The World Poker Tour has made its triumphant return to Canada with its stop at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal and the players have certainly made the stop noteworthy, even in the WPT’s eleventh year.
The 478 players who flooded the floor of the Playground Poker Club on Friday for Day 1A all but guaranteed that the WPT Montreal would break the record for the largest ever WPT event on Canadian soil (set in 2007 when 504 combatants stepped up at the North American Poker Championship at the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls) and, with the potential for an even bigger field on Day 1B, the WPT Montreal would challenge for the biggest ever tournament held in Canada. By the time the chips had quieted on Friday night, the Top Ten looked as such:
1. Patrick Leviever, 326,100
2. Kerry Shears, 299,300
3. Jean-Louis Forino, 272,000
4. Marc-Andre Ladouceur, 247,300
5. Benjamin Armstrong, 221,700
6. Guillaume DeCaen, 214,200
7. Michael Watson, 207,300
8. Tamer Alkamli, 204,600
9. Antonio Esfandiari, 197,400
10. Hung Nguyen, 165,900
As promised, Day 1B on Saturday would bring the players – both new and re-entries from Friday’s carnage – back in force. Although the Playground “only” had the capacity for 500 players, alternates were accepted and entered into the tournament throughout the early action yesterday. By the time the late registration period had ended, an astounding 695 additional entries had been taken in, making the total field a whopping 1,173 entries (beating the old mark of 1,032 earlier this year in Vancouver for a World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event) and guaranteeing a prize pool of $3.38 (Canadian) million.
Several of the pros who stepped to the table on Friday – and were dispatched – decided to take a second shot at the Montreal prize. There was “Canadian on Canadian” crime afoot as two WPT champions, Matt Salsberg and Daniel Negreanu, clashed early with Salsberg paying off Negreanu and his quads. Amanda Musumeci also took a shot at the Day 1B festivities, but got off to a tough start in running into quads herself.
As play moved into the evening hours, the action ramped up as players tried to set themselves up for Day Two today. Faraz Jaka was never able to get much going on either of the Day Ones and was eliminated when, holding pocket Jacks, an opponent called his all in on a 9-7-3 flop with A-7, only to hit a another seven on the river for trips. After a difficult time on Friday, Negreanu also would burn his second bullet, Tweeting, “Got it in with A-9 versus A-8 and lost. Not a whine tweet but I swear I’ve run horrendous in those spots for the last two years!”
Jaka and Negreanu weren’t alone on the rail when it comes to notable pros in the field. Matt Marafioti, Noah Schwartz, Jonathan Duhamel, Joe Serock, Vinny Pahuja and Ben Hamnett all were a part of the parade to the sidelines, but such names as Isabelle Mercier, Gavin Smith, Erik Cajelais, Mohsin Charania, UFC ring announcer Bruce Buffer and Musumeci all made it through to Day Two, with Musumeci working into the Top Ten for the day:
1. Kalpesh Raichura, 314,200
2. Jeff Gross, 284,000
3. Danny Nguyen, 251,500
4. Joseph Kueter, 245,600
5. Everol Davis, 243,900
6. Louis Rousseau, 236,200
7. Daniel Ricci, 231,900
8. Glen Cymbaluk, 220,700
9. Josh Kimmel, 210,000
10. Amanda Musumeci, 149,500
Combining the two Day Ones, the overall leaderboard keeps Leviever in the lead:
1. Patrick Leviever, 326,100
2. Kalpesh Raichura, 314,200
3. Kerry Shears, 299,300
4. Jeff Gross, 284,000
5. Jean-Louis Forino, 272,000
6. Danny Nguyen, 251,500
7. Marc-Andre Ladouceur, 247,300
8. Joseph Kueter, 245,600
9. Everol Davis, 243,900
10. Louis Rousseau, 236,200
360 players will return this afternoon for Day Two action on the felt in Montreal and the prize they will be playing for is a substantial one. The eventual champion of the WPT Montreal on Tuesday will walk off with not only a seat to the Season XI WPT Championship next spring but also a $754,162 payday. 117 players will take home at least $5421 and it is possible that the money bubble may burst today as the path to a new champion on the World Poker Tour works into the upcoming week.
