The Playground 200, over several Power Weekends, has become an established event. The format is a great blend of classical structure and a modern take on tournament poker, one that brings online and live poker together. There were four Day 1s, including one online, and 133 players came back on Sunday afternoon for Day 2. Out of that number, just 20 made it to the final day, tonight's Day 3. Play was fast at the beginning, and from the 3 starting tables, players were soon confined to 2 [More...]
Event #9 – $220 NL Hold’em 6-Max 50/50 Bounty
Event #9 Champion: Jean-Francois Stoycheff
The closing event of the May Power Weekend, the 6-Max 50/50 Bounty, brought out a huge field of 171 players. The action-inducing format - 6 players per table, each with $100 bounty chips - surpassed all expectations and made for a lively and raucous atmosphere in the tournament hall. The players filled the room quickly at the beginning of the evening, and many of them left almost as fast as they arrived. The bounty chips went in the middle early and often, causing the field to shrink [More...]
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Event #8 – $70 NL Hold’em Single Rebuy
Event #8 Champion: Normand Plessis Belair
Event #8, the $60 + $10 NL Hold’em Single Rebuy, brought a field of 70 runners, enough to easily surpass the $3,000 guarantee for this event. The action was predictably aggressive for this type of tournament, but only 13 players took advantage of the re-buy option. Play at the final table was particularly snug, but things opened up once the blinds reached 8K/16K. Following a flurry of eliminations that quickly reduced the field to three players, Victor Soumis, Brigitte Metivier and Normand [More...]
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Event #7 – $220 NL Hold’em 50/50 Bounty
Our 50/50 Bounty Champion: Martin Dufour
Tonight's event was a 50/50 Bounty that attracted a staggering 245 players. 31 of them got paid, but many more went home with their money back or a small profit from the collected $100 bounty chips. The money was reached without any hand-for-hand play after 2 players busted simultaneously, and from there the eliminations came in at a fast pace, until the tournament moved to a 2-table affair. After so many fast busts, it was natural to see the progression slow down, and this moderation was [More...]
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Event #6 – $80 NL Hold’em Freezeout
Event #6 Champion: Isaac Buswell
Event #6, the $70 + $10 NL Hold'em Freezeout, brought out a huge crowd of 202 entries, enough to nearly triple this afternoon's $5,000 guarantee. The 20-table field dominated the tournament hall, making the remaining field in the Playground 200 look small by comparison. The Freezeout lasted for 24 levels, as the players left the field at a slow and steady pace. Unlike many other events, without the potential or re-entries or the enticement of bounty chips, the Freezeout charted its own [More...]
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Event #5 – $110 NL Hold’em Shootout
Our Shootout Champion: Rong Xu
Event #5 was a shootout tournament, a format that is gaining some serious traction during Playground tournament series. Players needed to win their sit & go table to participate in the 16-player final where everybody got a payout. Some tables finished very quickly, others were playing rather tightly and went the distance. When all 16 spots were taken, round 2 began. 16 players dropped to 8, and that's when the flow of bust outs halted. For almost an hour, every single all-in saw the [More...]
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Event #4 – $60 NL Hold’em Rebuy
Our Rebuy Champion: Ranjeev!
Event 4 in the May Power Weekend was a $50 + $10 NL Hold'em Rebuy tournament. Players could rebuy an unlimited amount of time during the first 4 levels, directly at the table, making for an interesting dynamic. When the rebuy period was over, players started to be a little more cautious with their plays, until the final table was reached. A deal was struck 10-way that brought a lot of action. Every final tableist was secured a payment and the only extra money was at the very top - all were [More...]
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Event #3 -$330 PL Omaha Bounty Re-entry
Event #3 Champion: Jonathan Bussieres
Event #3 of the May Power Weekend, the PLO Bounty Re-entry, brought out enough players to easily surpass this tournament's $10,000 guarantee. In predictable fashion, the players were quick to put their bounty chips in play throughout the early levels, each prepared to take advantage of this event's unlimited re-entry format if necessary. This type of play comes with the territory for any re-entry bounty tournament, but the surprise was that the players showed no signs of slowing down after [More...]
Recent
Event #1 – $110 NL Hold’em 3 Lives Turbo
Stuart Taylor wins Event #1
The end-game in Event #1 of the May Power Weekend at Playground Poker Club ran very quickly, as the table was reduced from 8 to 2 in just over an hour, and to 1 Champion left standing just minutes after that. And when the last stacks were shipped, Stuart Taylor emerged as the victor. There was no deal between the players as heads up play got underway, and no deal would be made as this segment of the tournament only lasted for around 25 minutes. Michael Hunter started out roughly equal to [More...]