Playground Poker Spring Classic 2015

Into level 8

  • Level: 8
  • Small Blind: 300
  • Big Blind: 600
  • Ante: 75
  • Chip Average: 53K
  • Remaining: 77
  • Entries: 136


    • - by

    Xuan Liu

    Day 1A of the WPT Canadian Spring Championship is nearing the midway mark of level 8, and the field is down to 9 tables. There will be a short break following the completion of this level, and players will have two more 1-hour levels left to play after the break before going on break for the night.

    Photographs from levels 7-8:

    The 2015 Playground Poker Spring Classic Bracelet Winners!

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    Playground Poker Spring Classic Bracelet

    The Playground Poker Spring Classic is an annual series held at Playground Poker Club, in conjunction with the World Poker Tour and partypoker.net. This years edition is home to 16 events of various structures and games, with buy-ins ranging form as low as $135 + $15, up to the Main Event of $3,200 + $300, and runs from April 19th through May 6th.

    In addition to winning cash prizes, players also have the chance of winning a Playground Poker Spring Classic bracelet, as they are awarded to the champions of most of the events. The exceptions to this are Event 8 – Survivor, which has multiple champions, and the WPT Canadian Spring Championship, which awards a Champions Belt to the winner, along with the WPT Champion’s Trophy.

    Here is a recap of the 2015 Playground Poker Spring Classic champions:

    • Event 1: Rick Shamshoum – $28,780
    • Event 2: Christopher B – $4,812
    • Event 3: Gerald Macleod – $39,134
    • Event 4: Rejean Grenier – $2,893
    • Event 5: Francois Goulet – $15,000
    • Event 6: Daniel Kwon – $3,342
    • Event 7: Philippe Belley – $44,500
    • Event 8: multiple winners
    • Event 9: Arthur Walker – $4,195
    • Event 11: Johnson Bui – $6,000

    Leaderboard and notable counts at the dinner break

  • Level: 7
  • Small Blind: 250
  • Big Blind: 500
  • Ante: 75
  • Chip Average: 45.5K
  • Remaining: 89
  • Entries: 135


    • - by

    Here is an update on the leaderboard, as play enters level 7 of Day 1A:

    [eztable width=40% colwidth=60%|40% colalign=left|left]
    Name,Chips [attr sort=desc]
    Jason James,”95,400″
    Sheraz Nasir,”138,300″
    Brian Wang,”140,425″
    Ari Engel,”96,700″
    Marc Etienne McLaughlin,”109,725″
    Ratharam Sivagnanam,”112,100″
    Ping Lee,”89,600″
    Mathieu Martin,”95,900″
    Mike Leah,”92,300″
    [/eztable]

    A few notable players’ stacks:

    [eztable width=40% colwidth=60%|40% colalign=left|left]
    Name,Chips [attr sort=desc]
    Zennawi Petros,”8,700″
    Matthew Salsberg,”13,100″
    Xuan Liu,”35,000″
    Philippe D’Auteuil,”6,525″
    Daniel Gagnon,”31,800″
    Martin Rauss,”22,300″
    Scott Montgomery,”10,225″
    Matthew Marafioti,”42,200″
    Pascal Lefrancois,”23,800″
    Lucas Greenwood,”44,750″
    Danny Lauzon,”79,125″
    Samuel Chartier,”71,500″
    Will Molson,”41,800″
    Jeffrey Gross,”29,925″
    Tim Reilly,”70,500″
    TJ Ulmer,”61,500″
    Ami Alibay,”35,525″
    Diana Shamshoum,”38,425″
    [/eztable]

    Photographs from level 6:

    Level 5 photos

  • Level: 5
  • Small Blind: 150
  • Big Blind: 300
  • Ante: 50
  • Chip Average: 40.1K
  • Remaining: 101
  • Entries: 135


    • - by

    Jonathan Duhamel

    Photographs from level 5:

    Mclaughlin leads after 4 levels

  • Level: 5
  • Small Blind: 150
  • Big Blind: 300
  • Ante: 25
  • Chip Average: 36.6K
  • Remaining: 109
  • Entries: 133


    • - by

    Marc-Etienne Mclaughlin

    While the players were enjoying a short break, we took a walk through the tournament room in search of the current chip leaders, and here is what we found:

    1. Marc Etienne Mclaughlin – 119,000
    2. Brian Wang – 93,000
    3. Etienne Dion – 82,000
    4. Lu Zhang – 78,000
    5. Christopher Clisby – 74,000
    6. Christo Bassila – 69,500
    7. Paul Theodore Klann – 66,000
    8. Doris Charlebois – 62,500
    9. Mathieu Martin – 62,000
    Marc-Etienne Mclaughlin

    Marc-Etienne Mclaughlin

    Some Day 1A photographs

  • Level: 4
  • Small Blind: 100
  • Big Blind: 200
  • Ante: 25
  • Chip Average: 36.1K
  • Remaining: 109
  • Entries: 131


    • - by

    Photographs from levels 3-4:

    The WPT Warm-Up Champion: Philippe Belley

    - by

    Event 7 Champion: Philippe Belley

    After knocking out 3rd place finisher Alexander Allison, Philippe took over the chip lead going into heads-up play versus Andrew Graham. It only took a few hands back and forth before we saw an all-in and a call, as Andrew opened from the small blind to 100,000, and then made the call after Philippe 3bet shoved from the big blind. Andrew was the preflop favourite, holding Ace of Diamonds Queen of Clubs, however Philippe had live cards, as he tabled King of Diamonds 10 of Spades. The flop was huge for Philippe, as he picked up straight and flush draws on the Jack of Spades 2 of Spades Queen of Spades board. He made his flush with the Ace of Spades turn, and only had to face 4 full-house outs to win the hand. The river brought the 4 of Clubs, which sealed the deal.

    With that hand, Philippe was crowned our champion of Event 7 – WTP Warm-up, collecting a sweet $44,500 prize, as well as a Playground Poker Spring Classic bracelet! Andrew pocketed a consolation prize of $31,300 for his second place finish.

    Congratulations!

    Event 7 – WPT Warm-Up – Champion: Philippe Belley – $44,500

    PPSC-E7-D2-4851PPSC-E7-D2-4855PPSC-E7-D2-4857Event 7 Runner-Up: Andrew Graham – $31,300

    PPSC-E7-D2-4860

    Andrew Graham

    Andrew Graham

    Last hand of play of Event 7

    PPSC-E7-D2-4848

    Heads-Up: Andrew Graham vs Philippe Belley

  • Level: 27
  • Small Blind: 25K
  • Big Blind: 50K
  • Ante: 5K
  • Chip Average: 2.4M
  • Remaining: 2
  • Entries: 190


    • - by

    With the recent elimination of Alexander James Allison in 3rd place, Event 7 – WPT Warm-Up – has reached heads-up play! The match-up is between Andrew Graham (1,265,000) and Philippe Belley (3,485,000), and they are playing for a first prize of $44,500, as well as a Playground Poker Spring Classic bracelet!

    Good luck!

    PPSC-E7-D2-4840 PPSC-E7-D2-4831

    Allison runs into a brick wall

  • Level: 27
  • Small Blind: 25K
  • Big Blind: 50K
  • Ante: 5K
  • Chip Average: 2.4M
  • Remaining: 2
  • Entries: 190


    • - by

    Alexander James Allison thought he was setting a trap when he limp-shoved from the small blind, after Philippe Belley opened his big blind. He found a snap-call from his opponent though, and was in a world of trouble.

    Alexander: Ace of Clubs King of Clubs

    Philippe: Ace of Hearts Ace of Spades

    The board ( 2 of Diamonds 6 of Spades 7 of Diamonds 9 of Diamonds 7 of Hearts ) brought no help, and Alexander “@Cheese9” was sent home in 3rd place, while Philippe added around 1,400,000.

    With that, we are now heads-up between Andrew Graham and Philippe Belley!

    3rd place: Alexander James Allison – $20,050

    PPSC-E7-D2-4782

    Alexander James Alliso

    Update on counts

  • Level: 26
  • Small Blind: 20K
  • Big Blind: 40K
  • Ante: 5K
  • Chip Average: 1.6M
  • Remaining: 3
  • Entries: 190


    • - by

    Peeking over the shoulders of the remaining three players, we estimate their current stack sizes as the following:

    [eztable width=”70%” colwidth=”20%|20%|20%|10%” colalign=”left|left|left|center”]
    First Name,Last Name,Seat [attr sort=”asc”],Count
    Andrew,Graham,Seat 1,”1,800,000″
    Alexander James,Allison,Seat 7,”1,350,000″
    Philippe,Belley,Seat 8,”1,625,000″
    [/eztable]