When Ryan Jensen led with 11,500 on the turn into a pot that counted many 5K chips, George Patsiopoulos raised to 25K. Carla Sabini thought for a few moments, then threw her hand away, but Jensen quickly called. He checked the river, and stared at Patsiopoulos while he proceeded to prepare a bet. 55K were pushed forward.

Jensen tried to extract information from Patsiopoulos, asking what he wanted him to do, if he would show, among other things, but Patsiopoulos remained imperturbable. Jensen played with the calling chips for a while, and finally folded. Another bluff was shown:

Board:

George Patsiopoulos:

Jensen: ”Nice hand”.

In just 2 levels, Patrick Lamarche found a way to double his initial stack and is the only player above the 200K mark at the moment. Georges Patsiopoulos is less than 20K behind, after starting the day with a great bluff. He confided that being ready to throw a second bullet helped during this high-risk/high-reward play.

Here is our first leaderboard:

Some of their photos:

André Bilodeau won his seat through a $110 + $10 Satellite tournament. He is now enjoying the day, playing poker in a $1100 event for a fraction of the price. On this flop, in position, he bet out 5K, or slightly more than the pot, and Nabil Nahoul made the call. Both players checked the turn, and Nahoul placed a 12K bet on the river. Bilodeau quickly called, and found that his check on the turn paid off: Nahoul had missed a draw.

André Bilodeau:
Nabil Nahoul:

Board:

Here are a few photos taken during level 2:

Day 1B of the Playground 1000 is entering level 2 with 78 players at the tables, which is hardly more than yesterday at the same time. Although it is still too early to talk about overlay, keep in mind that 500 entries are needed to meet the amazing 500K guarantee.

Here is a first look at the field:

When we got to the table, the turn was out, and John Helou had checked it. George Patsiopoulos bet out 6K, and Helou raised to 17K, creating a pot of about 45K. The river fell, and Helou, following the call of his check-raise, took a step back. He checked, and Patsiopoulos announced all-in, for about 70K, a clear over bet. Helou stayed in the tank for some time, clearly puzzled. He finally mucked, and watched as his opponent opened his hand:

Board:

George Patsiopoulos:

Less than 15 minutes into the flight, Patsiopoulos put himself all-in, and successfully pulled a huge bluff.

Day 1A of the Playground 1000 closed last night with 49 qualifiers out of a total of 114 entries (96 single players). Today, we will be adding many more bags of chips on the Day 2 shelf, as participation is expected to increase substantially on this weekend day.

Day 1B will start in a few minutes, and will play 10 levels of 1 hour – including 4 breaks – before survivors call it a Day. Remember that registration will remain open all day today as well as tomorrow AND during the first 2 levels on Day 2. 100K starting stack, 1-hour levels, 500K guaranteed. Don’t miss it!

Cards are in the air!