Day 1C of the 2013 World Poker Tour (WPT) Canadian Spring Championship finished up Sunday, thus completing the three starting flights of the second WPT stop in Montreal. Jonathan Driscoll came away as the day’s chip leader, finishing the night with 263,800 chips. Just two other players – Jonathan Roy (218,400 chips) and Jake Toole (208,900) finished with more than 200,000.
Another 258 players paid the $3,300 to get involved in Day 1C, bringing the total field across all three starting days to 735. Many of those players were duplicates or even triplicates, as this is a re-entry event, meaning players who bust out in one starting flight can try again in a subsequent flight. Even those who did not bust out were allowed to try to improve their standing by buying-in to another starting day, though only their best chip stack would carry over to Day 2.
Speaking of Day 2, 302 players will be in the unified field on Monday. Driscoll, despite his Day 1C chip lead, will be just third overall when he sits down at the Playground Poker Club on the second day, though he is close behind Philippe Boucher (278,100 chips) and Matthew Kay (270,400), who are in first and second place, respectively.
Boucher is looking for his first win on the World Poker Tour. He has one lifetime WPT cash: a 50th place finish at the WPT Bellagio Cup IV in 2008. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is more his style, as he has 13 cashes there, including a gold bracelet won in €1,500 Six-Max Pot-Limit Omaha at the 2011 WSOP Europe. Jonathan Driscoll, our Day 1C chip leader, does not have a live tournament win to his name on his resume, though he did just finish as the runner-up in the VIP Poker Montreal Grand Opening Celebration Championship Event in February. His best finish in a major tournament was a final table bubble at the 2011 WSOP, where he finished 10th in one of the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em events. His best cash, though, was the preceding year when he made it all the way to 39th place in the 2010 WSOP Main Event, good enough for over $200,000.
The 735 entrants created a prize pool of $2,121,244 with $438,607 earmarked for the winner. A total of 72 players will get paid, with everyone making at least $6,076. The goal for Monday is to play ten levels; whether or not that is enough to pop the money bubble remains to be seen.
2013 World Poker Tour Canadian Spring Championship – Day 1C Chip Leaders
1. Jonathan Driscoll – 263,800
2. Jonathan Roy – 218,400
3. Jake Toole – 208,900
4. Jason Duval – 161,200
5. Ben Hamnett – 148,800
6. Gabriel Frank – 142,300
7. Ravi Raghavan – 136,100
8. Ronnie Bardah – 115,200
9. Matthew Jarvis – 112,300
10. Paul Klann – 110,000
2013 World Poker Tour Canadian Spring Championship – Overall Day 1 Chip Leaders
1. Philippe Boucher – 278,100
2. Matthew Kay – 270,400
3. Jonathan Driscoll – 263,800
4. Jeffrey Dale Gross – 232,800
5. Johnson Phanyaseng – 224,900
6. Jonathan Roy – 218,600
7. Jacob Toole – 208,900
8. Daniel Suied – 190,000
9. Michael Bartholomew – 186,500
10. Upeshka Manishan De Silva – 184,500