Playground Poker

After 14 levels of play, the tournament has just wrapped up. After all was said and done, 13 players managed to hold on to their stacks long enough to bag them for Day 2.

Leading the cavalry are Antoine Simon who bagged an impressive 449,000 chips, and Ramsey Belmaaza with 446,000. The only other player above the 400K mark is Ghislain Pigeon at 431,000. Pigeon and Balmaaza have been among the chip leaders pretty much all evening, while Antoine took off in a last-minute sprint during the last few levels to finish strong.

Out of the 69 entries, 13 players have secured a spot for Day 2, which is set to get underway Friday, March 22nd, at 7:00pm.

See the Combined Day 1 Results here.

Players still have 3 more flights in which to qualify for Day 2. There are two Day 1s tomorrow: Day 1B will start at 11:00am and Day 1C will get under way at 7:00pm. The last Day 1 is Day 1D set to start at 12:00pm on Friday March 22nd; this last flight will be turbo.

Players may elect to play additional Day 1s in the event if they have already qualified for Day 2. Those who qualify more than once will resume play on Day 2 with their largest qualifying stack; all other qualifying stacks will be forfeited.

The action preflop was pretty straightforward with Ruben Perceval raising to 9,500 UTG. He got three calls from chip leader Ghislain Pigeon, small blind Antoine Simon and big blind Mathew Craigie.

The flop came out: and all the players checked. The turn came: , and both Simon and Craigie checked. Ruben bet 18,000, which Ghislain called. Antoine Simon took a few moments before announcing, “all-in” for 78,500. The bet shoved both Mathew and Ruben out of the way and left Ghislain Pigeon alone with Antoine. After a few minutes of consideration, Ghislain threw in a single chip, clearly signaling a call and both players tabled their hands:

Antoine showed for a queen-high flush, while Ghislain tabled pocket fours , drawing dead with his pair and open-ended straight draw. The on the river was of no consequence and Antoine added some much-needed chips to his stack.

The remaining players keep their eyes on the boards as the end looms near, and the tournament director closes yet another table.

The players took advantage of their last break of the evening, between levels 11 and 12. The leaderboard has been updated to include all the players with a minimum of 200K in front of them.

Toping-off the list with a huge lead is Ghislain Pigeon, with 427,000. The next player on the board is Ramsey Belmaaza with 288,500 chips, almost 140,000 chips behind Pigeon. In total seven players have made the leaderboard as we head into the last stretch of Day 1A.

There are now 24 players left in Day 1A of the Playground 500, and they are down to three tables.

The chips are flying, as well as the all-in cards as the action flares up while the players try to get their hands on as many chips as possible.

Here are a few more photos of the players, taken in the last few levels.

Nick Nickoletopoulos is working hard for every chip in his stack. The last three hands we witnessed probably gave him some whiplash.

The stage was set at table #35 about two-thirds of the way into level 9. With blinds 800/1,600 and a chip average at just over 107K, Nick pushed all-in from UTG for approximately 100,000 chips. Most of the players folded but when the action came to Stéphane Lacasse, he wasted no time in shoving all in as well, for less, with 85,100. Everyone else folded and the two players tabled their hands.

Nick:
Stéphane:

This classic match-up between a Broadway pair and Big Slick is always a coin toss. The dealer laid out the first four cards of the board: . Nick was feeling pretty good until the river punched through his heart: , giving Stéphane top-top and delivering a crushing blow to Nick’s stack.

With only 9,800 chips left, Nick looked soulfully at the button which was deposited two seats to his right, making him the next big blind. Reluctantly throwing 1,600 to the dealer as ante and pushing another 1,600 in front of him, he left no one at the table wondering what he was going to do when the action came around to him in this hand. Once the cards were dealt, almost everyone folded except Alexandre Nadeau-Lévesque who made a minimum raise to 3,200. The small blind folded, leaving Nick alone with Alexandre. Nick called and pushed his small stack forward and tabled a decent hand: . Alexandre threw in his own cards: and the flop came out: .

Nick was doing great and was glad to see any hopes for a flush on Alexandre’s side evaporate. The turn made Nick cringe a bit: and everyone sat back down when the showed up on the river, completing a straight on the board: split pot!

Unwavering, and now small blind, Nick was already holding his stack in one hand when the third hand started. Everyone folded to Nick who, for the third consecutive hand, went all-in. This time his all-in was worth 6,800 chips. Chip Leader Ramsey Belmaaza was on his left, and big blind, so he called immediately and the hands were tabled.

Nick:
Ramsey:
Board:

So Nick doubles-up, sits down and now gets ready to grind ahead…