In the money

The ‘All-in or Nothing’ tournament is now in the money, with the following 7 players still remaining:

Shuffle up and deal!

  • Level: 1
  • Small Blind: 25
  • Big Blind: 50
  • Ante: 0
  • Chip Average: 25K
  • Remaining: 92
  • Entries: 92


  • Event 9 – $200 + $20 No Limit Hold’em Deepstack Turbo – which is part of the PokerStars Canada Cup series, has just begun. So far, 92 players are registered, and this number should continue to grow as late registration is permitted for the first 5 levels plus the break, so until roughly 9:30pm.

    Much like the other Side Events, the winner will be taking home a PokerStars Canada Cup trophy, as well as what is sure to be an interesting first prize for the buy-in.

    Good luck to our players tonight!

    Prize pool and payout structure

    Event 8 – $100 + $10 No Limit Hold’em All-in or Nothing – attracted a total of 67 players, generating a total prize pool of $6,499! Prizes will be distributed according to the following payout structure:

    Finish Prize
    1 $2,129
    2 $1,480
    3 $1,040
    4 $730
    5 $510
    6 $360
    7 $250

    Bubble has burst; Day 2 over

  • Level: 17
  • Small Blind: 2.5K
  • Big Blind: 5K
  • Ante: 500
  • Chip Average: 240.8K
  • Remaining: 72
  • Entries: 578


  • Two simultaneous eliminations occurred with 74 players remaining, and just like that the Main Event of the PokerStars Canada Cup is now in the money! Tam Ho and Mario Lepine were the unlucky ones who just missed a payday, but they made 72 others very happy.

    With these eliminations, Day 2 is now over, and players have bagged their chips for Day 3. When they return, they will play the remaining 23:01 left in level 17 before changing to 90-minute levels.

    Final chip counts and seating assignments for Day 3 will be made available shortly.

    Chamas makes a hero call near bubble

  • Level: 17
  • Small Blind: 2.5K
  • Big Blind: 5K
  • Ante: 500
  • Chip Average: 234.3K
  • Remaining: 74
  • Entries: 578


  • Rayan Chamas just made the call of his tournament, and it took him nearly 8 minutes to decide that his hand must be good.

    With the board showing 6 of Hearts 5 of Clubs 8 of Diamonds 3 of Diamonds 9 of Diamonds, and around 150K in the pot, Rayan checked to Danny Boyaci for a third street in a row, and Danny announced he was all-in for 234K. Rayan looked a little surprised with this move, and proceeded to think… and think… and think… A small crowd began to gather around the table, as players from other tables were getting intrigued with the action. Rayan stood up, shook his head, and eventually slid some chips forward to signify a call.

    Danny turned over Ace of Diamonds Jack of Clubs for ace-high, and Rayan tabled 5 of Diamonds 5 of Spades for a winning set of 5s. Rayan is now sitting on a comfortable 525K+ stack, while Danny fell 4 spots short of the money.

    Update on chip counts

  • Level: 17
  • Small Blind: 2.5K
  • Big Blind: 5K
  • Ante: 500
  • Chip Average: 216.8K
  • Remaining: 80
  • Entries: 578


  • We have completed 6 levels so far in this Day 2, and we are only 8 players short of bursting the money bubble. Once this point is reached, the players will bag and tag their chips onto Day 3, which is scheduled for 11am tomorrow, Monday May 26th.

    Here are the current chip leaders:

    1. Jeremie Bilodeau – 904K
    2. Sylvain Siebert – 617K
    3. Jonathan Driscoll – 560K
    4. Domenico Agatiello – 525K
    5. Thiago Nishijima – 514K
    6. Robert Notkin – 473K
    7. McKenzie James Liebzeit – 444K
    8. Francois Binette – 443K
    9. Carter Swidler – 435K
    10. Steven Silverman – 409K

    Other stacks worth mentioning:

    • Alexandre Lavigne – 160K
    • Antonio Esfandiari – 112K
    • Jonathan Duhamel – 171K
    • Laurence Grondin – 125K
    • Michael Watson – 164K
    • Pascal Lefrancois – 260K
    • Rayan Chamas – 268K
    • Will Molson – 100K

    Play will resume in 5 minutes, and the tournament should enter hand-for-hand play fairly soon.

    Driscoll springs into the leaderboard

  • Level: 16
  • Small Blind: 2K
  • Big Blind: 4K
  • Ante: 500
  • Chip Average: 180.6K
  • Remaining: 96
  • Entries: 578


  • Jonathan Driscoll was considering not playing in this Main Event of the PokerStars Canada Cup, as he had made plans to go to the Spartan race this weekend with his friends, but a last minute change of heart brought him here to Playground Poker Club. Given his run today, it is looking like he made a +EV decision. Having started the day with 121.9K, he has managed to chip up to over 600K, largely due to a recent huge pot he won.

    Recent big stack Riyaz Abdulla opened from the cutoff to 10K, and was 3bet by Jonathan to 25K from the big blind. Riyaz 4bet to 68.5K, holding roughly 155K behind, and went into the tank when Jonathan 5bet shoved (Jonathan had Riyaz’s stack covered). He eventually made the call, and it was a flip for a pot upwards of 450K.

    Riyaz: 7 of Hearts 7 of Clubs

    Jonathan: Ace of Clubs King of Diamonds

    The board ran Jack of Diamonds King of Hearts Ace of Hearts 4 of Clubs 8 of Hearts, and Jonathan scooped the massive pot, eliminating Riyaz.

    A few more photos

  • Level: 15
  • Small Blind: 1.5K
  • Big Blind: 3K
  • Ante: 500
  • Chip Average: 156.2K
  • Remaining: 111
  • Entries: 578


  • Here are a few additional photos from Day 2, taken during level 14.

    Follow this link to view a gallery from level 11

    Chips counts of notable players

  • Level: 15
  • Small Blind: 1.5K
  • Big Blind: 3K
  • Ante: 500
  • Chip Average: 141K
  • Remaining: 123
  • Entries: 578


  • These are rough chip counts of some of the notable players left in the field going into level 15:

    • Ami Alibay – 92K
    • Antonio Esfandiari – 90K
    • Ankush Mandavia – 336K
    • Chanracy Khun – 63K
    • Carter Swidler – 148K
    • Guillaume Rivet – 101K
    • Laurence Grondin – 174K
    • Lucas Greenwood – 161K
    • Jonathan Duhamel – 116K
    • Marc-André Ladouceur – 127K
    • Pascal Lefrancois – 395K
    • Steven Silverman – 309K
    • Sylvain Siebert – 303K
    • Thiago Nishijima – 131K
    • Vincent Jacques – 46K
    • Will Molson – 201K
    • Yann Dion – 178K

    Player updates

    A few players have been doing their own ‘live updates’ and keeping their rail informed via Twitter.