Two-thirds of the way through the three-Day Ones of the World Poker Tour stop at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal and the $2 million (Canadian) guarantee is safely within the sights. Day 1B of the 2024 WPT Montreal saw 278 entries registered in the Playground cages, bringing the overall total north of 400 players. 90 players came out of the Day 1B carnage and Hassanain Al Ghunaim emerged as the overall chip leader after a massive run to the top of the standings.
Players Come Out Firing
They may have taken their time coming to the felt, but the players at the 2024 WPT Montreal came out firing from the start. Roughly thirty minutes into the action, Eli Israel popped the action from under the gun, only to see James Pillon three-bet him. Israel was not having that, making it four bets to go, and Pillon only called to see a 9-8-6 rainbow flop.
That was good enough for Israel, who pushed his stack to the center, while Pillon took a moment to ponder the situation. He would eventually make the call and table pocket Queens, while Israel only mustered Big Slick for the showdown. A trey on the turn did not help either player and neither did the eight on the river, sending Pillon to double his starting stack and Israel to the rail.
By the start of Level 3, the Day 1A field had been surpassed and the players continued to spew chips around the Playground. THREE players were eliminated in one hand with a four-way all-in that included Spencer Grigull, who had been amongst the chip leaders on Day 1A before faltering late. On this hand, Grigull ran up against Oleg Boulchyi (all-in), Vasillios Gerontakos (all-in), and Will Molson to see a flop of 7♣ 6♣ 3♠. After the flop, Molson committed HIS stack to the center and Grigull used his remaining chips to make the call.
With the action complete, these were the hands turned up:
Boulchyi – K-10*
Gerontakos – 9-6*
Grigull – Q-3*
Molson – pocket eights
(* – all-in players)
Molson held the edge, albeit barely, after the flop, and the 5♣ on the turn made it even more interesting in giving Boulchyi a potential four-flush. The river did not bring another club for Boulchyi, but it did bring a Queen for Grigull to give him two pair, Queens and treys, over Molson’s pair of eights to quadruple up. Boulchyi and Gerontakos took the long walk from the table (Boulchyi would take advantage of the unlimited reentries and jump back in) and Molson, left with scraps, would soon follow them.
Al Ghunaim Begins His Run
Grigull and Pillon were in the upper echelon of the leaderboard at the dinner break, but Al Ghunaim was just beginning to put his run together. He utilized the elimination of one opponent after his 10-9 found a straight against his opponent’s pocket Queens to get to 215,000 in chips before dinner. From there, he would partner up with David Poirier when both had pocket Kings to top Sam Gottiparthi to knock out Gottiparthi, then stormed to the top of the leaderboard.
How big was Al Ghunaim’s run? By the time the bell rang to close Day 1B action, Al Ghunaim had almost doubled the stack of Day 1A’s chip leader, Dongwoo Ko, and was vastly outpacing the other members of the Day 1B leaderboard:
1. Hassanain Al Ghunaim, 723,500
2. Jonathan Willis, 401,000
3. Matthew Wilkins, 398,000
4. Roman Pumpernick, 378,000
5. Antonio Pace, 353,000
Combining the two-Day Ones complete to this point, here is a look at your Top Ten of the 131 players who have survived opening action in the 2024 WPT Montreal:
1. Hassanain Al Ghunaim, 723,500
2. Dongwoo Ko, 456,500^
3. Jonathan Willis, 401,000
4. Matthew Wilkins, 398,000
5. Roman Pumpernick, 378,000
6. Kevin DiPasquale, 364,500^
7. Antonio Pace, 353,000
8. Tommy Nguyen, 325,500
9. Choon Pyo Chun, 310,000^
10. Jean Rene Plante, 304,500
(^ – Day 1A player)
Lurking under the Top Ten are a couple of notable names, both members of the WPT Champions’ Club. Eric Afriat will start Day Two with a 304,000 stack, while Tony Sinishtaj will have some work to do with a decent 160,000 rack of chips for action.
There is still some unfinished business on Saturday, though. The third of the Day Ones for the 2024 WPT Montreal is set to hit the felt at 11 AM and, if trends in poker tournaments haven’t changed, it should be the largest of the three opening flights of action. Currently, there are 405 entries on the ledger, making the current prize pool north of $1.4 million. If the Day 1C field even gets close to the 278 entries received on Day 1B, then the $2 million guaranteed prize pool will be shattered. Those final numbers – and whether someone can catch Al Ghunaim – are the final questions left before the remaining players drive toward the championship of the 2024 WPT Montreal on Monday.
(Photo courtesy of World Poker Tour)
