LIVE EVENTS

The Day 1I Turbo, the thirteenth and final flight of the $300 + $30 Colossus, lived up to its name late this evening, wrapping up in just under six hours. And while Jack Shea had the honor of eliminating the final player of the night, in the end it was Sebastien Roy who took the greater honor, collecting a total of 439,500 chips. With his haul he lands in 1st place overall (by only 500 chips!) heading into Day 2.

This evening’s flight had a total of 232 entries (including 40 re-entries) and the top 15% (35 players) made the cut, earning themselves a spot in Day 2. All 35 players and their chip counts are listed here in the combined results page. The Turbo qualifiers may not get too much sleep, but regardless, they will join the other 498 qualifiers when Day 2 kicks off tomorrow, Monday August 26th at noon. Below are some photos of some of our chip leaders from this flight.

Good luck to everyone in their quest to conquer the Colossus and take their piece of the $1,000,000 prize pool. Live coverage will be back in just a few hours, where players will start their day with the blinds at 2,000/4,000. See you at the tables!

Sebastien Roy leads the group after 16 levels and four hours of play, not including break times. He is the only player above 200,000 chips, and very well-positioned to go deep in this Turbo flight. Only 61 players remain, and with the blinds going up to 2,500/5,000 after the break, we suspect the eliminations will start to come faster and faster.

On table 38 just now we witnessed an elimination, as the Turbo group moved from 70 players down to 69, always a memorable milestone.

The hand began with Jean Binette betting 7,000 under the gun. The table folded around to Cletus Severyn, pictured below, who decided to call from the button. No one else was interested in taking part.

A flop led to a check from Jean, and Cletus bet 12,000. This was followed by an immediate shove by Jean, matched by an equally speedy call from Cletus, who flipped over his , making a set. All Jean could do was watch helplessly as his tournament ended. His pocket pair of s didn’t hold up, and he packed up his things.

And the eliminations continue! As we were writing this post six more players dropped off the list. Only 29 more eliminations to go, and this final flight of the $300 + $30 Turbo will be in the books.

In a Turbo format, the speed of the rising blinds is often the greatest driver of play. Case in point, we lost approximately ten players in only the last few minutes, where players felt compelled to bet it all preflop on sub-optimal cards. That’s what happens when the blinds are up at 1,000/2,000 and you have less than 15,000 in your stack. Call it the Turbo Curse.

For example, on one table a player decided that his best shot was taking the plunge with a suited Queen-Six, not usually a good idea; he found himself up against an Ace-Queen and lost that battle in a hurry. On another table it was a suited King-Two; that player lost to an Ace-Queen when the aces paired on the flop. Without the ability to pick and choose the timing of the battles, players are often left out in the cold without a chance to put their jacket on.

Indeed, while this post was being written, we lost another 8 players, and we’re down to 87! Play continues…

With registration now closed for the Colossus Turbo, we now know that this flight will only officially come to a close when 35 players remain. At this point, 150 players are still seated, battling it out on the felt for their piece of the guaranteed $1,000,000 prize pool.

That means that 115 players are going to go home disappointed.

Good luck to all of our competitors as they make their way towards the next goal, qualifying for a seat on Day 2, which kicks off tomorrow, August 26th at noon.

After eight quick 15-minute levels, Pawan Braich sits atop the leaderboard with almost 90,000 chips after the first break. His chip stack is almost triple the size of the average, so he’s extremely well positioned moving forward, particularly with respect to the format of this tournament.

The speed of Turbos can surprise players with the relative speed of the blind increases. If you don’t make moves or catch cards early, those pesky, fast-rising blinds can eat into your stack in a hurry, depleting your ability to use patience to your advantage, increasing the pressure on players to make due with more marginal card combinations.

Good luck to Pawan as he makes his way into level 10 and beyond, and good luck to all the rest of the Colossus Turbo players – you’re going to need it!

The action continues fast and furious here at Playground, with over 200 entries in the Colossus Turbo so far. Below are some more photos of our competitors, just before the beginning of the first break (and the end of late registration).

If you planned on playing the Colossus Turbo flight, you had better move fast! With levels of only 15 minutes, the beginning of level 9 (which is also the end of late registration) is almost upon us. In just 30 minutes (11:15pm) the window of opportunity will be closed!

The tournament is jumping at the moment, with more than 200 entries in the last two hours. Remember, to qualify for Day 2 (coming up tomorrow at noon), all you have to do is still have chips in front of you when the field has been reduced to 15% of the total entries. Based on the number of entries so far, all you have to do is be one of the last 30 players left standing (well, sitting actually).

So if you want to jump right into the middle of the action and earn your spot in Day 2, now is the time. Let’s go!

In just 45 minutes we’ve had 132 entries into the Colossus Turbo flight, and even though we just started, there remains only an hour and a half until the registration period closes. Below are photos of some of our Day 1I Turbo players doing their thing.

If you haven’t yet taken your seat, now’s the time to grab your hat and take a seat. Day 2 (and glory) awaits!

Play has officially just begun on the thirteenth and final Day 1 flight of the $300 + $30 Colossus, an absolutely massive event with a guaranteed $1,000,000 prize pool. Playground Poker Club has been packed since noon, with over 1,000 players choosing to hit the felt today alone, and the action isn’t over yet!

This evening’s flight is the Turbo, which means – you guessed it – it’s fast. Levels will increase every 15 minutes (as opposed to every 30 minutes in the other live flights) however, players still begin with 20,000 chips, as with the other live flights. The competitors will continue play until 15% of the field remains, and this event features unlimited re-entries until the end of late registration, which occurs at the start of level 9, or 11:30pm.

Cards are in the air folks. Come on down and join the action!