Day 1A was the first of 3 flights in the Strangers in the Night charity tournament, and attracted 85 players, with 19 re-entries. The first 6 levels saw a lot of action, with players going in light to build a stack early or shoot another bullet.

This dynamic, typical of long re-entry periods, and even more typical of charity events, allowed the average stack to go up quickly. After this, play slowed down and tables became more serious. After all, there will be a minimum of $50K down the line!

The last moments of the night were pretty quiet, as everyone wanted to secure a Day 2 spot. The big stacks increased a bit, the short stacks lost a few blinds, and 18 players went home with the satisfaction tied to any Day 1 survival.

View the full Combined Day 1 Results List

Our 3 biggest bags:

Robert Boivin, once towering above the field, was down to about 40K before his last hand. Facing heavy action, he could not bring himself to throw his beautiful suited ace, and found himself all-in against Mike Lafable, in trouble and at risk.

Boivin:
Lafable:

Board:

Boivin walked away, missing Day 2 qualification by a single level. Recent eliminations brought the field down to just 2 tables. Most of these players will get to bag their chips onto Saturday’s Day 2.

Frederick Deguzman and Mitchael Ferguson were both all-in when the action came back to early position limper Raphael Tran Dinh. He made the call, covering Ferguson but covered just barely by Deguzman, and 3 of the smallest stacks of the remaining 3 tables went to showdown. Raphael and Mitchael stood for the occasion.

Ferguson:
Deguzman:
Tran Dinh:

Board:

Raphael Tran Dinh scooped the pot and celebrated vocally. Who can blame him for praising the board who allowed him to survive, so close to the finish line?

Players have taken their last break of the night, with 3 levels to go. Vincent Bédard came out of nowhere and claimed the driver’s seat, going into the last lap.

We took the time to update our top 5:

Play has slowed down considerably in the last couple of levels. Of course, 6 levels of re-entries brought the average chip stack to a handsome amount of big blinds, and it is only natural to see eliminations becoming more scarce at this stage. We now have 4 full tables, and 4 full levels ahead.

One of the few players who recently hit the rail is Philippe M-Tanguay. He shoved all-in on the river into Michel Gariepy, who called and performed an unusual showdown. He lifted his cards in the air, faces towards Philippe. Realizing his demise, Philippe threw his hand in the muck before anyone could take account of it. From his disappointment, one could imagine that he wasn’t very far behind.

Michel:

Board:

Day 1A is passed the halfway mark, and 2 segments of 3 levels each lie ahead. Moments before the break, the field was reduced to 5 tables. Robert Boivin has a very comfortable lead, and humbly declared that the cards did all the work. True or not, he has 50% more chips than his closest follower.

Here is our current top 5: