Event 9 – Day 1a – Montréal Poker Expo

Main Event Day 1a final chip counts

2015/08/29 - 0:18 by

Day 1a of the Main Event of the Montréal Poker Expo started on August 28th at 11am and played through 13 45-minute levels. There were 144 entries in Day 1a and 34 players were left at the end of the day. These players have all qualified for Day 2, to be held on Monday August 31st at 12pm.

Day 1b starts on Saturday at 11am and Day 1c starts on Sunday at 11am. Any player who played today may re-enter on either or both starting days.

The following are player-reported chip counts and have not been verified by tournament staff. All chips have been sealed in bags and will remain so until play resumes on Day 2.

First Name	Last Name	Chip Count
Leandre	St-Laurent	329,800
Jean Francois	Bouchard	262,600
Rejean	Grenier	242,000
Yohann	Wagner	222,300
Azim	Popatia	218,300
Albert	N	211,300
Michael	Noor	185,400
Tmothy	Ulmer	180,000
Michael Douglas	Walsh	160,000
Russ	Radom	155,600
Donald	Abdelhay	144,600
Jean	Leblond	142,800
Kyle	Khoury	135,000
Marc	Guerbilsky	126,200
Edward	Hislop	121,800
Danny	Lauzon	120,000
Denis A	Roussy	118,700
Siamak	Soleimanian	116,900
Andrew	Miller	113,500
Michelle L	Reyes	111,100
Claudemir	De Oliveira	110,500
Jacques	Briere	109,100
Frederick	Laurin Fortin	100,300
Yvan	Gravel	95,600
Marcel	Deschamps	87,700
Marco	Sousa	72,500
Terry C	Joudrey	71,700
Marcello	Rosa	70,300
Levi	Stevens	63,600
Richard	Poirier	55,600
Jie	Gao	55,400
Tao Bo	Liang	31,800
Hampartzum	Rodayan	30,800
Kevin	Lee	19,900

Main Event Day 1a is complete!

Level: 14

Small Blind: 1.2K

Big Blind: 2.4K

Ante: 300

Chip Average: 127.1K

Remaining: 34

Entries: 144

2015/08/28 - 21:56 by Playground Poker

Time is up for Day 1a in the Main Event of the Montréal Poker Expo, and 34 players have qualified for Day 2 out of the 144 that began the day.

Leading the field is Leandre St-Laurent, who bagged a whopping 329,800 in chips! Other big stacks for the day include Jean-Francois Bouchard (262,100), Rejean Grenier (242,000), Azim Popatia (218,300) and Albert N (211,300). TJ Ulmer doubled up an opponent in the last moments of the day, but still managed to bag a healthy 180,000.

The full list of player-reported chip counts will be made available shorty.

Next flight is tomorrow, as Day 1b will begin at 11:00am. Players will have until the start of level 7 to register.

Leandre St-Laurent

TJ Ulmer now amongst the chipleaders

Level: 13

Small Blind: 1K

Big Blind: 2K

Ante: 300

Chip Average: 123.4K

Remaining: 35

Entries: 144

2015/08/28 - 21:40 by Playground Poker

Online phenomenon TJ “1bigacehole” Ulmer was grinding an average stack for most of the day, but has recently sprung up the leaderboard when he eliminated Richard Leger, and is now amongst the chip leaders of Day 1a.

TJ opened the action to 5,400 from middle position, and was faced with a 3bet to 13,300 from Richard in the big blind. He 4bet to 30,400, and instantly called a 5bet shove of just over 105,000.

TJ:
Richard:

They both flopped two-pair on a board of , but TJs big slick was the best hand all the way. He climbed up to over 240,000 chips with that hand, eliminating Richard in the process.

TJ Ulmer

St-Laurent extends his lead

Level: 13

Small Blind: 1K

Big Blind: 2K

Ante: 300

Chip Average: 120K

Remaining: 36

Entries: 144

2015/08/28 - 21:25 by Playground Poker

Leandre St-Laurent just added a few more chips to his already chip-leading stack, as he eliminated Jonathan Poissant in a battle of the blinds.

We caught up to the action on the flop, with the board showing . Jonathan lead out for 4,500, and was raised by Leandre to 11,000. He 3bet to 29,500, and quickly made the call after Leandre announced the all-in.

Jonathan:
Leandre:

Leandre managed to fade the straight-flush draw of Jonathan, as the running cards came , and added around 70,000 new chips to his stack. He now holds around 340,000, which is miles ahead of anyone else in the field at the moment.

Leandre St-Laurent

One level remains

Level: 13

Small Blind: 1K

Big Blind: 2K

Ante: 300

Chip Average: 91.9K

Remaining: 47

Entries: 144

2015/08/28 - 20:55 by Playground Poker

Level 13 is underway in the Main Event, and those who still have chips upon the completion of this level will bag their chips onto Day 2.

Photographs from level 12:

Last break for Day 1a

Level: 12

Small Blind: 800

Big Blind: 1.6K

Ante: 200

Chip Average: 74.5K

Remaining: 58

Entries: 144

2015/08/28 - 20:14 by Playground Poker

The last break of Day 1a has just finished, and only two 45-minute levels remain before players bag their chips for Day 2. There are still two more flights for this Main Event of the Montréal Poker Expo, with Day 1b scheduled for tomorrow 11am, and Day 1c on Sunday at 11am.

Here are the top stacks at this last break:

Name	Chip Count
Leandre St-Laurent	202,000
Rejean Grenier	187,000
Jean-Francois Bouchard	186,000
Russ Radom	164,000
Michael Noor	162,000
Jonathan Poissant	157,000
Levi Stevens	143,500

Photo update

Level: 11

Small Blind: 600

Big Blind: 1.2K

Ante: 200

Chip Average: 70.8K

Remaining: 61

Entries: 144

2015/08/28 - 19:43 by Playground Poker

We are mid-way through level 11, and by peeking over the shoulders, we determined that the chip leaders at the moment are Leandre St-Laurent (~250,000), Russ Radom (~175,000) and Rejean Grenier (~170,000).

: Leandre St-Laurent

: Russ Radom

: Rejean Grenier

Photos from levels 10 and 11:

Russ Radom leads after 9 levels of play

Level: 10

Small Blind: 500

Big Blind: 1K

Ante: 100

Chip Average: 56.8K

Remaining: 76

Entries: 144

2015/08/28 - 18:28 by Playground Poker

The tournament staff is racing off the T25 chips as the players are on a short break, and Russ Radom has chipped up into the chiplead, and now holds 187,500. Former big stack Sylvain Siebert has been quite volatile lately, and has dropped below the 100,000 mark as he doubled up a few opponents on his table, however his stack is still above average and quite healthy.

Here is a look at the leaderboard as play enters level 10:

Name	Chip Count
Russ Radom	187,300
Réjean Grenier	173,400
Marcello Rosa	166,000
Jean-François Bouchard	157,000
Denis A Roussy	131,000
Claudemir De Oliveira	112,200
Jonathan Poissant	105,000

Photos from level 9:

Level 8 complete

Level: 9

Small Blind: 400

Big Blind: 800

Ante: 100

Chip Average: 48K

Remaining: 90

Entries: 144

2015/08/28 - 17:31 by Playground Poker

Time has just run out in level 8, and at the moment it is still Sylvain Siebert who is leading the field, as he has climbed to nearly 200,000. Marcello Rosa and Jean-Francois Bouchard are also maintaining their position amongst the leaders. Rejean Grenier has joined them recently, as he has been stacking quite a few chips lately, breaching the 100,000 mark.

Photographs from levels 7 and 8:

Lefort gets some breathing room

Level: 8

Small Blind: 300

Big Blind: 600

Ante: 75

Chip Average: 45.5K

Remaining: 95

Entries: 144

2015/08/28 - 17:06 by

Thomas Lefort found himself very short-stacked and went all-in from the cutoff for his last 5,725 in tournament chips. Denis Quirion didn’t think too hard about it and just flat called and it looked like both blinds were about to fold when Sylvain Siebert in the big blind thought better of it and tossed in calling chips as well.

The flop was dripping: and both live players checked. The dealer turned over the and again both players checked. On the river Sylvain exclaimed that he won as the betting went check-check once again. Sylvain turned over for two pair – which would very often rate to be good in that spot – but Thomas tabled for a rivered straight and the triple up.