If you’re considering playing in The $250 Frenzy, now’s the time to make your way to Playground – there are just 55 minutes left in the late registration period! After that, your chance to play your way for a portion of the guaranteed prize pool will disappear!
Sunday is obviously Funday as it’s beginning to look like Day 1F will be the largest of all of the starting fields in this edition of The $250 Frenzy. There are 138 players seated already, with more arriving every few minutes.
Here are a few more shots from level 1 tonight.
Play is now underway in Day 1F of The $250 Frenzy in the 2018 Playground Winter Festival, and part-way through level 1 there are already 103 players at the tables. With late registration available until 9:15, that number will certainly grow substantially.
Nevertheless, there is an expected overlay to the prize pool tonight, so if playing for free money that will be added to the generated prize pool appeals to you, tonight’s the night to take your shot!
One of the more feared players tonight will be Jonathan Poissant, who is proudly displaying his Patriots gear tonight following their win in the AFC championship today. The NFC Championship game is on a huge number of the TVs here tonight, so you won’t have to miss the game to play tonight!
To sum up Day 1E, one could follow the trail of Rohit K’s chips. His wide range and all-out style often allow him to earn lot of chips, early in a tournament. Today, he busted many players and accumulated quite a fortune.
Then, after a table break, Marco Caza joined him on table 70. Caza is also known for his very aggressive style – although perhaps a little more controlled – so it was only a matter of time before these 2 wealthy players got it on.
Soon, Caza min-raised, and K went all-in with pocket fours for an obscene number of blinds. The action folded around to Caza, who called with aces. Caza now had over 300K.
Later on, Donald Abdelhay showed up with about 130K. He took out Pascal Monarque, and went on to double through Caza about 15 minutes before the end of the day, for the biggest pot of the Event by far. He is now the chip leader on the Combined Day 1 Results list, which will be updated shortly. Caza, after losing a 400K pot, still bagged 150K! Talk about action!
Here are the largest qualified stacks from Day 1E:
Don’t miss your last chance to join our Day 2 qualifiers: Day 1F tonight, with an overlay twist!
Tonight at 7:00pm will begin the sixth of six starting flights in Event #4 of the Playground Winter Festival – the $250 Frenzy. Barring a miracle, it looks like there will be a small overlay in the tournament, allowing players to compete for the guaranteed prize pool but with fewer opponents in the field – one of the greatest values in poker!
Tonight’s NFC Championship game will be playing on TVs throughout the Tournament Hall. so you won’t have to miss a minute of the Vikes-Eagles game while you also attempt to stake a claim on some of those prizes. Everyone who manages to complete tonight’s 14 levels of play with chips will qualify for Day 2 in the event and have a chance to make the money in the event.
Play gets underway at 7:00pm sharp and players will begin with 20K in tournament chips and play 30-minute levels throughout the night. Late registration is available through the end of the break following level 4, which is to say that you can join the tournament any time until 9:15 tonight.
See you at the tables!
At this stage of a Day 1, it is not uncommon for a player to take extra risks, hoping to send a bigger stack to Day 2. Donald Abdelhay took advantage. He limping from the under-the-gun position, and when Pascal Monarque raised to 7K from the small blind, the bet was called from the big blind, then 3-bet by Abdelhay to 12K.
Both players called. Monarque open-shoved the flop, and only Abdelhay called, instantly.
Donald Abdelhay: 
Pascal Monarque: 
Board: 
Monarque, having flopped a pair, tried to steal the 40K pot, but was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Abdelhay adds about 75K to his large stack.
Photographs from levels 12-13:
