The $5,000 + $300 Main Event is in full swing here at Playground Poker Club. This was the second of three days of live flights, and by the end of today’s Main Event Day 1B there had been a total of 172 entrants (including 28 re-entries), more than double the number of entrants than yesterday’s Day 1A.

The field is a very strong one, full of local and international poker pros of all stripes all vying for a piece of the guaranteed $5,000,000 prize pool. As the clock wound down, we made a quick pass around the remaining tables and took some photos of the chip leaders among the 88 players still playing.

The man of the hour remains Upeshka De Silva, who had the chip lead for most of the day, losing it only briefly in level 7 before regaining it in the 8th and final level. Congrats to all the players, we’ll see you on Day 2!

View the WPT Montreal Main Event Day 1 Combined Results page.

Mike Meskin raised to 600 preflop and Richard Alsup, Jordan Westmorland, and Khaly Dang all called. When the flop came down Richard bet 3,000. Khaly and Mike folded and Jordan called. After the turn was dealt both Richard and Jordan checked.  When the river was revealed , Richard bet 4,500, and Jordan called.
At showdown, Richard didn’t have the cards to beat Jordan’s and Jordan stacked the pot.

After almost 8 full levels of play, the Main Event Day 1B is almost at a close.

Michael Khan, playing at table 27, was running low on chips, and when we happened across his table, we saw that he was already all in for his tournament life. His opponent was the chip leader for most of the day Upeshka De Silva.

The board showed and there was only about 15,000 in the pot.

While it was not life or death for Upeshka, he took the hand seriously, just as he has every hand so far tonight. For Michael, it literally was his tournament life on the line, so when he shoved all in Upeshka had to take a lengthy pause to review his options. Ultimately he decided to call the bet.

It was a rare misstep, as Michael flipped over his , making a boat 6’s full of 2’s. Upeshka mucked his hand, and so we’ll never know if he had a pair of 10’s , was holding a smaller boat, or something in between. That’s poker!

Jeffrey Cormier and Maxime Heroux have been seated at the same table all day, and we’ve seen a number of hands come down to a battle between these two players.

This time, now at level 7, we joined the action after the flop was already on the board.

Flop:

Jeffrey acted first and raised 3,000 utg, and Maxime called.

Turn:

This time Jeffrey checked, only to be raised by Maxime to 22,000. Jeffrey called.

River:

While it was Jeffrey who opened the betting after the flop and Maxime on the turn, this time one wanted to raise the stakes. Both players checked and flipped over their cards, hoping to grab the near-60,000 chip pot.

Jeffrey:

Maxime:

This time it was Maxime who took it down, with his Aces besting Jeffrey’s Jacks. The battle continues!

Montreal’s own Kevin Rivest is the front runner in Day 1B of the Main Event following 6 levels of play.  Kevin has already accumulated 225,000, and is followed closely behind by Upeshka De Silva, who has been first or second in chips since the first moments of the tournament today.

The remaining 111 entries are currently wrapping up a dinner break before the live action begins again.

• Kevin Rivest – 225,000 chips
• Upeshka De Silva – 223,000

Upeshka De Silva won an early hand, doubling up in the first few minutes to take the chip lead. He hasn’t looked back since, and his solid play shows that he is the chip leader today for a reason.

The most recent evidence came a few minutes ago at table 27, where he has been holding court. We joined the action with the flop already on the felt.

Flop:

Upeshka checked utg. Samuel Tsehai, the only other player in the hand, raised him 1,000. Upeshka called.

Turn:

Again, Upeshka checked. This time he was raised 3,000 by Samuel. After some contemplation, Upeshka called.

River:

With two Aces on the board and three hearts, there were a number of hand combinations that could strike fear in the heart of a regular poker player – even one enjoying the chip lead.

Upeshka checked again, with Samuel betting 8,000 soon after. After some more hard thinking, Upeshka made an incredible call, one appreciated by almost everyone at the table, taking down the hand with two pair.

Samuel:

Upeshka: