LIVE EVENTS

The first live starting flight of the June edition of the Playground 200 brought out a field of 103 entries this afternoon.

There was an abundance of wild action in the early levels, resulting in 18 re-entries. After a lull shortly after the end of the late registration and re-entry period, the players put the pedal to metal in the late stages. The final levels of most starting flights are usually a time when players shift their focus to Day 2 but that was not the case today. The players looked for every possible way to accumulate chips, leading to several multi-way all ins and bloated pots.

When the dust settled, 21 players remained to bag chips for Saturday’s Day 2. Michel Gariepy emerged as the overall chip leader for the Playground 200. But tonight’s starting flight promises to be even more popular so his lead might not last long.

To see the combined Day 1 results, click here.

Day 1A of the Playground 200 is nearly complete. The tournament staff has just announced the last five hands of the day, with 23 players remaining. Although everyone was looking to bag chips at the end of this flight, it did not stop them from putting hefty amounts of chips in play when they saw fit. There were a number of multi-way all ins in the late stages, a sign that these players are in it to win it and not simply survive until Day 2.

Here’ s a look at the field from the late stages:

The frantic action of the early levels gave way to a tight tournament grind during the last two levels. It did not take long for the first half of the field to make their exit this afternoon, but the prospect of bagging chips for Day 2 has changed the approach of the remaining players.

With the exception of the players at the top of the leaderboard, most in the field have shifted into survival mode and are just trying to stay out ahead of the blinds. The current chip average provides slightly more than 42 big blinds, which leaves most players plenty of room to maneuver. But the pressure will only mount from here to the end of level 14.

The current chip leader:

Lily “Big Salami” Kornik was already well known to Playground’s cash game regulars before she won the Playground 1000 during the MILLIONS North America and started making a name for herself among tournament players. She is in the field this afternoon and showing everyone the kind of plays it takes to win a multi-day event.

Most recently, while the blinds were at 400/800, she was in the big blind when the action was opened with a raise from the button from Pierre Olivier Guay to 1,800. Bang Tran, in the small blind, made the call before Lily raised the price of poker to 6,000. Her Raise chased Pierre Olivier out of the pot, but Bang would not go away so easily. Instead, he put in a raise of his own to 16,000 in an attempt to turn the tables. But Lily stuck to her line and went all in over the top.

After asking for the count and mulling it over, Bang folded to give Lily nearly 20,000 in uncontested chips.

Play continues in level 10 with 44 players remaining.

The end of the late registration and re-entry period has not slowed down the action on Day 1A of the Playground 200. The all-in cards continue to hit the felt at a rapid pace, reducing the field to only 54 players as they entered the second break of the day.

The fast action helped some players build imposing stacks; five players find themselves with stacks of more than double the current chip average. The players on the leader board are sitting comfortably with more than 100 big blinds to play with, however, they cannot rest on their laurels because there is still a long way to go in this edition of the Playground 200.

The current chip leader:

The late registration and re-entry period has just ended on Day 1A of the Playground 200. At the beginning of level 7, 72 players remained out of 103 total entries. Although things started slowly this morning, this flight gained momentum with each level and took in 18 re-entries before the beginning of level 7, which is a clear sign that the pace of play became more loose and aggressive. The all-in card made more frequent appearances as the timer ticked down on the late registration and re-entry period, but everyone who was sent to the rail in level 6 opted to fire another bullet.

Check out some of the action from level 6:

The Playground 200 is picking up pace through four levels of play on Day 1A. The sole re-entry from the first two levels has been joined by four others to bring the total number of re-entries up to five and the total number of entries up to 77. There are nearly 90 minutes left in the late registration and re-entry period so this field in this flight is likely to reach the century mark.

Here is an updated look at the field from the early levels of play:

Day 1A of the Playground 200 is picking up pace. Now that two levels of play are in the books, the field has reached 65 entries. The ice was broken on the re-entries during the first level so there will certainly be many more to follow before the end of the late registration and re-entry period.

Players have until 2:15pm to (re-)enter this flight. For anyone unable to make it out this afternoon, Day 1B of the Playground 200 runs tonight at 7:00pm, and there will be two more starting flights tomorrow.

Here’s a look at some of the field from the early levels:

Event #1 of the June Power Weekend, the $200 + $20 Playground 200, rolls on today with the first of four live starting flights. The Playground 200, as usual, provides players with a starting stack of 25,000 in chips to start their journey to get a part of the $100,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Late registration, and unlimited re-entries, will be available until the beginning of the seventh level of play at 2:15pm. Each Day 1 will play through 14 30-minute levels before the levels increase to 40 minutes in length on Days 2 and 3. Players may enter multiple Day 1s even if they survived a previous starting flight with chips; players who qualify more than once for Day 2 will resume play on Day 2 with their largest qualifying stack.

The action has just started, as players continue to file in to the tournament hall. Good luck to all!