LIVE EVENTS

After 12 levels of play, Day 1 of the $600 + $60 Monster Stack has wrapped.

At this point, only 125 players remain from the 435 that entered. Players will return tomorrow for Day 2, which will kick off at 1:00pm and play down to a winner. Because of the high number of entrants, the total prize pool of $253,170 extended well beyond the guaranteed expected minimum of $150,000.

Up at the top of the leaderboard is Johan Levyssohn, whose 414,000 chips put him in a great position to make a run for the big money tomorrow. A full list of the Day 2 qualifiers,along with their chip counts, can be found here on the results page. Speaking of money, top prize for this event is expected to be between $40,000 and $50,000, with approximately 60 players “in the money.” An exact count will be produced shortly.

Below are photos of some players with what appeared to be the most significant chip stacks. See you all tomorrow!

Having gathered 321,000 chips, this inanimate pair of sunglasses has taken the chip lead. Congratulations to Dolce Gabbana (aka Ayana Massa) on her impressive stack so far! Can she keep it up and maintain her lead as we move through our last three levels of the night? Stay tuned to find out!

Note: The registration period is now closed for the Monster Stack event. With 435 official entries, the prize pool is now 253,170.

Not every hand has to result in a winner to be dramatic, and such was the case just now on table 90.

The hand began with three players seeing the flop, which came down . Maxime Roby (below, left) was first to act, and bet 4,000. Another player folded and the last remaining player in the hand, Christian Barbeau, decided to call. Down came a , and this time Maxime checked. Christian raised to 7,000 but was check-raised to 21,000 by Maxime. Christian took three or four minutes to decide, but eventually called.

It seemed to the others at the table like a strange play at first, only to call – particularly since he had less than 10,000 left in his stack afterwards. He had already put around 28,000, so why not shove?

The river card was an which garnered an insta-shove of Maxime’s remaining 20,000. Surely Christian was committed at this point, and had no choice? He wasn’t sure. So unsure of his play in fact that he tanked for more than five minutes. Everyone wondered what he was pondering, but they were patient and no one called time. Eventually he called the all-in, and Maxime flipped over his cards.

Perhaps the table expected a muck, but everyone erupted in smiles and laughter when both players flipped over identical pocket eights. The dealer chopped the pot and dealt the next hand.

On table 71 just now chip leader Danick Landriault took advantage of his position atop of the leaderboard, using his superior stack to pressure another player into submission. That player was Kristopher Coulombe.

When we arrived at the table the board was showing . His only opponent, Kris, checked to Danick who bet 3,500. After a short pause, Kris called and a came down on the river. Kris checked again, and his hesitancy led to one of the most relaxed-looking shoves of the evening.

Kris was easily covered by Danick, and he didn’t want to risk his tournament life on this hand. After all, even with a set of fives, a pretty good hand, he could still be beaten by a number of possible combinations. The rich get richer, and play continues…

Danick Landriault is the chip leader at the second break, having amassed 173,100 chips, well above his closest rival at 139,500. In fact, there are only five players from from the remaining 281 that have more than 100,000.

The result? Danick is sitting pretty, especially with the blinds only at 300/600. Now he has the flexibility to play a wider range of hands and use his position to his advantage against the smaller stacks. Good luck Dan, and good luck to the rest of the group!

This WSOP-C Playground event, the $600 + $60 Monster Stack, was advertised as having a guaranteed prize pool of $150,000. We are happy to say that we have surpassed that mark, and by quite a margin!

Presently, the prize pool is at $224,652. And with 387 player entries so far (and counting) that number is sure to rise.

Although past victories are not always a predictor of future success, being a former champion usually helps your cause rather than hurts it. And in the case of the $600 + $60 Monster Stack, we noticed a few players that finished in the top 10 among the crowd here today on Day 1 of this year’s event.

First up is last year’s winner, Dallis Kerbrat. Graced with one of the most unique names in the Monster Stack, the youthful Dallis took down last year’s event and won himself a cool $38,650 for his troubles. We wonder if his table knows just who they’re dealing with?

Other top ten finishers are also in the crowd, including Weituoxin Wu and Shailesh Patel. They finished in 4th and 6th places last year, taking down $23,738 and $10,000, respectively. Can they repeat their successful performances this year? There’s only one way to find out!

With 379 entrants so far into the Monster Stack, it really is anyone’s game, and it’s far too early to distinguish an clear front-runners from this rather large group, 316 of which are still in the hunt. And if you haven’t taken you seat yet, don’t worry, it’s not too late. Late registration remains open for another three hours and forty minutes, or until about 10:45pm.

Good luck to all our players!

The $600 + $60 Monster Stack has now reached its first break of the day. After two hours of play, Ryan Andrade is in front of the pack, having collected 93,375 chips. Well done!

Keep in mind: Because the value of the average chip stack remains only barely more than the starting stack, any players that have not already registered should feel comfortable joining in at any point. Indeed, the registration period will remain open for more than four more hours, so there is plenty of time to take your seat and make a play for the $150,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Come on down and join the fun!

We are barely an hour into play, but the group here at the $600 + $60 Monster Stack Day 1 has already reached 305 – and there are still more then five hours left in the late registration period! Considering that the starting stack is 30,000 chips and the current chip average is only 31,000, this is truly anyone’s game.

So whether you are coming down to Playground specifically for the Monster Stack or simply joining us after being eliminated from the Colossus, there is plenty of time to join in and start building a bank.

Below are some photos of our competitors in the early rounds.

The WSOP-C Playground continues this week with Event #3, otherwise known as the $600 + $60 Monster Stack. This event will be played out over the course of two days (today and tomorrow), with a guaranteed a prize pool of $150,000.

Players start with 30,000 chips and will play their way through twelve 40-minute levels, with breaks occurring every three levels. Today’s tournament is a freezeout, meaning no rebuys or re-entries are allowed. Registration will remain open until the start of level 9, or 10:45pm, and Day 1 should wrap just before 1:00am.

The first cards have just been dealt, and although our players have only been at it for 10 minutes, there have already been 200 entries. This tournament is likely to be quite a strong field, so if you want to take part in some of the best poker the WSOP-C Playground has to offer, come on down and take on the Monster Stack. It could be your lucky day!