Here are a few shots of the action in Day 1J taken during level 5. Registration is still open for 45 minutes, following which time only one live and one online Day 1 will remain for players to take their shot in the Grand Prix Canada.
The 4:00pm flight is through to the final moments of level 3 and with late registration still open, participation has grown over 260 players with more yet to come. Just 11 players have been eliminated so far, so the chip average hasn’t grown much beyond it’s starting point of 30K, so late registrants aren’t far behind the field as they take their seats.
Registration will remain open through another 3 levels plus breaks – in other words, until 6:15pm this evening.
Play in Day 1I has begun in the 13th level as players have just returned for a break. As the largest field in the Grand Prix Canada to date there are still a lot of players active, but a few have taken a decent chip lead as the tournament moves along.
First among these is Eric Afriat, who is also certainly the most accomplished player in the field. A WPT Champion, Eric has already managed to build up a stack of just over 193K in chips.
Following Eric are several players in the 150K to 160K range, including Jean-Phillipe Grenier, Douglas Suffel, Remi Blanc, Eli Israel, Marc Antoine Gauthier, and Alexandre Lajoie.
As Day 1I unfolds on the left side of the tournament hall with 145 players still competing, Day 1J is kicking off at the other end. $384,600 were accumulated so far, including the 12pm flight which attracted 332 players, and we hope that Day 1J will live up to it. With already 175 players sitting down, it looks like a nice field will be put together for this mid-afternoon dance.
Including Day 1I, 210 players have a Day 2 seat, and just 3 more flights are ahead. These players will compete tomorrow for a minimal prize pool of $500,000. Will you join them?
Just over one third of the field is done and gone, off to cash games or the chic Player Lounge, where the partypoker staff awaits you with smiles and merchandise. The rest of the field is still in contention for one of the 34 Day 2 seats awarded in this flight.
The tournament staff just broke the last table from the right side of the room, leaving space for more cash games and the upcoming 16h00 flight. Don’t miss it!
Photographs from levels 7-8:
The first break is now behind us, and with only 6 levels played, 2 players have managed to build their stack to an impressive 100K+ figure! Renaud Conti has grinded his way to a 103,500 stack, while Yvon Robert Blais , our current leader, holds 119,500 chips, which is 4 times the starting stack! Blais is overlooking a 332-player field, which is our final number for Day 1I, bringing the buy-ins at $384,600, still $115,400 from the guarantee!
Of course, with so many players in the field, the odds of 2 big stacks clashing are higher, which is one more reason to participate in one of the Saturday flights. There will be 2 more live flights today, at 16h00 and 19h00, as well as 1 online flight, scheduled at 21h00 on partypoker.