LIVE EVENTS

Day 2 of the Grand Prix Canada has come to a close with the final 16 players bagging their chips to head into Day 3. A total of 2,990 players entered the various Day 1 flights and 410 qualified for Day 2 with a guaranteed min-cash of $400. Competitors played through 40-minute blind levels all looking to qualify for Day 3.

The action was fast and furious as the short stacks knew they had to make big moves to survive. Little by little, players were sent home to collect their payouts while others cleaned up and built huge stacks. Frederick Watson lead the tournament early on but was unable to maintain pace after the third break when Prosper Azoulay and Paul Manoian were able to surpass him.

The final hand came quickly for the last three tables. John Theofilopoulos knew his stack was on the smaller side, so he decided to shove when he saw his ace-three hoping for the best. In the big blind, Ebrahimi Ebrahim woke up with ace-queen and snap-called. The board ran out two-king-queen-four-two, giving Ebrahim a pair of queens to win the hand and double his stack. Theofilopoulos was eliminated in 17th for $2,750.

The chip leaders going into Day 3 are as followed:

1. Duy Tan Pham – 45,950,000
2. Jared Mcdonald – 34,700,000
3. Prosper Azoulay – 33,575,000
4. Valentino Pedicelli – 30,550,000
5. Ebrahimi Ebrahim – 21,350,000

The 16 qualifiers will return tomorrow at 7:00pm to play down to a winner. The 16th finisher will be awarded $2,750 with the grand prize at $87,000 for first place. Click here for the Day 3 seating draw.

Congratulations to all qualifiers and good luck at Day 3!

Players are just four spots from the final 16 and advancing to Day 3. Duy Tan Pham was looking to regain his chip lead, after falling back to the middle of the pack since the second break. Pham took the opportunity to call Edward Densmore when Densmore shoved. Pham was holding while Densmore showed . The flop was incredible for Pham as the dealer put out giving Pham the nut flush. The turn and the river were insignificant at this point and Densmore exits the tournament in 24th for $2,050.

Here are the most recent player eliminations:

• 21st – Tony Stratopoulos ($2,350)
• 22nd – Samuel Pouliot ($2,350)
• 23rd – Hamid Reza ($2,350)
• 24th – Edward Densmore ($2,050)
• 25th – Danielle Bracy ($2,050)
• 26th – Senthuran Vijayaratnam ($2,050)
• 27th – Cody Phillips ($2,050)
• 28th – Tyler Carslaw ($2,050)

The field is slowing moving toward the final 16, as 30 players return to action in level 29. The payouts for the remaining competitors have now increased to $2,050.

Paul Manoian has surpassed his opponents in the last two levels to collect an astounding 23,100,000 in chips. His stack is currently worth 66 big blinds. Baghdig Kourkjian has come from behind to take second place with a stack of 19,700,000, good for 56 big blinds and Prosper Azoulay remains in a strong position in third with 17,800,000.

As the field gets smaller, the stacks get taller. The 42 remaining players are guaranteed to go home with at least $1,550 but of course everyone is trying to ladder up to the top 40, where the payout jumps to $1,800.

The race to the top is heating up as many players have built walls of chips. Here are the competitors with the largest stacks in level 28:

Prosper Azoulay has moved into first place as level 25 gets underway. Azoulay’s stack of 11,100,000 is almost triple the chip average of 4,300,000. Paul Manoian is not far in second with 10,800,000, good for about 67 big blinds.

Here’s a look at the current leaders:

Things are really heating up for the remaining 75 players. The floor is now playing 8-handed since reaching 80 players. The current payout is in the 4 digit range ($1,050) and they’re only growing larger.

Some of the most recent bustouts include:

• 76th – Martine Lavoie ($1,050)
• 77th – Danny Ibrahim ($1,050)
• 78th – Aaron Marchand ($1,050)
• 79th – Philippe Plouffe ($1,050)
• 80th – Marc-Antoine Plaisance ($1,050)
• 81st – Christian Brousseau ($850)
• 82nd – Alexandre Menard ($850)

The third break of the dayis quickly approaching, stay tuned for an updated leaderboard following the break.

The players are back after their second break ready for level 23. Blinds are now up to 80,000 with the average stack sitting at 2,620,000.  Frederick Watson continues to lead the pack with a whopping 9,300,000 chips, good for 116 big blinds. Prosper Azoulay is just a hair behind Watson with 300,000 less. It will be interesting to see where these players will rank after the next few levels of play.

Here’s a look at the top stacks:

The field is diminishing quickly with just 135 competitors left. Some have built a mountain of chips while the shorter stacks are trying hard to secure a crucial double-up by forcing a great deal of multi-way all ins. All those remaining are now guaranteed a min-cash of $700. 

Here’s a look at what’s happening on the floor.

Play has resumed into level 20 with 206 competitors still on the floor. The average chip stack is now 1,450,000, worth about 35 big blinds.

Frederick Watson is well above the current average with an impressive 6,450,000! Watson leads the next closest opponent, Martin Ouellette, by over one million. Ouellette sits in second with an impressive 5,100,000 which is worth 127 big blinds.

Here’s a look at the leaderboard:

238 remain as the clock runs down on level 19 and approaches the first break of the day. A lot of all-in shoves have ensured quick action and eliminations as the smaller stacks have really been feeling the pressure. Players still in contention will go home with at least $500.

Here’s a look at some early action:

Day 2 of the $200 + $20 Grand Prix Canada just kicked off at 1:00pm. The event has been a great success so far, attracting a total of 2,990 Day 1 entries. The 410 players that qualified from a Day 1 starting flight have returned this afternoon to continue their quest for a piece of the $580,060 prize pool.

Today’s event will play out until there are just 16 players left, who will then move onto the final day of the tournament tomorrow. Click here to find the list of the combined Day 1 results and here for today’s seating chart. All qualifying Day 2 players are guaranteed a min-cash of at least $400 plus the total prize pool as well as the incredible first prize which will be announced shortly.

Competitors will begin 9-handed and play through 40-minute blinds until the field is cut to 80, after which play will be 8-handed.

Good luck to all players!