As we pass the 90-minute mark of the Main Event Day 1B, the list of players continues to grow. There are still 104 players sitting at the tables out of 105 who entered. Players are biding their time, waiting for the opportunity to strike. Some tables, however, are willing to wait a little longer than others.

Just now at table 21 we saw a relatively rare hand. The table was playing 8-handed, and all but one limped in to see the flop. Seven checks later the turn came down. It seemed no one had any desire to take any sort of a risk at all.

This trend continued, as there were seven more checks, which led to the river card. It was too much for the player in seat 8, who finally fired a 1000 chip bet. Unsurprisingly, this led to six folds, helping him take down the hand.

The first level at the WPT Main Event Day 1B has just wrapped up and level 2 is now underway. There are now 100 entries and late registration will continue for another 8 hours.

Here are some pics of the players.

The WPT Main Event has big prizes, which means that it draws some of the best of the poker world. Here at Playground Poker Club we have seen some of those big names take their seats, including 2010 WSOP Main Event Champion Jonathan Duhamel.

Other notables at the tables in the early going include Carter Swidler, a local pro and online beast. Just last month (September 2018) he final tabled a WSOP Circuit event, the $500 + $50 Pot Limit Omaha tournament.

At the table with him is Maria Konnikova, a Brooklyn native and a great player in her own right. She finished in the money on a half dozen tournaments this summer, and final tabled two tournaments in one week in Macau this March, coming in 2nd place in the Hong Kong $20,000 No Limit Hold’em event.

So if you want to test your mettle against the best in the business, come down to Playground and have at it. Pro or amateur, we wish good luck to all the players sitting at the tables today!

The WPT Montreal Event #2: $5,000 + $300 Main Event Day 1B is now under way.  Level 1 has just started and there are already 71 entries and the total prize pool is listed at 5,000,000.

Here are some photos of the players.

Upeshka De Silva is having a good day so far, as he was the first player to double up. Not only is he happy, but so is the player siting next to him! Unfortunately we didn’t catch the hand that helped him jump into the early chip lead, but his smile tells the story.

While poker is about competition, it is also a community. As you can see, Upeshka and his tablemate decided to get some massages to relax, mentally preparing for the day to come.

If you want to come join the action (and maybe make a new friend) the Main Event Day 1B is the place to be! Registration is open all day.

Day 1A of the WPT Montreal Main Event broke the ice yesterday in the $5,000 + $300 tourney, and today the event moves to Day 1B – the 2nd of 3 Live starting flights in the tournament. If history is any guide, today’s flight should be significantly larger than yesterday’s field, as new players join and unsuccessful Day 1A or Online Day 1 players take another shot at a piece of the $5,000,000 guarantee.

Each Day 1 flight permits a single re-entry until the end of play on Day 1. Players will start with 40,000 in chips and play through 8 60-minute levels. Everyone who makes it through to the end will bag up chips to take to Day 2. Players who don’t feel they’ve bagged enough chips to make a solid run through Day 2 may also give it another try – players will start Day 2 with the largest stack they manage to build through all of the Day 1s. And players who are still not happy with their stack after their Day 1 are welcome to come out for Day 2 – entry and re-entry is available not only on Day 1s, but through to the beginning of level 11 on Day 2 as well.

Tournament staff have just made their introductory announcements and cards are now in the air.