Well that was fun! Valentino Pedicelli got it in with 
, Alexandre Fournier joined the party with 
, and Prosper Azoulay had them both crushed with 
.
The board runout made quad three’s and all of the players at the table just laughed. As Mario Ho would say, “everyone loves a chopped pot”.
After a series of rapid eliminations, the nine-handed final table has been formed. Here are the seating positions and chip stacks:
| Seat: | First Name | Last Name | Stack | # of big blinds: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valentino | Pedicelli | 57,650,000 | 57.6 |
| 2 | Scott | Shein | 14,150,000 | 14.1 |
| 3 | Alexandre | Fournier | 24,250,000 | 24.2 |
| 4 | Wafic | Fala | 29,450,000 | 29.4 |
| 5 | Francis | Dery | 20,400,000 | 20.4 |
| 6 | Maxime | Chartrand | 55,600,000 | 55.6 |
| 7 | Prosper | Azoulay | 58,050,000 | 58 |
| 8 | Jared | McDonald | 29,200,000 | 29.2 |
| 9 | Paul | Manolan | 16,000,000 | 16 |
Earlier bustouts include:
To win a tournament you have to win your flips. Ebrahimi Ebrahim started Day 3 with 21,350,000 chips and when he picked up a premium pair he decided it was time to get his chips in. Val Pedicelli also had a premium and made the call.
Ebrahim: 
Pedicelli: 
The flop 
was good for Ebrahim but the turn changed everything, making a higher pair for Pedicelli. The river 
was of no help to Ebrahim and he went to the cage to pick up his payout.
14th place: Ebrahimi Ebrahim, $3,250
Nassim K. played a great game and he was delighted to make it to Day 3. He had lost some chips early on today and when Scotty Shein opened for 1,200,000, it folded back to Nassim who called it off with his remaining chips. Shein had ace-queen and Nassim had 9-6 off. Shein took down the pot with ace-high and as Nassim made his way to the desk to collect his payout slip, he was heard saying “I’m happy to have at least made a pay jump”. Well played.
15th place: Nassim K., $3,250
Action started with an all in on the very first hand between Maxime Chartrand holding 
and Francis Dery with 
. The board ran out clean and Chartrand secures an early double-up.
After another orbit of play, with the blinds at 300,000/600,000, Maxime Chartrand raised it up from early middle position to 1,200,000, only to see Gregory Bell move all in. Chartrand snap-called and the hands were tabled:
Bell: 
Chartrand: 
Both players had premium hands and the race was on. A classic coin flip for sure. The dealer fanned out the 
on the flop and all of the sudden there was a sweat as Bell flopped a gutshot straight draw, but of course Chartrand had the blockers. The turn came the 
to pair the board and the river 
sealed the deal for Chartrand, sending Bell to the rail as the first casualty of the night.
16th place: Gregory Bell, $2,750
Day 3 of the Grand Prix Canada is now underway as the cards are in the air! The 16 returning players are now each assured of at least $2,750, with the next pay jump ($3,250) happening in 15th position. All players of course have their eyes set on the $87,000 first prize money along with the gorgeous trophy and the associated bragging rights.
Here is the seating draw for today’s start:
| First Name | Last Name | Seat | Stack |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pham | Duy Tan | Table 19 - Seat 8 | 45,950,000 |
| Mcdonald | Jared | Table 24 - Seat 8 | 34,700,000 |
| Azoulay | Prosper | Table 19 - Seat 7 | 33,575,000 |
| Pedicelli | Valentino | Table 20 - Seat 1 | 30,550,000 |
| Ebrahim | Ebrahimi | Table 20 - Seat 7 | 21,350,000 |
| Chartrand | Maxime | Table 19 - Seat 1 | 20,950,000 |
| Manoian | Paul | Table 20 - Seat 2 | 17,925,000 |
| Marzan | M | Table 20 - Seat 8 | 16,775,000 |
| Charette | Daniel | Table 24 - Seat 7 | 15,500,000 |
| Fournier | Alexandre | Table 20 - Seat 4 | 11,475,000 |
| Bell | Gregory | Table 24 - Seat 4 | 11,425,000 |
| Shein | Scott | Table 24 - Seat 1 | 8,100,000 |
| Dery | Francis | Table 19 - Seat 2 | 7,900,000 |
| Fala | Wafic | Table 19 - Seat 4 | 7,585,000 |
| Kourkjian | Baghdig | Table 24 - Seat 6 | 5,325,000 |
| K. | Nassim | Table 19 - Seat 6 | 4,250,000 |
The Grand Prix Canada’s 2,990 entries has been reduced to the top 16 going into the final day of the tournament. All advancing players are guaranteed a min-cash of $2,750 for the 16th finisher and a grand prize of $87,000 for first place.
Day 3 will commence tomorrow, January 27 at 7:00pm.
Here’s a look at the final seating chart:
| First Name | Last Name | Seat | Stack |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scott | Shein | Table 24 - Seat 7 | 8,100,000 |
| Daniel | Charette | Table 20 - Seat 6 | 15,500,000 |
| Wafic | Fala | Table 24 - Seat 5 | 7,585,000 |
| Baghdig | Kourkjian | Table 20 - Seat 2 | 5,325,000 |
| Prosper | Azoulay | Table 20 - Seat 8 | 33,575,000 |
| Nassim | K. | Table 24 - Seat 6 | 4,250,000 |
| Ebrahimi | Ebrahim | Table 20 - Seat 7 | 21,350,000 |
| Paul | Manoian | Table 24 - Seat 3 | 17,925,000 |
| Jared | Mcdonald | Table 24 - Seat 4 | 34,700,000 |
| Maxime | Chartrand | Table 20 - Seat 1 | 20,950,000 |
| Gregory | Bell | Table 20 - Seat 4 | 11,425,000 |
| Duy Tan | Pham | Table 24 - Seat 1 | 45,950,000 |
| Valentino | Pedicelli | Table 20 - Seat 5 | 30,550,000 |
| Alexandre | Fournier | Table 24 - Seat 2 | 11,475,000 |
| Francis | Dery | Table 20 - Seat 3 | 7,900,000 |
| Mayazul Islam | Marzan | Table 24 - Seat 8 | 16,775,000 |
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:
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:
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.
| First Name | Last Name | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| Paul | Manoian | 23,100,000 |
| Baghdig | Kourkjian | 19,700,000 |
| Prosper | Azoulay | 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:
| First Name | Last Name | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| Prosper | Azoulay | 11,100,000 |
| Paul | Manoian | 10,800,000 |
| Nassim | K. | 9,850,000 |
| Tony | Stratopoulos | 8,500,000 |
| Brian | Morgan | 8,250,000 |
