At table 28, Dylan Thibault and Christian Rho engaged in a battle of heads up poker that started preflop. Dylan raised to 2,000 before the community cards were dealt, and except for Christian, everyone else at the table mucked their hands.

When the flop was dealt , both Dylan and Christian tapped the felt.

But when the dealer flipped the turn , Dylan immediately wagered 2,500.  Christian didn’t waste any time calling. However, after the was dealt on the river, both players studied the board. Dylan pondered before tapping and Christian followed suit.

When Dylan turned his cards, , Christian shook his head and returned his hole cards, face down to the dealer.

Level 9 at the 8-Year Anniversary Day 1c event has just started. After level 8, the players took a short, 15 minute break. During the pause in the action the chips were counted, and it was determined that Philippe Mangiacotti is the front runner. His 137,000 chips places him 16K ahead of Jean Louis Forino in 2nd place (121,000) and 23,000 chips out in front of the 3rd place stack, which belongs to Said Michailidis (114,000 chips).

Time was running out on Derek Duane Thibault. As the low-stack at table 23, he regarded his hole cards before pushing all of his 6,000 chips into the pot, preflop. Both Jean Louis Forino and Corey Matticks, large-stacks at the table, called his bet.

When the dealer began flipping the community cards, the flop came down . Jean Louis immediately went all-in. Corey Matticks shook his head and mucked his cards. That left Derek and Jean Louis competing in a heads up duel. And when Jean Louis revealed his , Derek, who was holding , immediately stood up.

The dealer flipped the turn, a and Derek shook his head. After the was dealt on the river, he put on his coat and walked away from the table.

We’re now midway through level 7. Late registration ended 15 minutes ago.  But there are still 105 competitors hoping to advance to Day 2 action. Here are a few photos of some of the players battling it out.

The players have just returned from their first 15 minute break and level 5 is now underway. During the pause in the action we counted the chips and determined that Kathy Sawers is the chip leader with 75,000. Her next closest competitor is Louis Boro, who is a close second, with 70,500.

Early action at table 19 has been relatively quiet as the players feel out the competition, attempting to get reads on one another.

After a half dozen hands without any action, Dwayne Mettice limped in with a 150 chip bet, preflop. But when Jason Barette raised to 650, Dwayne called.

When the flop was dealt Dwayne checked. Jason peeked at his cards before betting 1,000.  And once again, Dwayne called. When the dealer flipped the turn, , both players checked.

But after the river was dealt , Dwayne checked again. Jason studied the board, before wagering 2,500. This time Dwayne shook his head and tossed his cards into the muck.

The bell to announce the start level 2 has just sounded at the 8-Year Anniversary Day 1c event. Here are some pics of a few of the 68 players who have entered the fray.

The Day 1C , 8-Year Anniversary edition of the Playground 200 has begun. In this 3rd of 4 live starting flights competitors look to join the already 66 players who have already qualified for day 2 action.

Good luck on the felts!

Today at 11:00am, Day 1C in the 8-Year Anniversary edition of the Playground 200 will begin. This is the 3rd of 4 live starting flights and will add to the 66 players that have already qualified for Day 2, which will be held at 1:00pm on Saturday December 15. Including the Online Day 1 last Sunday, there have been 336 entries to date, meaning that the event is well on track to surpass the huge $100,000 prize pool guarantee.

Play today will continue through 14 levels of 30 minutes each, and players will start with 25,000 in tournament chips. Late registration and re-entry will be available until the beginning of level 7 – in other words, until 2:15pm.

Good luck on the felts!