Day 1a of Event 1 is coming to a close, with only a few minutes left showing on the clock, and a number of players have separated themselves from the average, some even breaching the 200K mark.

Here is a rough chip count of the five biggest stacks we have found. Final chip counts will be made available shortly after the end of the day.

1. Shawn Coots – 230K
2. Jonathan Thibault – 150K
3. Mathieu Leclerc – 150K
4. Kevin Gosselin – 135K
5. Stephane Belisle – 125K

Stephane Belisle

Shawn Coots

Mathieu Leclerc

Jonathan Thibault

Kevin Gosselin

Day 1a of Event 1 in the Playground Poker Spring Classic is in it’s final hour of play for the day, and 130 players are still trying to find their way through to day 2, which will be held on Sunday March 23rd.
Here are a few photos taken during level 11. You can go directly to see all the photos on the Playground Poker Flickr page.

A quick survey of the room two levels before the end of the day gave us an idea of the chip leaders so far in Day 1a. All chip counts are approximate.

1. Mathieu Leclerc – 130K
2. Travis Robertson – 125K
3. Kevin Gosselin – 112K
4. Alexandre Morel – 105K
5. Kyle Hartree – 105K

We’ll add photos of the leaders in the final level of play today.

There are 212 players remaining of the 329 total who started today, and those players are all on break now as staff removes the green T25 chips from the event.

At the last break we noted that a few players were still waiting to be seated as the final alternates were allowed to enter after the break. All the alternates who wanted to play were in fact seated before the end of level 5 (the first level after the break), and in total, 79 alternates who joined the Day 1a action.

The tournament has played through 4 levels and players are on their first break of the day. At this point the day has far exceeded our expectations in terms of the number of players.

To accommodate the high level of interest, we accepted over 80 alternates before refusing anyone. All 80+ will play today, provided they still want to enter when called (players who feel it’s too late will have their entry fee reimbursed). Alternates will be seated until everyone who: a) paid before we stopped selling alternate tickets; and, b) still wishes to play in Day 1a; has been seated.

Here are some shots of the early action in Event 1 Day 1a of the 2014 Playground Poker Spring Classic.

All of the photos we’re taking during the Spring Classic will be hosted at Flickr, an excellent photo service we use. You can go directly to see all the photos on the Playground Poker Flickr page.

The players have taken their seats and the TD has announced the day’s schedule and announced, “Shuffle up and Deal”!

Holding Day 1a on a Friday afternoon is a new addition to the schedule for this kickoff event in the Spring Classic but it has already proven to be a very popular addition – the flight is already at it’s 250-player announced capacity and additional players who arrive will be seated as alternates.

The capacity for tonight’s Day 1b is 400 players, so there will be even more space for players who wish to try and qualify for Day 2 on Sunday.