Event #7, the $250 + $50 + $250 Bounty was the last event of the WPT Montreal and it was a huge success. The tournament boasted a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool and in the end, it attracted 327 entries (including 92 re-entries) to help swell the prize pool to $76,845 in prize payouts plus another $76,845 in bounties! The day was action packed and you could hear the dealers announcing all ins from across the room on almost every table, as the play was very aggressive. Everyone wanted those $250 bounty chips, that was for sure. Frederic Robert dominated the early levels but in the end he made the money but did not make the final table. Play was very deep and the last two tables took hours to play out. Nobody wanted to bust as they all had their eyes on the final table and the big payouts. The […]
Poker
Our WPT Montreal Main Event Champion: Geoffrey Hum
The WPT Montreal Main Event was an amazing race. 1109 entries were accounted for, enough to surpass the guarantee by over 10%. Players came in from the Online Day 1 & 2, three live starting flights and even the live Day 2, which allowed entries and re-entries for a duration of four levels. Towards the end of Day 2, the wonderful prize pool was being announced and the bubble came shortly after. The bubble burst was also the end of day, as Day 2 was coming to a halt when the money was reached. Day 3 started with 159 players at the tables, all of them in the money and ready to make that min cash grow. Already in Day 3, the field was looking extremely strong, with all-star players on every table. Only 10 of them made it to Day 4, including Mike Leah and Michael Watson, two of […]
The WPT delivers two BBJs!
As players have come to expect, major events at Playground tend to bring out big jackpots, and the WPT Montreal has kept up that tradition, producing not one but two Jackpots already! The first one hit only three days into the event, for $38,936. The big hand played out on a 9-handed 2/5 NL Hold’em table. The action was opened from early position to $15, a price enticing enough to pick up five callers. Six players watched the dealer fan out the flop. Arslan J, in seat 2, led into the field with a bet of $75. Only Srinivas G, in seat 7, felt comfortable continuing and made the call. Arlsan and Srinivas went to the turn heads-up, each feeling good about their holdings. The turn produced the , giving both players exactly what they were hoping for. Arslan continued his line and made a bet of $150 on the […]
The High Roller Champion: Louis Boutin
The High Roller, Event #4 in the 2019 WPT Montreal, just came to close. The 3-day tournament, priced at $5,000 + $300, was the biggest buy-in event in this festival, and it transpired through the amazing skill level that we witnessed since Monday. The crowd was a who’s who of the poker scene, both local and international. The event’s Day 3 was positioned just before the last Main Event starting flight which made it a great option for pros to face each other and get the juices going before the big dance. Kristen Bicknell, Charles L.B., Marc-André Ladouceur, Jeffrey Cormier and Tony Dunst are just a few of the great players who made Day 3. Tony Dunst, after securing the biggest payout in a 3-way deal, left Louis Boutin and Alex Ding heads-up for the title. Stacks, however, were very uneven, favouring Ding. Ding increased his lead by calling down […]
WPT500 Champion: Bradley Smith
The WPT500, the first event of the WPT Montreal, brought out a huge field of players. Thanks to five starting flights on partypoker and eight live starting flights at Playground, this edition of the WPT500 collected a total of 2,135 entries. From those entries, 303 players survived their respective starting flights to reach Day 2 and cashed this event. Day 2 play brought the field down to the final table. The nine finalists returned this afternoon to play for hundreds of thousands in cash prizes and a prestigious WPT event championship. When play began at the final table, Stephane Nadot controlled the largest stack in play, however, he went through some major swings during the early stages of play, eventually exiting in seventh place. Following Nadot’s elimination, the players agreed to an ICM chop of the remaining prize pool, leaving $40,000 for the eventual champion. The bustouts proceeded quickly from […]
Jessie Wheatley took down the Playground 200
The Playground 200 needs no introduction anymore. The $200 + $20 tournament has been headlining our Power Weekends and supporting major festivals for years. At the WPT Montreal, it acted as a side event, placed right before Event #1, the WPT500. Through one online and five live starting flight, 550 entries were accumulated, just enough to cover the $100,000 guarantee. After three days of tough poker, it all came down to a heads-up match between Jessie Wheatley and George Chow. When the dust settled, Jessie had all the chips and took one down for the women! A money deal had been made, and following Jessie’s win, her net prize was $19,250. As for George, he finished the tournament $15,680 richer. Not too bad for a $220 poker tournament! Jessie joins Marie-Claude Grondin (winner of the WPT Montreal Event #3, the $200 + $20 Ladies) and Crystal Abouhanna (winner of the […]
We have a winner!
WPT Ladies Event Champion: Marie-Claude Grondin – $5,177 Congratulations to our Ladies Event Champion! After 13.5 hours of play, Marie-Claude took down first place and a prize of $5,177. Well done! Final Hand of Play: The final hand of play began with a 150,000 preflop bet by Marie-Claude, which was called by the runner-up, Roberta Biancardi. The flop came down , which led to an all-in shove by Roberta, who was holding bottom pair and a flush draw. Marie-Claude snap called with her and made her nut flush on the turn. WPT Ladies Event Runner-Up: Roberta Biancardi – $3,455 Roberta finishes in second place and earns a $3,455 prize. She had a fantastic tournament as well, outlasting all but one of her female competitors. Congratulations go out to both of our finalists on a tournament well played.
$300 +$30 Freeze champion: Isaac Buswell
Event #2, the $300 + $30 Freeze, was the first single-day event of the WPT Montreal. There was a $30,000 guaranteed prize pool which ended up getting doubled with the 200 entries in tonight’s field. The top 25 places were paid, with a min-cash of $590 in 25th place, and $13,565 along with the champion’s trophy for the first place finisher. There was a lot of great talent in the field and the players enjoyed a great atmosphere along with some laughs along the journey. Once play went three-handed, the players agreed to an ICM chop, and each of them locked up some hard-earned cash; the deal was as follows: Dsouza – 1,730,000 in chips, $8,540 Buswell – 2,415,000 in chips, $9,060 Chackal – 1,855,000 in chips, $8,650 All three finalists agreed to the deal and play continued on. The players played down to a winner who would receive an […]
The November Power Weekend
November will deliver falling leaves, dropping temperatures, and a Power Weekend! This mini-series will feature seven events, with over $190,000 in total prize pool guarantees. The November edition has not one but two multi-day events: the Playground 500 and the Playground 100. This duo offers the chance for players of all levels to take part in an epic multi-day event at the price point that suits them best. The $500 + $50 Playground 500 has a prize pool guarantee of $100,000. It begins on partypoker on November 17 at 4:00pm with an Online Day 1, before the first of three live starting flights gets going at Playground on November 21. Day 2 will be held on November 23, and a champion will be crowned following the conclusion of play on Day 3, which runs on November 24. The Playground 100 boasts a huge prize pool guarantee for a modest buy-in. […]
Main Event and WPT500 Satellites
Poker players, we have lift-off! The WPT Montreal started on Sunday with three starting flights on partypoker; Online Day 1A of the WPT500, Online Day 1 & 2 off the WPT Montreal Main Event, and Day 1 Online of the Playground 200, a well-known multi-day event. The Main Event and the WPT500 have the largest prize pool guarantees of the series, guaranteeing $3,000,000 and $1,066,000, respectively. In order to help players of all levels take a shot at these whopping prize pools, Playground has a series of satellites in store. Following five online starting flights, the WPT500 will have eight live starting flights at Playground, including two turbo flights. Day 1A will be held on Friday, October 25, and you can try to qualify for as little at $70 + $10 thanks to satellites on October 23 and 24 that guarantee five and ten seats, respectively. These satellites have a […]
Women’s Series Event #1 Champion: Crystal Abouhanna
The first open event of the Playground Women’s Series guaranteed prize pool of $5,000 but awarded far more! The tournament attracted a total of 80 entries, including 12 re-entries, which helped to more than double the prize pool guarantee and put the top 10 finishers in the money. In addition to the cash prizes for each open event, the top 5 finishers in each open tournament receive a direct entry into the Final. The top 10 point earners for the series (not including those who qualify automatically) will also receive an entry in the Final. Throughout the afternoon, the atmosphere in the tournament hall was friendly but competitive, and there was some top-notch poker on display. The tournament structure allowed for deep-stacked play, which became obvious when there were two tables remaining and the average chip stack was nearly 30 big blinds. Play slowed down considerably as the money bubble […]
The Women’s Series Starts Tomorrow!
The first ever Playground Women’s Series, presented in partnership with the Women’s Poker Association (WPA), is almost here! The consistently large fields seen in ladies tournaments during recent events bode well for this inaugural series so expect a big turnout. The first open tournament in this hotly anticipated series runs this Saturday, October 19 at 12:00pm, with late registration available until 2:15pm. The WPA is a global membership-based, all-volunteer, professional organization formed to promote, develop, and professionalize the advancement of women in poker by heightening the exposure of current women poker players while encouraging and developing new women players. Playground is proud to help the WPA further its goal of elevating the poker experience for women. The Women’s Series features four $150 + $15 single re-entry tournaments, each with a guaranteed prize pool of $5,000, where players will compete for not only a piece of the prize pool but also […]