The latest edition of the Playground 200 brought out 698 entries over the course of the July Power Weekend. The huge field built a prize pool that easily exceeded the $100,000 guarantee. There were 21 players remaining when play began on Day 3, led by Co Tran who started the evening with the largest stack in play.
The players arrived looking determined, seemingly unfazed by the boisterous mood in the tournament hall as 6-Max Bounty got underway. The 21 finalists started on three tables that quickly became two following the eliminations in the first two levels of play. Co Tran’s chip lead began to fade as Steve Horic started his rise to the top of the leader board.
Once the players arrived at the final table, Horic had a slim chip lead over his rivals. And he continued the solid play that got him to the top of the leader board over the course of the next few levels, however, our eventual champion, Sebastien Drolet-Poitras came on strong in the late stages.
It was a rough start to the final table for Drolet-Poitras, having lost a big heads-up pot to Horic in the early going. But he maintained his resolve and stayed focused on his goal. He kept himself out of harm’s way during the early eliminations and then started making some hands as they got into the late stages. Although Steve Horic also eliminated a number of players at the final table, the players busted by Drolet-Poitras had the larger stacks so by the time they arrived against each other to play heads up, Drolet-Poitras had a slim chip lead.
Drolet-Poitras and Horic agreed to an ICM chop before heads-up play began, with a small portion of the prize pool reserved for the outright winner. And it was Drolet-Poitras who immediately took charge. The turning point of the heads-up match came early on when Drolet-Poitras was able to elicit a call from a huge river value bet, holding 
on a board of 
. After that hand, Drolet-Poitras had a massive chip lead, one that he would not relinquish. The two players traded some small pots back and forth before the tournament came to its conclusion following a pre-flop all in when two big hands collided. Horic had the best of it before the flop, but Drolet-Poitras flopped a set to claim victory. Congratulations!
Event #2 Champion: Sebastien Drolet-Poitras, $22,737
Last hand of play:
