Here are the final chip counts of the 97 players who survived Day 1b of Event 1. These players plus the 108 from Day 1a have qualified to continue play on Day 2, Thursday.

Now that the break is over, registration has closed giving us a total of 431 players tonight added to the 449 from last night.

During the break we went looking for some big stacks early in the day, and although the average is hovering just over 25K, there were a few very large counts including a player with well over 100K and at least 4 with 65K or better. There’s a lot of road to cover yet tonight, but we’ll keep our eye on these players and see if they’re able to keep up the momentum all evening.

While the first few levels of the tournament have been played there has been an extra energy injection by the fact that the Montreal Canadiens are having a great game tonight at the Bell Centre in downtown Montreal.

Here are some of the Habs fans playing tonight:

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(13 Photos)

Table 35 is a fairly representative table in the tournament – some local regs, a few people from out of town, and mostly average stacks. We followed the table for about an orbit starting towards the end of level 2 and through half of level 3. There was nothing particularly notable in this passage of play except that despite the limped pots and generally passive play, the player in Seat 9 managed to increase his stack by over 10K chips.

Hand 1
UTG+2 calls 150, the cutoff raised to 600, BB calls, and UTG+2 calls. Three players to the flop.
The flop was . The first two to act both checked, the cutoff bet 600 then the BB reraised to 1600 and both remaining players folded.

Hand 2
The BB was away from his chair as the hand started, so his hand was killed (the event is following TDA rules). Two early position callers, then the hijack raised to 700. The player on the button and the BB called and the initial limper folded. The flop came out . The players checked around and saw the turn, . On the turn it went check check, the button then made a small bet to 1100 and both opponents folded.

Hand 3
There were three limpers and then the BB checked, taking them to the flop, which came out . The first two players checked, the button bet 1000 and there was one caller. The turn came out and the early position player checked to the button who bet 3000, which was called. The river was the and the action was check-bet-fold. The button on seat 9 took it without a showdown.

Hand 4
Another limped pot, 4-way this time. The board ran out and no one made a play for the pot and A-high won the hand.

Hand 5
A 5-way limped pot led to a flop of . On the flop the UTG player bets 150 and gets 3 callers. The turn was the . It checked around to the button who bet 500 and all 3 players called. On the river it checked around and seat 10 won the hand with his 9, giving him a straight on the turn (which seemed obvious to all involved).

Hand 6
Seat 9 in early position raised to 525 and got 2 callers. The flop came out which didn’t seem to hit anyone and the action was checked around. The turn was the which provoked Seat 9 to bet 1025. Seat 10 folded and the big blind called. The river was the , both players checked at Seat 9 won the pot with pocket jacks.

Play continued in that vein. Nothing particularly exciting happened, and at least one skilled player didn’t play a single hand in the orbit but it’s still very early in the tournament, and clearly the players at Table 35 are interested in chipping up carefully rather than making a big risky move.

Event 1 kicked off last night with 449 players and if history is an indication, tonight should be just as busy. Day 1b will start in just over an hour, and 191 seats have already been sold. There are also 15 cash tables open at the moment – and a good number of the cash players are likely to buy in to the tournament between now and 7:30.

That being said, there’s still lots of time to get to Playground Poker and jump into the event. Last night all of the alternates who wished to play were seated in the tournament, so don’t hesitate – come on out and kick off the Fall Classic in style!

FYI, of the 449 players who started last night, 108 made it through to Day 2 on Thursday. And from a 20K starting stack, 8 of those players managed to build a stack of over 150K…