There are many Playground regulars still in the field and among them are a few players who due to their history or their chip stack deserve the “player to watch” label.
Ryan Higgins
Ryan is a full-time poker player who could just as easily fall under the “Team Quebec” label and is just one or two breakthrough results away (if that). Primarily an online player, Ryan also has a final table in a WSOP-C event under his belt as well as several deep runs in big events here at Playground.
Louis-Alexandre Cabana
Louis-Alexandre has made himself known in local poker rooms for a couple of years now with regular appearances in daily tourney final tables and winner’s photographs. A former dealer, Louis-Alexandre more than held his own on Day 1c on a table that featured, at different points, Mike Sexton, Antonio Esfandiari, and Gavin Smith.
Josh Kimmel
Josh is another local player who’s often found on final tables in Playground events and made a deep run in the inaugural WPT Montreal in 2012, finishing 54th. A film producer by trade, Josh has several poker productions under his belt and comes to Day 2 with a solid stack.
Marc-André Racine
Marc-André has become more of a cash player than a tournament player recently, but that doesn’t change the fact that he has had a lot of success in events big and small at Playground. No one is eager to see him move to their table in a tournament, that’s for sure.
Ami Alibay
Ami is a local restaurant and nightclub owner who may not play as many daily tournaments as many of the others in this list, but has thrived in big events both here and in the US. Just in the past year Ami barely missed the final table of a 6-Max event at the WSOP in Las Vegas and later in the summer made a deep run (125th) in the WSOP Main Event.
Noy
Noy is a known for a carefree attitude and his unconventional betting lines, but no one who plays in local tourneys at any buy-in takes him lightly. Last year he final tabled a $1K side event in the 2013 Spring Classic and though be began very short stacked managed to ratchet up a few positions to finish 6th.
Eric Afriat
Last but most definitely not least is Eric Afriat, who is the only player in the field who can say he played a WPT Final Table against Phil Ivey (in the 2010 WPT Championship at Bellagio). More recently Eric won a $5K Bellagio Cup event in 2012 and made a deep run in last summer’s Little One for One Drop.
