WPT National Canadian Spring Championship Day 1c: Field Tops 1,000; Guarantee Reached
As in most poker tournaments, guarantees draw very large fields and the final starting day produces the largest group of competitors in most cases. On Day 1c of the 2014 partypoker.net World Poker Tour National Canadian Spring Championship, both of these proved true. Another 552 entries were tallied, bringing the grand total to 1,079 and bursting through the $1,000,000 guarantee to create a prize pool of $1,046,630.
Following the completion of play on Saturday's Day 1c, Pierre Guenette finished on top with 378,900 in chips. While he topped the 172 survivors from the final starting flight, Ricky Tang (331,600), Frederic Bunchan (292,800), Jean-Philippe Piquette (279,600), and Selajtin Jakupovski (270,100) rounded out the top five stacks with plump chip bags.
Not everyone could make it through to Day 2, though, and some players were trying for a third time after busting on Day 1a and 1b. WPT Champions Club member Antonio Esfandiari was one such player, hitting the rail for a third time in this event. Gavin Smith, another WPT Champions Club member, also busted for a third time.
According to the WPT Live Updates, Smith fell in Level 13 with the blinds at 1,000/2,000/300 — the final level of the night. It was reported that Smith fell on a final board of K♥J♥10♠K♠3♠ to an opponent's A♠Q♥.
The WPT's own Mike Sexton was also on his third bullet, but he was able to advance through Day 1c and will be back in action on Sunday. He'll be joined by notables Sam Chartier, Philippe Boucher, and Chanracy Khun.
Day 2 will see 323 players return to action in the quest for the title. Action will kick off at 12 p.m. local time at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal, and you can find a recap of play right here on PokerNews following its completion.
Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!
