As we begin level 8, the pre-flop raises seem to be drawing more and more callers. Another 5-way hand just went down on table 51, as Samuel Chartier set things up for Noeung Troeung. Chartier found himself in position after the pre-flop raise drew 5 callers. The board was , and the action was checked to Chartier who put out a bet of 8.5K. The bet was called by Noeung Troeung and Richard Paradis. The three players saw the on the turn and both checked to Chartier who continued with a bet of 13K and drew calls from both players. The appeared on the river, and Troeung led out for 31K. Paradis made the call without hesitation, and Chartier quickly folded. Troeung tabled for a full house, and Paradis mucked after showing the .

Anytime four players call a raise and see a coordinated flop, you know there’s a good chance that someone will take down a huge pot. A hand we just saw on table 54 was a case in point; the pre-flop raise drew 4 callers and the flop of was bound to connect with a few hands. Not wanting to reveal any information, all five players checked. An apparent brick on the turn, the , set off the fireworks. A lead bet of 10K from Shaan Siddiqui drew a call before being raised by Ryan Parsons to 28K. Siddiqui was clearly not backing down, as he made the call out of turn. All other players folded so Siddiqui and Parsons saw the river head-up. The river, , did nothing to change the board texture and Siddiqui checked. Parsons continued his story with a bet of 40.3K. Siddiqui quickly called and hands were tabled; for Parsons and for Siddiqui. The dream of a turned set turned into a nightmare for Parsons, and the flopped straight let Siddiqui take down the big pot.

After 6 levels of play, we are starting to see some voluminous stacks in the field. Daniel Mackay managed take the fast lane to the top of the leaderboard. His ascent started with Piquette’s chips, and he diligently put those to work until he was alone in the 300K club.

Here are the top stacks, with 4 more levels to the day:

When Andrew Dick made it 3,000 to go pre-flop, everybody folded to the big blind. Charles La Boissonnière, seeing that Dick was about to give his cards in, smiled and politely asked him to hold on to those. He called.

Later streets were checked by both players, until La Boissonnière fired 8K on the river, which was an over bet. Dick said that he couldn’t fold, and threw in the chips.

Charles La Boissonnière:

Board:

Good value bet by La Boissonnière. Players are now on break, and an updated leaderboard will come shortly.

Play is now on level 6 – 500/1K/1K – and 83 players are at the tables. We now count 105 entries, 10 of which came from re-entries. This means that 10 out 12 eliminated players chose to get right back on the saddle and redeem themselves, hinting at how competitive poker players generally are.

Some recent photographs:

Samuel Chartier and Jean-Philippe Piquette just joined Day 1A of the PG1000. Chartier is known for his late entries into big events, and also for running deep in those. Why come early, when you can catch up?