After losing with a pocket pair of kings himself just a few hands ago, Danny Kalpakis was now the one playing against them, as he 3bet his remaining 375,000 from the big blind following an open from Jessie Wheatley.

Danny:
Jessie:

Board:

The kings were second best in the hand once again, but this time it was to Danny’s advantage, as he successfully scored a double-up.

Moments later, Jiachen opened from the hi-jack, and Danny moved in from the cutoff, finding the call.

Danny:
Jiachen:

The board ran out , and Danny’s attempt at a comeback was cut short by Jiachen, who increased his holdings to just above 4,300,000.

6th place: Danny Kalpakis – $19,600.00

The final day of the Main Event of the TonyBet Winter Festival will begin at 12pm on February 10th when the final 6 players in the field will return to the felts to compete for some truly serious prize money.

There are two front-runners at this late stage in the tournament, chip leader Jiachen Gong and Jessie Wheatley, with 4.555M and 4.045M in chips respectively. Both players start with double the stack of any of the bottom 4 players left in the field, but among those players are some very talented and experienced players in their own right.

Will Molson needs no introduction to poker fans in Quebec – his exploits at the PCA over the years are simply the stuff of legend. Danny Kalpakis is another experienced player, and was the subject of a documentary about the game called simply “Grinders” which came out a couple of years ago. Maxime Hebert doesn’t have a gaudy poker resume, but he is instantly recognized by many players here at Playground because he has been doing well in tournaments here for some time. Grant Pazarka seems to be the wild card of the bunch, but his play – and his banter – today mark him as a player that can do some damage.

So there’s still a lot of poker to be played before a champion is crowned tomorrow. They’re playing for a minimum of $19,600.00 up to a massive $100,000.00 prize for first place. The winner of the event will also win a very handsome Champion’s belt, courtesy of TonyBet.

Good luck to all 6 players tomorrow!

First Name | Prénom	Last Name | Nom	Seat | Siège	Stack | Tapis
Jiachen	Gong	Seat 10	4,555,000
Jessie	Wheatley	Seat 4	4,045,000
Maxime	Lejeune Hebert	Seat 7	1,835,000
Danny	Kalpakis	Seat 1	1,730,000
William	Molson	Seat 2	1,725,000
Grant	Pazarka	Seat 9	1,590,000

Play tonight was scheduled for 7 levels or to play down until 6 players remained, and the level that began after the last break was that 7th level of the day – so either way, by the end of the hour play was set to be suspended for the day. Things in the tournament had slowed down some after the insanity of the hour previous, and eventually Christopher Hudson – who had successfully navigated clear of too much harm previously on the day, found himself short – and then all in. He lost the hand, and the field is reduced to 6 players.

There is no seating redraw for Day 4 – so the final 6 players will return and take the same respective places around the table. Play resumes at 12pm tomorrow!

7th place: Christopher Hudson, $16,400.00

Action folded around to Jessie Wheatley, who opened to 105,000 from the cutoff. Charles-Etienne Gagnon replied with a 3bet to 310,000 from the button, and was followed by an all-in from Maxime Lejeune Hebert from the small blind. Jessie asked for a count of Maxime’s stack, but finally let go of her hand after the dealer announced it was of 1,175,000. Charles-Etienne quickly made the call, and cards were tabled.

Maxime:
Charles-Etienne:

It looked quite bleak for Maxime, until a queen dropped on the river on a board showing . Charles-Etienne was covered by only a margin of 5,000 and was therefore eliminated in the hand, bringing us one elimination away from our official final table of 6.

8th place: Charles-Etienne Gagnon – $13,020

 

Just a couple of hands following the previous elimination, Eric Borduas decided to open all-in for over 900K, only to find a snap shove over the top from Jessie Wheatley sitting directly to his left. Action folded around and Eric was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Eric:
Jessie:

There was no relief for Eric through the community cards: and he was eliminated in 9th place.

9th place: Eric Borduas, $9,800.00