TonyBet Winter Festival

El-Nasseri extends his lead

  • Level: 11
  • Small Blind: 600
  • Big Blind: 1.2K
  • Ante: 200
  • Chip Average: 71K
  • Remaining: 58
  • Entries: 137


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    Main1a-2209Rabah Belal Ahin Al-Nasseri was already chip leader of Day 1a before scoring a double knockout, putting him far ahead of the rest of the players in this flight so far.

    Edward Hislop opened the action to 2,500 from early position, and was followed by Rabah in middle position. Joel Thibeault 3bet all-in for 12,000 from the button, and Edward quickly made the call, holding a little over 50,000 behind. Rabah then announced all-in, and Edward once again quickly made the call.

    Rabah: Ace of Diamonds King of Clubs
    Edward: Queen of Hearts Queen of Clubs
    Joel: Ace of Spades 10 of Spades

    Rabah picked up just enough to win the pot on a King of Hearts 3 of Hearts 9 of Hearts 5 of Clubs Jack of Spades board, and increased his stack to over 235,000, almost double any other player at this stage.

    Level 10

  • Level: 10
  • Small Blind: 500
  • Big Blind: 1K
  • Ante: 100
  • Chip Average: 62.3K
  • Remaining: 66
  • Entries: 137


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    A new chip-leader has emerged since the dinner break, as Rabah Belal Ahin Al-Nasseri now tops the 66 remaining players here in level 10 with his stack of nearly 150,000.

    Former chip-leader Alexandre Rochette lost a few chips, but still holds a place amongst the big stacks, as he currently owns roughly 135,000. Local hero Bill Kontaratos has made some moves in recent orbits and climbed the leaderboard, now holding a healthy 3rd place stack upwards of 130,000. Duff Charette, Jesse Wheatley and Xin Qi are holding onto their six-figure stacks since dinner break, and round up the top 6 stacks.

    A little under 4 levels remain today.

    Photographs from level 9:

    Dinner Break leaderboard

  • Level: 9
  • Small Blind: 400
  • Big Blind: 800
  • Ante: 100
  • Chip Average: 52K
  • Remaining: 79
  • Entries: 137


    • - by

    After 8 levels of actions, players in Day 1a of the Main Event have earned a 45-minute dinner break, and are scattered across the tournament hall chatting away about nothing and everything.

    Alexandre Rochette certainly has a few stories to tell, as he managed to build his 30,000 starting stack into a cool 157,000, good enough for the current chip lead. 4 other players have managed to break the 6-figure cap as well, although Alexandre holds a healthy lead on the rest of the field.

    Here are the top 5 stacks entering level 9:

    First Name | PrénomLast Name | NomStack | Tapis
    Alexandre Rochette157,000
    XinQi111,900
    DuffCharette110,800
    RayanChamas106,800
    NazarethMaghakian106,600

    A few additional counts:

    First Name | PrénomLast Name | NomStack | Tapis
    MarcoSousa93,000
    RyanMcGarry91,200
    GeorgeCaragiorgas90,600
    Marc-Olivier Carpentier-Perreault87,500
    BenoitJean82,100
    MarcoCaza74,400
    YannDion70,800
    Jonathan Poissant65,400
    AmiAlibay56,500
    SamuelBarre55,800
    AlexandreLavigne55,000
    JonathanRoy54,200
    DerekLerner51,400
    JasonComtois36,400
    RodneyRamalho23,700

    Photographs from level 7:

    Photo update; Dinner break is approaching

  • Level: 8
  • Small Blind: 300
  • Big Blind: 600
  • Ante: 75
  • Chip Average: 46.2K
  • Remaining: 89
  • Entries: 137


    • - by

    Day 1a of the TonyBet Winter Festival Main Event is well into level 8, and following this level will be a 45-minute dinner break. As per usual, a wide range of options are available to players, with a buffet provided by the house – or players can always order from The Rail at any point in the day (or night, as it is open 24h a day).

    Photographs from level 7:

     

    Event 6 Champion: Real Cantin

    - by

    115 players came in today with the intention of becoming the Event 6 champion, however they all knew there was only enough room for 1 of them to accomplish their mission. Action went on for 14 full hours, and many hopes and dreams of winning were shattered in the process, as is the case in every poker tournament.

    Once the field was reduced to just 4 players, they opted for an ICM chop of the prize pool. Jonathan Bussieres, who was the massive chip leader at the time, agreed to take $6,995, while Jeff Rosenblatt pocketed $5,690 for his second place stack. The two shorter stacks at the time, Ruben Perceval and Real Cantin, locked in $4,780 and $4,275 respectively. Given that the structure of the tournament requires at least 2% of the prize pool to be left for the eventual winner, the final 4 played the tourney to the end leaving $675 and the TonyBet Winter Festival Champion’s Trophy for the finalist.

    Real must have felt compelled to win the event, given he received the shortest end of the deal, as he then began staging what turned out to be a successful comeback. He first doubled up through Jeff, and then won a huge 3-way all-in which brought him down to head-up versus Jonathan.

    Real maintained the lead until he finally found a call to his 3bet all-in preflop, and went on to beat Jonathan’s Ace of Spades 6 of Hearts with his pair of 9 of Diamonds 9 of Clubs. With that hand, Real claimed victory in Event 6, while Jonathan locked in the biggest prize of the tournament.

    Congratulations!

    Event 6 Champion: Real Cantin – $4,950.00

    E06-2067

    Event 6 Runner-Up: Jonathan Bussieres – $6,995

    Jonathan Bussieres

    Jonathan Bussieres

    Last hand of play

    E06-2065

    Heads-Up: Real Cantin vs Jonathan Bussieres

  • Level: 25
  • Small Blind: 15K
  • Big Blind: 30K
  • Ante: 5K
  • Chip Average: 1.4M
  • Remaining: 2
  • Entries: 115


    • - by

    Event 6 is down to just two players, as Real Cantin (1,915,00) is battling it out versus Jonathan Bussieres (960,000) for the TonyBet Winter Festival Champion’s Trophy, as well as the additional $675 left after the deal.

    Jonathan has already locked in $6,995, as he was the chip leader at the time of the 4-way deal, while Real Cantin, who was the short stack at the time, has locked in $4,275.

    Good luck!

    3rd place: Jeff Rosenblatt

  • Level: 25
  • Small Blind: 15K
  • Big Blind: 30K
  • Ante: 5K
  • Chip Average: 1.4M
  • Remaining: 2
  • Entries: 115


    • - by

    A huge hand just occurred on this final table, leading to Jeff Rosenblatt’s elimination.

    Jonathan opened to 80,000 from the button, and Jeff moved all-in for 325,000. Real then 4bet all-in for 800,000, which put Jonathan into the tank. After a few moments he announced the call, putting both players at risk of elimination.

    Jeff: Ace of Diamonds 2 of Clubs
    Real: Jack of Diamonds Jack of Hearts
    Jonathan: Ace of Clubs Queen of Hearts

    Board: 6 of Clubs 4 of Clubs 7 of Diamonds 6 of Spades 10 of Diamonds

    Real and his pair of jacks went on to win the massive pot, making him the new chip leader, while Jeff was eliminated in the process.

    3rd place: Jeff Rosenblatt – $5,690.00

    Jeff Rosenblatt

    Jeff Rosenblatt

    4th place: Ruben Perceval

  • Level: 25
  • Small Blind: 15K
  • Big Blind: 30K
  • Ante: 5K
  • Chip Average: 960K
  • Remaining: 3
  • Entries: 115


    • - by

    Ruben Perceval was the first to go after the 4-way deal was made. He lost a few chips following the chop, and found himself with just shy of 7 big blinds when he made a move from the small blind. Jonathan had a calling hand in the big blind, and took a shot at eliminating a fierce player. Ruben’s 4 of Spades 6 of Spades turned out to be no match to the Ace of Spades 4 of Hearts of Jonathan, who brought us down to 3 handed.

    Here are the chip counts entering level 25, as the tournament went on break shortly after Ruben’s elimination:

    First NameLast NameStack
    JonathanBussieres1,590,000
    Real Cantin855,000
    JeffRosenblatt425,000

    4th place: Ruben Perceval – $4,780.00

    Ruben Perceval

    Ruben Perceval

    Final 4 make an ICM deal

  • Level: 24
  • Small Blind: 12K
  • Big Blind: 24K
  • Ante: 4K
  • Chip Average: 719K
  • Remaining: 4
  • Entries: 115


    • - by

    After several hands of 4-handed play, the clock was paused as the player’s were interested in discussing a potential deal. They asked for counts of an ICM chop, and made some slight modifications to finally come to an agreement. The tournament requires at least 2% of the prize pool and the TonyBet Winter Festival Champion’s Trophy to be reserved for the eventual winner, so we will be playing down to a champion, who will receive the extra $675 set aside.

    Congratulations!

    Here is a look at the deal that was made:

    First NameLast NameStackPrize
    JonathanBussieres1,582,000$6,995
    JeffRosenblatt764,000$5,690
    RubenPerceval329,000$4,780
    Real Cantin200,000$4,275

    Counts of final 4

  • Level: 23
  • Small Blind: 10K
  • Big Blind: 20K
  • Ante: 3K
  • Chip Average: 719K
  • Remaining: 4
  • Entries: 115


    • - by

    Here are the rough counts of the final 4 players:

    First NameLast NameStack
    JonathanBussieres1,330,000
    JeffRosenblatt840,000
    RubenPerceval440,000
    Real Cantin260,000

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    TonyBet Winter Festival