Playground Poker has been hosting important festivals since it opened. The first Playground Poker Classic, held in the spring of 2011, featured 15 bracelet events including the Main Event, a $3000 tourney that attracted 75 players. That first Main Event was won by Pascal Lefrançois for $72,000, who just months before had made a deep run in the WSOP Main Event.
The Main Event bracelet from the Playground Poker Classic 2011
The 2012 Playground Poker Classic also featured 15 bracelet events though in a slightly different configuration. This time the Main Event was a $2K buy-in – but there was also a $10K High Roller event on the schedule. The 2012 event also marked the beginning of a Playground Poker tradition – instead of bracelets, the champions of the biggest event or events in a series win boxing-style championship belts!
Amazingly, in 2012 the same player won both belts that were up for grabs – Jean-Philippe Piquette. Along with the belts came a total of $100K in prize money.
The fall of 2012 marked the inauguration of a new festival, the Playground Poker Fall Classic, which was capped off by the first ever WPT Montreal. The PPFC 2012 was an unparalleled success with players coming from all over North America and the world to join the action. At the end of the event the big winner was Jonathan Roy who won the WPT Montreal, beating his friend and former Playground champion Pascal Lefrançois heads up.
The championship belt for the inaugural PartyPoker.net WPT Montreal in November 2012.