Event 9 of the Playground Poker Spring Classic played out in the best poker atmosphere. A lot of staff members joined the event, and they were seen laughing and smiling, having fun with our players. Everybody was in a good mood (apart from the occasional pout caused by the inevitable bad beats).

222 players got together to celebrate one of our most successful series to date and to take a shot at a great prize pool. 23 players got paid tonight, and 8 of our final tableists enjoyed a 4-digit prize.

An ICM deal was struck when 5 players were left, allowing these finalists to secure a nice payday, and to play with a little bit of weight off their shoulders. The published payouts reflect this deal.

It was Nick Nickoletopoulos and Sébastien Drolet-Poitras who made it to heads-up, after battling with David Beaulieu for the better part of an hour. Their match was short though, as only a few hands were played before they got it in pre-flop. The hand had a strong chop flavor to it, but Nickoletopoulos hit a 3-outer on the river to get away with the extra $850, the Champion’s Trophy, and the title.

Congratulations!

Event 9 Champion: Nick Nickoletopoulos – $6,998.00

Runner-up: Sébastien Drolet-Poitras

Last hand of play:

 

 

The trio have been going at it for a while. It’s nice to see them do all they can to get the title, even after the deal was made. The lead changed hands at least 5 times, and all 3 players got a taste of it. Only 3 all-ins were called in the past hour, but the poor won them all, until David Beaulieu got his 450K stack (less than 4 big blinds) into the middle, and got called by Nick Nickoletopoulos.

David Beaulieu:
Nick Nickoletopoulos:

Board:

David failed to hit a pair, and was our 3rd place finisher.

3rd place: David Beaulieu – $5,571.00

 

Christian Rho and David Beaulieu got their chips in pre-flop, as any poker player would at this point of the game with these hole cards:

Christian Rho:
David Beaulieu:

Board:

Christian Rho was left with one 5K chip, and played the following hand standing, with 1 ante in the pot. He managed to quadruple up, but failed to climb to 1 big blind on the following hand, missing a gut shot flush draw. It was with smiles on all faces that these 2 hands were played.

The final now plays 3-way, and we’re back to being serious.

4th place: Christian Rho – $4,302.00

Our top Bounty hunters are on break, allowing the tournament staff to color up the T1K chips. Here are their stacks:

• Sébastien Drolet Poitras: 1,790,000
• Christian Rho: 455,000
• David Beaulieu: 1,300,000
• Nick Nickoletopoulos: 895,000

Blinds resume at 30K/60K/a5K, with $850 up top, along with the Champion’s Trophy and some bragging rights.

Good luck!

Players counted their stacks, and when the tournament director brought the numbers to the table, all 5 finalists agreed to them without further deliberation.

Sébastien Drolet-Poitras: $7,205.00
Christian Rho: $4,302.00
Arthur W.: $5,162.00
David Beaulieu: $5,571.00
Nick Nickoletopoulos: $6,148.00

These prizes are locked in, and players are now shooting for $850.00 and the Champion’s Trophy.

Arthur W. was then eliminated when his flush draw bumped into a higher flush draw, and failed to make a pair. He goes home with his ICM money. Great performance!

The eliminations of Sergio Iannetti, Sébastien Khoury and Pierre-André Prévost were very fast, spanning 4 hands. We caught Khoury’s elimination hand which involved an all-in bet from his part to steal the blinds, holding . He was quite short, and was called by . The board did not help him, and he was sent home.

The hand right after, Pierre-André Prévost bit the dust and was yet another victim of Sébastien Drolet, who is now sitting on 1.7M, chip leading the final 5.

These 5 players are now waiting for the ICM numbers to come out.

8th place: Sergio Iannetti – $1,250.00
7th place: Sébastien Khoury – $1,670.00
6th place: Pierre-André Prévost – $2,240.00