The Main Event continued to gain momentum on Day 1D with a huge field that drew 620 entries. This flight brought out lots of players for their first attempt, but many players took the opportunity to fire another bullet, even if they had already bagged chips in a previous flight, in the hope of providing an extra stack for backup on Day 2. With 620,000,000 in chips in play, there was more than enough to go around. The action was aggressive from the first level, as most players were clearly prepared to re-enter if necessary. Three-bets were the norm and four-bets became surprisingly common by the end of the day. As the 92 re-entries showed, the players came out firing and ready to reload. When the dust settled after eight levels, Michael Sklenicka emerged as the chip leader with 10,195,000 in chips for Day 2. Thanks to the huge field, […]
Poker
The $1.375M Primary BBJ has been won!
The 2018 MILLIONS North America has proven to be a fruitful series for Jackpots! Not only did we see the Secondary and Omaha Jackpots hit, but this morning at 5:30, the Primary BBJ was won. With the Jackpot amount sitting at over $1,375,000, that makes it the largest Primary BBJ ever awarded at Playground Poker Club! The early morning hour meant that there were only 6 NL Hold’em tables in action at the time. Table 12 was a $2-$5 table with 9 players seated. For the Jackpot hand, the button was on Seat 6, and the hand opened with a raise to $25 from utg+1 – Kwane R in Seat 1. The player in Seat 2 called, as did the player in Seat 5 and both players in the blinds in Seats 7 and 8. There were 5 players to the flop. Flop: On the flop, the first two players […]
MILLIONS Main Event Day 1C – Kostoulas bags heavy
A huge Thursday has just concluded at Playground Poker Club, as the field in Day 1C was the biggest so far. This being said, it is believed that tomorrow’s flights will be even bigger. Of course, the closer we get to the first Day 2, the more pros we see in the stream of players coming into the club. Today, we welcomed Scott Blumstein, the current world champion. We also had the pleasure to see our friend Antonio Esfandiari drop by. He casually and unsurprisingly build his stack to 4.6M, all the while doing his usual stretching and getting massage after massage. Of all the big stacks that were sent to Day 2, Christopher Kostoulas was the heaviest. He finished the day with 6,450,000 chips, good for 4th place overall so far. View the full Combined Day 1 Results List On tap tomorrow, Main Event Day 1D and at night, […]
News about the Big Game
News about the Big Game is developing quickly as the schedule for the three-day stint gets worked out. Here’s the info we have for today’s sessions: Session #1 – Thursday April 26th, 4:00pm to 10:00pm (stream begins at 4:30pm) NL Hold’em $100/$200 Players: Lauren Roberts, Rob Yong, Ouri Ohayon, Jonathan Duhamel, Joao Simao, Kristen Bicknell, Sam Chartier Session #2 – Thursday April 26th, 10:00pm to 4:00am (stream begins at 10:30pm) PLO $200/$400/$800 Players: Leon Tsoukernik, The Wolfe, Rob Yong, Sam Trickett, “Aussie” Matt Kirk, John Savidis Tune in to My partypoker Live or just join us here on the Event Blog to follow all of the action! This post was published first on this Playground Event Blog: MILLIONS North America 2018.
Now it’s on to Day 1C
Today at 12:00pm, the third of 5 starting flights in the MILLIONS North America Main Event. Today is when the numbers of participants should start to ramp up several notches as satellite qualifiers start to join the field in quantity. After today, there’s one “normal” Day 1 (Friday 12:00pm) plus a Turbo Day 1 with 40 minute blinds on Friday evening beginning at 8:00pm. Players may also choose to join the field on either of the Day 2s until the beginning of level 13 – so while there’s still plenty of opportunity to join the event – only today and tomorrow are “regular” starting days. Players looking to maximize their EV in the tournament are also playing multiple Day 1s and bagging multiple stacks to take to Day 2. With two Day 2s on the agenda, a player can use these additional stacks to enter or re-enter both of them […]
Darryll Fish leads the 1B platoon
Day 1B is officially in the books. Eight levels of poker were played, and some unbelievable play was witnessed. From 174 entries, the field funneled down to just 63 players, and all of them are done bagging their chips. Day 1 qualifiers have already decided which Day 2 they wish to play, and that information was added to their bag in the form of a sticker. Day 2A and 2B will be held on Saturday and Sunday respectively, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, because there are three more starting flights for this $10,000,000 guaranteed Main Event, including a turbo flight on Friday night. Many players had a great flight today; we count seven players over 600M! In the lead, Darryll Fish with 6,900,000 chips, a top pro that will surely be a force in Day 2. Jonathan Abdellatif follows, and in 3rd place is Brian Morgan, a local […]
Starting at Noon: Day 1B of the MILLIONS Main Event
Day 1B in the MILLIONS North America Main Event begins today at 12:00pm. This is the second of 5 Day 1s that we’re hosting in this historic poker tournament, and if past events are any guide, the participation levels should start to increase considerably as each Day 1 arrives. Day 1A attracted 165 entries and now Day 1B should prove even more popular. The tournament features 4 “normal” Day 1s plus a fifth Turbo Day 1, and registration is open throughout the day for each of these starting flights. In fact, players also have the option to enter or re-enter (or both) until the end of the break following level 12 on Days 2A and 2B as well – so there will be plenty of opportunity for players to find the winning formula to generate a huge stack to take to Day 3. Acteion gets underway in the Tournament Hall […]
MILLIONS Open champion: Karim-Olivier Kamal
The MILLIONS Open drew a massive field of 1,231 entries in only two starting flights. The large turnout allowed this first event of the MILLIONS North America series to easily surpass its $1,000,000 guarantee. 392 players advanced to Day 2 and 68 players made it to Day 3. But in the end it came down to two players: Ehamparam Kauvsegan and Karim-Oliver Kamal. Both players showed their skill and tenacity by grinding their way through a tough final table that featured notable players like Martin Jacobson and Christopher Moorman. For the most part, the play at the final table was cautious and conservative. The huge pay jumps from ninth place-$12,000-to first place-$210,000-certainly factored into the players’ approaches. Karim-Olivier Kamal brought one of the larger stacks in play with him to the final table, and he found a way to maintain his momentum all the way to heads-up play. When Christopher […]
Christopher Kruk is the Super High Roller Champion!
The heads-up battle between Christopher Kruk and Anthony Zinno had played through three full levels (halved to 20 mins each) and had remained more or less even in chips – and they were still reasonably deep – when they chose to forego a scheduled break and continue with level 25 immediately. It would only take a single hand in the level to wrap a bow around the tournament and crown a new Champion. The cards were dealt. Anthony was on the button and thus first to act, and he raised to 1.5M holding . Christopher, in his turn, considered his options for a little longer than usual before grabbing a stack of orange chips, moving them forward, and declaring, “all in”! Anthony quickly made the call and the cards were exposed – Christopher had shoved his leading 43bb stack with ! The flop was dealt: – not much there for […]
MILLIONS Main Event Day 1A: Tony Dunst bags the lead
Today was Day 1A of the MILLIONS North America Main Event. As the Open and the Super High Roller were playing to their conclusion, The Main Event was on its first of 5 starting flights. 164 entries were accounted for, and when the dust had settled, 65 players were still at the tables, led by none other than Tony Dunst. Many big names joined in including superstars Jonathan Duhamel, Richard Dubini, Kristen Bicknell and Mike Watson, but also local heros like Samuel Chartier, Marc-Etienne Mclaughlin, Ema Zajmovic, Chanracy Khun, and many more. Tyler Clayton Patterson was leading the field through a big part of the day until Tony Dunst and David Shao passed him during the last lap. View the full Combined Day 1 Results List This post was published first on this Playground Event Blog: MILLIONS North America 2018.
The number 1 reason to travel to Montreal for the MILLIONS North America!
For the last 10 weeks we have been counting down the top reasons to visit Montreal during the MILLIONS North America and we have finally reached NUMBER ONE! But before we reveal the numero uno, let’s recap the 10th through 2nd spots: 10. The Shopping Experience 9. Museums, art galleries and exhibits 8. Parks and recreation 7. Historic Sites & Landmarks 6. The Laurentians 5. Kahnawake 4. Old Montreal 3. Montreal Nightlife 2. Montreal: A foodie’s paradise! And now for the number one reason to travel to Montreal for the MILLIONS North America… to play the MILLIONS Main Event and make the Final Table! That’s right! That itself should be reason enough to make your way down to Playground Poker Club. With a $10,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool including $1,400,000 Guaranteed for first, $1,200,000 Guaranteed for second and $1,000,000 Guaranteed for third the MILLIONS Main Event Final Table is the place […]
The Main Event begins today!
Day 1A in the MILLIONS North America Main Event begins today at 12:00pm, and history will begin to be made as the largest tournament in Canadian poker history gets underway in the Tournament Hall at Playground Poker Club. The event features a massive $10,000,000 guaranteed prize pool, and the first 3 places are guaranteed to pay at least $1M each! The tournament features 4 “normal” Day 1s plus a fifth Turbo Day 1, and registration is open throughout the day for each of these starting flights. In fact, players also have the option to enter or re-enter (or both) until the end of the break following level 12 on Days 2A and 2B as well – so there will be plenty of opportunity for players to find the winning formula to generate a huge stack to take to Day 3. The Satellite and other qualifier activity surrounding this event have […]