2013 PartyPoker WPT Canadian Spring Championship Day 1b: Kay Leads as 117 Advance
On Saturday, the 2013 PartyPoker World Poker Tour Canadian Spring Championship CAD$3,300 Main Event continued with Day 1b action from the Playground Poker Club in Quebec. Day 1a attracted 194 runners on Friday, of which just 79 advanced with Philippe Boucher and his stack of 278,100 leading the way, and Day 1b did even better as 283 players (including 61 re-entries) took to the felt to increase the two-day total to 477 entries. After 10 one-hour levels of play, just 117 made it through to Day 2 with Matt Kay emerging as the chip leader with 270,400.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
This particular tournament features three starting flights, and players have the opportunity to play in all three while taking their biggest chip stack on to Day 2. That’s exactly what current WPT Season XI Player of the Year points leader Matt Salsberg attempted to do. Despite making it through Day 1a with 73,400, the WPT Grand Prix de Paris champ looked to build a bigger stack. Unfortunately for him it didn’t happen that way as he fell in Level 6 with the blinds at 200/400/50. According to the WPT Live Reporting Team, it happened when he opened for 800 in early position only to have the button three-bet to 2,025. After the blinds folded, Salsberg moved all in for roughly 5,000 holding the Q♣Q♦ and was called by the button’s K♠K♦. The board ran out a dry 10♠5♣6♣8♠10♣ and Salsberg was eliminated.
Others who fell in the early stages of the tournament were players such as Jonathan Roy, Matt Jarvis, Jeff Madsen, Tony Dunst, Tim Reilly, Ty Reiman, Paul Klann, Sam Chartier, Ravi Raghavan, Nikolai Sears, Jesse Yaginuma and Phil Laak.
The “Unabomber” exited in Level 9 (400/800/100) after raising to 1,200 from early position and then calling when Nimer Ltaif three-bet to 2,700 from the cutoff. The J♥9♣2♦ flop saw Laak check, Ltaif bet 4,300, and Laak check-raise to 10,050. Ltaif put in a three-bet and Laak called off his remaining 5,000 or so holding the 10♥8♥ for an open-ended straight, which he needed to hit to overcome the Q♣Q♦ of Ltaif. Unfortunately for Laak, neither the 9♥ turn nor J♦ gave him what he needed and he was eliminated from the tournament.
Minutes later, Canadian Erik Cajelais joined Laak on the rail after raising to 1,600 from early position and the players on the button and in the big blind called. The big blind checked the 10♠4♥2♣ flop, Cajelais bet 2,400 and the button fold. The big blind called and then checked the 9♥ turn. Cajelais took the opportunity to move all in for 10,800, and the big blind thought for a while before calling with the 7♥4♦, which was actually ahead of Cajelais’ Q♥J♠. The A♣ river was no help to the Canadian and he was left to try his luck again on Day 1c.
As far as Kay was concerned, he built his big stack in the closing minutes of the day. Because of the unique format of the tournament, Kara Scott was constantly shoving in the hopes of getting some action and improving upon her 121,500 stack from Day 1a. After an under-the-gun player limped, Scott shoved for 66,000 and Stuart Taylor moved all in over the top from the button. Kay tanked for about a minute in the big blind and then called off his 96,700, the under-the-gun player folded, and a monster 258,000 pot was created.
Kay: J♠J♦
Scott: 7♦3♣
Taylor: A♠Q♠
The Q♦J♣10♠ flop kept Kay in the lead with a set, and the 4♥ turn and 6♥ river secured him the monster win and the chip lead.
Others who made it through to Day 2 include Luke Vrabel (102,600), Justin Zaki (91,600), Ryan Julius (75,600), David Tuthill (62,700), Andrew Badecker (57,000), Joe Serock (40,200), Keven Stammen (26,000) and Stephen Bokor (22,600).
Day 1c will begin at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, and PokerNews will bring you a recap of that day’s action. In the meantime, check out this interview with Phil Laak from the 2013 PartyPoker World Poker Tour Canadian Spring Championship.
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