As we wrote in the intro for today, there are two new developments in WPT events that will have a very positive effect on the tournament. First off, when the number of players is reduced to 90 (10 tables of 9 players each), additional eliminations will be used to convert the tournament to an 8-handed affair.

During roughly the same period of time, the Action Clock will be added. With the Action Clock, each player will have 30 seconds for each action – the time will begin as soon as the action facing a player is confirmed by the dealer. The countdown begins automatically on a large screen in the position of the dealer’s tray, an a chime will sound when 10 seconds remains. Each player must complete their action within this 30 second window.

Each player will receive 4 time extension chips when the Action Clock comes into play, and a player that goes past the 30-second limit will automatically be given another 30 seconds – which they must “pay for” following the hand with one of their time chips. If a player has no time extension chips remaining, their hand is dead at the end of the 30 second countdown.

The Action Clock has been used extensively in WPT Main Tour events recently and the reaction has been almost universally positive. We’ll include some photos of the Action Clock, er, in action when it comes into play.

Short-stacked Tony Dunst was faced with an open from Rayan Chamas when he woke up with pocket Aces. With only around 8 big blinds to his name, his 3-bet shove was quickly looked up the original raiser, and hands were tabled.

Tony:
Rayan:

Tony was eliminated from the WPT Montreal as the runout improved Rayan’s hand to two-pairs.

WPT Montreal players are back from the second break of the day, and have one level to complete before going on their 45-minute dinner break. Michael Mizrachi leads the 124 player field, although his count is closely rivalled by Debra Ann Holman. Ari Engel holds third in chips, although nearly 50 big blinds separates him from the top 2.

Below are the top counts in play to start level 15:

Top 4 in chips: Michael Mizrachi (top left), Debra Ann Holman (top right), Ari Engel (bottom left) and Shane Currey (bottom right)

Photographs from level 14:

Brendan McGee opened to 4,500 from early position, and Donald Plummer made the call before Ema Zajmovic slid in her final 13,000 in from the small blind. Brendan tried to isolate the WPT Champion by raising to 37,500, but Donald came along for the ride.

Brendan continued with a bet of 33,000 on the flop, and Donald made the call. When the peeled on the turn, Brendan glanced at his hole cards before slowing down with a check, and ended up folding his cards after Donald fired a bet of 40,000.

With the hand now down to heads-up with no more action, Donald tabled for a turned set, and was ahead of Ema’s . With 11 outs available to help her, Ema began cheering for the most likely scenario – a river spade. Sure enough, the dealer rung out a on the river, and Ema found a much needed triple-up, while Donald secured the hefty side pot.

The players in the WPT Montreal have just returned from their first break, which gave us the opportunity to survey the room and find the current leaders in the field. Michael Mizrachi has leapt into first place by a wide margin – he’s already close to 500K in chips.