag Team, brought out an impressive field of 152 2-player teams. This hugely popular event generated a prize pool that went far beyond today’s $30,000 guarantee, with over $44,000 distributed between the top 21 teams. The players agreed to an ICM chop of the prize pool when four teams remained, leaving $900 extra for the winners. To say that the deal loosened up the play would be a huge understatement; it was all over in only a few hands. After a full day of playing tight, the players were happy to get their chips in before the flop and take their chances at this stage. It took nearly 15 hours of play, but Team Fontaine emerged victorious. Team Fontaine led the tournament for most of the evening, only relinquishing their chip lead at the final table shortly before […]

The Strangers in the Night event was a resounding success. 479 entries were accounted for, aggregated over 3 Day 1s where unlimited re-entries were permitted. The Strangers in the night charity event, as always, was a fun competition where players supported a great cause while indulging in their favorite game. 96 players came back for Day 2 yesterday. A full day of poker brought the field down to 10 finalists, who returned tonight for the conclusion of the June Power Weekend’s marquee event. Daniel Gagnon, the winner of the 2014 Playground Poker Montreal Festival’s Main Event, was on the final table. Miguel Goncalo, a Playground regular who is no stranger to deep-event play, was also in the mix. John Palmer came with a charity title under his belt, having won an All Stars for Starlight event in 2016. Palmer brought a lot of fun to the table with his easy-going demeanor, […]

Event 6 was a $70 + $10 freezeout event, and attracted 219 players, shattering the $5K guarantee. The tournament lasted a little over 9 hours, and in the end, William Pauzé had all the chips. When the ICM numbers were agreed upon by the last 5 players standing, Pauzé had secured the 2nd biggest prize. Mario Bernier was the first to leave after the variance was reduced. After a few all-ins that favored the shorter stack, Mohammad Osman took out 2 opponents at once. Mohammad Osman: Christopher St-Pierre: Francis Carrière: Board: This river got Osman a crushing lead over Pauzé, but many more showdowns were observed. Pauzé came back, won the pot that mattered, and gave the final blow when his ace got the best of Osman’s king. William Pauzé added $450 to his $2,060. He goes home with the biggest payday, the title, and the satisfaction of a big […]

Event 5 in the June Power Weekend, a $110 Megastack Turbo tournament, ended in a pretty violent manner. When 6 players were left, they agreed to an ICM chop that secured our 6 finalists the following amounts: When that deal was struck, the final table transformed into a royal rumble, and everybody was blindly throwing punches. We did note one of the few hands that were played between the deal and the conclusion. Daniel Deshaies: Michael Mckinnon: Simon Luquette: Pierre-Luc Bélanger: Board: Everybody was live going into the river, but Pierre-Luc’s flopped 2-pair held, and this win eventually got him the title. He ended up facing Daniel Deshaies in a heads-up match that lasted 1 hand, which is pictured below, and became the victor of a 98-player field. Well done! Our Megastack Turbo Champion: Pierre-Luc Bélanger – $1,120 3 more players secured a 4-figure payday: Last hand of play: The […]

The Strangers in the Night event is one step closer to merging into a single field. Day 1B just concluded, and 20 players were added to the qualifiers list. For some of these players, it was a long grind. For others, like Johannes Verhoeven, it seemed like a walk in the park. Verhoeven started accelerating on level 9, and after that, his stack just kept growing. He was seen limping in and taking many pots down, without putting himself in danger. Maurice Simard had a different path. He kept himself slightly above average for a while, until he won a 4-way all-in pot with aces, some 35 minutes before the end. He bagged 231,500 chips, a top 5 stack. What a nice way to get into Day 2! Richard Shamshoum had an amazing last lap, taking many pots down, including the very last one. He raised with , and Martin Nadeau […]

Event #4 of the June Power Weekend, the $75 + $10 + $25 NL Hold’em Bounty, brought out an impressive field of 81 runners and built a prize pool that greatly surpassed the $5,000 guarantee. As everyone has come to expect from bounty events, the early levels were characterized by fast and loose action while the players were looking to capture as many bounties as possible. But once the field was down to two tables, the action tightened up as the pressure of the blinds increased and the players set their sights on the prize money. They remained determined and focused throughout the late levels, each trying to grind their way up the leader board. And that was the trend that continued all the way up until the heads-up duel to decide the winner. After Shawn Parks’ elimination in third place, it came down to Normand Plessis Belair and Frederic Blais. Blais […]

Event #3 of the June Power Weekend, the $200 + $30 + $100 PL Omaha Bounty Re-entry, drew a total of 40 entries, generating a prize pool well beyond the $10,000 guarantee. The action was fast paced during the first few levels of play, leading seven players to fire a second bullet at this event. The word “pot” was heard early and often, and multi-way all-ins were a regular occurrence. Once the re-entry period finished and prize money appeared on the horizon, the players tightened up, favouring pot control over bounty hunting. Jean-Francois Daunais led the way for most of the evening before running out of steam once he reached the final table and busted in seventh place. From there, Stacy Levac took over the chip lead, but he was unable to run away things. The final four players – Stacy Levac, Jean-Serge Baril, Huy Monorith and Jimmy Lehouiller – were locked […]