LIVE EVENTS

Day 1C of the Playground 200 brought out a field of 110 entries. There were 17 re-entries this afternoon, in a flight in which many players set out with a conservative approach. Although the action picked up pace following the first break of the day, play slowed from a sprint to a marathon pace from there, one that it would hold until the end of the flight.

The chip lead changed hands several times, but there were a handful of players who were at the head of the pack throughout the afternoon. Charles Gagnon took the pole position by the first break, but he was overtaken by Francois Semaan only a few levels later. But Gagnon would reclaim his lead later in the flight. All the while, Vladimir Avetisian quietly accumulated chips and built a monster stack by the end of the flight.

When play concluded, Charles Gagnon led the 21 Day 2 qualifiers with 320,000 in chips ready for Day 2. Following Day 1C, a total of 71 players have qualified for Day 2, which will be held tomorrow at 2:00pm.

The final starting flight for this edition of the Playground 200 starts tonight at 7:00pm, and late registration will be available until 10:15pm.

As the timer winds down on the thirteenth level of play, only three tables remain on Day 1C.

Although the chip average still provides roughly 50 big blinds, most of the remaining players are getting by with far less than that. Three players – Francois Semaan, Charles Gagnon and Vladimir Avetisian – are playing stacks of far more than double the current average, giving them control of a huge proportion of the chips in play. Whether or not they will use these chips to dictate the pace of play as they head down the home stretch or simply go into lockdown until the chips go in the bag remains to be seen.

The players have just returned from their final break of the afternoon, with only 36 players still in the field.

Charles Gagnon, the chip leader from earlier in the day, reclaimed the chip lead on the final hand before the break. Gagnon took down a huge heads-up pot against his neighbour, Richard Sysko. At the time, Sysko also had one the larger stacks in play, but he lost the vast majority of his chips when Gagnon’s flopped two-pair hand got the best of him.

The chip leaders are now playing some very deep stacks. The current chip average provides roughly 46 big blinds, but the top stacks in play have far more at their disposal.

Over the course of the last level of play, the remaining players shifted gears. While the action had been picking up pace throughout the middle levels, most in the field have opted to approach the late stages as a grind to survive to the end of the flight. The blinds have caught up to the shorter stacks in the field, as the chip average now provides roughly 52 big blinds, but there is still room to maneuver for anyone at or above the current average.

The chip leader at the last break, Francois Semaan, has continued his winning ways thanks to an abundance of aggressive plays. But other players in the field like Richard Sysko, who held the second largest stack at the last break, have also increased their stacks so Semaan’s lead is far from safe.

Here is a look at the action from level 10:

Following the second break of the afternoon, Francois Semaan has taken the chip lead.

The field now stands at 56 players, most of whom have lots of blinds at their disposal, thanks to the extra chips added by the 17 re-entries. The chip average gives players roughly 61 big blinds, and the top stacks are playing more than double that amount.

With five levels of play left in this flight, Day 1C is approaching a turning point. The play dynamics could continue towards the mounting aggression that was seen in the lead up to the last break or players could shift their focus to simply surviving to the end of the flight. Only time will tell.

As the field approaches the midway point of the eighth level of play, the stacks are deeper and the pots are getting bigger. The cautious approach of the early levels has given way to a more assertive and aggressive dynamic at most tables. Three-bets are becoming more and more frequent, and the players are showing that they are prepared to risk chips to win chips.

Here is a look at the action from level seven:

The timer has just sounded to indicate the start of the seventh level of play and the end of the late registration and re-entry period on Day 1C. As expected, there was a late rush to the cashier as the timer ticked down that pushed the number of re-entries up to 17, a substantial part of the 110 total entries.

At the midway point of this flight, 80 players are still in contention, competing for the 2.75 million in chips in play.  As the busiest starting flight yet, there are enough chips in play to easily create a new overall chip leader, but if anyone hopes to catch Ami Alibay, who bagged over 400K in chips, they have their work cut out for them.

The players have just returned from their first break of the afternoon, as play resumes in level five. New players continued to get in on the action in the lead up to the break to push the total number of entries over 80, with a little help from the three re-entries up to this point. There is still nearly an hour left in the late registration and re-entry period so we are likely to see an influx of new joiners during the next two levels.

The chip leader, Charles Gagnon, is comfortably out ahead of the field with a stack of more than triple the current average. Gagnon built his stack steadily throughout the early levels before taking down a hefty pot on the last hand before break.

Here is the current leaderboard: