Level 22 has proven to be very good for Jeremy Normandin, who increased his 556,000 stack up to 980,000, and brought him just shy of the chip lead.
In a recent hand, Jeremy opened to 42,000 from utg+1, and called off two short stack all-ins with his 
. His opponents tabled 
and 
, but they stood no chance once the dealer rung out a board of 
, and they both got sent to the cashier’s to collect their cash prize.
The players just came off a short break, and during this time we made an update to the leaderboard. Two players have already breached the 7-figures mark, as both Karyn Gemmil and Chico are a hair above the 1-million in chips. Others are quickly catching up, and we should see a few more join the millionaires club before long.
Here is a look at the top stacks as play enters level 22:
| First Name | Prénom | Last Name | Nom | Stack | Tapis |
|---|---|---|
| Karyn | Gemmil | 1,056,000 |
| Chico | L | 1,050,000 |
| Michael | Aflalo | 906,000 |
| Mathieu | Boulanger-Vaugeois | 788,000 |
| Anesti | Kucini | 651,000 |
| Real | Cantin | 635,000 |
| Jason | Conforti | 569,000 |
| Jeremy | Normandin | 556,000 |
| Marc | Gagne | 530,000 |
| Fabian | Garzon | 524,000 |
| Charles-Eric | Benoit | 517,000 |
| Brett Gregory | Hart | 501,000 |
Mathieu Boulanger-Vaugeois, who goes by the alias “Matt Damon” here at Playground Poker Club, is currently leading Day 2 of The Wild $150, as play enters level 19. His 671,000 stack dwarfs the rest of the field, as he holds nearly 200,000 more than second in chips.
Here is a look at the current leaderboard:
| First Name | Prénom | Last Name | Nom | Stack | Tapis |
|---|---|---|
| Mathieu | Boulanger-Vaugeois | 671000 |
| Trung Hoa | Hoang | 482,000 |
| Sid | L | 480,000 |
| Fayez | Assouad | 432,000 |
| Michael | Aflalo | 417,000 |
| Anesti | Kocini | 406,000 |
| Fadi | Haddad | 400,000 |
You can view live updates on chips counts by following the “Live Counts – Day 2” link on the upper right of the page.
Photographs from levels 17 and 18:
Mathieu Boulanger-Vaugeois and Duy Toan Pham were the two chip leaders entering Day 2, and interestingly enough the random seating draw placed them on the same starting table. After a few levels of play, they found themselves playing for stacks preflop.
The action started with a raise to 10,000 by Mathieu, from utg+1, which was called by the button, and then 3bet by Pham in the big bind, who made it 44,000 to go. Mathieu replied with a 4bet to 96,000, leading the button player to fold. Pham quickly came over the top with an all-in, which was snap-called by Mathieu.
Mathieu: 
Pham: 
Board: 
The kings held for Mathieu, who doubled up his 353,000 stack and propelled him into the overwhelming chip lead, crippling Pham along the way.
Two levels have been played out so far here in Day 2 of The Wild $150, and the players have been awarded a short break as the tournament staff races off the T100 chips. We have seen a lot of movement since the start of the day, as 76 players have already been eliminated today. Sid L has sprung up into the chip lead, and he is trailed by Mathieu Boulanger-Vaugeois and Duy Toan Pham, who were were the two chip leaders entering Day 2.
Here are the current big stacks, as play enters level 16:
| First Name | Prénom | Last Name | Nom | Stack | Tapis |
|---|---|---|
| Sid | L | 458,000 |
| Mathieu | Boulanger-Vaugeois | 400,0000 |
| Duy Toan | Pham | 391,000 |
| David | Amar | 325,500 |
| Gil | Charles | 307,500 |
| Fayez | Assouad | 301,000 |
| Alexandre | Chapdelaine | 298,500 |
| Jean-Bruno | Courcelles | 291,000 |
| Tanvir | Ahmed | 275,000 |
| Stephen | Nemeth | 249,000 |
Photographs taken during levels 14 and 15:
We’ve just heard our TD announce the start of the tournament, and with that, cards are in the air here in Day 2 of The Wild $150, the opening event of the Playground Poker Fall Classic presented by Partypoker.net.
339 players are back to battle it out on the felts, but only one will become our Event 1 Champion! The road is still long and full danger for our eventual champion, as two more full nights of poker lay ahead. Day 2 is schedule to play for 13 levels of 30 minutes, after which the tournament will pause until tomorrow night, where we will play down to our winner.
The $188,437.00 prize pool is divided up into 135 prizes, ranging from a min-cash of $280 to a whopping first place prize of $34,000. This does however mean that 204 players out of tonights field will unfortunately go home empty handed, but such is the nature of tournament poker. On the bright side, today is Wicked Wednesday here at Playground Poker Club, which means an early exit from the tournament could lead to a high-hand score on the cash tables!
Stay tuned for live updates throughout the night via our Playground Poker Club Blog. You can also keep up with live chip counts by following the “Live Counts – Event 1 Day 2” button found near the top right of the page. If you wish to find out a specific player’s stack, you can send us a Tweet with your request to @PlaygroundPoker, and we will do our best to get back to you as soon as we can.
Good luck to all the players here in Day 2!
After 4 starting flights to The Wild $150, the opening event of the Playground Poker Fall Classic, we saw a total of 1,439 players register, creating an impressive prize pool of $188,437! Of this, $34,000 is reserved for our Event 1 Champion, who will also take home a sweet Playground Poker Fall Classic Champions Trophy.
Duy Toan Pham and his 264,100 chips lead the way into Day 2, followed very closely by Mathieu Boulanger-Vaugeois (262,300). 339 players will return for Day 2, which is scheduled tomorrow, Wednesday November 4th at 7pm, where thirteen more 30-minutes levels will take place before the remaining players bag their chips onto Day 3, where we will crown our Event 1 Champion.
We would like to remind all players who have qualified for Day 2 to remember to bring a piece of ID with them, as this will be required in order to take your seat.
Best of luck to the players who will be back for Day 2. See you tomorrow!
Level 13 is well underway, which means only a few more minutes remain to this final flight of The Wild $150. Once players have bagged and tagged their chips onto Day 2, we will publish the full list of player-reported chip counts, as well as the seating assignments for tomorrow’s Day 2.
Photographs taken during levels 11 and 12:
Day 1D is mid-way through level 11, meaning players are on the final stretch for the night, as the tournament goes on pause upon the completion of level 13.
178 players remain from the starting field of 426, however this number will likely be cut in about half by the end of the night.
Day 2 will take place tomorrow night, Wednesday the 4th of November, at 7pm.
Photographs taken during levels 9 and 10:
Players have just completed their second break of the night, and we took this time to bring an update on the current leaderboard. Ryan Higgins is currently leading the field with his impressive 135,500 stack, and is only 1 of 2 players who are sitting in the 6-figures. Many players are creeping up fast to this mark though, and we can expect some huge stacks to develop in the levels to come.
5 levels remain before the end of this final flight of The Wild $150.
| Name | Chip Count |
|---|---|
| Ryan Higgins | 135,500 |
| Carl Woodbury | 103,000 |
| Alec Brandstatter | 99,500 |
| Robert Rodier | 98,500 |
| Trung Hoa Hoang | 95,000 |
Photographs taken during levels 7 and 8:
