When Event 8 got started at 7pm on Monday evening there were around 20 players who bought in immediately and were seated as level 1 began. There were a mix of players – well-known poker pros like Players Club members Gavin Smith and Phil Laak, local pros like Players Club member Christopher McClung and Pascal Lefrancois, and players who had been at the Spring Classic since the beginning and had played multiple events at various buy-in levels (i.e., Danny Boyaci and David Ormsby).
Throughout the evening players continued to jump in, joining the talented field and forcing some early table additions and a lot of “balancing up” as tables were added until eventually there were 52 total players representing a wide cross-section of poker talent. Players Club member and WPT Montreal third-place finisher Jeff Gross joined as soon as he was eliminated from the WPT Canadian Spring Championship, as did Shannon Shorr (who min-cashed the main event) and Tyler Reiman (the unfortunate bubble player in the WPT event).
Eventually the field reached 53 runners who played through 7 hour-long levels on Day 1. Of these 52, 29 remain in the tournament to return for Day 2 at 4pm today.
| First Name | Last Name | Seat | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bruce | Buffer | Table 26 – Seat 3 | 18050 |
| Christopher | McClung | Table 21 – Seat 2 | 85550 |
| Daniel | Ghionoiu | Table 25 – Seat 6 | 20600 |
| Darren | Elias | Table 21 – Seat 6 | 50300 |
| David | Ormsby | Table 21 – Seat 4 | 51525 |
| Farid | Jattin | Table 26 – Seat 5 | 70775 |
| Gabriel | Frank | Table 21 – Seat 7 | 32500 |
| Gavin | Smith | Table 25 – Seat 7 | 60225 |
| Guillaume | Rivet | Table 22 – Seat 4 | 35550 |
| Hank | Sitton | Table 21 – Seat 5 | 53875 |
| Jean-Christophe | Ferreira | Table 22 – Seat 1 | 44125 |
| Jeffrey Dale | Gross | Table 26 – Seat 1 | 147500 |
| Jesse | Yaginuma | Table 25 – Seat 4 | 58525 |
| John | Andress | Table 26 – Seat 7 | 47875 |
| Jonathan | Jaffe | Table 22 – Seat 5 | 66000 |
| Jonathan | Little | Table 22 – Seat 8 | 74675 |
| Kerry | Shears | Table 22 – Seat 2 | 61525 |
| Mark | Radoja | Table 22 – Seat 7 | 15800 |
| Martin | Raus | Table 21 – Seat 3 | 20850 |
| Matthew | Giannetti | Table 25 – Seat 2 | 57525 |
| Nicholas P | Grippo | Table 25 – Seat 5 | 152925 |
| Osman | Soubra | Table 21 – Seat 1 | 24000 |
| Pascal | Lefrancois | Table 25 – Seat 1 | 67875 |
| Phil | Laak | Table 26 – Seat 4 | 18000 |
| Philippe | Kerri | Table 26 – Seat 6 | 35800 |
| Setrak | Suloukji | Table 22 – Seat 6 | 82625 |
| Shannon | Shorr | Table 22 – Seat 3 | 81925 |
| Sylvain | Siebert | Table 26 – Seat 2 | 41225 |
| Tommy | Vedes | Table 25 – Seat 3 | 17900 |