Day 1a of Event 1 of the PokerStars Canada Cup started at 11am on May 16 and played through 13 half-hour levels before the remaining players bagged their chips to take to Day 2, on Sunday.

Of the 237 players who started today, 56 remained at the end of the day.

The TD called for tables to play 6 additional hands a few minutes ago, and once those are done players will bag up their chips. We’ll have final chip counts for the day shortly.

The 70 players remaining in Day 1a have begun their final 30-minute level of the day, at which time the remaining players will count and bag up their chips, ready to come back and play on Day 2, Sunday. Of course a player who bags a short stack may try to do better in an additional Day 1 – probably not tonight (due to fatigue) but tommorrow’s Day 1c or 1d would be possible.

There are still a couple of levels left before the end of Day 1a but a few players have built stacks that set them apart from the field. At least four players have 100K or more in chips, with several others right on their heels.

Here are the players with stacks over 100K:

• Maurice Simard
• Miguel Goncalo
• Michael Pitcher
• Said Michailidis

Update: Since gathering these counts, Said Michailidis has won a lot more chips, making him the clear chip leader at this point in the flight.

Players have left their seats to go on their second 15-minute break of the day. While the players take their well-deserved break, tournament staff is colouring up and racing off the green T25 chips.

There are some notable players in the field considering the $150 total buy-in. In the Main Event next week we’re expecting many “name” pros, but for a side event there are quite a few players who have had significant poker achievements in the past.

• Carla Sabini – Carla plays here at Playground often, but is most well known for her amazing parlay of a 30th place finish in the EPT London Main Event into a 4th place result in the High Roller a few days later!
• Phil Plouffe – Phil is a member of the Playground Players Club and has had a lot of success both live and online, including a final table appearance at the PCA Main Event in 2011.
• Ami Alibay – Ami is an accomplished player and local nightclub owner who’s best known in the poker world for a deep run in the WSOP Main Event last summer as well as a final table at the EPT Deauville in 2012. He also bubbled the final table of a WSOP 6-Max event last summer.
• Ricky Tang – Ricky hails from Toronto and is a regular Playground visitor when big events come around. He’s had immense success here in the past as well, counting a 2nd place finish in a $1.1K event and a 3rd place finish in a $150 event (similar to this event)

In addition to these players are others like Josh Kimmel, Jennifer Brooks, Yifan Dong, Travis Robertson, Said Michailidis, Cole Skye, Jean-Guy Boyer, and Mark Fitzpatrick who can do a lot of damage.

Players have returned from their first break of the day and with the end of the break came the end of the late registration period.

The final number of entries for Day 1a is a very healthy 237 players which gets the event off to a great start towards meeting (and likely far exceeding) the $100,000 guarantee!

Players who bust out of any starting flight may re-enter in any or all of the following flights, and any player who manages to qualify twice for Day 2 will simply forfeit her or his smaller stack and move forward with the larger one.