Three times was the charm this weekend at the 2014 World Poker Tour (WPT) Canadian Spring Championship as the third and final starting flight took place Saturday followed by Day 2 on Sunday. Pierre Guenette emerged as the chip leader of both Day 1C and the overall Day 1 field, one of just three players with over 300,000 chips.
Day 1C was large, larger than both of the other starting flights combined, in fact. A total of 552 players registered for Day 1C, compared to 527 for Days 1A and 1B, bringing the overall field to a very healthy 1,079 players. Tournament organizers were likely quite pleased with that figure, as it allowed them to avoid the dreaded overlay. In a decision you don’t see very often in major live tournaments, the prize pool was guaranteed to be at least $1 million. After accounting for the 3 percent staff gratuity withheld from the prize pool, that meant 1,031 entrants were needed to eclipse the guarantee and prevent an overlay. As it was, the total field just barely made it over that mark, producing a CAD $1,046,630 prize pool.
Just two players will end up with six-figure paydays. The winner will receive CAD $178,032 (USD $160,999), while the runner-up will cash in for CAD $124,758 (USD $112,770). The payout structure goes down to 126th place.
As has been mentioned, Pierre Guenette came out of all of the starting flights as the overall chip leader with 378,900 chips. He was followed by fellow Day 1C player, Ricky Tang, who had 331,600 chips and Simon Quintal with 303,900 chips.
Here is a look at the both the Day 1C and overall Day 1 chip leaders:
2014 World Poker Tour WPT Canadian Spring Championship – Day 1C Chip Leaders
1. Pierre Guenette – 378,900
2. Ricky Tang – 331,600
3. Frederic Bunchan – 292,800
4. Jean-Philippe Piquette – 279,600
5. Selajtin Jakupovski – 270,100
6. Louis-Alexandre Cabana – 262,500
7. Paul Naccarato – 259,700
8. Marc-Andre Racine – 249,700
9. Serge St-Pierre – 239,300
10. Olivier Demers – 221,300
2014 World Poker Tour WPT Canadian Spring Championship – Overall Day 1 Chip Leaders
1. Pierre Guenette – 378,900
2. Ricky Tang – 331,600
3. Simon Quintal – 303,900
4. Frederic Bunchan – 292,800
5. Jean-Philippe Piquette – 279,600
6. Eric Davis – 276,300
7. Selajtin Jakupovski – 270,100
8. Andre Turcotte – 267,800
9. Louis Alexandre Cabana – 262,500
10. Paul Naccarato – 259,700
311 players made it to Day 2, during which eleven 45-minute levels were played. The money bubble burst yesterday and by the end of the night, just 39 players remained. Leading the way was Mario Lim with 1,706,500, with both Eric Afriat (1,700,000) and Sylvain Siebert (1,655,000) hot on his tail. Guenette is still alive with 752,000 chips, good for 22nd place, while Quintal is also hanging in there with 474,000, putting him in 34th place. The aforementioned Ricky Tang busted out in 81st place, good enough to double his buy-in.
In a tribute to round numbers, the top ten players on the Day 2 leaderboard all have over a million chips. After the top four (Alexander Wong has 1,402,000), the rest of the top ten is a logjam, with fifth through tenth place separated by just 188,000 chips.
Day 3 is just underway at the Playground Poker Club in the Montreal area as the tournament plays down to the final table.
2014 World Poker Tour WPT Canadian Spring Championship – Day 2 Chip Leaders
1. Mario Lim – 1,706,500
2. Eric Afriat – 1,700,000
3. Sylvain Siebert – 1,655,000
4. Alexander Wong – 1,402,000
5. Tyson Erback – 1,190,000
6. David Lanthier – 1,099,000
7. Frederic Bunchan – 1,049,000
8. Brent Wheeler 1,022,000
9. Johnny Mazzaferro – 1,006,000
10. James Nortcliff – 1,002,000
