2013 partypoker WPT Montreal Day 1a: Drolet-Poitras Leads
On Friday, 215 players entered Day 1a of the 2013 partypoker World Poker Tour Montreal held at the Playground Poker Club north of the American boarder. Following the completion of the first 10 levels of play, just 92 competitors remained. Leading the way with a very sizable gap over the other survivors was local Sebastien Drolet-Poitras, as he bagged up an impressive 270,800 in chips.
Rounding out the top three behind Drolet-Poitras — albeit nearly 100,000 in chips behind — were recent 2013 bwin WPT Grand Prix de Paris champion Mohsin Charania with 186,300 and 2013 WPT Canadian Spring Championship winner Amir Babakhani with 185,100.
2013 WPT Montreal Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastien Drolet-Poitras | 270,800 |
| 2 | Mohsin Charania | 186,300 |
| 3 | Amir Babakhani | 185,100 |
| 4 | Ryan Franklin | 155,000 |
| 5 | Jason Bokor | 151,300 |
| 6 | Daniel Dvoress | 148,400 |
| 7 | Yannick Gauthier | 136,500 |
| 8 | Marc-Olivier Carpentier-Perrault | 132,000 |
| 9 | Ludovic Lacay | 129,800 |
| 10 | Josue Sauvageau | 128,800 |
Both Charania and Babakhani scored eliminations in the latter portion of the day. In Level 6 with the blinds at 200/400/50, Charania busted Antonio Esfandiari after the two saw a flop of 10♠8♠6♦. According to the WPT live updates, it was on the flop where the two got all the money into the middle. Charania had top set with the 10♥10♣, and Esfandiari had the 4♠2♠ for a flush draw. Following the 6♥ pairing the board on the turn, Esfandiari was drawing dead. The river completed the board with the meaningless Q♠.
Charania sent another player to the rail right before the end of play. It was his Q♥Q♦ up against the at-risk opponent's A♦9♣. The flop, turn, and river ran out J♥10♥2x2x10♣ to give Charania the win.
While Charania was collecting scalps, Babakhani was doing the same. In Level 9 with the blinds at 400/800/100, Babakhani sent [B]Shaun Deeb[/B] packing. Deeb, who was down to just one big blind, was all in for 800 before the player on the button limped in. Babakhani raised to 2,500 out of the big blind, and the button called to see the flop come down a monotone Q♣J♣7♣. Babakhani fired 2,500, and the button folded, giving Babakhani the side pot and leaving him heads up with Deeb.
Babakhani showed the A♣8♣ for the flopped nut flush, and Deeb simply mucked his hand. The turn was the 2♠ and river the 10♥, but Deeb was already out the door.
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Other eliminations on the day were Jason Koon, Daniel Cates, Bryn Kenney, Chris Moorman, Scott Seiver, Shawn Buchanan, Marc-Andre Ladouceur, Marvin Rettenmaier, and Kara Scott.
Scott busted right towards the end of Day 1a after her pocket sixes failed to come from behind against an opponent's pocket queens.
Day 1b will begin Saturday at 12 p.m. local time with another 10 levels of play on the schedule. Late registration and reentry will remain open for the first six levels, and an anticipation of 300 runners for the second starting flight is in the air.
Stay tuned right here to PokerNews for all daily recaps from the 2013 WPT Montreal.
Data and photo courtesy of WorldPokerTour.com
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