Late last night, quad over quad allowed a third Bad Beat Jackpot to hit since the beginning of the month. Table 7, located at the heart of our Original Room, delivered the BBJ to nine lucky $1/$2 players. Three of those nine players were sitting out, on break, leaving six players dealt in. The first two players to act limped in, but that was quickly raised to $10, a bet that was also short-lived. Gregory pushed $30 forward, a good chunky 3-bet. Much to the aggressors’ surprise, both blinds cold called, and were joined by the second limper – Georges – and the initial raiser, sending a group of five players to the flop! Flop: After four quick checks, Gregory continued with $45, and three players matched it, all interested to see the turn: . This street did not see any action, and the foursome got themselves a free river: […]
Poker
St-Louis takes down the $200 + $20 PL Omaha Re-entry tournament
Event #4 of the Playground 9-Year Anniversary Series was the $200 + $20 PL Omaha Re-entry tournament, always a favourite for those who love action. There was a $7,000 guaranteed prize pool and when the late registration period came to a close, there were 44 entries in total (including 11 re-entries) which allowed the prize pool to grow to $8,536. Action was the word of the evening as players were getting it in with draws, hoping to hit. The first elimination happened within the first five minutes of play, but with the re-entry format, the players were able to try their luck as often as they pleased. At the first break of the evening Maxime Flibotte-Blanchard took the lead and held on to it through the second break. David St-Louis was also on the first leaderboard and by the second break he was right behind Flibotte-Blanchard, in second place. As […]
Megastack Turbo Re-entry Champion: Silvio La Palerma
Event #3 of Playground’s 9-Year Anniversary Series, the $100 + $10 Megastack Turbo Re-entry, brought out a large field of players that contributed a total of 96 entries to this single-day event. The prize pool guarantee of $5,000 was easily surpassed, as over $9,000 in prizes was awarded to the top 12 players. Throughout the afternoon, many different players had turns as the chip leader, as nobody was able to hang on to that lead for very long. The turbo structure kept the chips moving around the tables at a brisk pace, putting most players on a white-knuckled ride just to keep pace with the blinds. So it was only fitting that the two players who managed to stay on the leaderboard for most of the afternoon, Mathieu Legault and Silvio La Palerma, would meet in a heads-up battle at the final table. Legault, who emerged victorious in Event #2 […]
6-Max Re-entry Champion: Mathieu Legault
Event #2 of the 9-Year Anniversary series, the $100 + $10 6-Max Re-entry was a great success. This one day tournament garnered a total of 79 entries and was full of action. The field was quickly reduced to the final table but once there the pace of play slowed dramatically as pay jumps got bigger and the players set their sights on the championship. After Yasser Zaatar was eliminated in fifth, the final four players asked the floor to pause the clock and they agreed to an ICM deal as followed: Michael Mickelson – $1,090 Silvio La Palerma – $1,190 Christian Rho – $1,420 Mathieu Legault – $1,380 This deal would award an additional $255 for the winner. Michael Mickelson and Silvio La Palerma busted out quickly after the fifth break, leaving Christian Rho and Mathieu Legault to battle it out for the top spot. Once heads-up, Rho and Legault […]
Super Sunday Takes a Break
In order to accommodate the increased needs in tournament tables during the 9-Year Anniversary and the World Cup of Cards, three editions of the Super Sunday will be cancelled: December 15 will make way for the 9-Year Anniversary, while January 26 and February 2 will allow the many WCC events on those dates to enjoy the space they require. The first cancellation is this weekend. The Grand Prix Canada, guaranteed at $500,000 and offering 19 Day 1s to choose from, is sure to qualify a vast number of players for next Sunday’s Day 2, and will without a doubt monopolize a great number of tables on that day. We can therefore guarantee that this Sunday will be more Super for a bunch of players, as Day 2 of the Grand Prix Canada will send the last 16 standing to the conclusion of the 9-Year Anniversary Main Event, on Monday, December […]
Women’s Series Event #3 Champion: Cynthia Paquette
The third installment of the Playground Women’s Series, Event #3, started at noon and attracted a total of 62 entries. The large turnout pushed today’s prize pool to $8,401. The atmosphere was pleasant while the players enjoyed some really good poker action as they battled to make it to the final table. After the blind levels increased to 30 minutes in length, patience was the word of the day as players waited to find the best possible spots before getting their chips into the middle. As the final table bubble approached, it took close to one full hour before the tournament saw Helen Bechard exit in 11th place. As soon as the players were seated on the final table they agreed to make a deal to pay the ninth and tenth spots, so that all players would be in the money. One by one the eliminations took place, until finally […]
A Second BBJ in One Week!
Just three days after a quad-over-quad BBJ hit, another group of players got their own BBJ experience! This one arose after a heads-up pre-flop showdown, as both players involved – two long-time Playground regulars – were holding some serious hole cards. Just fifteen minutes after the table opened, the special hand started. Eric raised the pot to $10. The button made it $30 to go, and after Roland called from the small blind position, Eric shoved his whole stack. The player who placed the $30 3-bet reluctantly got out of the way, and Roland called for an effective $78. Eric: Roland: The flop was very promising, missing only one card to unlock the Bad Beat Jackpot. That card appeared right away, allowing celebrations before the board was completed. Full board: The amount of $25,394 was shared by the seven players present, awarding $12,697 to Eric and $6,349 to Roland. The […]
December Off To a Good Start!
On Sunday, the first day of December, the afternoon was coming to an end when a very special hand unfolded on one of our $1/$2 cash game tables. The game was full, but one player was on break, leaving eight players dealt in. After one call, Timothy raised the pot to $10, a very standard raise at these stakes. Two players cold called the bet, and the limper joined in. 4-way flop: The first 2 players to act passed the option to the raiser, who placed a smallish $20 continuation bet. Manpreet called, and was left alone with the aggressor, out of position. When the appeared on the turn, Manpreet politely passed the option over to Timothy, again. Another $20 were bet and called. The river: . If you’re holding quad 3s, this river is as beautiful as can be. You either win a big pot, or win the Bad […]
6-Max Bounty Champion: Kayden Stacey
Event #7: $150 + $20 + $50 6-Max Bounty was the final tournament of the November Power Weekend. The tournament featured a $15,000 guaranteed prize pool but once the late registration period came to a close, with the 135 entries, the prize pool swelled to $26,190! The pace was fast and furious as players were battling it out with each other trying to pick up a $50 bounty chip for knocking out their adversary. Langis de Grand Pre took the early lead but in the end he busted as the bubble boy, however he collected $200 for his efforts as the players had agreed to a bubble deal. Frederic Robert was also one of the leaders, crushing as the night moved along, but in the end, he fell in 12th spot for $320. When the final table was formed, at first it appeared as if Karim Abdelhamid was in control and […]
6-Max Re-entry Champion: M.Marzan
Event #6 of the November Power Weekend, the $100 + $10 6-Max Re-entry was a great success. This one day tournament garnered a total of 85 entries. The day was action-packed quickly reducing the field to the final table. Once there the pace of play slowed dramatically as the pay jumps got bigger and the players set their sights on the championship. After Francois Semaan was eliminated in fourth, it was a three-way battle between Rong Xu, M. Marzan, and Cole Skye. Skye got his chips in good but his kings went down thanks to an ace-high flop. Despite the unfortunate end to his run, Skye can take solace in his $1,190 in winnings. Once heads-up Rong Xu and M. Marzan played and a few hands before deciding to make an ICM deal. The two were close in chips at the time of the deal but Marzan received an extra $180, […]
Single Rebuy Champion: Dominic St-Pierre
Event #5 of the November Power weekend was the $100 + $10 Single Rebuy featuring a $8,000 guaranteed prize pool. When late registration and the rebuy period came to a close, there were a total of 85 entries and 26 rebuys, allowing the prize pool to swell to $10,767, with the top 11 finishers being in the money. There was action galore all night long as the stacks were being built while the eliminations were happening. When play was on the bubble, the players agreed to doing a bubble deal so that the 12th position would be paid. Once the deal was made, it didn’t take all that long to form the final table. On the final table Playground regular Danielle Schwartz went on a heater and had the lead early on, but that eventually changed and she ended up busting in third place with a flopped flush vs a […]
Playground 100 champion: Richard Drolet
Event #3 of the November Power Weekend, the $100 + $10 Playground 100, was a tremendous success. This multi-day event gathered 905 entries from its various starting flights to nearly double the prize pool guarantee, which was set at $50,000. In the end, this event awarded $87,785 in prizes. Day 2 play began this afternoon with the top 93 players already in the money. The action started out at a fast pace, as the qualifying players were looking to make a deep run rather than settle for a small cash so they took risks early and often. The early levels of play quickly reduced the field to less than 30 players after roughly four hours of play. There was a short lull in the action before things picked up again, bringing about the final table in level 28. When play began at the final table two players – Sergei Gurin […]