One of the “signature” features of the MILLIONS tour – and of the MILLIONS North America in particular – is that the top 3 players in the Main Event will all be awarded a prize of at least one million dollars! With three players now left, play was paused for some photos to be taken and a short dinner break for the remaining players. Congratulations to Anthony Ruberto, Darryll Fish, and Taylor Black for making the final 3 and the 7-figure payouts! Good luck to the final three: This post was published first on this Playground Event Blog: MILLIONS North America 2018.
Poker
18 to return for Day 3
Day 2 of the MILLIONS Finale brought 55 new entries into the field to bring the total up to 126 before the late registration and re-entry period closed at the end of level 12. Many players took advantage of the slow structure and unlimited re-entries to take a few shots at the $1,260,000 prize pool. This field had no shortage of star power with the likes of Martin Jacobson, Ami Alibay, Roberto Romanello, Darren Elias, Kristen Bicknell and Jeff Gross each taking a shot at the Finale. Day 2 was characterized by deep stacks and sharp, disciplined play from all involved. We saw numerous examples of four, five and even six-bets, as the players used the huge number of blinds at their disposal to try to instill fear in their opponents. But the world-class players in this field are not the type to be intimidated, and there was no shortage of bluff-catching […]
Next: Day 4 in the MILLIONS Main Event
The Main Event continues today with Day 4 and just 51 players remain in the hunt for the top 3 prizes of greater than $1M each! In fact, the min-cash today will continue to be $17,500 and there will be small but increasing pay jumps throughout the day. Play is scheduled to continue through 10 levels today beginning with level 27 – blinds 400,000 and 800,000 with a button ante of 800,000. There will be a streamed feature table from the outset of the action today – minus the 30 minute security delay – and we have learned that the starting feature table will be table 35, including players such as Marc-Andre Ladouceur, Antonio Esfandiari, and Joseph Cheong. With a wide variety of stack sizes at play, there’s sure to be some interesting dynamics on that table – and throughout the Tournament Hall. Good luck! This post was published first […]
Welcome to Day 1B of the MILLIONS Turbo
Today is the second of two starting days in Event #5 in the MILLIONS North America – the MILLIONS Turbo. As is the case with all MILLIONS events, players start with 1,000,000 tournament chips, but in the Turbo, blind levels are just 30 minutes long. This means that the tournament will play through 18 levels on Day 1, and it also adds up to an extended late-registration period – you can enter or re-enter the event until the end of the break following level 10. Yesterday there were 387 entries in the event, a number we expect will take a significant jump today, as usual for a multi-starting-day event at Playground. Remember that even if you played and booked a stack to Day 2 yesterday, you are permitted to take another shot today – the tournament is best-stack forward to Day 2. Any additional stacks that are not used will […]
The Finale is underway
Event #6 in the MILLIONS North America is the $10,000 + $300 MILLIONS Finale event. As the last large buy-in event of the festival, and the only one featuring unlimited re-entries AND a $1,000,000 guarantee, it is enjoying a great deal of popularity among the players that have spent the past week or more here at Playground Poker Club. Some of the players in the field so far include Ari Engel, Chance Kornuth, Super High Roller Champ Christopher Kruk, Jonathan Duhamel, and Alex Foxen. Play will continue through 8 levels today and registration remains open all day today plus through the first 4 levels (plus breaks) in Day 2. This post was published first on this Playground Event Blog: MILLIONS North America 2018.
Day 3 is ready to take off
At 12:00pm today, Day 3 in the MILLIONS North America Main Event is set to begin. This $5,000 + $300 NL Hold’em Re-entry tournament featured a total of 6 Day 1s and 3 Day 2s – including the initial Day 1 and Day 2 that were held at the Deerfoot Inn & Casino in Calgary. There were a total of 1,954 entries in the tournament, and going into Day 2, just 285 remain. And now, for the first time, the entire field will be brought together to play down to the money, which will be reached at 250 players remaining. The best-known players are quite well distributed around the Tournament Hall to begin, but there are some tables to watch. Examples include Table 68 with two 15-million-chip players (Keith Donovan and Thomas Lefort), Table 28 featuring Mukul Pahuja, Brian Yoon, and Kristen Bicknell, and Table 56 which includes Jason Duval, […]
MILLIONS Turbo Day 1A: Chips in the bag
The first starting flight of the MILLIONS Turbo, Day 1A, lived up to its title with fast-paced action from beginning to end. By the time the late registration and re-entry period ended at the end of level 10, 387 entries made it into the fray today including 88 re-entries. The action was fast and loose throughout the afternoon. One illustrative example was when two players moved all-in from the first two positions to act before even receiving cards, happy to take their chances to run up a stack. It’s not often that you see two players move all-in before the dealer even finishes shuffling! After the first break in the action, the gap between the big and small stacks had widened significantly, and the all-ins were happening at a frantic pace. In general, the big stacks benefited, sending a steady flow of players to the rail. Play tightened up later […]
148 players bag chips on Day 2B
Day 2B of the MILLIONS Main Event was set to begin with 271 bags advanced from Day 1 flights. But the direct Day 2 buy-ins brought the starting field up to nearly 400 entries before the first card was pitched. And that trend continued throughout the day as the buy-ins and re-entries continued at a steady pace all the way to the last minute of the late registration period. Many players got into the Main Event via flip’n go this afternoon. The format-one hand, one board, winner take all-provided lots of excitement for all involved. They were held on various tables around Playground, including the beautiful partypoker LIVE streaming table, and in each case they drew a crowd of bystanders looking to join in the sweat. When the late registration period ended at the beginning of level 13, 587 entries made it into Day 2B, making for over 1 billion […]
The stage is set for Day 2B
Day 2B of the MILLIONS North America Main Event takes off at 12pm today, and will be the last chance for players to take part in this massive event boasting a $10,000,000 guaranteed prize pool. A total of 271 bags have been set on the tables from previous Day 1s, and late registration will remain open through the first 4 levels of play today. So far over 70 players have already bought-in directly to Day 2B, a number which is certain to grow until the close of registration. The biggest stack belongs to Michael Sklenicka, who closed his Day 1 flight with a cool 10,195,000 for the overall chip lead. Darryll Fish is second in chips with 6,900,000, while Kevin Dawe rounds the top 3 with 6,315,000. The Day 2B seating draw with chip counts is available here. The plan for the day is to play through 8 levels of […]
Six Jackpots in six days!
To say that Playground Poker Club is booming this week would be the understatement of the year. Of course, the MILLIONS North America is in full swing, with three champions crowned already and the MILLIONS Main Event playing on Day 2. Besides hosting the biggest tournament series in Canadian history, Playground Poker Club is also the place where six Bad Beat Jackpots were hit in only six days!! That’s right, since our record-breaking $1,375,265 Primary BBJ was awarded at the wee hours of Friday morning, 3 more Jackpots were hit! First, the very same day, about 12 hours later on table 1, Marc-André G. raised to $12 and got called by 2 spots before Laurent P. 3bet to $45. Marc-André went all-in and only Laurent stayed in. As soon as the flop fell, Marc-André tabled his top set. Laurent was a little more reserved, and waited until the money river […]
Brian Yoon crushed Day 2A
Today was the first of two Day 2s in the MILLIONS Main Event. At 12h00, 364 bags were placed on the tables, waiting for their rightful owner. Throughout the day, 137 buy-ins were placed, bringing the Day 2A total entries to 501. Michael Sklenicka, who sent the biggest stack to day 2 – 10,195,000 – did not play today, but 2nd and 3rd, Sylvain Siebert and Tony Dunst, did. Tony Dunst had lost a good portion of his 8,050,000 when he got severely coolered with his few remaining millions. His bottom set was cruelly taken down by a top pair that turned into two pairs, that turned into a bigger boat. Sylvain Siebert was the richest player to start the day, and loyal to himself, he rode the roller coaster, shrinking as small as 3M and springing back up to the bagged 14,550,000, one of the biggest stacks to be taken […]
Seats added to tonight’s Step 2 satellite
Day 2A of the Main Event has now drawn over 465 entries, as the direct buy-ins and re-entries keep rolling in. Many players are taking advantage of the re-entry format to keep their tournament dreams alive; given the massive guarantee, it seems like the obvious decision. A modification to tonight’s Step 2 satellite will give a few more players the chance to get in on the action on Day 2B, as 15 seats will be added to the guarantee. Add that to Sit ‘N Go Satellites that will be running on demand all day, and at least 25 players will be moving on to take their shot at the MILLIONS tomorrow. There is some great value to be had, don’t miss out! This post was published first on this Playground Event Blog: MILLIONS North America 2018.