As expected, Day 1B of the World Poker Tour’s stop at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal, Quebec, drew a massive number of players for action as they try to put themselves in position to take down the last event on the Season XI WPT schedule prior to the WPT Championship later this month.
The outpouring of support was so strong on Saturday at the Playground that the start of day player numbers almost outranked the entire total that came out on Friday. As the cards hit the air yesterday, 191 players were in their seats; on Friday, by the time the late registration period ended after Level 6, 194 players were in attendance. It also seemed that those in attendance on Saturday were ready to mix it up from the starting gun.
To give an example of the early action, the runner up at this year’s WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown, Ben Tarzia, left on the first hand of play. Holding pocket fours, he would get his chips to the center on a 9-7-4 flop for a set. Unfortunately for Tarzia, his opponent held pocket nines for the dreaded “set over set” situation and, once the case four failed to appear on the turn or river, Tarzia had one hand of play for his $3300 buy in but said he would be back on Sunday to try again.
After doing well on Day 1A of the event, there were two players in the Day 1B field that were a bit of a surprise. Kara Scott, who was hovering around the Top Ten in chips from the Day 1A field, decided to take a second shot on Saturday to improve her positioning. Another player doing the same thing was WPT Player of the Year contender Matt Salsberg, who finished Day 1A with an average stack. The reasoning was obvious: if they had a bigger stack from their Day 1B play, then their stacks from Day 1A would be thrown out. Unfortunately for both Scott and Salsberg, they would not make it through the Day 1B minefield.
Scott and Salsberg weren’t the only people using a second bullet. Scott Montgomery, Mike Sexton, Phil Laak, Dan Buzgon, Joe Serock and Samuel Chartier all fired again on Day 1B, with some success among them. Serock would scrape through to make it to the end of Saturday night, holding a minimal stack of 40,200, while Montgomery would end the day’s action holding on to a nice stack of 153,900. The others, however, did not make it and will have to consider taking a third shot on Sunday.
By the time late registration ended on Saturday following the completion of Level 6, an astounding 283 players had stepped up to take part in the festivities. Along with the 194 players from Day 1A who showed up, the total field size (at this point) reached 477 entries (counting for players who have double-entered). As of now, the prize pool stands at just over $1.4 million and, after what should be a flurry of activity for today’s final Day One, should easily broach the $2 million mark.
Once there were no more new entries into the event, the players settled down to the serious business of positioning themselves for Day 2 on Monday. Two of Canada’s favorite sons, Mike Leah and Chartier, went in opposite directions; Leah would break the 100K barrier when he rivered a full house against his opponent’s turned straight, while Chartier fell from the tournament at the hands of Derek Lerner. Chartier would have plenty of company to join him on the rail, including Darryl Fish, Taylor von Kreigenbergh, Laak, Sexton, Erik Cajelais (on a second bullet) and Matt Giannetti, before the night was done.
It was one of the final hands of the night that would catapult the chip leader into his lofty position. After a player limped in front of her, Scott would push all in for roughly 60K in chips and Stuart Taylor moved all in for slightly more than Scott. In the big blind, Matt Kay agonized over his decision before calling both players (the early limper got out of the way). Once the hands were shown (Scott commented, “I don’t know what I have,” as she was only looking to double up to improve over her Day 1A stack), Kay was ahead of them both with his pocket Jacks against Taylor’s A-Q and Scott’s 7-3. Although Taylor got a Queen on the flop, it was followed by a Jack and a ten to give Kay a set. When the turn and river blanked, Scott and Taylor were out and Kay rocketed to the lead.
1. Matt Kay, 270,400
2. Mike Bartholomew, 186,500
3. Jason James, 180,600
4. Jason Hallee, 160,200
5. Scott Montgomery, 153,900
6. Martin Malone, 151,000
7. Derek Lerner, 138,000
8. Richard Mallow, 134,600
9. Sasa Stancic, 133,000
10. Charles Furey, 110,400
Although Kay’s chip stack is impressive, it didn’t top that of Day 1A chip leader Philippe Boucher, who spent Saturday relaxing in preparation for Monday’s Day 2 fight:
1. Philippe Boucher, 278,100*
2. Matt Kay, 270,400
3. Jeff Gross, 232,800*
4. Danny Suied, 190,000*
5. Mike Bartholomew, 186,500
6. Upeskha De Silva, 184,500*
7. Jason James, 180,600
8. Christian Harder, 176,600*
9. Farid Jattin, 161,000*
10. Jason Hallee, 160,200
* – Day 1A players
Today’s Day 1C activities should be the busiest of the weekend at the Playground. With nearly 500 entries in the field at this point, it may not crack the record that the WPT set back in November at the Playground, but it will still be an impressive field (there are several prominent Canadian and American pros that are in Monte Carlo for the EPT Grand Final festivities). By the end of today’s play, the final numbers will be known for the WPT Montreal, a tournament that has become one of the more popular events on the tournament circuit’s schedule.
