The participation in Day 1b is going up as we approach half-way through the late registration period. The players will have their first break of the day in about 15 minutes and during the break we’ll see if there are any front-runners in the field who have managed to build up an early chip advantage.
Photos from level 3:
Today is the second of three starting flights in the Main Event of the Montréal Poker Expo! Players have taken their seats and the opening announcements have been made and with that, the day is on!
There are already 124 players seated to start the action today, and late registration is open (as it was yesterday) until 4pm, so a lot more players are expected.
Good luck!
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 |
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
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
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
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:
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 |
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).
Photos from levels 10 and 11:
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:
