The Escalator is now in it’s last level of play, and blinds have switched to 50-minutes long. From here on, they will remain this length. 16 players remain of the 111 that started the day, but only 12 of them will earn a piece of the prize pool.
Shortly after the completion of this level, we will be publishing the list of player-reported chip counts.
Here are the estimated chip counts after 15 levels of play in Event 2:
Table 49
Seat 1. Tina Howie – 51,500
Seat 2. Yan Fantinato – 71,500
Seat 3. Andre Pelletier – 192,000
Seat 4. Eddie Daldalian – 133,500
Seat 5. Pierre Remillard – 93,500
Seat 6. Maxime Cyr – 89,000
Seat 7. Francois Guerin – 20,500
Seat 8. Josef Ares – 125,000
Seat 9. Sylvain Gauthier – 52,000
Seat 10. Sean Ramsaroop – 36,000
Table 50
Seat 1. Bill Kontaratos – 77,000
Seat 2. Carl Laberge – 77,500
Seat 3. Alain Mathieu – 65,500
Seat 4. Steven Saab – 55,000
Seat 5. Johnny Mazzaferro – 173,000
Seat 6. Simon Bissonnette-du-Cap – 62,500
Seat 7. Martin Messier – 72,000
Seat 8. Patrick Fortin – 84,000
Seat 9. Jennifer Brooks – 92,000
Seat 10. Madis Pugi – 55,000
The Escalator is now down to it’s final two tables, and here they are:
Table 49
Seat 1. Tina Howie
Seat 2. Yan Fantinato
Seat 3. Andre Pelletier
Seat 4. Eddie Daldalian
Seat 5. Pierre Remillard
Seat 6. Maxime Cyr
Seat 7. Francois Guerin
Seat 8. Josef Ares
Seat 9. Sylvain Gauthier
Seat 10. Sean Ramsaroop
Table 50
Seat 1. Bill Kontaratos
Seat 2. Carl Laberge
Seat 3. Alain Mathieu
Seat 4. Steven Saab
Seat 5. Johnny Mazzaferro
Seat 6. Simon Bissonnette-du-Cap
Seat 7. Martin Messier
Seat 8. Patrick Fortin
Seat 9. Jennifer Brooks
Seat 10. Madis Pugi
The Escalator is now in level 13, where the blinds have been increased to 40-minutes each. The depth of this structure is starting to take place, and the increasing blinds will allow for much more play in the levels to come. Although the field has been reduced to 32 players from the 111 that started, the average stack is of 26 big blinds, and will deepen over time.
Only two players have reached the 6-figures so far, as Nader Ammar and Carl Laberge share the chip lead, sitting on roughly 110,000 each. The third largest stack is of 84,000, and belongs to Eddie Daldalian, and he is followed closely by several other players.
Photographs taken during levels 11 and 12:
The Escalator is on it’s first break of the night, and blinds will be up to 30 minutes when play resumes. One player has managed to take a massive lead on the field, as Simon Bissonnette-du-Cap and his 96,000 stack dwarf any other player at the moment. Second in chips is Martin Messier, who holds 53,000.
Late registration is now closed for this second event of the Playground Winter Festival, and the final count is of 111 players. The prize pool will be published shortly.
Event 2 – Escalator is now into level 7, and blinds have been increased to 25 minutes each. There are two more levels plus the break left to register, which means that registration will close around 7:30pm. The field is up to 107 entries for now, and slowly climbing.
Photographs from the early stages of the Escalator:
Play has begun in Event 2, the $135 + $15 Escalator tournament, and players will appreciate fast dealers as the first two blind levels are just 10 minutes in length! In level 3 they will extend to 15 minutes and 5 more minutes every second level until the end of the day.
There are currently 75 players at the tables and due to the escalating blinds, late registration is open until the end of the break following level 8 – which is to say players can register any time until approximately 7:30pm.
Tonight is Event 2 in the Playground Winter Festival, and it’s a new format of tournament that should prove to be tons of fun!
It’s called an “Escalator” tournament and how it works is this: blind levels start out at just 10 minutes in length, but every second level, the levels get 5 minutes longer. So, by level 8 the levels will have increased to 30 minutes in length and by the end of play tonight (level 17) the length of the levels will have increased to 50 minutes in length.
The Escalator is a 2-day event, but on Day 2, blind levels will continue to be 50 minutes in length throughout the day.
Players should note the fact that tonight’s event starts at 5pm, so be sure to get here on time to join in the action!
