As expected, action is picking up substantially in the Grand Prix Canada. Day 1G is just at the end of level 2, and the field is already pushing 100 players. Attendance is expected to explode tonight and all day Saturday, but it doesn’t seem like it will be enough to cover the guarantee, allowing all Day 2 qualifiers to enjoy the extra value brought by the almost-certain overlay.
Photographs of level 2:
The final table for Day 1E of the Grand Prix Canada was longer than expected, as all-in hands saw the shortest stack win many times before the actual last hand of the flight.
Jason Conforti had lost most of his chips to Alexandre Morel, and decided it was time to steal the blinds from the button with 
. He was called by the big blind, and to everyone’s astonishment and amusement, Étienne Guay tabled 
, giving Conforti 2 over cards! He hit one of them in the window, and managed to double up in that manner. Guay was cripled, but doubled up shortly after on Brent Croft, when his 
got the best of Brent Croft’s 
. A few hands after, Morel open-raised the 20K big blind to 50K, and Guay went all-in with his new chips for about 200K. That bet was called by Croft, and then by Morel, the initial raiser.
Alexandre Morel:
Étienne Guay: 
Brent Croft: 
Guay, facing 2 pairs of aces, did not find any of his 2 outs anywhere on the board, and was eliminated on the bubble after losing back to back deuces. Some very unusual hands made this final table an amusing experience for most participants.
Here are the qualifiers and their chip counts:
| First Name | Prénom | Last Name | Nom | Stack | Tapis |
|---|---|---|
| Léandre | St-Laurent | 428,500 |
| Alexandre | Morel | 374,900 |
| Sébastien | Proulx | 362,900 |
| Aerial | Noseworthy | 333,000 |
| Brent | Croft | 304,500 |
| Jason | Conforti | 214,500 |
| Houman | Keramati-Nouri | 184,100 |
| Maurice | Devereau | 164,000 |
The last 15 players took a short break, allowing them to catch their breath. The average stack has just over 15 big blinds, and players feel the urgency to gain some chips. The 8 players who make it will be able to enjoy much deeper play in Day 2, as the blinds will kick back a few levels and resume at 1.5K/3K/a300.
Our current chip leader is Étienne Guay (pictured in front), showing 384K, well above his opponents. Here are the current top 8 stacks:
| First Name | Prénom | Last Name | Nom | Stack | Tapis |
|---|---|---|
| Étienne | Guay | 384,000 |
| Alexandre | Morel | 290,000 |
| Brent | Croft | 202,000 |
| Léandre | St-Laurent | 182,000 |
| Michael | H Dunn | 163,000 |
| Julien | Aubin | 158,500 |
| Jason | Conforti | 152,500 |
| Brendon | Shambach | 139,000 |
Day 1E now counts 20 players, and have moved to its final 2 tables. Only 12 eliminations to go before our final 8 players bag and tag their chips and send them to Sunday’s Day 2.
If you qualified already and want to find out where you stand in terms of ammunition, or for other purposes, you can consult the list of qualifiers here (including chip counts).
Here is the seating chart of the last 2 tables, followed by some shots of the remaining field:
| First Name | Prénom | Last Name | Nom | Seat | Siège |
|---|---|---|
| Michael | Petretta | Table 66 - Seat 1 |
| Houman | Keramati-Nouri | Table 66 - Seat 2 |
| Damien | Gorin | Table 66 - Seat 3 |
| Aerial | Noseworthy | Table 66 - Seat 4 |
| Gérard | Doire | Table 66 - Seat 5 |
| Maurice | Simard | Table 66 - Seat 6 |
| Léandre | St-Laurent | Table 66 - Seat 7 |
| Étienne | Guay | Table 66 - Seat 8 |
| Sébastien | Proulx | Table 66 - Seat 9 |
| Alexandre | Morel | Table 66 - Seat 10 |
| Harold | Cubillos | Table 70 - Seat 1 |
| Jason | Conforti | Table 70 - Seat 2 |
| Brent | Croft | Table 70 - Seat 3 |
| Michael | H Dunn | Table 70 - Seat 4 |
| André | St-Jean | Table 70 - Seat 5 |
| Brendon | Shambach | Table 70 - Seat 6 |
| Maurice | Devereau | Table 70 - Seat 7 |
| David Paul | Kozak | Table 70 - Seat 8 |
| David | Cadoche | Table 70 - Seat 9 |
| Julien | Aubin | Table 70 - Seat 10 |
Jason Conforti is still leading the flight, with 152 000 to his name. It seems like his whole table plays to his beats. Claude Comtois and Jean-Louis Thériault are not too far behind, enforcing the law on their respective tables.
Here is the top 5 at this point, formed by players with more than 100K:
| First Name | Prénom | Last Name | Nom | Stack | Tapis |
|---|---|---|
| Jason | Conforti | 152,000 |
| Claude | Comtois | 145,500 |
| Jean-Louis | Thériault | 129,500 |
| Laszlo | Kassa | 107,500 |
| Étienne | Guay | 103,000 |
Day 1E of the Grand Prix Canada Event is well underway, as just under half the field was sent to the cash games, or the Player’s Lounge. The tournament just shrunk to 4 tables, and some of our players are pushing 150K, which is triple the actual average!
We at playground Poker Club are very excited about the heavy action that is coming to us this week-end. The last Grand Prix Canada Day 1s will be held on Saturday, and as Day 2 unfolds, Sunday will also feature the first inner series Phase 1s for the partypoker Million North America. Be sure to be part of the thrill!
Photographs of levels 10-11:
