Montréal Poker Expo News

On to the Main Event!

2015/08/28 - 10:45 by

With 8 preliminary events concluded and a raft of satellites behind us, attention in the Montréal Poker Expo turns to the $1,000 + $100 Main Event. Festival Main Events of this buy-in have become a valued tradition at Playground Poker Club, and over the years they have been some of the greatest events we’ve hosted. In this case, there’s a $500,000 Prize pool guarantee – so it’s sure to be a huge payday for the eventual winner!

One of the most appealing things about a tournament at this price is the fact that there are so many ways to enter via satellite. In this case. satellites and seats via the monthly Tournament Leaderboard have been awarded since May, and there are about 150 players who will be entering via this lower-cost route. Just last night the big “Eve of the Main” satellite alone awarded 42 seats!

The Montréal Poker Expo Main Event features 3 Day 1s – Day 1a today, Day 1b on Saturday, and Day 1c on Sunday. As a “Next Day Re-entry” event, anyone may play one, two, or all three starting days to try and qualify for Day 2 – and if a player qualifies more than once, only their best stack moves to Day 2.

The action gets under way at 11am and each Day 1 will play through 13 45-minute levels. Players start with 30,000 tournament chips. Late registration is open until the end of the break following level 6 – which is to say that you can join the tournament with a full stack until 4pm today.

Good luck!

Event 8 Champion: Daniel Fortier

2015/08/27 - 5:22 by Playground Poker

Daniel Fortier was one of the shorter stacks when the 11-way deal was made, however he managed to overcome the remainder of the field to emerge as the Event 8 champion, earning himself an extra $450 along with his already agreed-upon $1,045 share of the chop. In addition to this, he also took home a stunning Montréal Poker Expo Champion’s Trophy, as well as a handful of bounties!

After a lot of back and forth in heads-up play versus opponent Moshe Cohen, Daniel finally sealed the deal after calling Moshe’s check-shove on a flop showing with . Moshe turned over , but failed to improve on the running to end his run in second place.

Congratulations Daniel!

Event 8 Champion: Daniel Fortier – $1,495

Event 8 Runner-Up: Moshe Cohen – $1,370

Moshe Cohen

Last Hand of Play

Event 7 Champion: Nicolas Aubut

2015/08/26 - 20:02 by

Nicolas Aubut is the champion of Event 7 of the Montréal Poker Expo. The tournament was a $60 + $10 NL Hold’em Single Rebuy that attracted 74 players (18 of whom re-bought, adding to the prize pool), and for his efforts today Nicolas has won $1,474 and the Champion’s Trophy!

Nicolas had been among the leaders for a significant portion of the afternoon, but took his final dominant chip position on the final table after a huge double-up through Joey Boczek. At the time, he only covered Joey by about 10K and in eliminating him, he eliminated the only rival with a stack that could challenge him.

After that it was just a matter of time. The final hand against Shawn Dubeau saw Nicolas’ dominating Shawn’s . The board run-out of had nothing in it for Shawn and that was the end of the tournament!

Congratulations Nicolas!

Event 7 Champion: Nicolas Aubut, $1,474

Event 7 Runner Up: Shawn Dubeau, $1,050

Shawn Dubeau

The last hand of play

Event 6 Champion: Pascal Beaulieu

2015/08/26 - 5:45 by Playground Poker

Pascal Beaulieu has just taken down Event 6 of the Montréal Poker Expo, as he bested a field of 75 players to earn himself a cool cash prize of $2,622, as well as a Champion’s Trophy!

He took over the chip lead in heads-up play as his overcame the of opponent Bill Kontaratos to win a pot worth 80% of the chips in play. His victory came a few hands later, as he moved in with , and held versus Bill’s on a board showing .

Congratulations Pascal!

Event 6 Champion: Pascal Beaulieu – $2,622

Event 6 Runner-Up: Bill Kontaratos – $2,350

Bill Kontaratos

Last Hand of Play

Event 5 Champion: Samuel Picard

2015/08/26 - 3:59 by Playground Poker

Samuel Picard overcame a field of 149 players to take home a Montréal Poker Expo Champion’s trophy, as well as a $980 cash prize!

After a deal was made with the final 8-players, Samuel went an a spree and stacked a few players before finding himself heads-up and huge chip leader over opponent Thibault Tabary. Thibault managed to double-up in the first few hands, however he got caught up in some ugly luck as he called an open-shove from the big blind with the best hand, but ended up second best. His lost to Samuel’s as the board ran out .

Congratulations Samuel!

Event 5 Champion: Samuel Picard – $980

Event 5 Runner-Up: Thibault Tabary – $700

Thibault Tabary

Event 4 Last Hand of Play

Event 4 Champion: Philipp Daze

2015/08/26 - 1:07 by Playground Poker

Everything seemed to fall into place today for Philipp Daze, and he seemed unbeatable from the moment he got to the final table. At a few occasions, he found himself all-in and trailing his opponent, however lady luck had different plans for him and always pulled him out of trouble to inevitably lead him to victory!

Play opened up considerable after a 3-way deal was made, and Philipp’s run good managed to eliminate Hiroaki in 3rd place, and then later eliminate heads-up opponent Ruben Perceval. In the final hand of play, Ruben open-shipped a dozen big blinds from the small blind, and found a call. He turned over , and lost to Philipp’s on a board reading .

Philipp earned himself a sweet $9,978 cash prize for his win, as well as a beautiful Montréal Poker Expo Champion’s Trophy, while Ruben collected $8,015 for his second place finish.

Congratulations!

Event 4 Champion: Philipp Daze – $9,978

Event 4 Runner-Up: Ruben Perceval – $8,015

Ruben Perceval

Last Hand of Play

The Strike Out Cancer Charity Event Champion: Mark Wells

2015/08/25 - 2:17 by Playground Poker

After 3 long days of poker, Mark Wells managed to turn a 20,000 stack into 24 million, in the mean time turning his $135 (+ $25 charity contribution) investment into a sweet $24,440 cash prize!

Heads-up play with opponent Cherif Mohand was fairly brief, as fatigue seemed to have reduced Cherif’s level of patience. He began playing very aggressively, and it seemed to work at first, until he got caught in a hand that lead to his elimination. Cherif opened preflop to 700,000, and then raised all-in on the flop for nearly 10,000,000 after Mark lead out for 900,000. Mark made the call with bottom pair, and his held versus Cherif’s , as the running cards were .

With that pot, Mark emerged as the champion of Event 1 – Strike Out Cancer Charity Event, and awarded him a stunning Montréal Poker Expo Champions Trophy along with his cash prize.

Congratulations!

Strike Out Cancer Charity Event Champion: Mark Thomas Wells – $24,440

Event 1 Runner-Up: Cherif Si Hadj Mohand – $16,840

Cherif Si Hadj Mohand

Last Hand of Play

Event 3 Champion: Dylan Baliesh

2015/08/25 - 1:17 by

Play moved along quickly once the deal was made, and after just a few hands of heads-up play against John Tamai, Dylan Baliesh emerged as the champion of the Deepstack Turbo!

Event 3 Champion: Dylan Baliesh – $1,162 and a Montréal Poker Expo Champions Trophy

Event 3 runner-up: John Tamai, $1,012

John Tamai

Last hand of play:

The $330 Freeze starts tonight!

2015/08/24 - 17:45 by

Tonight at 7:30, Event 4 in the Montréal Poker Expo will begin. This event is a $300 + $30 Freeze – meaning no re-entry is permitted – which will play out over two days. This tournament is one of two multi-day, higher buy-in tournaments in the Expo, and is sure to attract many skilled players to try for a share of the prize pool.

Play today will feature 20-minute blinds and will continue for 16 levels, at which time the remaining players will bag up their chips to return for Day 2, tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 7pm.

The tournament gets underway at 7:30pm and late registration is available during the first 4 levels of play – in other words, players have until about 9pm to jump in the action!

Event 2 Champion: Michele Black

2015/08/24 - 3:23 by Playground Poker

After a long heads-up battle, Michele Black managed to come back from a 3-1 chip deficit to overcome heads-up opponent Jean-Pierre Poirier, and take home a Montréal Poker Expo Champions Trophy, as well as the $3,095 cash prize that came along with it!

The turning point in heads-up play was when Michele found herself all-in with versus the of Jean-Pierre on a flop of . With no help on the turn or river, Jean-Pierre gave up a considerable chunk of his stack, and was never able to regain it afterwards.

In the final hand of play, Jean-Pierre shoved with from the small blind, and was called by . Michele paired the board to win the pot, and emerged as champion of Event 2! Jean-Pierre took home $2,400 for his second place finish.