With Day 1b nearing it’s end, these four players are leading the field:
- Pascal Bibeau – 325K
- Joseph Verdugo – 287K
- Justin Miller – 225K
- Harley Stoffmaker – 210K
Below is an album of some photographs from level 10:
Update on the top stacks
2014/03/28 8:25pm by
Harley Stoffmaker leading the field
2014/03/28 4:07pm by
We are back from the second break here in Day 1b of the WPT Canadian Spring Championship Main Event, and although many players have already doubled and tripled their starting stacks, only 3 players have breached the 100K mark, with Harley Stoffmaker well ahead of the field.
Here is an estimate of the top 5 chip stacks:
- Harley Stoffmaker – 170K
- Josh Kimmel – 123K
- Ami Alibay – 107K
- Fuad Nasser – 94K
- Paul Basi – 90k
Josh Kimmel
Ami Alibay
Fuad Nasser
Paul Basi
Harley Stoffmaker
Past deep runs here at Playground
2014/03/28 3:46pm by
We’ve noticed a few players in today’s Day 1b field that have had success in some of the previous series here at Playground Poker Club. Here is an album of some of these players, along with their biggest past finishes:
Michael Malm
Placed 1st in Event 4 ($550 buy-in) in the 2014 Playground Poker Spring Classic ($20K)
Kyle Zechner
Placed 4th in the $1.1K Event in the 2013 Playground Poker Spring Classic 2013 ($29K)
Setrak Suloukji
Placed 1st in the High Roller ($5.5K buy-in) in the 2013 Playground Poker Spring Classic ($83K)
Michael Neuber
Placed 3rd in the $1.1K Event in the 2013 Playground Poker Fall Classic ($30K)
Johnny Mazzaferro
Placed 1st in a $1.1K Event in the 2013 Playground Poker Spring Classic ($44K).
Bill Kontaratos
Placed 5th in the $1.1K Main Event in the FTP Montreal Festival ($74K).
Vlad Faubert
Placed 6th in a $1.1K Event in the 2013 Playground Poker Fall Classic ($18K)
Geoffrey Robert McNeely
Placed 2nd in a $1.1K Event in the 2013 Playground Poker Spring Classic ($25K)
Jeff Gross
Placed 3rd in the $3.3K 2012 WPT Montreal ($317K). In addition he was 2nd overall in the partypoker Premier League VII ($274K).
A view of our tournament room
2014/03/28 2:22pm by
The tournament room here at Playground Poker Club has nearly 300 players in it right now with Day 1b of the WPT Canadian Spring Championship Main Event underway, and this number is roughly half the mount of players that we can accommodate in this room. Add another 16 tables available on our cash-game side, and it makes for one exciting place to be when it fills up!
Here is a 360 view of the room:
The first leaders
2014/03/28 1:37pm by
After 3 levels of play, the field is led by Fuad Nasser who is holding just over 90k. Not far behind are Ivan Mamuzic (76K), Michael Neuber (75K), Jonathan Cohen (73K) and Calogero Graci (70K). A number of players are also in the 60K-70K range, such Tyler Thomas (68K), Steve Kidman (67K), Yassin Choukri (67K), Paul Basi (66K), Karl Gingras (64K), amongst others.
Early level photos
2014/03/28 12:34pm by
Two levels have come and go here in this second Day 1 of the WPT Canadian Spring Championship Main Event, and attendance has climbed up to 269 entries.
Here are a few photos of players participating in Day 1b:
A few late Day 1a photos
2014/03/27 9:09pm by
We are now entering the last level of play for this Day 1a, and in less that 45 minutes the remainder of the players will bag and tag their chips for Day 2. Those who were unable to play today, or who tried but simply didn’t make Day 2, will be able to try to qualify tomorrow with Day 1b scheduled at 11:00am, or the day after (Saturday) with Day 1c also at 11:00am.
Here is an album of photos taken during level 12:
Some chip leaders in these late levels
2014/03/27 8:22pm by
We are back from the last break of the night, which means that Day 1a of the WPT Canadian Spring Championship Main Event will be over upon the completion of two more 45-minute level.
With the average being just over 80K, the following players have managed to build stacks north of twice that amount:
- Boyd O’Neill – 290K
- Eric Davis – 220K
- Eric Afriat – 212K
- Alain Toledano – 205K
- Jonathan Poissant – 195K
- Jean-Guy Boyer – 190K
Event 4 Champion: Michael Malm
2014/03/27 8:05pm by
WSOP bracelet winner Michael Malm has just added another notch to his belt, as he managed to overcome a field of 221 players to emerge a winner in Event 4 – $500 + $50 No Limit hold’em! This was his second final table in as many events in this Playground Poker Spring Classic, as he placed 9th in Event 1.
The heads-up battle was short, as when Michael eliminated Justin Leeson in third place, he took control of most of the chips in play. With a 5 to 1 advantage over his heads-up opponent Jason Griffith, Michael found himself calling an all-in from the big blind a few hands into the match.
Michael: 
Jason: 
The board showed 
, giving Michael top pair for the win, who took home a total of $20,075 and a Playground Poker Spring Classic bracelet.
Congratulations Michael Malm!
Event 4 Champion: Michael Malm. $20,075
Last hand of play in Event 4:
4th place: Michael David Yeomans
2014/03/27 7:23pm by
In the first hand following the deal, we saw Michael David Yeomans and Justin Leeson get all their chips in the middle on a board that read: 
.
Michael: 
Justin: 
The turn and river 
brought no help to Michael, and his deep run in this event came to an end.
4th place: Michael David Yeomans, $13,250
