Event 15 in the Playground Poker Club Winter Festival has concluded without any sort of deal, in pure tournament spirit. Charles La Boissonnière refused to talk numbers when the tournament was 4-way. He went out in 3rd, allowing the last 2 to consider the possibility of a deal, but they decided to play on with unmodified payouts.

100 players registered in this $500 + $50 6-max Event. The field was very stacked, including a lot of familiar deep runners, as the buy-in and the format suggested. With 2 tables left in the tournament, Raphaël Bernard destroyed his table, giving himself a good lead going into the final. But then he took a few hits, and chips changed hands many times.

When it got to a heads-up match, Bill Kontaratos was the favorite, as he enjoyed a 2-to-1 lead over Patrick St-Onge. It stayed that way for a while, until stacks were evened out. Then Bill ground his way back into the lead again, until he was able to bring the hammer down.

St-Onge was on the button and raised the 60K big blind to 130K, sitting on about 700K. Kontaratos thought for a few seconds, and announced all-in, probably thinking that St-Onge was not going to lay down anything decent at this point. Sure enough, the call was made.

Bill Kontaratos:
Patrick St-onge:

Board:

The turn had brought some extra outs for St-Onge, but the river failed to finish the job. With this win, Bill Kontaratos now stands alone in first place on the all-time number of Playground festival cashes list. Congratulations!

Event 15 Champion: Bill Kontaratos – $12,050.00 and the Champion’s Trophy

Runner-up: Patrick St-Onge – $9,170.00

Last hand of play:

The first hand after the break, Patrick St-Onge doubled up on Charles La Boissonnière. On the second hand, Raphaël Bernard shoved his short stack from the button, and Bill Kontaratos called from the small blind with . Bernard tabled , and found no help on the board.

On the third hand, La Boissonnière found himself all-in with against Kontaratos’ . The board came , giving Bill the 2 last kills.

Raphaël Bernard: 4th place – $5,350.00

Charles La Boissonnière: 3rd place – $7,000.00

Congratulations to both!

Players are enjoying a short break while the T1000 chips are being raced off. When play resumes, the average stack will represent 12 big blinds, indicating a fast outcome. Bill Kontaratos recently doubled up on Raphaël Bernard, making him the new chip leader.

Here are the current stack sizes:

First Name | Prénom	Last Name | Nom	Seat | Siège	Stack | Tapis
Charles	La Boissonière	Seat 3	780,000
Raphaël	Bernard	Seat 4	420,000
Bill	Kontaratos	Seat 5	885,000
Patrick	St-Onge	Seat 6	415,000

Alexander Mackenzie Fitzgerald left the tournament after experiencing what is know as a cooler. He was on the 20K big blind when Raphaël Bernard made it 50K to go. Mackenzie completed the bet, and they went to the flop.

Alexander Mackenzie Fitzgerald:
Raphaël Bernard:

Mackenzie having flopped top 2 pair, he had no way out of this. They obviously went all-in on the flop, and even though Mackenzie turned a full house, Bernard’s was better.

Alexander Mackenzie Fitzgerald, a fun character from Alaska, cashes $4,090.00 for his 5th place finish. Congratulations!

Patrick Braga had been short stacked for hours, hustling and surviving. He appeared on the final table with just 100K. He managed to double that up against Bill Kontaratos when his won the race against . About an orbit later, the same 2 protagonists went at it again. Braga open-shoved for about 180K, and was met by a call from Kontaratos.

Patrick Braga:
Bill Kontaratos:

Board:

Braga lost with the same hand he had doubled up with. He did a very good job earning a spot on the final table, and takes home $3,120.00 for this achievement.

Congratulations!

The final table is now underway. The table below provides seat distribution and rough counts.

First Name | Prénom	Last Name | Nom	Seat | Siège	Stack | Tapis
Alexander	Mackenzie Fitzgerald	Seat 1	400,000
Patrick	Braga	Seat 2	100,000
Charles	La Boissonière	Seat 3	200,000
Raphaël	Bernard	Seat 4	800,000
Bill	Kontaratos	Seat 5	450,000
Patrick	St-Onge	Seat 6	400,000