The field is shrinking quickly on Day 1B, as the blind pressure begins to creep up on the short stacks and the disparity between the rich and the poor widens.

Dealers can be heard saying “all-in” with increasing frequency, as many players find themselves in the red zone with only a handful of blinds and are forced to make a move when a decent hand come their way. We are seeing lots of classic flips, middle pair against two big cards, but there is still lots of play left for the big stacks.

Jonathan Brazeau continues to maintain momentum with one of the largest stacks in play, while Ramsey Balmaaza, who had jumped up the leader board earlier, has been riding a roller coaster, winning and losing big pots.

The extended late registration and re-entry period has just closed on Day 1B of the Playground 200, but not before 205 players had time to get in on the action. The large turnout means that there are over 5,000,000 chips in play so there are sure to be many large stacks moving forward to Sunday’s Day 2.

This event will have one more starting flight tomorrow at 11am, and players are allowed to play multiple Day 1s and qualify multiple stacks, with the largest moving forward to Day 2.

Ramsey Belmaaza got off to a fast tonight, and he shows no signs of slowing down. He just sent another players to the rail, following a hand that helps explain how he has built a stack of more than triple the current chip average.

Belmaaza was in position in a heads-up pot and found a way to get maximum value, to everyone’s surprise. The flop fell :9, and Belmaaza’s opponent gathered a handful of 5K chips and put out a hefty bet. Belmaaza immediately raised all-in and got his opponent to put in the rest of his chips. Hands were tabled to show that Belmaaza’s two-pair ahnd, , was well ahead of his opponent’s . The and fell harmlessly on the turn and river, and Belmaaza collected another huge pot.

There are now more than 190 runners in Day 1B of the Playground 200, putting nearly 5,000,000 chips in play this evening. There is still one more level of late registration and re-entries available, so it’s not too late to get in on the action and play for a piece of the $100,000 guaranteed prize pool!

Jonathan Brazeau is off to an early chip lead on Day 1B, with a stack of more than triple the current chip average. Ramsey Belmaaza and Siamak S, second and third in chips respectively, are not far behind, but there is still along way to go in this flight so any one of the 155 players left in the field could emerge as the chip leader.

The field is taking advantage of the extended late registration and re-entry period to (re-)enter Day 1B, as the number of entries has just ticked past the 160 mark. There are over 4,000,000 chips in play already, and that number will continue to rise throughout the next few levels. Some players will emerge from this flight with lot of chips in the bag for Sunday’s day 2.

Here’s another look at the growing field: