Josue Sauvageau

Josue Sauvageau

After 10 levels of play in this Day 1a in the WPT Canadian Spring Classic presented by partypoker.net, the 79 player starting field ended with only 27 survivors.

The race at the top is very close, as once overwhelming chip-leader Kunru Ma saw his stack depreciate in the last 2 levels. Leading the field in this first of three starting flights is Josue Sauvageau who bagged 162,900 after 10 hours of play.

Below is a list of the top 10 stacks of Day 1a – a full list of player-reported chip counts will be made available shortly.

Yann Dion

Level 10 is underway in Day 1a of the WPT CSC, and this will be the last level of the day.

Kunru Ma continues to chip up while maintaining his spot as chip leader, and now holds nearly 220,000 chips. Seth Davies, Amir Babakhani, Tony Dunst and Scott Shevlock are also in the top 5 counts of the day, as all 4 players sit between 150K and 170K.

Photographs from level 9:

Scott Shevlock

Scott Shevlock just found himself on the winning end of a 150K+ pot in the later stages of this Day 1a in the WPT CSC.

He opened to 1,800 from under the gun, and found a call from Joshua Frederick on the button. Roland Israelashvili then placed a 3bet to 7,800 from the small blind. Scott waited a moment before 4betting to 20,500, which triggered Joshua’s quick fold. Roland seemed hesitant but eventually announced all-in, which Scott was happy to call.

Scott:
Roland:

With almost no sweat on the board, Scott earned the double up of his nearly 75,000 chip stack, putting him amongst the leaders of this first flight in the Main Event.

Kunru Ma

Day 1a of the WPT CSC has just completed the last break of the night, and the tournament will go on pause once 2 more 1-hour levels have been completed.

Kunru Ma continues to lead the field, and has increased his holdings to nearly 200,000 chips. Below is a look at the top stacks as play enters level 9:

Damjan Radanov

Kunru Ma has taken over the chip-lead midway through level 8 in Day 1a of the WPT CSC, and he now sits on a hefty stack close to 175,000. Paul Scott is still amongst the leaders, and holds 155,000 – good for second in chips. Rounding up the top three stacks is Seth Davies, who has climbed up to over 140,000.

Recent notable eliminations include the likes of Ramesh Puradchithasan and Darryll Scott Fish, while Jean-Philippe Piquette, Brian Altman, Pascal Lefrancois and Timothy Reilly made their exit before the dinner break.

There will be a break in 30 minutes, at which point we will bring a more detailed update on chip counts.

Photographs from level 7:

Naseem Kteily

After 6 levels of action, the players in the WPT Canadian Spring Championship are now on a 45-minute dinner break where they can indulge in the buffet offered by the house.

After a huge hand moments before the break, Paul Scott has taken over the chip lead in these early stages of the Main Event. He turned a straight versus the top set of Tim Reilly, and top two-pairs of Serge Pouliot on a rainbow board showing AT7 Q. The river was a blank, tripling Paul’s stack up while putting a serious dent in the two other players.

Here is a look at the current leaderboard, entering level 7:

Photographs from level 6:

Tony Dunst

The players in Day 1a are just returning from the second break of the day. We took the opportunity to find out who has taken an early lead in today’s starting flight after 4 levels of play. We found 4 players in and around the 75K mark.

• Roland Ishraelashvili – 78,600 chips
• Matthew Wilkins – 75,200 chips
• Sylvain Siebert – 74,600 chips
• Kunru Ma – 74,100 chips

During the last level a few new players of note joined in today’s flight, including Players Club members Antonio Esfandiari and Jeff Gross, plus former WPT Canadian Spring Champion Amir Babakhani.

Additional photos from level 4