LIVE EVENTS

After 18 exciting levels of play, the chips are in the bag on Day 1I.

This afternoon’s flight brought out a large, boisterous crowd that contributed a total of 161 entries to the Grand Prix Canada. Those in attendance pulled out all the stops in their attempts to run up big stacks for Day 2, as big, multi-way pots became the early norm. The action settled to a more familiar tournament grind in the late stages, but the players were not shy about standing their ground and putting chips in the middle when the situation called for it.

This flight’s chip leader, Alexandre Fournier, rose to the top of the leaderboard after 11 levels of play, as the first millionaire in the field. Although Fournier was not the outright chip leader for the rest of this flight, he emerged with the largest stack when the chips went in the bag, securing 2,334,000 in chips for Day 2.

There are three more starting flights for the Grand Prix Canada, all of which will be held tomorrow. Day 1L starts at 11:00am, Day 1M runs at 4:00pm, and Day 1N Turbo goes at 7:30pm. Don’t miss out on these chances to get in on the Grand Prix Canada!

Day 1I is now down to three tables, and there are three millionaires in the field.

Play has just resumed in level 17, with only 26 players remaining. The top 23 will advance to Day 2 and make the money so the tension will only mount from here.

The action shows no signs of slowing down on Day 1I, despite the fact that the field is less than 10 eliminations away from reaching the money.

The last few levels have seen many big pots and multi-way all ins, showing that the players in this flight are looking to run up their stacks as high as possible instead of simply folding their way to Day 2. The chip leader at the last break, Alexandre Fournier, has lost a few chips but still has one of the larger stacks in play. But other players, such as Michael Pinoudis and Christopher Taylor, have gone on heaters recently to join the seven-figure club.

Here is a look at the action from level 14:

Play has just resumed in level 12, as Day 1I enters the late stages of play.

The momentum has shifted significantly since the last break, as there has been a nearly complete turnover of the leaderboard. The current chip leader, Alexandre Fournier, is light years ahead of the field with the only seven-figure stack in play. Fournier controls a whopping 157 big blinds at this point.

As the timer winds down on level 11, only 56 players remain on Day 1I.

The end of the flight is now in sight, as the top 23 players will make the money and advance their stacks to Day 2. The players are still enjoying deep play at this point, thanks to the big starting stacks and player-friendly structure. An average stack gets players nearly 48 big blinds.

Here is a look at the action from level 11:

Day 1I has just entered its eleventh level of play, meaning that the late registration and re-entry period has ended.

This flight was helped along by a significant number of re-entries, 44 in all, which helped inflate the number of chips in play and will allow 23 players to advance from this flight. But there is still lots of poker to be played before the chips go in the bag, as the remaining players have lots of chips at their disposal. An average stack is worth roughly 42 big blinds, leaving lots of room to maneuver through the upcoming levels.

Here is a look at the action from level 10:

The action is back underway in level 9, and this flight has a new chip leader.

Former chip leader Donald Billow has fallen off the pace, as a flock of new players have flown to the top of the leaderboard. And those players are led by Nikolas Blanchette, who went on a great run prior to the most recent break to take a commanding chip lead. Blanchette’s stack gives him roughly 140 big blinds at this point, well more than double the current chip average.

The timer has just sounded to indicate the beginning of level 7, with nearly 100 players left in contention on Day 1I.

Even more than in previous starting flights, re-entries have been popular today, as there have been 30 re-entries so far with more than two hours to go in the late registration and re-entry period.

After more than three hours of play, the chip average still provides nearly 58 big blinds at this stage, ensuring significant depth of play for most players in the field.

Here is a look at the action from level 6:

The action has just resumed in level 5, with nearly 100 players still in the running on Day 1I.

This flight’s current chip leader, Donald Bilow, sprinted out of the gate to run up a stack of nearly quadruple the starting amount, good for slightly more than 240 big blinds at this point. But Bilow wasn’t the only player to have a successful start to the day, as six players in the field managed to more than double their starting stacks.

New players and re-entries keep filing in for this flight, putting over 12 million in chips in play for the 98 remaining players to fight for.

New players and re-entries keep rolling in on Day 1I, bringing the total number of entries just shy of the century mark after less than three levels of play.

Those already in attendance came to play this afternoon. Three-bets and big pots quickly became the early norm, and 7 re-entries have already occurred as a result.

Here is a look at some of the action from level 2:

Day 1I is shaping up to be a tremendously popular starting flight.

Through one level of play, there have already been 66 entries, including three re-entries. The large turnout has put over 6 million in chips in play at this early stage, and many more are sure to follow before the late registration and re-entry period ends at 4:30pm.

The Grand Prix Canada permits unlimited re-entries until the end of the late registration period on each Day 1, which will be at 4:30pm for Day 1I. Re-entry is permitted for any player that loses all their chips or chooses to forfeit their stack. A player may play additional Day 1s even if they have survived a previous Day 1 with chips. Players who qualify for Day 2 more than once will resume play on Day 2 with their largest qualifying stack; all other qualifying stacks will be forfeited. Players would, however, retain the associated cash prize for every forfeited stack. 

The 9-Year Anniversary Series will be picking up speed this afternoon with another popular starting flight for the marquee event of the series, the $200 + $20 Grand Prix Canada. Offering a guaranteed prize pool of $500,000, the Grand Prix Canada provides outstanding value for a relatively modest buy-in thanks to a player-friendly structure and 19 starting flights.

Players will start with 100,000 in chips for an afternoon of 10-handed play. Each starting flight will play 30-minute levels until one in seven entries remain, at which point the players will be in the money and bag their chips for Day 2.

The Grand Prix Canada is a re-entry event with unlimited re-entries permitted until the end of the late registration period on each Day 1 , which will be at 4:30pm. Re-entry is permitted for any player that loses all their chips or chooses to forfeit their stack. A player may play additional Day 1s even if they have survived a previous Day 1 with chips. Players who qualify for Day 2 more than once will resume play on Day 2 with their largest qualifying stack; all other qualifying stacks will be forfeited. Players would, however, retain the associated cash prize for every forfeited stack. The combined Day 1 results can be found here.

After less than 10 minutes of play, there are already 41 players involved in this flight. It’s shaping up to be one of the more popular flights to date. Good luck to all!