After the final table was reduced in size to 7 players, the group decided to request an ICM chop. This was the result:

Christine Park: $5,390

Pierre Olivier Guay: $5,175

Joon Seok Park: $4,775

Robert Gosselin: $4,370

Marco Cannizzaro: $3,995

Marc Saddik: $3,550

David Beer: $3,424

In addition to this breakdown, players were informed that they would need to remove $750 collectively to save for first place. While an even division would have meant that each player subtracted approximately $110 from the numbers listed above, the gentlemanly and magnanimous Joon Seok Park offered to donate $150 from his winnings in the interest of moving things along. As a result every one else only needed to subtract $100 from their chop.

Everyone was happy to agree to this formula, and so they players sat back down in order to play to a winner.

However, Joon was not able to stay, so his chips were removed from the table and they moved forward 6-handed.

Marc Petit had a great tournament.

While we missed his last hand at the table, he finishes 8th after a long day of poker, collecting a prize of $1,190.

Well done!

A funny situation occurred earlier this evening.

Douglas Best, who was doing spectacularly all evening, had to leave the tournament. Not only that, but he had to leave while he had the second highest number of chips! The reason is because Doug had to play another tournament across the room, and it is forbidden to play two tournaments at once at Playground.

Doug had won his way through Step 1 and Step 2 earlier this week, qualifying for the Step 3 qualifier to the MILLIONS Main Event happening in May 2019. Step 3 began at 7pm, and so Doug waited as long as he could and then made the switch just before registration closed on the Step 3.

His giant stack of chips sat at his place at the table, slowly bleeding blinds. But so big was his stack that, even in absentia, Doug made the final table. More than that, he outlasted one of the final 10 players without ever playing a hand!

In any case, Doug (unfortunately) busted out of the Step 3, which meant he was able to return to the final table for the $300 + $30. Two hands later he was all in for his remaining chips, and when the players flipped over the cards, he was ahead.

It was not to be however, as Doug was bested by Marc Siddik. But regardless it was a great day for Doug. He finishes in 9th place and collects a well deserved $890. Well done!

Douglas Best

This was a weird one.

Two players found themselves in a position to shove preflop. One had QQ, the other AA.

Then the flop comes down . Wow! Crazy hand! Trip Aces over Trip Queens, what a flop! But the strange hand wasn’t done yet!

The turn came down , then the river was a ! With a flush on the board, both players split the pot when mere seconds before it looked like someone was going home.

 

Mr. Jean-Francois Langevin was eliminated in 10th place, earning himself $670. Congratulations on making the final table!

Just as we passed the 12-hour mark on the day’s $300 + $30 Deepstacks tournament the players finally reached the final table. And they did so in a dramatic fashion, thanks to the action over on table 30!

At first it was looking like it was going to be another short stack vs. short stack battle, with Denis Quirion shoving his $175,000 in the middle preflop. He found a caller in Luigi Fantigrossi, who called with a stack just about the same size.

The other players at the table folded one by one, but the last player, Pierre Guay, decided to use his stack’s considerable heft to try the classic “double take down”. And it worked!

The board was dealt , and Pierre’s took down both players’ stacks in one bite.

Denis had Luigi covered A-J vs A-10, not that it mattered at this late stage in the game.

Denis finished in 12th for a $620 prize, and Luigi finished in 11th for $670.

Mr. Nadir Lalji just busted out on table 31, earning himself 14th place and $570.

Right after that on table 30 Stephen Langlois lost his last hand of the night, placing 13th and bagging $620.

Slowly but surely we move towards the final table. Congratulations to both players on a decent finish, and good luck to the rest!

After losing a big hand in the recent past, Pierre Sirois was left with less than 2 big blinds in his stack. As the clock wound down on level 20 he was effectively forced all in preflop, even though his cards left much to be desired. As the timer beeped indicating the end of the level, he shoved.

Ultimately his 8-3 couldn’t compete with his opponent’s K-J.

When the board came down his night was over, but he takes home $570 for his trouble!

Short-stacked Marc Petit threw caution to the wind now that we are in the money and went all in with his pocket pair of 3’s. He was up against the other short stack at the table, Luigi Fantigrossi’s pair of 8’s. Because they were covered so easily, Joon Park’s also joined the action with an A-6 just for fun.

The board was dealt a , meaning that Luigi tripled up and Marc Petit was out in 16th.

The game battles on…