LIVE EVENTS

The cards are in the air for Day 3 of the Playground 1000!

The tournament started with 260 entries and played through 12 levels of 40 minutes on Day 2 yesterday, and at the end of the day, five players were left to bag and tag to come back for Day 3 today.

Here are how the stacks look for today’s grind:

Players today have locked up at least $15,000 for fifth place, and all are eyeing the $55,430 up top in first place. Here are the remaining payouts:

• 1st $55,430
• 2nd 36,990
• 3rd 27,060
• 4th $20,060
• 5th $15,000

Dealer’s shuffle up and deal!

Day 2 chip leader: Lily Kornik

Two more players have made their exit from the Playground 1000.

Christopher Lau was eliminated in seventh place, earning $8,890 in the process. Play continued seven-handed for quite some time before another player was eliminated in dramatic fashion by the “Oyster King.”

It was a heads-up pot between Steven Tripp and Armand King. Following a pre-flop raise and a heavy flop bet, the two players got all their chips in the middle on the turn of a board. Hands were tabled to show that Tripp had flopped a set with and was up against King’s over pair of . It was looking good for Tripp, until the fell on the river. And with top set, King sent another player to the rail. Tripp will collect $11,500 for his sixth place finish.

Play continues in the final level of play for the day.

The Playground 1000 has just reached the final table.

After the field reached the money a few levels ago, play opened up and took back the aggressive pace that was seen throughout most of Day 1.

There were two quick eliminations once the final table began. First, Lucas Soucek hit the rail in ninth place, good for a cash of $5,550. Not long after, Playground 200 champion Yirui Zhang was eliminated by Armand King, better known as the “Oyster King.” King opened the action from his button and was met with a three-bet all in from Zhang in the small blind. King made the snap call and tabled . Zhang flipped over his in disgust. But Zhang’s reaction on the flop was one of joy when the dealer revealed . But, on the turn, it became King’s turn to celebrate once again when the appeared. And it was followed by the ! So there will be no second event championship in this series for Zhang, but he will leave with some exciting stories to tell and $6,970 for his eighth place finish in this event.

Here are the full final table chip counts:

The Playground 1000 is down the final two tables, as only 15 players remain.

Lily Kornik and Frederic Cossette control the largest stacks in play, however, everything can change quickly at this stage. Everyone still in the field is assured of $3,670, but all eyes are set on the $55,430 top prize.

Here is an updated look at the field:

Once the field made it past the money bubble, the play dynamics changed quickly. The players shifted their approach from survival to chip accumulation, and the result was a series of eliminations in short order. Ariel Silveira Celestino took advantage of the situation to run his stack up to new heights and take over the chip lead.

Play has just resumed in level 21 with 23 players remaining.

The current chip leader:

Some of the other notable stacks in play:

After roughly 30 minutes of hand-for-hand play, the money bubble has burst on the Playground 1000.

The field made the money thanks to Chanracy Khun, who called Dejan Kovinic’s open shove. Kovinic was low on chips, playing less than 10 big blinds, when he moved all in from middle position. Khun, in the small blind holding , asked for the count and quickly made the call. Kovinic rolled over and rose from his seat. It was a safe flop and turn for Kovinic’s ace-high, but the on the river sent him to the rail in 34th place.

The remaining players are now assured of cashing at least $1,940.

The players have just returned to their seats following the first break in the action on Day 2 of the Playground 1000.

A new chip leader emerged from the early levels. Lily Kornik had a strong finish to yesterday’s Day 1 and has kept it up this afternoon to bring her stack over 1.5 million in chips. She is closely followed by several players, but she has set herself up for a deep run now that only 43 players remain.

The Playground 1000 has picked up right where it left off yesterday, with a breakneck pace to start the day. After just under an hour of play on Day 2, the field has been reduced to 60 players.

Eric Afriat and Ali Keshavarz still control the largest stacks in play. But, thanks to the numerous eliminations in the first level of play, several players are now closing in on the two front runners.

The stacks are still deep; the chip average provides over 40 big blinds. And the money bubble is slowly but surely approaching so expect the pace of play to slow down over the course of the next few levels.

Eric Afriat still has a dominating chip lead over the field in the Playground 1000. He has held the top stack in play by a healthy margin all day long and managed to further increase his lead during the last two levels. As the only player with a seven-figure stack, he has nearly double the chips of his nearest competitor.

There are still two levels to go today before the players bag chips for tomorrow’s Day 2, the second of three days of play in this event.