LIVE EVENTS

The heads up match between Daniel Pépin and Pierre-Luc Bourgeois lasted less than a complete level. Both players were eager to push chips in the pot and the tide of power kept changing hands. Eventually, though, all good things must come to an end, and the same can be said about poker. After missing a few key spots, Daniel was down to only a few bb’s and he had almost no choice but to go all in with a face card.  Holding a monster hand, Pierre-Luc called immediately and both men tabled their hands. Daniel: Pierre-Luc It was over even before it began, and it kept getting worse with every street…    So Bourgeois finishes on a high note, and a boat of queens over aces. Pierre-Luc Bourgeois, Event #8 Chamption – $3,180 Daniel Pépin, 2nd position – $2,370 The last hand of play

It didn’t take much time before Francis Fortin Chevalier had to go all in.  He got a call from Pierre-Luc Bourgeois, who was  in the midst of a running streak. Francis: Pierre-Luc: Neither gentlemen got a piece of the board: so Pierre-Luc’s king high was enough to end Chevalier’s tournament Francis Fortin Chevalier, 3rd position – $1,770

The players took a short break and we took the opportunity to survey the stacks.  Daniel Pépin is in great shape, having more than half the total chips in play in front of him.   No long after they returned, Ioannis Tsontakis went all-in with and received one single call from Francis-Fortin Chevalier. Ioannis: Francis: . Board: .  The ace was good enough to send Ioannis to the rail in 4th position. Ioannis Tsontakis, 4e position – $1,330  

Joseph B. shoved all in for 83,000 and received two calls from Goran Brestovac and Daniel Pépin.  On the flop , both Pépin and Brestovac checked.  But when the appeared on the turn, Daniel Pépin bet and Goran snap folded. As soon as Joseph saw Daniel’s hand, he knew he was in trouble. Joseph: Daniel: There was no help from the river: and Pépin’s trip eight’s were enough to defeat Joseph, thus sending him to the rail in 6th position.   Not long after the departure of Joseph, Goran Brestovac pushed all in with confidence, holding .  He got a call from Pierre-Luc Bourgeois, who had been consistently winning pots for the last hour.  Pierre-Luc showed , and Goran seemed confident.  His smile waned a bit when the flop came out: .  The turn was safe , but the dreaded river killed all hopes for …

Level 20 was a busy level, no less than three players were sent to the rail. First off Fady Habashi was sent home only a few minutes after the beginning of the final table. Patrice Ravary was running out of options and pushed all-in with , and got a call from Pierre-Luc Bourgeois, who tabled . The board was swiftly revealed: . Fady was happy with that baby flush. The turn was a brick, but the on the river completed Bourgeois’s flush, and that signaled the end of the line for Patrice Ravary The action didn’t seem to subside whatsoever, and it wasn’t long before a Nick Nickoletopoulos’s voyage was cut short by Goran Brestovac. In a classic encounter, both gentlemen tabled their hands: Nick: Goran: . In one quick swipe, the dealer releaved the flop : . There was not much Nick could do …

Event #9 was a $100+10 6-Max Re-entry tournament that started at 12 noon today. There was a $5,000 guaranteed prize pool, but with 71 players (including 14 re-entries), the prize pool grew to $6,887, with the top nine players getting paid. Players had fun, enjoying the 6-max format, which allows for more space at the table and more aggressive action. From the very start of the day, Benoit Desbiens kept eliminating many players and acquiring chips to keep increasing the size of his stack. He was on the leaderboard most of the afternoon and was the leader through the latter levels of the tournament. Once the final table was formed, it didn’t take long to get down to three handed play. Jonathan Poissant was right behind him in 2nd place, followed by Irene Tzanetopoulos, both of whom are very skilled players. Irene and Benoit got …

Play is now three handed on the final table between Benoit Desbiens, Jonathan Poissant, and Irene Tzanetopoulos.  Benoit still has a strong lead but all three players are seasoned tournament grinders with lots of savoir faire, and, no one is giving up, that’s for sure. So far we have lost: 9th Fady Habishi ($210) 8th Dominic St-Pierre ($270) 7th Alain Lavoie ($350) 6th Jason Kastner ($460) 5th Gabriel Demers ($610) 4th Alexandre Guay ($800)  

Benoit Desbiens is still in the lead but not too far behind him is Jonathan Poissant and Irene Tzanetououlos. Here are the chip counts of the final table players:

With the top nine spots getting paid, the tournament director paused the clock once the field dropped down to 10 players.  A few of the players asked about paying the bubble, but there was some resistance to this by a few of the players and play marched on. Hand-for-hand action last the better part of 20-25 minutes, until the fatal hand took place. Irene Tzanetopoulos went to the flop against Danny Landry. Irene was 1st to act and led out for 12k. Danny, who had been nursing a below average stack for some time, was apparently delighted to see the flop and announced that he was “all-in”.  Irene thought about it for only perhaps 15-20 seconds, and then picked up a yellow 1K chip and threw it in, signalling a call. Danny: Irene:    Danny had flopped trip 4’s, and Irene had a flush draw. …

Table 32 has been seeing a lot of action, along with a lot of bust outs. There are therefore tons of chips on 32, where we found three of the top stacks in play. Benoit Desbiens, who recently retired as a dealer after six years at Playground, has been pumping away all afternoon and now has the dominant stack in the tournament room. Gabriel Demers, who currently works as a dealer here, is hot on his heels in 2nd place. Another player, Irene Tzanetopoulos, who has won an event in the past during one of Playground’s festivals, had dropped down to only 6K early on in the day, but has now made it to the one of the top positions. It is still however anybody’s game….  

Tonight’s Event #10: $100 + $20 + $100 6-Max 50/50 Bounty tournament was the last event of the Playground 2019 May Power Weekend event.  And what an event it has been.  Let’s take a look at all the champions: Event #1: $100 + $10 Mix Max Re-entry: Jonathan Jette-Prince Event #2: $150 + $25 Strangers in the night: Adam Cader Event #3: $150 + $20 + $50 PLO Bounty Re-entry: Goran Brestovac Event #4: $100 + $10 Deepstack Turbo: Jonathon Mclean Event #5: $100 + $10 Women’s event: Lori Sanderson Event #6: $150 + $15 Freezout: Philip Fleury-Maisonneuve Event #7: $200 + $20 Deepstack Re-entry: Yan Touchette Event #8: $100 + $20 + $100 50/50 Bounty: Pierre-Luc Bourgeois Event #9: $100 + $10 6-Max Re-entry: Benoît Desbiens Event #10: $100 + $20 + $100 50/50 6-Max Bounty: Domenico Agatiello No less than 170 players showed …

Dave had a roller coaster ride on the final table, with many ups and downs. When he received , he did the only he could do: he went all-in. Ruben Percival was only too happy to call, holding: because if he was to play heads up against Agatiello, he would need Dave’s chips. The over-card riddled flop did not please Dave one bit The on the turn changed nothing, but the on the river changed everything. With trip three’s, Ruben made short work of Dave’s chips, sending the young man to the rail in 3rd position. Now the stage is set for heads up action between Ruben Perceval with approximately 1,800,000 chips and Domenico Agatiello, sitting on 2,400,000 chips. Dave Jeanneau-Cyr, 3rd position – $2,000 Heads up

After a bumpy ride at best on the final table, Daniel Soussan needed no more than to go all in preflop. He got one call from small blind Domenico Agatiello, who showed . Board: In the end, the flop was all Agatiello needed to send Daniel home in 4th position. The three remaining players settle in for the last stretch. Agatiello is still the chip leader with 2,125,000 chips, just about 50% of the total chips in play. Ruben Perceval is hovering at approximately 1,375,000 and Dave Jeanneau-Cyr brings up the rear with 750,000 Daniel Soussan, 4th position – $1,500

When he arrived at the final table, Tyrone Baskin was short stack with $156,000, a little more than 10% of chip leader Agatiello. Early on he managed to triple-up and make some headway. His efforts were for a good cause and he was able to outlast Hammoud and Hanna to nab the 5th position. In his last hand, Tyrone looked down at his hole cards and when he saw pocket nines he only took a few seconds before going all-in. Agatiello, who had been extremely quiet since the onset of the final table, was right there with him. Both men tabled their hands and Agatiello was not happy. Tyrone Baskin: Domenico Agatiello: Completely dominated, on the flop, Agatiello was already pushing out some chips to pay Baskin. But then the made an appearance, then a on the river. The pot was awarded to Agatiello and …

Dave Jeanneau-Cyr wasted no time going all-in from utg for 450,000. Ruben Perceval folded, but Hicham Hammoud shoved all-in under with 380,000. The other 3 players folded and both gentlemen tabled their hands: Hicham: Dave: Unfortunately for Hicham, he dodged all his outs on the board: and Dave’s fish hooks held their ground to send Hicham home in 6th position Hicham Hammound, 6th position – $850