Day 1B of the Playground 1000 has finished, and 58 players bagged chips for Monday’s Day 2. This flight saw 122 total entries, putting 12,200,000 chips in play. The crowd had a similar makeup to Day 1A; there were a number of local players, but this flight drew a stronger contingent of people who traveled to Montreal for this event.

While the late levels of play on Day 1A were characterized by loose and aggressive plays, the conclusion to today’s flight was much more cautious. While there was no shortage of aggression, players seemed more hesitant to put their stacks at risk; everyone clearly wanted to take chips to Day 2. Day 1C, the last starting flight of the Playground 1000, starts tomorrow at 11:00am, and we expect the entries and re-entries to surpass what we’ve seen to date.

The 58 players who survived Day 1B finished with an average of 210,300 chips. There are several players with more than double that figure, but one player rose above the rest: John Helou. Helou leads the way with 532,500 chips.

See the full chip counts for each Day 1 on the Combined Day 1 Results page.

When we arrived at the table, there was a large pot brewing between Daniel Le and George Patsiopoulos. The board was , and Le checked to Patsiopoulos who fired a hefty bet of 33K. The pot was approaching 50K, and Le went into the tank. After a minute, Le said “I don’t think I can fold against you.” Suggesting that there is either some history between the two players or something Le had gained some information throughout the day. After another minute or so, Le made the call. Patsiopoulos reluctantly tabled his hand: . Le smiled, showed and started stacking the chips.

We are now in level 10 of Day 1B, and the field is down to 60 players. With Day 2 already in sight, the rate of bustouts has declined; decisions are not being made lightly and stacks are being managed carefully.

Here are some photos from the last level:

The aggressive play continues to ramp up here in level 9 of Day 1B. Everyone is trying their best to steal chips as three-bets and check-raises become the norm. Albert Nguyen, a well-known local player, just sent Armry Senat to the rail after seeing through a check-raise. The board read , and Nguyen, who had the pre-flop betting lead, was in position and made a continuation bet of 5K. Armry Senat then check-raised to 18K. Nguyen was unfazed and immediately moved all in. Senat, who was pot committed, grimaced as he made the call and hands were tabled. Nguyen held , and he was in good shape against Senat’s . The runout, and , didn’t affect either hand, and Nguyen added to his stack.

68 players remain at the mid-point of level 9.

Day 1B is on it’s final break of the evening. At the end of level 8, 74 players remained out of 121 total entries. Play opened up during the last two levels, as lots of chips changed hands, and a new chip leader emerged: George Patsiopolous.

Here are the current chip leaders:

The action is picking up here in the later levels of Day 1B. Play was relatively cautious and cagey during the first half of this flight, but the chips are going in quickly now.

A hand that just played out on table 49 showed us how quickly stacks can shift. Charles Desharnais three-bet a standard opening raise to 15K and picked up two cold calls before the initial raiser decided to join the gang and see a flop. No matter what you’re holding, alarm bells tend to go off when a re-raise attracts that many callers, but Desharnais kept his cool. The flop was , and the first player to act, Douglas Best, immediately moved all in for 67.9K. Best’s bet drew a snap call from the next player to act, John Sawers. The action was then on the initial raiser in this hand, David Beer, who leaned back in his chair and exclaimed “holy quacamole, batman!” Best thought things over and eventually folded. The action was then back to Desharnais who also made the call. Desharnais and Sawers still had chips behind so there was the possibiliy of a side pot. They built that side pot on the turn when the fell and Sawers moved all in. Desharnais quickly called, and hands were finally tabled. It was for Best, for Sawers and for Desharnais. The on the river changed nothing, and the aces stood. Desharnais now has around 300K.